Even though there are many words to describe faith, Devotional speaker Sanoma Goodwill said that she had lacked a complete understanding of what faith meant. Sanoma Goodwill, Assistant Professor in the English Department of BYU-Hawaii, searched Joseph Smith’s lectures on Faith and other sources to explore the subject of faith further. She recalled the life and example of her Grandfather Richard Fredrick Harvey Warren who was known as commonly as ‘Fred.’
She said that he was “an ordinary man” who had worked hard his whole life and was known for his honesty and character. He had taught his children, through his example, the meaning of hard and honest work. He had two farms, which demanded a lot of labor. The children learned to not complain about their heavy workload because he would make them do more work if they thought that their chores were too hard.
Fred passed away in 1942 and Sister Goodwill explained how her grandfather had impacted people. She said, “After his funeral, many strangers from throughout the county approached Jenny, his widow, to tell her how wonderful Fred had been to them, how much they would miss him, and how his generosity had more than once helped them survive tough times. As Fred drove his horse and wagon around the county checking on the roads and repairing them when necessary, he often brought a needy family or individual a sack of flour or wheat, or potatoes and vegetables. For years, never telling anyone, not even his wife, Fred had quietly helped people in need. The children learned to be generous.”
Not much after his death Harold, Fred’s second son who was fighting in World War II, heard his father’s voice saying that he needed to move camp. He knew better than to question his father and followed his father. He later found out that their former camp had been shelled. If he had stayed he would have been killed along with the men he was with.
During his lifetime Fred was known for his honesty and integrity. His stake President said, that Fred “was the most honest man he’d ever encountered in his entire life.” The stake President didn’t need to interview him to know if he was worthy to go to the temple because if her father “said he was ready to go to the temple, he was ready.” The townspeople had faith in him and trusted Fred because of his unwavering character and dependability.
Sister Goodwill spoke about some of the examples of faith from the scriptures. She said, “It is difficult for me to imagine that any of us would ever need to stop the sun and the moon as Joshua did or be protected from lions as was Daniel, or, like Alma and Amulek, be freed from prison. I am quite sure, however, that each of us has some area in our lives that we need to strengthen as we strive to be trustworthy people of faith.” She encouraged the audience to strive to become people whose word can be trusted.
To read Sister Goodwills full devotional address, or view the video click here.