When I want to hear my father’s voice clearly, I listen to some CDs that my uncle obtained from cassette tape recordings which my dad made over twenty years ago when he was still alive. Dad has already been gone from this earth more than thirteen years. The material Dad recorded is called “The Great Plan of Happiness: Insights from the Lectures on Faith,” by Jerry A. Wilson, with the original Lectures on Faith being written by Sidney Rigdon and/or Joseph Smith in the nineteenth century.

     One of my favorite sections says this: “Who cannot see, that if God framed the worlds by faith, that it is by faith that He exercises power over them, and that faith is the principle of power?” It does not matter how rich you are, how gorgeous or talented or what your position in government might be. True power comes from working on faith-oriented tasks. But working on faith-oriented goals does not happen without support from God as well. The Atonement of Jesus Christ provides the saving grace of His power, to help us be brave enough to take risks, to share what we have with others.

     Dad served as a missionary in New York, and I served in Puerto Rico for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I was on a strict budget, like all the missionaries. Being shy, I knew I could break the ice to talk to people simply by giving something non-threatening to them. So I started making origami animals out of colored paper, which was something I had learned way back in sixth and seventh grade, or even earlier. Every animal probably only cost about two cents, but they made children smile, and in return, their parents would often smile and be more open to talking.