"My dear brothers and sisters, my heart reaches out to you . . . I love this work and marvel at its strength and growth."
We have just returned from Montevideo, Uruguay, to dedicate the 103rd working temple of the church. One of the speakers, a woman, recounted a time when the missionaries knocked on her door.
"I am not surprised that comparatively few join the church from among the large number on whom the missionaries call. There is no faith. On the other hand, I am amazed that so many do . . . It is faith that is the converter. It is faith that is the teacher. Thus it has been from the beginning."
Temples are now being constructed in Nauvoo and Winter Quarters. The Winter Quarters temple property adjoins the burial ground of many who "gave their lives for this cause." I have in my office a small statue of my pioneer grandfather burying his wife and her brother beside the trail.
"Faith? There can be no doubt about it . . . Countless, literally countless, are the stories of its expression in the pioneer period of the church."
That gift of faith continues today. Our critics can't understand it. What a marvelous and wonderful thing it is, the conviction that says the church is true.
"Faith is the basis of testimony. Faith underlies loyalty to the church. Faith represents sacrifice, gladly given in moving forward the work of the Lord . . . Oh, Father, help us to be faithful unto thee and unto our glorious Redeemer is my humble prayer."