Faith; Its Easy... Like Building a Puzzle

I was recently reading a 2011 April General Conference talk, by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, titled "Waiting on the Road to Damascus". The talks subject is centered on not waiting for a miraculous experience to clear up any questions or doubts we may have in regards to our faith. Many may know that as a missionary I rely heavily on analogies to portray the workings of the Gospel. I'd like to spend some time focusing on the powerful analogy that President Uchtdorf presents in his talk, comparing our steps of faith to the construction of a puzzle.

When starting a puzzle you most always start with the border or edge pieces, its almost essential to the overall accomplishment. You could compare this first step, the starting of our faith with a scripture in Alma 32:27, "But behold if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words (the words of Christ), and excersise a particle of faith, yea even if ye can no more that desire to believe (starting our puzzle), let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that you can give place for a portion of my words (our border is completed)."

While working on our puzzle we know that some pieces come right after the other, and some often stump us (If your like me it's way often) at where or what piece goes where. Our Testimony (a spiritual witness given by the Holy Ghost) of the Gospel can like wise at times come easily or can take time and effort. I dunno about you but when attempting a puzzle an overall result (picture on the box) is too often required to guide me through this task. Likewise after we may have started our journey ,by desiring faith and experimenting on the words of Christ, it comes to a point where we need to take the steps necessary for baptism by immersion, by the Priesthood of God, to continue adding pieces of faith to our masterpiece. When we are baptized we receive the Holy Ghost (our picture of the puzzle) to help lead us to further finding and placing our spiritual experiences to the growth of our knowledge of the Savior.

This is essential, the Holy Ghost knows perfectly the workings of God and Jesus Christ (3 Nephi 28:10-11). With his constant companionship we can endure life's trials, doubts, and temptations and can be lead to our overall joy of completing our puzzle.

I would like to end with a portion of the talk I have been inspired by,"The truth is, those who diligently seek to learn of Christ eventually will come to know Him. They will personally receive a divine portrait of the Master, although it most often comes in the form of a puzzle- one piece at a time. Each individual piece may not be easily recognizable by itself; it may not be clear how it relates to the whole. Each piece helps us to see the big picture a little more clearly. Eventually, after enough pieces have been put together, we recognize the grand beauty of it all. Then, looking back on our experience, we see that the Savior had indeed come to be with us- not all at once but quietly, gently, almost unnoticed.
This can be our experience if we move forward with faith and do not wait too long on the Road to Damascus."