Brothers and sisters, it is so good to be home. I have been
in this ward since I was a sunbeam and though it has changed over the years, it
will always be home. And get ready
because I hear I am the first of many missionary talks to come over the next
few weeks. How great is that? Its going to be wonderful and im so happy for my
dear friends who have also decided to serve.
From the time I got my call I had been thinking about this
day and what I wanted to speak about. As
I studied and prepared more for my mission I knew that I wanted to focus on
Christ. After all, it is He who I will be representing and it is His name I
will wear just below my own, on my chest
for the next 18 months. Once I made this decision I started to think about Him
more and more each day. I started to look for Him and take note of his
presence in my lessons in church, general conference, discussion with my friends and everyday life.
And with each passing day, I noticed Him more. Before this time in my life, Im
not sure I could've really said that I knew Christ or understood Him. I knew he
loved me, and I knew he died for me, but I didn't come unto Him until I began
to know him.
In my experience through studying and preparing for my
mission, there were two distinct ways in
which I came to know Christ. That is ..
1) through developing Christ-like attributes and striving to
become like Him
2) coming to a greater understanding of the atonement.
My
mom has told me many times that, "Life is a becoming process." And
how true that is. We are in constant evolution towards a common goal, that is
to come unto Christ and become like Him. Unlike other institutions of the world
that want us to learn something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to
become something.
Dallin
H. Oaks tells of a story in which a wealthy father
wants to give his inheritance to his son who he knew had not learned enough to
adequately handle it.
The man
says,
“All
that I have I desire to give you—not only my wealth, but also my position and
standing among men. That which I have I can
easily give you, but that which I am you must
obtain for yourself. You will qualify for your inheritance by learning what I
have learned and by living as I have lived. I will give you the laws and
principles by which I have acquired my wisdom and stature. Follow my example,
mastering as I have mastered, and you will become as I am, and all that I have
will be yours.”
This is also how the
gospel works, inviting us to be like him so as to inherit eternal life and
happiness and giving us the commandments and resources to do.
Robert L. Millett says one of my favorite quotes,
"Perfect worship is emulation… to strive with all our might to become more
like him marks the difference between mere admiration of Him and the greater
adoration of Him." To me that means that seeking to become perfect as
Christ was shows our ultimate loyalty and love to Him.
There is a lesson in Preach my gospel called "How do I
develop Christ-like Attributes?" This lesson I came to know very well
because it was the first lesson in church or otherwise that I had ever
given. I was asked by my ward mission
leader to teach it to a class of a few future missionaries and several returned missionaries. These were all people I had grown to look up to very much and I admired them greatly. I was super nervous and I felt pretty incapable to teach such amazing people.
I thought that the people called to teach the class were starting to ask the
pre missionaries to teach the class as a learning exercise. However, with each
passing week, I remained the only student that had taught, and with each
passing week, I gained a stronger knowledge that that assignment was from God.
He knew that I needed it. He knew that in preparation I would study it
backwards and forwards, reading all the scriptures associated with each
attribute and How Christ possessed them. And by doing so, I would personally
receive a deeper understanding and testimony of Christ. And I am immensely happy for that blessing.
The attributes as listed were Charity and Love, Virtue,
Knowledge, Patience, Diligence, Humility and Obedience. But that wasn't enough
for me to describe Christ. So I added to Preach My Gospel's list and I found
this talk by Mark E. Petersen that I loved and he says,
He asks us to be kind, as He was.
He asks us to shun all evil, as He did.
He asks us to be just
and fair to all, as He was.
He asks us to honor our
parents, as He did.
He asks us to cherish
His gospel, as He did.
He asks us to honor the
Sabbath day, as He did.
He resisted temptation,
and so must we.
He never forgot to pray,
and neither must we.
He never forgot His
Father in Heaven, and neither must we."
The all encompassing list of Christ-Like attributes
testifies of Christ's perfection and is an example to everyone on how we must
live.
For example, diligence was an attribute that I didn't really
understand or appreciate until I researched it for my lesson. As I did so, it
became one of the most significant attributes to me. I came to understand it by
learning that diligence is enduring, it’s a steady constant effort In the work
of the Lord. Diligence is so important in missionary work because it teaches to
actually work! Even when you are tired, homesick,
discouraged…those who possess diligence are promised to have joy and
satisfaction In their work.
After I taught that lesson, I started to prepare to receive
my endowments and my time in Provo started to diminish very quickly. I faced a lot of opposition and personal trials
in that time and the lesson on Christ-like attributes was my anchor. And I know
I would've had a lot harder of a time had I not been able to refer back to
those attributes. As I encountered trials I was able to keep attributes such as
patience, charity and obedience in the back of my head and ask myself am I
doing everything I can to develop this attribute? Do I possess this attribute?
Can others see this in me? The effect of
doing this was invaluable. And I gained
a greater testimony of Christ and I testify that as we can all apply these
attributes to all aspects of our life and have Christ in the center of our mind
and actions, we will come to know him and appreciate him infinitely more.
The second way that I
came to know Christ was understanding the atonement better and how it
effects us all. This happened for me as I experienced my first Easter in Provo.
Maybe it was just my incredible ward, roommates and friends, but Easter seemed to be this
month-long affair, in which I learned so much from my peers. in fact, many things I have said and will say are things I learned - slash- stole from them. A particular experience I
remember was the week before Easter a group of friends gathered at my apartment
for scripture study, something we do regularly. But instead of reading from the
Book of Mormon as usual, someone people suggested we read the story of the atonement
from the bible. Admittedly something I had never really done so I'm really
grateful for those inspired people. As
we went around we stopped often as many people would point out things about the
verses, and we had about what seemed like a 2 hour long discussion on Christ. Full of people I
associated with daily testifying of the atonement and teaching each other about
their experiences with it. it was absolutely incredible. One person spoke up and said something that really resonated with me, they
said that if they were the only person on Earth they knew the Savior would have
died for them. Consider that testimony. Many of us tend to think of ourselves
and our problems as insignificant. But accepting and loving ourselves and
others enough to think that the Savior of the world would die for each of us is
a huge step forward. I add my witness to theirs that the suffering of Jesus
Christ was an act of love for us all.
Staying on the subject of the atonement, amongst my
preparation for my mission, I started a habit of bringing a notebook with me to
every meeting I attended and lesson I heard. From general conference, to talks
in church, to institute, scripture study and just every day quotes from my roommates and friends, I wrote down power
phrases that spoke to my heart and I keep as a sources of inspiration and
powerful reminders of gospel truths. I decided to comb through my notes and
scriptures and piece together the ones on the atonement into my own
paragraph. I can't really provide a
direct source from this, due to the fact that every sentence is from a
different source so I guess I'll claim it. And I guess that probably makes me
the first person to ever quote themselves in a talk.... that was my joke.... (people laughed here hehe)
My compilation reads:
"It is he who cometh to take away the sins of the
world. He suffered for fears,
disappointments, discouragement, doubts, weakness.. he suffered more than man
can suffer and he was spared no agony. But. He overcame the world. He will wipe
away tears from all faces. He will never forsake us. He Holds us in his strong embrace
continuously. Because of Him, everyone's tomb can one day be empty, everyone's
soul can again be pure, every child of God can again return to the Father who
gave them life. No anguish of His own soul would ever keep Him from sustaining
that role. We cannot comprehend this priceless gift, the gift that came from a
Loving Christ. I weep for joy when I
contemplate the significance of it all."
I have a strong testimony of the atonement. I am so thankful
for Christ's atoning sacrifice for me and for everyone else who has ever lived.
Understanding the atonement has helped me immensely in coming to know my
Savior.
At this point, I want to express my gratitude to my parents
who have been the best examples of Christ to me and my siblings. They have
centered our home around Him and supported us with Christ-like love and their
example is priceless to me. I know that
a large part of my relationship and understanding of Christ is due to the
people I have been lucky enough to know.
From my amazing friends in Provo who I owe so much of who I have become to and who I will never forget, to this ward
family, my teachers and leaders and friends here. To those youth of this ward, I'd say that we are lucky to
have had the leaders that we have had. We are lucky to be participants in the
Young men and Young women programs and though some of you may not see it, it is
shaping your life to follow Christ and my experiences as a growing teenager in
this ward have shaped who I am today. We are lucky, also to have this
bishop, who cares for us leads us with his Christ-like love. And we are so
lucky to live in the time in which the
lord is hastening his work, and through divine revelation has lowered the age
of which youth can serve. I am eternally grateful for the opportunity I have to
serve my mission and spread the message of the restored gospel, the pure love,
and the infinite atonement of Jesus Christ to the people of Arizona.
In closing, I'd like to add that at this point in my life, I
can say that I know my Savior through learning of his attributes, striving to
develop and possess them, and understanding the atonement. Not perfectly, or
nearly as much as I want to, but I can testify of Him with more power than I have ever had. I see Him and feel His
perfect love every day. I felt arms around me when I came home from a long hard
day to find a note on my bed from my roommate simply saying she was thinking
about me, I felt His desire for us to be happy as I stood on top of a mountain
peak with the beautiful pacific coast stretching beneath me, I witnessed his
charity and tender mercy as I watched a friend change my hopelessly flat tire
as the freezing snow fell on his uncovered arms and hands, and I most certainly
felt his eternal love as I walked into the celestial room for the first time
and saw all 5 of my beautiful siblings
and my parents waiting for me with open arms.
Brothers and sisters, I see my Savior's hands, feel his arms and recognize His influence in
my life every day. Everything good about me came from Him. I love Him, I miss Him and I testify of Him
and I do so in His name, Amen.
