Faith...as a Seed

Alma 32:28-30 discusses how faith does not instantly come rather it grows slowly through diligent efforts. I'm pretty sure I always "got this" and understood that it takes time and effort for ones faith and testimony to grow, but I don't think I really thought about all the ways the soil needed to be cultivated in order to make the seed grow. I found this quote by Elder Faust which struck a cord today.

"We also need to prepare our own seedbed of faith. To do this we need to plow the soil through daily humble prayer, asking for strength and forgiveness. We need to harrow the soil by overcoming our feelings of pride. We need to prepare the seedbed by keeping the commandments to the best of our ability. We need to be honest with the Lord in the payment of our tithing and our other offerings. We need to be worthy and able to call forth the great powers of the priesthood to bless ourselves, our families, and others for whom we have responsibility. There is no better place for the spiritual seeds of our faith to be nurtured than within the hallowed sanctuaries of our temples and in our homes." - Elder James Faust, 1999