Alrighty. I didn't quite get the opportunity to post anything today. But things are really wrapping up now- it's crazy! Among other things, I finished my home teaching for the next couple years, Geronimo is now Elder Geronimo (former super awesome roommate :D) and I gave my farewell talk. Speaking of my farewell talk, this is a good opportunity to post it, eh? I might be able to post something else sometime during this week- my last day at work is Wednesday, so after that I should be left with a little more free time. So anyways, here it is, not exactly word for word what I spoke, but you'll get the gist of things...
August
26th, 2012
Farewell Talk
As
many of you know, I have been called to serve a full time mission for the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the New York New York North
mission. I was called in April, and at
the time, my report day of September 5th, seemed like an eternity
away. Now the wait is finally over and
I’ll be on my way in one short week.
Being
able to serve a full time mission is a wonderful opportunity, and I am humbled
that the Lord trusts me with such an important responsibility. Though full time missionary service is a
great blessing, not all have the opportunity to participate in such
service. Even for those who do have the
chance to serve, it lasts only a relatively short time. The responsibility for all members of the
church to share the Restored Gospel lasts throughout this life time, and from
what I understand, the next life as well.
I
base my address today on Elder David F. Evans conference address from April of
this year. He presents the idea that
many within the sound of his voice have wondered, “what can I do to help build
up the Lord’s church and see real growth where I live?” Preceding that question is certainly a
conviction of the truthfulness of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints. After a person starts on the
straight and narrow, then one begins to naturally ask these sorts of
questions. He or she desires to have
those around know the truth and joy that they know.
Sharing
the gospel can be a daunting task. There
are seven billion people out there, and only about fourteen million members of
this church. It’s easy to wish we could
go out and have such power and conviction in preaching the word that we
convince thousands of the truthfulness of our message, but that’s not how it generally
works. In Alma 37:6-7, we learn that “by
small and simple things are great things brought to pass.” So where does this responsibility to share
start?
The
home provides a wonderful opportunity to have a good influence on those we love
most through the truthfulness of the gospel.
Additionally, prophets and leaders of past and present have often
emphasized the importance of teaching the gospel in the home. In so doing, parents help to build and
fortify a strong foundation in the gospel for each of their children. These foundations will continue with them
throughout the rest of their lives and will provide the means of happiness
through the hard times. Teaching the
gospel in the home also naturally draws a family together, as the principles of
the gospel lead individuals to have a greater love for others.
The
means by which one should share the gospel in the home are fairly
straightforward. First of all, we share
the gospel by taking opportunities to teach our family members. We should always be on the lookout for
teaching opportunities. Aside from
Family Home Evening lessons and other planned teaching opportunities, we should
be on the lookout for opportunities to bring light to everyday situations
through the gospel. Such could include
when one asks for advice, when a question comes up, when things go well, when
things don’t go well, and so on. As we
“talk of Chirst, …rejoice in Christ, …preach of Christ, …our children may know
to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.” (2 Nephi 25:26). Additionally, we learn from the scriptures
that faith comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17), and so as bare our
testimonies, especially if we do so often, the faith of those in our homes will
be strengthened.
As
important as teaching is, however, setting a good example in the home is often
more powerful than words. Children are
careful to observe the every move of adults, and over time that observation can
easily turn into imitation. Being
consistent with good habits as opposed to bad habits is a lot more likely to
lead a child to develop good habits. Our
good examples can also lead to teaching opportunities and opportunities to bare
our testimonies. Making sure to stick
with the simple things like family prayer, family scripture study, family home
evening, going to church as a family and so on shows that we value the
teachings of the prophets that the restored gospel has brought to our lives and
in turn will bring them to value them as well.
Furthermore, Elder Evans points out that our examples can also help
children build faith that there is a Heavenly Father that loves them.
Second
to sharing the gospel within our home is sharing the gospel with all
others. Bringing others to Christ and
the restored gospel is a duty we all have.
President Monson said, “Our missionary experiences have to be
current. It is not enough to sit back
and ponder former experiences. To be
fulfilled, you have to continue to naturally and normally share the gospel.”
Sharing
the gospel seems easy enough, but often times we let our fear of man’s judgment
get in the way. God’s judgment is
perfect and certainly more important than that of man’s, and with that in mind,
we should strive to let our faith in Him replace any fear of man.
Sometimes
we might doubt our influence and shrug off opportunities as we anticipate such
as wasted efforts. The only guarantee
for a person to not accept the gospel and come to Christ is for them to not be
exposed to it. Results aren’t always
readily seen. A person very well could
accept the gospel later on in life because of your words and good example. I’ve heard from the stake mission prep class
and from other sources that it takes about 7.2 or some other odd number of
“touches” or moments of exposure to the church for a person to act on any sort
of a prompting or invitation. When our
efforts are put down by an indifferent or negative response, we need to keep in
mind that everybody has their agency, and that they, not us, will stand
accountable for their refusal to accept the sweet message of the gospel.
One
of the main ideas Elder Evans presents in his address is sharing the gospel in
a natural manner. This essentially means
establishing environments, relationships and situations where you can naturally
speak of the influence of the restored gospel and the church in your life. Being consistent in living the Word of Wisdom
can lead to a coworker about why you choose to not drink certain drinks. Always striving to keep the Sabbath Day holy
can lead to a friend asking why you choose not to spend Sunday on the
lake. Fulfilling the responsibilities of
your church calling can lead to a neighbor asking you why anyone would ever
devote so much volunteered time to a church.
All of these situations easily lead to life changing conversations. We should all foster relationships that allow
us to bare simple testimony when the opportunity presents itself.
Sharing
the gospel is not limited to sharing with our friends of faiths. A year ago, when I went out to one of the
church schools, I found myself surrounded by fellow members of this
church. We still had a mission leader in
our ward, however, and were expected to participate in missionary work. This perplexed me until a good friend of mine
pointed out that there are still plenty of missionary opportunities amongst our
fellow saints. We can help others to
gain testimonies who don’t yet believe, and for those who do believe, we can
help them strengthen and solidify their testimonies. There is so much that we can’t see in other
people’s lives, so we should always strive to be good examples and
unconditionally love those around us. A
former mission prep teacher of mine once explained that he wasn’t always
comfortable with the use of labels such as inactive or less active
members. He claims them to be members
who need strengthening, and it’s very true.
Leaders, home teacher and visiting teachers are all a part of the work
of strengthening these members through their efforts in sharing the gospel.
Being
a part of the work is a great blessing. In
the Book of Mormon, the Lord explicitly states that He is “able to do [His] own
work.” (2 Nephi 27:20). Compared to Him,
we bring very little to the table when it comes to doing missionary work, yet
He allows us the privilege to be involved in the process. Participating in missionary service helps us
to learn and to grow and to progress towards perfection. Additionally, it opens up the opportunity for
God to fulfill His promises and pour out some of the sweetest blessings
imaginable upon us. Think of a returned
missionary and how much he or she changed over the course of being fully
involved in the work. Such is the result
of being involved in missionary work, and as we participate and share the
gospel, it only seems natural that we put ourselves in positions to have
similar changes occur within us.
Being
involved in missionary work isn’t easy.
The adversary is not only “seeking to hurl away your soul down to
everlasting misery and endless woe,” (Helamen 7:16), but is hoping to do the
same with all who have come to this earth, and so any attempts to bring people
further from him as they draw closer to God is certain to warrant action from
him. My mission prep teacher out at
school talked about how the opposition of the adversary increases as a person’s
good efforts increase. Though this
opposition can be tough, it’s just a testament that you’re doing what you need
to be doing. This summer, as time for my
full time service has been getting closer, I’ve had a fair share of this
opposition. It hasn’t been easy by any
means, and I speak of this particularly to be a warning voice to you young men
whose calls are getting closer. You
really have to be committed because the adversary will stop at nothing to keep
you from going because he knows what you can do against his kingdom. Stand strong and be consistent with the
little things, and through your obedience Heavenly Father will strengthen you
and make you meet to fulfill the call to serve.
And to the majority of you who aren’t preparing for an official call to
serve, I’d admonish you to do the same so that you too can be an instrument in
God’s hands.
Once
again, I would like to express how important it is to never lose motivation or
become discouraged as we go about the Lord’s work. Everybody in the world has hope. Christ “suffered… for all, that they might
not suffer if they would repent.” (Doctrine and Covenants 19:16). Even if we don’t think a person can change or
accept the gospel, Heavenly Father never gives up on anyone. “Remember the worth of souls is great in the
sight of God,” (Doctrine and Covenants 18:10), so let us not hinder our efforts
because of our impatience or lack of an eternal perspective. Don’t ever doubt your influence as an example
of the believer.
Even
if your efforts only brings one person to the fullness of the gospel, not only
with your joy be great, but you’ll have had a part in bringing eternal joy to
another child of God. Elder Evans tells
a story of a young man who was of another faith that grew up with the good
influence of church members. Over time, and
after many invitations, he finally accepted an invitation from a friend that Elder
Evans explained as being “both natural and normal… in the context of their
friendship and circumstances.” This led
him to meeting with the missionaries, gaining a testimony, being baptized,
being married in the temple, and having a family. Following these events, as this man bore his
testimony he asked,
“So, was it worth it? Was all the effort of friends and youth leaders
and my bishop, over all the years, worth the effort to have just one boy be
baptized?” Pointing to [his wife] and
five children, he said, “Well at least for my wife and our five children, the
answer is yes.”
It’s
very likely the gospel will continue to influence his family for generations to
come. We don’t often have the eternal
perspective that our Father in Heaven does and so we generally have no idea how
our efforts will affect others as the results trickle down, or up or even
sideways.
Let
us all “that embark in the service of God, see that [we] serve him with all
[our] heart, might, mind and strength, that [we] may stand blameless before God
at the last day.” (Doctine and Covenants
4:2). Let us, as President Monson often
reminds us, “Never Delay a Prompting.”
We are all called to participate in the work of sharing the gospel, so
let us thrust in our sickles and reap the reward, a reward for all.
Once
again, I’m very grateful for the opportunity to serve a full time mission. I know it’s what I’m supposed to be doing at
this time in my life. I’m grateful for
all the leaders and examples that have been placed in my life that have gotten
me to this point. I know that God does
place people in our lives to help guide us in our journey back to Him. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints does contain the fullness of the truth, and the Lord restored
this fullness through the Prophet Joseph Smith.
I know that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon through the power
of God and that it stands as another Testament of Christ in this day. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of
God who leads this church under the direction of Jesus Christ. I know that God fulfills all of His
promises. I know that He does so in his
own timing for our benefit as we learn patience. I know that Jesus Christ lived and died for
us, that He knows us better than everybody else and that He’s there to help us
the very moment that we reach out to Him.
I know that we all have hope of living in eternal bliss thanks to a gracious
Father in Heaven. I say these things in
the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
