Chapter 18 - All Good on the Alverca Front

Well, another week has passed, and I still can´t think of anything to write. Last week I didn´t even have time to write, but that was mostly okay, since I have little to say normally. I am still fighting God´s battle here in Alverca, but I´m now with Elder Leal, a missionary from San Paulo, Brazil. He´s super cool, super spiritual, and I´m excited to lean a lot from him. We´ve been working hard, and have a cool young man named Luis that should be getting baptized this week. Yay!

This week for my doctrinal thought, I just want to turn back to the basics. In fact, I want to talk about the base of the Gospel. We believe that the first principle of the Gospel is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Why is that? What is the power of faith? I can´t even begin to answer these questions completely, but I´ll try. God works according to the faith of men. Please read Ether 12 and Moroni 7 and 10 if you don´t beleive me. No miracle has ever come without someone exercising faith before. And the great thing about faith, is that we can use it ever day, and ever time we use it, it gets stronger. In what ways can we use our faith? Scripture study is an act of faith. Setting goals is an act of faith. Working to achieve those goals is an act of faith. Being nice is an act of faith. Curbing your own anger and giving other the benifit of the doubt is an act of faith. These little things we do strengthen our faith, and give God the opportunity to pour blessings out on us, and realize miracles in our lives.

That´s all I have to say for today. I love you all, and hope you have a great week!

Elder Lofthouse