“Building faith is often preceded by shaping circumstances, benefiting those who are ‘in a preparation to hear the word’ (Alma 32:6). These beginnings require at least a ‘desire to believe,’ and then comes the exercising of a ‘particle of faith’ (Alma 32:27).
“As we ‘give place’ and plant the seed of faith, it grows discernibly. We are invigorated as it enlightens and swells. (See Alma 32:28–30.) We become our own internal auditors, confirming this increase in our faith. It is better to so nourish our faith in what seems to be an ordinary process than to experience extraordinary things only to stumble later over life’s ordinary challenges” (Maxwell, “‘Lest Ye Be Wearied and Faint in Your Minds,’” 89).