Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve asked the question, "What is faith?" in his Sunday afternoon address.

"When the son of man cometh shall He find faith on the earth?"

He explained, Faith is in things which are not seen but true. Faith is the first principle of the gospel.

He told the story of a women whos husband had died. Only had a little oil in a cruiz and some meal.

A man asked for bread. She only had meal and oil in a cruz "Fear not, but make me a little cake first." "The barrel of meal wasted not neither did the cruiz of oil fail."

Elder Wirthlin explained that people are limited to only what they know without faith.

"We make decisions based on what we see and what appears to be in our immediate self-interest," he said.

There are three components of faith, he said. It is absolute confidence in the Lord, Action, and Conformity to the Lord's will. Without these components, people will only have "weak and watered down faith." He said.

Action helps people should change passive belief into active faith. He said, "Faith without works is dead."

Elder Wirthlin quoted, "I am suggesting that the time has come to get our houses in order. . . I'm troubled by the huge installment debt that hangs over the heads of this people."

One's faith should conform with the will of the Father, he said. Often what passes for faith is just eager gullibily. Some are eager to rush into fads and evil unethical behavior.

"Faith is not something we believe, it is something we live," he said.

Those who walk in faith will find themselves full of light, he said.

"The manifestations of heaven are sealed from those who do not believe."

Some faith was so strong they could not be kept from seeing God.

We should never abandon our faith, he said. We should not lose hope.

Elder Wirthlin told a story of when his sight was failing. He tried to blame the problem on poor lighting and even the sun.

"The problem may not be with the amount of light in the room. The problem could be my own eyes."

He went to a doctor who told him he had Cateract, after it was removed Elder Wirthlin's sight was brighter.

The real cause of the darkness could be lack of faith ourselves, he said.

All things shall work together for the good for those who walk uprightly.

Faith is a gift from our Eternal Father to all mankind.