For those of you who missed it or simply just wanted to read it again, here was my farewell talk at church.
Mid-January, I received my mission
call. I had been waiting for over five
weeks since the time I sent in my application, each day running to the mailbox
full of hope, but each time leaving with a little-bit of frustration. Until it finally came. My anxious family and friends assembled in my
house and on Skype to finally hear my big announcement, an announcement I had planned to execute flawlessly and with
power, excitement and confidence.
As video players were turned on,
and with all eyes on me, my plan failed as excitement and nervousness took over
and I boldly announced, “You are assigned to labor in the Pah-nom-men-a,
Pah-nom-men-a City mission.” After
realizing what I said, feeling a little embarrassed, I reread my mission call
correctly; Panama, Panama City Mission.
In
life, sometimes the most thought-out and perfect plans don’t work out quite the
way we planned them and we fall short of our expectations as well as the
expectations of others. At times our
plans fail miserably or are temporarily ignored and we even fail to live up to
the expectations of our Heavenly Father. However through His mercy, we can learn of Christ
and draw on Christ’s Atonement to make the necessary adjustments to receive the
wonderful blessings of our Heavenly Father.
In
our last General Conference Russell M. Nelson gave a talk entitled, “Drawing
the Power of Jesus Christ in Our Lives”. During his talk he told how he
challenged the young adults to study everything Jesus Christ said and did in
the scriptures. After he completed the challenge himself he reports back with
these key words and I quote, “I am a different man!” According to our Father’s
plan, it was Jesus Christ, our Savior, who suffered. It was the Savior who paid
the price for our sins and transgressions. It is through the Savior that we are
able to repent and live again as he did. “As Latter-day Saints, we refer to His
mission as the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which made resurrection a reality for
all and made eternal life possible for those who repent of their sins and
receive and keep essential ordinances and covenants.”
The scriptures are full of examples
where individuals were able to enhance their lives through their belief in
Jesus Christ and through His Atonement establish a new or better plan. Some that come to mind include the following:
1) Firstly,
there was Alma. Alma who came to the realization that he was endorsing and
following the wicked King Noah. Alma….repented
of his sins and iniquities, and went about privately among the people, and
began to teach the words of Abinadi.
2) There was Alma
the Younger who was visited by an angel and told to cease his efforts in destroying
God’s church or he would be destroyed. After
repenting and being forgiven of his sins. Alma the Younger and the sons of
Mosiah completely changed their lives. Traveling throughout the land to correct
the wrongs they had done.
3) King Lamoni
who after learning about the goodness of God cried, unto the Lord saying: O
Lord, have mercy; according to thy abundant mercy which thou has had upon the
people of Nephi, have upon me, and my
people.
4) King Lamoni’s
Father who also upon learning about God exclaimed, “O God, Aaron hath told me
that there is a God; and if there is a god; and if thou art God, wilt thou make
thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee….
I know that I have personally been
changed through the goodness of God and Christ’s Atonement. As a temple worker,
I have had the privilege to see Christ’s Atonement in action directly through temple
ordinances. Each and every sacred
ordinance in the temple is deeply rooted back to Christ’s Atonement. I know
that I wouldn’t be nearly as ready to serve a mission today without such a
strong testimony in the Atonement. I know the biggest and most important part
of the Atonement is that through Christ that we are able to gain any and all of
the beautiful blessings God has promised his followers. Most importantly the
blessing of forgiveness through the gift of repentance.
In my personal studies I have
learned that the Greek term for repentance is “metanoeó” [meh-te-no-ehh-‘o’] meaning to change one's mind or purpose. And I
know that when I think of repentance I think of the verse in 3 Nephi 9:20 “Ye
shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit”. But
I love the reminder of a change of one’s purpose. Not only should we repent for
what we have done and to try our best to avoid those same shortcomings. But
additionally, we need to repent by changing our purpose to be more like Christ
and aligned with His teachings. On a mission I will continue to be repenting (as
in the Greek sense of changing my mind and purpose little by little) towards
being more and more Christ-like daily.
In Mark 5:25-34, we read about a
women who has retained an incurable blood disease for the past 12 years. By
exercising an incredible amount of faith in our Savior she said: “If I may
touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.” This woman stretched as far as she
could to reach our Heavenly Fathers power. When we reach up for that power with
that life or death intensity it will be given unto us. Through repentance, we
may gain this great intensity. Not just by repenting from our mistakes, but by additionally
repenting for our purpose and our desires.
With a greater appreciation for the
Atonement then from before I turned in my mission papers, I’m excited to be
able to teach about this beautiful gift to others. I can’t wait to see and
report back to all of you in two years. I’d like to end my talk with my
testimony, but before I do I’d like to talk a little bit about me.
[I'm sorry I don't remember exactly what I said when I started to give my thanks to everyone, but I know this was pretty close]
I’d like to thank my mother for her
loving lectures. I’d like to thank her for consistent pushing and encouraging
me to reach my potential. I’d like to thank her for her organization which has
been incredibly helpful with my preparation. Without any of these I wouldn’t be
ready for a mission.
I’d like to thank my father. Once I
got my call and found out that it was Spanish speaking, I realized that my 4
years of French wasn’t going to be helpful. I probably should have listened more
to my parents when they said Spanish was more practical. Anyways, what happened
is we looked for a Spanish night class and we both joined it. It was such an
incredible experience to be in class with my father. And I know that he was
really excited when it ended, because he thought he was getting back those 6
hours a week. But I know he will make good use of that time with his new
calling. I’d also like to thank him for being a worthy priesthood holder, for being
role model, and for his unwavering faithfulness.
I’d like to thank my leaders for
their dedication and always going that extra mile. I’d like to thank my siblings and
grandparents, and well really everyone for their support. You have all allowed me to be where
I am today. Now let me tell you a little of what I know.
[My Testimony]
1. Dios es
nuestro Padre Celestial.
2. Nosotros
somos Sus hijos.
3. Dios nos
envió a la
tierra para aprender y progresar.
4. Dios preparó un plan para ayudarnos a regresar
con Él.
5. Podemos
regresar a Dios manteniédonos
limpios.
6. La Expiación de Jesucristo es central en el
plan de Dios.
7. A través de la Expiación, podemos ser liberados del
pecado.