So long, Farewell

I typed up the voice memo my Mom took today of my farewell talk so here is what I actually said today for those who couldn't make it!

Good afternoon brothers and sisters! I would just like to start by saying how good it feels to be back here in my home ward. Actually it feels so great to just be at church in general! The last 4 weeks I have been traveling on the Sabbath conveniently the month before my mission. So hopefully my bishop isn’t too concerned I am going to the MTC on Wednesday…  But I have had the opportunity these past 4 weeks to go to multiple temples, multiple times. And I can testify to you that I love the temple and that it truly is a house of God. I also love going to church every Sabbath. And I love those moments we have to come and be uplifted and edified, but most importantly, to partake of the sacrament. Today as we took the sacrament, I loved feeling the spirit and having those 10 minutes to reflect on my week, how I can better improve and to remember my Savior- as he established the sacrament in his ministry as a way for us to remember him. I pray that today I can carry on the spirit we have felt thus far in this meeting as I speak today on a topic that is very close to my heart, the worth of souls.

In Doctrine and Covenants 18:10, 15-16 we read:

“Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God; And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father! And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!”

My testimony of this concept, the worth of souls, which is also taught throughout the Bible and Book of Mormon, started at my first year at EFY years ago. I went to a class where the instructor truly impressed upon me that we were all children of God. Of course I already knew this, I grew up singing “I am a child of God” but I learned that I didn’t really KNOW it because I wasn’t living it as fully as I could be. When you realize everyone is a child of God, and you learn that God created everyone and that He is their Father just as much as he is yours, it changes your perspective. And for a 14 year old, this hit me hard. Anytime I looked down at someone else or was critical or not Christ like towards them I was doing those actions to another one of God’s children. I then resolved myself to keep this new outlook, and to love everyone and view them as the child of God that they are. Of course I have stumbled multiple times, but I continue to try and improve. But this underlying concept of this is true. We are God’s children and he loves us all and he views each of our souls being of great worth.

Just as my parent’s try to have a relationship with each of us kids, I know that God’s arms are open waiting to have that unique, personalized relationship with all of his children; to help us, to advise us, to love us. From the example of my earthly Father and his excitement every time our whole family is together, I can only imagine how excited the Lord would be to have us all return home to his presence once again after our journeys here on the earth.

I would now like to quote one of the few scripture masteries I can recall from those very early mornings at seminary (it is also one of the shorter ones).

Moses 1:39 “For behold, this is my work and my glory- to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” I love this scripture because in my own personal opinion, I feel like this is God’s mission statement. He wants to grant us all salvation and that is his work, and his glory, because every single soul matters to Him.

I would like to now share two of my favorite stories from the scriptures that I think embrace the worth of the souls in God’s eyes and then conclude with how this relates to missionary work!

The first parable is that of the lost sheep. I am going to read the account in Luke 15:4-7

“What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.”

I feel like we have all had times in our life where we are the lost sheep. Where we feel like we have fallen behind others, been lost in the crowd or feel like nobody cares. But in this parable we learn how much Christ cares. He will leave the hundred, to care for the one.

In the same account of this parable, we can read in Matthew 18:14 “Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”

Heavenly Father did not put us on this earth to fail. It is not his goal for us to be the lost wandering sheep. However, when we feel that way, we have the Savior. The Savior is there to find us in our trials and tribulation, to pick us up on his shoulders as he said in Luke 15:5, and carry us when we cannot find our way back on our own.Just as Moses 1:39 said, it is his work and glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Through repentance, and our sincere desire to accept the price Christ already paid, we can become clean again and we can return to live with our Father in Heaven. And when we apply the Atonement in our life, turn away from our sins and repent, the Lord rejoices because it shows him we are enduring to the end and continuing on the path to return to live with him again.

The second story I would like to share is that from Christ’s visitation to the Americas by reading from one of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 11:14-15. “Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may ^bfeel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the ^cGod of Israel, and the God of the whole ^dearth, and have been slain for the sins of the world. And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and ^adid feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.”

I would like to emphasis the THAT in vs. 14.  He wanted them to feel the prints in his hands and feet and feel his side THAT they could connect with him and know that he is our Savior. And I love that this was done on a one by one basis as vs. 15 says “and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth.”

I would like us all to imagine now if we were all alive at this time. Think about how that personal moment you would have with YOUR Savior. I am sure they would all be very different. Despite how much I talk and my record-breaking 2,000 words per minute, I feel like my moment with my Savior would be very quiet. I would be very reflective of all the things he has done for me and the love he has for me, and that I have for him. I might be taking some of my own personal liberties here but I don’t see the Savior rushing any of us. I don’t see Him saying, “Ok you have seen my prints move on” or “next in line.” And I believe this because I believe in his atoning sacrifice, that he died for us and individually suffered for every sin, pain, and temptation that we have ever felt. Just as we experience the Atonement one by one, I know Christ and our Heavenly Father also view us one-by-one.

Going back to my assigned scripture,in D&C 18, I would also like to read vs. 11-13.“For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him. And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance. And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!” This is the bridge of the powerful verses included of my talk assignment. We read the worth of souls is great in vs. 10, then in the verses I just read we are reminded of what we learn throughout the scriptures- that Christ suffered for our sins and as I mentioned earlier this was a personal and individual sacrifice, as he atoned for us “one by one.” We then learn that he suffered so we could repent which is required for us all imperfect humans to become perfected in him and gain eternal life which as we read in Moses 1:39, is God’s work and glory.

We then jump to vs. 15-16. Which again says: “And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father! And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!”

I am so incredibly blessed to be a part of this work and it is only my hope that I can bring someone this joy that I have felt. I don’t know how many souls I will bring unto Christ but I know that my heart will be full because as we read in Mosiah 2:17 “when ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God.”

Through the opportunities in the past that I have had to serve others I truly believe that the best way to love someone is to serve them.  But if you don’t take my word for it, take the best line from the best musical ever to hit Broadway, otherwise known as Les Mis: “To love another person is to see the face of God.” I might have worked really hard to try to fit in a line from that musical into my talk somewhere in here, but it is true. I believe that the more we love and serve our fellow beings, the more we start to see them as God sees them, which is of great worth.

And the great thing is, we don’t have to have a mission call to love others, to serve them, or share our testimonies. I hope that we can all call our selves on a mission today- a mission to help be that instrument for the Lord to help bring these other souls back to him. And hence, being able to partake in some of his joy by doing so. And as the Savior beckons to every single one of us, multiple times, in both the Bible and Book of Mormon, to help ourselves and others to “come unto him.”

Brothers and Sisters, we are all of great worth and our Heavenly Father knows each of us so personally. I learned this a lot while I was going the process of deciding to go on a mission and receiving my call. As soon as I read my call, all my fears were gone, I knew it was where I was suppose to go, but the best part out of the whole thing was that I would be speaking English!!! Because Heavenly Father knew that I would get there and if I couldn’t talk, I would be so mad. So I know that he knows me personally and I know that he knows each of you as personally as he knows me. And that he is there waiting for us to get to know him as personally as he knows us. I hope we all know how much he loves us and knows us individually and how much he is cheering us on so that we can return to live with him again. And I hope we realize that we can feel part of that joy if we help other’s also attain that happiness.

I would like to share one last scripture with you today in Alma 26:16, which says:

“Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.”

I truly cannot say the smallest part of which I feel. As I embark on my mission I feel so blessed to have grown up in this gospel and to know this knowledge so many people are seeking their whole life for. While I have been blessed being raised in this gospel, I do want everyone here to know, especially my parents, that I do not believe in this because they do. I am thankful for their example, I am thankful for their testimonies, I am thankful for the home that they created for me to grow up in where the spirit can reside, but I, like many of you, and all those that I teach will have to do, I had to learn this on my own.

By praying and gaining my own relationship with my Father in Heaven I have been led to the following knowledge:

-God lives and he loves each and every one of us and loves me personally and answers my prayers.

-That Jesus Christ is my Savior and that he came to this earth to live a perfect life and be my example. And to pave the way so that I could return to live with him and my Father in Heaven again. And that he is my advocate.

-I know that while Christ was on the earth he established his ministry. And he called apostles of God. But then after his death and the death of the apostles, eventually the priesthood and the true gospel was lost to the interpretation of mankind.

-And I believe and know that a young man with a question, who believed God still spoke to his children in our day, and that the answer he got forever changed my life. I know that this young man was named Joseph Smith and that he was the first prophet called of this last dispensation.

-I know that we still have a living prophet today, President Thomas S. Monson. And that revelation is real. And that we can get answers from Heavenly Father, as I know I have.

-I believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God and another testament of Jesus Christ, as I believe the Bible. Both of these two books have brought my life so much joy and comfort, and are the best way I found for me personally, to get answers to my questions.

-I also know that families can be together forever. I know that as I leave and am away from my family for 18 months, it is more moving to know that I am away from them for 18 months (but that’s ok) because I hope that I can help someone else be with their families forever.

-I would also like to finish and close with that I know this church is true. This gospel has single handedly blessed me more than anything else. I am so blessed and happy and feel so much peace in my life to know where I came from, why I am here, and where I want to go. I can only hope that I will find those that also want this peace and happiness in their life, seeking in Australia.

And I leave you with this, my honest and sincere testimony, in the name of my Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Thank you for everyone that did make it to hear me speak and/or came by to celebrate with us that night. Love you all!