Alma 32

Sometimes we must first be humbled before we can be taught. your challenges are a blessing.

 you don't have to be in a certain place or be during a certain time to open up that line of communication and speak with God. he is always with us. pray always.

what is faith? many want a sure sign from God before they will accept and believe. but that is not faith. "faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefor if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true."

23: everyone can feel the spirit and be taught by angels. sometimes i feel things and understand things for a moment even if i have never learned them before. i know its not from me. i am being taught to my mind. its really cool :)

27: Faith is not a perfect knowledge. put it to the test. give it a try, "yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you" if you desire to know. In your heart, truly desire. you will find the answers you seek.

28-43: PUT IT TO THE TEST!!! this gospel or the "word" is like a seed. seriously i think everyone should stop now and open up this chapter and read it. at least this part. because it is so true and so easy to understand. this gospel is not complicated. plant the seed in your heart and keep an open mind. and when you start to feel that joy or that swelling in your chest. don't give up on it. the seed will grow but you have to nourish it and put your faith and your effort into it. now after you plant the seed and it starts to grow are you going to know everything? of course not, but you will know for sure that there is something there. you have put in the effort to test the seed. now its growing so water it. nourish it. "if ye nourish it with much care it will get root......but if ye neglect the tree, and take no thought for its nourishment, behold it will not get any root; and when the sun cometh out and scorcheth it, because it hath no root it withers away.... now, this is not because the seed was not good.... it is because your ground is barren, and ye will not nourish the tree" i know this is true, i have planted my seed and i have felt it grow and i know it is true, i also know that if i do not continue to nourish it every single day then it will be burned. we have to put the effort in to take care of our tree, our testimony. i have neglected my tree several times and i have seen the difference in my life. i love what i have found and i know it is true, and yes sometimes it can be hard to put the effort into taking care of our seeds but i also know that we need to do hard things. we need to push ourselves and do this because we know that it is true. because we felt the joy. we felt the seed start to grow. "nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by YOUR FAITH with great DILIGENCE, and with PATIENCE, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root" i believe this with all my heart. and it has blessed me to have my own personal seed and my own personal knowledge that the seed will grow if I nourish it.

My good friend Alex Phelps explained it to me another way which i really like. he says this gospel and our testimony is like trying to climb up the down escalator. if we keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep pushing at a steady pace, we are still moving forward. but if we stop, even for a second, the escalator will carry us backwards and make the journey that much harder. so long as we keep moving and keep nourishing our seed. we will eventually make it to the "food court" ;)