Good morning Brothers and Sisters! I
haven’t given a talk for quite some time so I’m pretty nervous. But I was
reading in my scriptures and I came across this one: “My (Daughter), peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and afflictions shall be but a small moment." Yep, about 20 minutes. I can do this. I am
so grateful for the opportunity I have to speak to you today. I asked a couple
of my friends what I could do to get everyone’s attention and they told me I
should do a backflip off the stand. So here goes… (Pretend like I’m gonna do a
backflip) Just kidding, I can’t do a backflip. But what I can do is promise
that if you stay awake during my talk Isaac will do something really cool when
he gets up.
Okay so I was asked to speak on President
Eyring’s talk from this past general conference. It is titled “Come Unto Me.” I
love President Eyring and I love this talk but I had a really hard time
choosing what direction I wanted to go with this so I hope that the spirit
helps me out here.
So what does
it mean to come unto Christ? The words “come unto Christ” are an invitation. This
is the invitation I get to extend to our brothers and sisters in the
Philippines. It is the most important invitation that anyone could ever offer
to another person. It is the most important invitation anyone could ever
accept. Just like any other invitation, it is our choice to accept it or reject
it. There are multiple instances in the scriptures where Christ asks us
to come unto him. One of my favorites is in D&C 88:63. It says “Draw near unto me and I will draw near
unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”
I love this scripture because of the promise it contains. Christ promises that
if we will come unto him he will draw nearer to us. President Eyring tells us
of a time that he felt the Savior drawing near unto Him.
“The
memory of one day more than 65 years ago, when I kept the commandment to gather
with my family and with the Saints, still draws me closer to the Savior.
It was dark and cold outside. I remember feeling light and warmth in the chapel
that evening with my parents. We partook of the sacrament, administered by
Aaronic Priesthood holders, covenanting with our Heavenly Father to always
remember His Son and keep His commandments. At the end of the meeting we sang
the hymn “Abide with Me; ’Tis Eventide,” with the words in it “O Savior, stay
this night with me.” I felt the Savior’s
love and closeness that evening.”
I have felt this way too and I’m sure
many of you have as well. One of the first times I remember feeling this way
was when I was 12 years old. It was my very first year at girls’ camp, which
meant my very first girls camp testimony meeting. Those of you have attended
one of those can testify of just how amazing they are. Almost every single girl
got up and bore her testimony of her Savior and His love for her. I imagine it
was cold and dark, but I just remember the warmth and the light. As I got up
and shared my testimony for the very first time it was as if He was standing
right there in our little circle. I felt Him near that night.
While I was
preparing for this talk, the word “come” really caught my attention. Whenever
Christ invites us to draw near to him it is always “come.” It doesn’t ever say,
“Go find Him.” You know why I think that is? Because He is ALWAYS there. He is
already walking right beside you, just waiting for you to come, to realize that
He’s there. President Eyring tells a story from the book of Luke that
illustrates this.
Two of the disciples walked from
Jerusalem on the road to Emmaus after the resurrection of Christ. The
resurrected Christ appeared on the road and walked with them. The Lord had come
to them. The book of Luke allows us to walk with them:
“And it came to pass, that, while they
communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.
“But their eyes were holden that they
should not know him.
“And he said unto them, What manner of
communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?
“And the one of them, whose name was
Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and
hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?”
They told Him of their sadness that
Jesus had died when they had trusted He would be the Redeemer of
Israel.
There must have been affection in the
risen Lord’s voice as He spoke to these two sorrowful and mourning disciples:
“Then he said unto them, O fools, and
slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
“Ought not Christ to have suffered
these things, and to enter into his glory?
“And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the
scriptures the things concerning himself.”
Then came a moment that has warmed my
heart since I was a little boy:
“And they drew nigh unto the village,
whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further.
“But they constrained him, saying,
Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went
in to tarry with them.”
The Savior accepted that night the
invitation to enter the house of His disciples near the village of Emmaus.
How cool
would it be to have the Savior accept an invitation into your home? The word “come”
also implies action. Christ could not have accepted the invitation if it was
not first extended. In order for Him to come unto us, we have to do something first. Any time there is a
miracle in the scriptures, there is first someone coming unto him. The ten
lepers came to him asking to be healed, the woman with an issue of blood just
had to come close enough to Him to touch His cloak, many times a parent with a
sick or dying child brought that child unto Christ to be healed.
These are
examples of coming to him physically, but how can we come unto Him spiritually?
Probably the simplest and most important way is obedience, simple acts of
obedience to the commandments. Things like studying scriptures, attending
church, saying daily prayers, and paying tithing. President Eyring’s story of
attending sacrament when he was a little boy is an example of how he was able
to feel Christ near by being obedient.
This past year in college I got to
experience how simple acts of obedience bring you closer to Christ more than I
ever have before. Even though I lived about 10 minutes away from the beautiful
SLC temple, I might have gone once the entire Fall semester. I read my scriptures
late at night and I would only make it through a couple of verses before I fell
asleep. Life wasn’t terrible by any means, but sometimes I would feel alone and
when I prayed I felt like I was just talking to the wall. When Spring semester
came around, I got new wonderful roommates and we started going to the temple
every week. I started to study my scriptures earlier in the day. As I did these
things, I was able to better focus on school and I just felt happier. As I
became more obedient, I felt closer to Christ and I never felt alone.
Another way
we can draw closer to Christ is to serve Him and our fellow men. This reminds
me of the baptismal covenants many of us have made which include bearing one
another’s burdens, mourning with those that mourn, and standing as a witness of
God at all times and in all things and in all places. We are under covenant both to lift up those in need and to
be witnesses of the Savior as long as we live.
This ward is
an amazing example of that. As many of you know, my mom is a single mother and
a few weeks ago she lost her job. When she told me that, I was angry. Aren’t
the families of missionaries supposed to be blessed? How were we supposed to
get everything I still needed for my mission? Why would Heavenly Father let
this happen? There is a scripture, D&C 84:88 that says “And whoso receiveth
you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your
right hand and on your left, and my spirit shall be in our hearts, and mine
angels round about you to bear you up.” This experience has strengthened my
testimony of angels on earth. As soon as the ward found out, there were angels
showing up on my doorstep with money or supplies that I still needed. We got
letters in the mail with no return address full of money. I have truly been
humbled by the outpouring of love and support that was so freely given and hope
that those people were able to feel Christ come closer to them through their
service to me and I would just like to say thank you for all that you’ve done.
Right now, my
way of standing as a witness is serving a full time mission. However, there are
a lot of other ways you can stand as a witness. For example, you can be a
missionary through your example and your actions. I have a lot of friends who
are great examples of this but my friend Avery is a really great one. She is
always giving Books of Mormon to people she feels would benefit from it and
letting people know what she believes. When I think about being a sharing the
gospel with someone, I think of how scary it would be. A few months ago a
missionary shared a quote with me that has really helped me with that. It’s
from the movie We Bought a Zoo. It goes like this: “Sometimes all you need is
just 20 seconds of insane courage. Just, literally 20 seconds of embarrassing
bravery. And I promise you something great will come of it.”
As we do our best to invite others to
come unto Christ President Eyring gives us this promise, “We will be able to do
it without fail only as we feel love for the Savior and His love for us. As we
are faithful to the promises we have made, we will feel our love for Him. It
will increase because we will feel His power and His drawing near to us in His
service.” I know this is true. There is no way that I am going to learn a
language I’d never heard of before without some help. I know that as I come
unto Him by serving the people of the Philippines, He will help me and I will
be able to do it.
President Eyring goes on to talk about
another blessing of coming unto Christ, “As we give devoted service to Him, He
draws closer to those we love in our families. Many
of you have loved ones who are wandering off the path to eternal life. You
wonder what more you can do to bring them back. You can depend on the Lord to
draw closer to them as you serve Him in faith.” The first time I heard
this talk, this really stuck out to me. As I’ve been preparing for the mission
for the past 6 months, I’ve been feeling something that I hadn’t really felt a
whole lot before. I didn’t know how to describe it really until I found this
scripture, “Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every
creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even
the very thought that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to
quake and tremble.” It is really hard for me to see people that I love trying
to endure life’s trials alone, not knowing that their Savior is right there
waiting for them to come unto him. The gospel makes me SO happy and all I want
is for them to be happy too. In Mosiah 27, the angel is speaking to Alma the
Younger, “And again, the angel said: Behold, the
Lord hath heard the prayers of his people, and also the prayers of his servant,
Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that
thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth; therefore, for this
purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that
the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith.”
That feeling is what
helped me decide that I wanted to serve a mission. I couldn’t bear the thought
of anyone not having the opportunity to have what I have and know what I know.
How could I have something that makes me so happy and not share it with others?
I am grateful and humbled that I might be able to be the answer to someone’s
prayers by bringing their loved ones unto Christ and I am thankful for the promise
that as I serve Christ will draw near unto those I love.
I know that my family
will be watched over and protected as I serve that Lord and that not only will
Christ draw near unto me, He will draw near unto my family. I know that Christ
lives and that He is always there. He knows and loves each of us individually.
Despite the fact that the first two things I heard after opening my call were
“They eat baby ducks,” and “My teacher went there, he got shot,” I as so
excited to serve the Lord and the people of the Philippines! I know it’s going
to be hard but I know that I am not going to have to do it alone. He will come to us when we need Him most. I am so
thankful for my family, especially my mom and all she’s done to help me get
ready and build my testimony. I am especially thankful for all of my young women’s leaders and the
young women. My testimony would not be what it is today without them.
In
closing I want to share with you the words of a song:
I've never been the kind to testify, I don't
have the words his truth deserves. But it's a simple thing he asks,
a worthy
heart and willing hands.
He says if I'll make the choice,
He'll help me find my
voice.
He calls me to serve and I cannot fail him, the one who has given me all
that I have. I place my trust in him alone,
He knows the yearnings of my soul.
Because
he believes in me,
I will go willingly. How can I keep this gift to my
self
, when I can lift somebody else?
I am a witness of his miracles and his
mercy,
I put my future in his hands,
knowing he's made me all I am. I put my
faith in him, the truth begins to
speak.
His power is real, it moves me until, I
will not be
still.
In the name of Jesus
Christ, Amen.