Faith to be Forgiven, Faith to be Healed

Faith in Jesus Christ is the first step to everything; to happiness, comfort, forgiveness and healing. Most often, in referring to faith, we think of things we are unsure of yet still hope for. Diane Woolf, widowed at 36 with a fifth child on the way said, "Faith has to be sufficient when we do not know why. We must simply remember 'that he loveth his children' (1 Nephi 11:17 http://www.scriptures.lds.org) and that we cannot--right now-- know the meaning of all things" (Ensign, Jan 2009; http://www.lds.org).
A paralytic of Jesus' time also learned the power of faith. He had the faith to be forgiven and the faith to be healed. "When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee...I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house" (Mark 2:5, 11 http://www.scriptures.lds.org).
What does it take to have the faith that Sister Woolf and the paralytic had? And how can it change our lives?
According to the Book of Mormon prophet, Alma, "faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true" (Alma 32:21; http://www.scriptures.lds.org). Perfection is not a prerequisite to faith; neither is knowledge and understanding. On the contrary, faith in Jesus Christ is the medium through which we strive for perfection and begin to understand. Alma expounds on how we can strengthen our faith: "if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words" (Alma 32:27 http://www.scriptures.lds.org).
Therefore, even if we can only muster a desire to believe, it will be enough to begin the process. I am grateful for Sister Woolf's testimony, "Everything in life can shift, change, or leave, but our Heavenly Father, our Savior Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost never change. They are the one great constant to lead us along" (Ensign, Jan 2009; http://www.lds.org). I add my testimony to hers: faith in Jesus Christ starts out like a little seed but as we give it a place in our hearts and nourish it, it will "begin to swell within your breasts" and we may have the faith to be forgiven and to be healed.