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Originally Posted by DigitalShadow
So faith is acting on the hope that the gospel is true? That makes sense in a way. However I'm still left wondering which gospel to choose to hope for in the first place. There are a lot of different churches, and plenty that I still don't even know about. Nearly all of them advise to have faith in either their gospel or their interpretation of it. If none of them give empirical evidence of the trueness of their church, how is one to pick a church?
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I'm sure you're familiar with Joseph Smith. His manner of knowing which church to join. Obviously, commonfolk like myself probably won't have heavenly being appear to them, but we can use his method as an example.
First, Joseph and his family were religious. During the religious uprising which took place at that time, Joseph was able to visit and study different churches. He was as confused as you were. He wanted to be part of God's church, but didn't know how he could determine which one that was. Then, he came across a scripture in James (man, I feel like I'm on my mission again).
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
"But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed." -- James 1:5-6
Joseph asked in faith and received his answer. You will receive an answer too, if you ask in faith. All the studying and asking people about their beliefs won't get you your answer. Only through faithful prayer to Heavenly Father and a confirmation of the Holy Ghost.