a good seed

This week in class, we discussed Alma’s sermon on faith in Alma chapter 32. Reading this sermon always bring me right back to my mission in Brazil because I had a companion who knew she need to be baptized once she read it. Sister Alvarado was from Guatemala, and she told me that it took her a while to recognize the truthfulness of what she was being taught. She kept commitments like reading her scriptures, praying, and going to Church for months, but she wouldn’t accept the missionaries’ invitation to be baptized. She had many of dreams about the Church and felt like it might be true, but what truly touched her heart and helped her realize that she needed to be baptized was Alma 32:28. In this verse, Alma compares the word, or the gospel, to a seed. He explains that when you allow that seed to be planted in your heart, “it will begin to swell within your breasts…[and] ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.” My companion explained to me that when she read this verse, she realized that the Savior and His gospel had this very effect on her. What the missionaries were teaching her enlarged her soul, enlightened her understanding, and brought joy into her life. When she noticed these changes within her life and herself, she knew that she needed to be baptized.

Even though I was raised in the Church, I have also had my own “seed sprouting” moments. As I’ve learned about Christ and His gospel and applied it into my life, I have felt the swelling of the Spirit. I’ve felt my soul enlarge and my understanding increase and light up, and the fruits of living and loving my Savior and His gospel have blessed my life. Sometimes we want to see a sign or have one big moment that will be the foundation of our faith, but as Alma said, faith is felt through the small changes we see in our lives when we live the gospel. My companion wasn’t convinced to be baptized by dreams or signs; it was the way she felt when she heard and lived the gospel of Jesus Christ that increased her faith and helped her see that it was a good seed. The same will happen for us when we allow truth to enter our hearts. We won’t suddenly have immediate, unshakeable faith, but when we let the seed take root and slowly grow, we will feel the difference and know for ourselves that it is a good seed. The joy it will bring and the sweet feelings that will fill our souls will increase our faith let us know for ourselves that Christ is real and His gospel is restored.