Farewell in SMYSA

So often in my life I have made excuses to avoid doing things that I don't want to do.  I have helped several friends one after another as they prepared to serve their missions. Every time one of these friends left I have been asked when I would be putting in my own mission papers. My response though different each time ended with the same resounding answer. Stating that I don't have the desire to serve a mission it isn't for me or I can’t do it. So needless to say it is surprising even to me to be giving this talk within a month of reporting to the MTC

While deciding to serve a mission was a very personal decision for me. I know that it is what I need to do. My path in deciding to serve started in July when I reached out to a new member of the ward who was having a hard time with her new job. After we talked for a few hours about life and questions of why things happen. I was able to turn to several scriptures that seemed to calm her fears. After I dropped her off back home I started driving home as I did that I had this question pop into my mind "if you can help one of my daughters in three hours what could you do with 18 months"

As I might be a stubborn person I shrugged off this impression. Then while visiting a ward in Utah the full time elders were speaking and he started his talk with the question what is missionary work all about?  The answer to his question stuck with me. Missionary work is all about love, Love of the Savior, Love of Mankind, and Love of the Gospel and wanting to share it with all who will listen. Sunday school followed with a lesson in Alma 40, which outlines the plan of salvation. Then in relief society the sisters were asked. What marvelous opportunities come my way because of my membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Some of my answers to this question were: Great standards to live by, values to never question, and knowing the love of our Savior Jesus Christ. Why when we have been given so much would we not want to share it with those who are closest to us?

For most people I would say that would be enough to decide to serve, however it took me one more week. While I was sitting in my friends "homecoming” talk She told about the tornados that hit while she was serving. She told that even though there was destruction in the wake of the storm she watched as the people worked together to get up and to rebuild. When they rebuilt they rebuilt better and stronger. It hit me that this is a lot like life is we have trials that will knock us down and try to destroy us. As we overcome trials we become stronger. Much like trees that suffer in a drought they dig their roots deeper into the ground, these deeper roots provide additional strength in the windy storms. We must take the trials that we all face and learn from them, use them to dig down deep in our souls with faith and build to gain stronger testimony of our savior.

 We must learn from our mistakes, when will we get torn down and we will rebuild stronger then we were before.  President Monson urged us  “In order for us to be strong and to withstand all the forces pulling us in the wrong direction or all the voices encouraging us to take the wrong path, we must have our own testimony,” “Whether you are 12 or 112—or anywhere in between—[We] can know for ourselves that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true.”

How do we gain our own testimony? Several years ago president Monson gave three suggestions to the primary children in the friend magazine.

            1. Prayer

2. Scriptures

3. Service  

Prayer- as we remember that we are indeed a son or daughter of God, it becomes easier to approach the Lord in prayer. He knows us each of us, what we want and what we need.  The bible dictionary teaches us that the Object of prayer is not change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves the blessings that God is already willing to grant, but are made conditional on our asking for them.

Scriptures. The scriptures are the word of god. In Lehi’s dream the people are holding to the rod of iron, later in the story it is described as clinging to the rod. There are times that we will just have to hold on and there are times that we will have to relay 100% on the scriptures and the lord to help us to withstand trials as we strengthen our foundations of faith and truth.

Service- as we forget ourselves and serve others we grow to love others as the Savior loves us. We will find it easier to see the lords hands in our own lives. As I have felt unqualified to accept a calling or to serve in the church I reflect on the often-quoted quote where President Monson reminded us  “If any brother or sister feels unprepared—even

Incapable—of responding to a call to serve, to sacrifice, to bless the lives of others, remember this truth: ‘Whom God calls, God qualifies.’

Once we gain this strong testimony in the truth of the Gospel and our roots are deep. We will find that when the storms of life come our way we will be able to stand just a little taller. We are counseled by today’s prophets and apostles to stand strong in our beliefs and to take action. Each week we renew our baptism covenants and we promise to always remember him, and to take his name upon us.

When we take the name of Jesus Christ upon us each week we are promising to be an example of the Savior in all that we do. We each have the light of the Savior within us and as in Mathew and also third Nephi we read.  It cannot be hid. Please don’t try to hide it.  In Doctrine and Covenants section 6 the Lord promised us “verily, verily, I say unto you, even as you desire of me so it shall be unto you. And if you desire, you shall be the means of doing much good in this generation.

As a ward we have dubbed this month “Missionary March” I have found that missionary work is much more then sending the missionaries over to a friend. Missionary work is about love; it is living as an example of our Savior. It is being willing to stand up for what is right, even when we have to stand-alone. President Hinckley taught,  “There is hunger in the land, and a genuine thirst—a great hunger for the word of the Lord and an unsatisfied thirst for things of the Spirit. … The world is starved for spiritual food. Ours is the obligation and the opportunity to nourish the soul” Just as the trees in a drought thirst after water, we each have someone near to us that is thirsting to know the truth and they are being prepared by the Lord to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ into their lives.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf challenged (July 2011 ensign) us to fully invest in the cause of spreading the gospel by taking decisive action. He continued

“Commitment is a little like diving into the water,” President Uchtdorf said. “Either you are committed or you are not. Either you are moving forward or you are standing still. There’s no halfway. We all face moments of decision that change the rest of our lives. As members of the Church, we must ask ourselves, ‘Will I dive in or just stand at the edge? Will I step forward or merely test the temperature of the water with my toes?’

“As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have committed to walk in the path of discipleship. We have committed to follow the example of our Savior. Imagine how the world will be blessed and transformed for good when all members of the Lord’s Church live up to their true potential—converted in the depth of their souls and committed to building the kingdom of God.

“In some way, each of us stands at a decision point overlooking the water. It is my prayer that we will have faith, move forward, face our fears and doubts with courage, and say to ourselves, ‘I’m committed!’”

Being committed to share your testimony isn’t an easy task, however, if you are committed to live your testimony by living the standard and principles of the gospel. It will become impossible to hide your testimony from those around you, as they will see the light of Christ within you.

Once I made the decision that I would serve a full time mission it gave me a purpose in what my next step in my journey of life would be. As I started to prepare with scripture study including the preach my gospel manual.  I found that as I gained the desire to share the gospel and I was happy. Since then on more then one occasion I have been asked me what I had changed. The answer to what I had changed is simple the thing I had changed more then anything was my attitude. I discovered that if you want to be happy…be.

While I know that this decision of serving a mission is what I need to do. I still have faced much doubt in my decision. While I have found that all of the doubts I face merit of there own. I know that life happens on the Lords timeframe not our own. There is someone I need to reach, maybe even myself, which is prepared to fully accept the Savior as his or her redeemer. I know that as we are prepared to stand for what we believe we will never stand alone, as we will be standing with our father in Heaven. This is His gospel. It is the only complete truth on the earth today, restored through the prophet joseph smith. The scriptures are the words of God and he will guide your life if you let him. I echo Nephi when he taught “ that we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we Prophesy of Christ… that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins. The Savior has paid the price for all of our sins. Let the atonement heal your heart, you are his daughter or son, he loves and knows each of us and he will never leave you alone. He will guide you to know what to say and who to share the Gospel with. I know that as we seek to strengthen our testimonies we will be able to withstand the storms of life and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ amen.