Mission Farewell

Good morning brothers and sisters. I’ve known for the past few years that I wanted to serve a mission, and it all started in seminary. As I began with studying the Doctrine and Covenants and the Old Testament in my first years of seminary, I saw the correlation to the teachings and promises of the Book of Mormon. I remember growing up and never considering a mission, because in Primary I just wanted to get married. But once in seminary I began having a more constant Spirit with me and I saw the blessings of studying the scriptures and learning of the Gospel every day. I don’t recall the exact moment I desired to serve a mission, but I remember being overcome with a great peace and joy from this Gospel while in seminary and thinking that I wanted everyone to be able to experience this full happiness and have this Gospel in their lives. At that moment I had an overwhelming love for all of Heavenly Father’s children, and this experience changed the way I looked at friends, and strangers. Instead of getting angry when something goes wrong or hurts me, I am constantly just looking at people and thinking about how much our Heavenly Father loves that individual. It’s overwhelming seeing every single person this way and comprehending how much I myself love them and want them to have happiness and peace in their lives. But this has led me to so many of my best friends all around the world. 

For those of you who may not know, after I graduated high school last spring, I immediately moved myself to Australia to nanny for 8 months. A lot of praying and tears and confusion went into this decision, as up until my last trimester in high school I had always planned to immediately attend college in Utah. At the time I knew no one in Australia and trusted a google search that led me to finding a random family. What amazes me most about this experience is the people I met. At church, almost 8000 miles away, being surrounded by people you don’t know but believe the exact same things you do is amazing. I never got homesick, but when I went to church after first arriving there, it was like I was home. Everything felt the same and the people were so happy and welcoming – you’d think they had known me for years as a close friend. Now the family that I lived with are not members, and most of the people around me in the community are not members, but they all respected what I believed and loved me just the same. Every single person I met was an example to me in the way that they showed their own faith, respect, and joy in their lives. I still talk to all of the friends I made there, and one close friend in particular was an amazing example of a faithful and selfless love. She has such an awareness of Heavenly Father’s hand in her life, and it seems as though she receives answers to every single prayer almost immediately. She looks at all things as an answer to her prayers. And it inspires me so much with how I look at my prayers and finding an answer. Another friend I made there was just baptized a little over a year ago, and his testimony amazes me. He grew up in a Christian home but personally didn’t believe in God, but one of his best friends was getting taught by the missionaries and started sharing it with him. His testimony and closeness with the Spirit continue to amaze me every time I would see him and every time we talk. He cares about other people in such a deep Christ-like way that you can’t help but feel Heavenly Father’s love for you specifically when you talk with him. These friends have helped me to feel my Savior’s love constantly, as I am able to begin to see myself through their eyes. My experience in Australia was not perfect, and it was hard, exhausting, pressing, and lonely at times, and I was surrounded by vegemite but now I am going to the land of cheese and ice cream, so there is definitely some blessings ahead. All of these things have been perfect for me however, because I have never felt Heavenly Father’s love so much not only for myself, but for all of His children everywhere. 

These are just a few of the many incredible friends I am blessed to have support me in my life. We should all strive to be that kind of person, and friend. Constantly tell others you appreciate them, or look up to them, or love them. President Howard W. Hunter said “Mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and then speak it again”. 

President Monson shared this story: “N. Eldon Tanner, who was then an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve, had just returned from his initial experience of presiding over the missions in Great Britain and western Europe. He told of a missionary who had been the most successful missionary whom he had met in all of the interviews he had conducted. He said that as he interviewed that missionary, he said to him, “I suppose that all of the people whom you baptized came into the Church by way of referrals.”

The young man answered, “No, we found them all by tracting.”

Brother Tanner asked him what was different about his approach—why he had such phenomenal success when others didn’t. The young man said that he attempted to baptize every person whom he met. He said that if he knocked on the door and saw a man smoking a cigar and dressed in old clothes and seemingly uninterested in anything—particularly religion—the missionary would picture in his own mind what that man would look like under a different set of circumstances. In his mind he would look at him as clean-shaven and wearing a white shirt and white trousers. And the missionary could see himself leading that man into the waters of baptism. He said, “When I look at someone that way, I have the capacity to bear my testimony to him in a way that can touch his heart.”

Monson went on to share that “We should develop the capacity to see men not as they are but as they can become”.

The best way to be successful whether in a mission or not, is to use the example of the perfect friend, Jesus Christ, and see every person for their potential. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). 

No one is going to have their life together all the time, so just as we should not be hard on ourselves, we should not judge or be hard on others. I think the best way to be a missionary, with or without a nametag on, is to simply show people the kind of love that the Savior wants them to feel. Being a missionary now is the best way that you can love other people. Share what brings you joy and serve. We are taught in Mosiah to be “willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort”. This isn’t saying that we should feel guilty for the weaknesses of others, but that we should lift others up and carry them when they are weak. We should comfort and serve and love others as Christ would. 

See the world as Christ did. And how did Christ see the world? Jesus served and loved all those who persecuted him, used him, ignored him, betrayed him, followed him, and respected him. He was able to truly see with the eternal perspective we hear so much about. Brothers and sisters if we truly look around with an eternal perspective, if we could see Heaven, and Heavenly Father’s plan and His love for EACH of His children, we would LOVE them. We would heal them. We would comfort, support, uplift, and not fear. We would have the strength to go each day with faith that God’s will is glorious and that even as we are persecuted and sought after and ridiculed and betrayed, the awareness of our Heavenly Father makes all of that not matter. As we would be able to understand the heavens and see that what truly matters is helping those around us to learn of Christ so that they too can return to Him. 

This concept strikes so deep in me, the concept of Christ seeing the whole picture, the good of the world and the bad, he was able to see EVERYTHING, and he loved all men and was calm and faithful and positive, even though he knew trials were going to come to him. Doesn’t that tell us that God’s plan must be SO great, that if we too could see past the veil and see with a whole eternal perspective, we would be overjoyed to follow God’s plan. We would take heed. This testifies to me how great God’s plan is! Because Christ was able to see it all, and that knowledge led him to not make time for punishing, putting down, neglecting, ignoring, or using others. So, we must use the prophets advice to see with an eternal perspective, and fully realize the example Christ gave us in this, by allowing ourselves to see that the negative and the weakness and the let downs and the persecutions do not matter. What matters is the love that Heavenly Father has. What matters is the potential in every person’s Spirit. What matters is that the sick and afflicted and weak and troubled are blessed when they have faith. But the faith to thrust in our sickles and try God’s will is not what heals us – it is the faith to DO God’s will, the faith to reap, the faith that even if we don’t receive the miracle in an area we desperately need one in, that God still lives, and that God has a plan and a will and a way for it all to come to pass to where we will know with a surety of comfort that the eternal perspective of things is so beautiful and so in our favor. 

Imagine those game shows with the prizes behind a curtain. Now imagine if someone learns about the prize behind the curtain and found out how great and desirable of a prize it was, and then proceeded to serve others and help them deserve that prize because of how wonderful it was, because they loved everyone else and knew that when the curtain was drawn for each person, they wanted each individual to be able to be worthy and ready to partake of the blessings of the prize. That curtain is the veil, that person is the Savior, and we are called to do His work, to be missionaries with or without a badge on so that we may gather those we love and those we don’t know and help everyone to be excited and ready and worthy of this great Plan of Happiness that our loving Heavenly Father has given us. 

Everyone else relies on this faith that the curtain leads to amazing places and amazing ideas and amazing plans. So have faith that everything is worth it, and everything works out, because someone came to this Earth and suffered greatly so that this prize may be, Christ showed us through love and service and teachings, that if we could see what’s behind the veil, every effort to serve and struggle and get back up and love would be so worth it! We can attain it if we study and strengthen our knowledge of Heaven, and our relationship with our Savior and Heavenly Father. If we just have faith, if we just have gratitude for the blessings, and the trials. Because only someone who truly loves us would put obstacles and weaknesses in our way, so that we may grow stronger, improve, and get to the finish line where it’s much more impressive to have improved and succeeded. 

Just because you suffer does not mean you are being punished. A few months ago, in a lesson in church I remember hearing that God does not promise to take away the trial in front of us. But he will show you the way through it. The loophole, the path of escape, we must still go through the trial sometimes, but through Heavenly Father and our faith we are able to make it through. He lightens our burdens, he doesn’t make life always easy, but he makes it durable and worth it. We can help others to persevere because sometimes what is needed is a friend, a meal, a shoulder to cry on, an opportunity to serve, or someone to give us their perspective and advice. 

I know there are going to be times when we aren’t sure about life or we question ourselves or our friends or our testimonies. But as you persevere and truly seek to find out for yourself you will be able to receive your answer from Heavenly Father. There are times when we may feel like our weaknesses or trials are unfair, but in these moments those friends we have will comfort us, and by collecting friends that are examples of the happiness, patience, love, selflessness, and joy that we seek, we will see that through Christ our weaknesses are strengthened. Some of our trials may be life-long, and maybe they will constantly bear down on us as we are often reminded of them, but as we turn to Heavenly Father and sincerely open up to him in prayer, we will receive peace and comfort. 

In Australia I was able to attend the Institute and Mission Prep classes. The Mission Prep class became like our own little family and we would get together and eat amazing food and play games. Most of the people that came to Mission Prep had either already been on missions, or were around 17-25, and we realized the class wasn’t just specifically to teach us how to be a missionary, but how to go through life. It was actually Life Prep. Even if you aren’t at the age of serving a mission, or you aren’t sure if you want to serve a mission, just prepare for a mission. As you prepare for a mission and become closer to the Spirit and Heavenly Father, you will see blessings of guidance and comfort in your life. And if you end up going on a mission, then you are prepared. And if you don’t end up going on a mission, then you have still increased and strengthened your relationship with your Heavenly Father. Even if you are married or six years old or sixty years old, prepare for a mission. Prepare to serve others, to share your testimony, to become closer to Heavenly Father, to study the scriptures and the Gospel, to be an example. You can do it every day no matter how old or young. Share with others what makes you happy.

President Monson said: “Choose good friends.Friends help to determine your future. You will tend to be like them and to be found where they choose to go. Remember, the path we follow in this life leads to the path we follow in the next”. We don’t just need nice friends that include us and make us feel wanted and appreciated, in essence, we need friends that we look up to, that seem to have their life together in a way that we seek. Even if we don’t feel worthy of that kind of friendship because we may think, who wants to be friends with a person who isn’t as spiritual or as kind or as fun or talks too much or never talks or is loud, just trust that as you are striving to love yourself and become closer to our Heavenly Father, you actually will come across as having something that they too will admire. Never see yourself as the lesser friend that is just the extra. Find people who inspire you in some way and I promise that you inspire the most amazing people you know because of the littlest things that may just be routine for you. 

In a 2012 Priesthood Session talk, President Monson shared, “During the 1940s and 1950s, an American prison warden, Clinton Duffy, was well known for his efforts to rehabilitate the men in his prison. Said one critic, “You should know that leopards don’t change their spots!” Replied Warden Duffy, “You should know I don’t work with leopards. I work with men, and men change every day.” Even when I was in elementary and middle school, I had already began to not like my personality because I was shy and not outgoing. I seriously dreaded living 80 more years like this boring person that I knew would not get me the friendships I desired or the memories and opportunities that I sought. I don’t know how Heavenly Father works the way he does and keeps track of all things, leading to the person we are and can be, but somehow, I was friends with people who were amazing and stuck by me even when I annoyed them and was dramatic. Somehow these past few years I have transformed into the person I seriously never thought I could be. And it is so cool. I mean I’m not cool I’m still weird, but I push myself just far enough that I make myself the Spiritual outgoing person that I wished I could be. And this is all because God placed me exactly where I am, with so many family and friends who were annoyingly positive throughout the years, and as I became closer with my Savior and learned of His love not only for everyone, but for me specifically, I was able to take the examples around me and become a better person. I am able to do so many crazy things – while I was in Australia, I climbed vines to get the most beautiful view of the ocean, I sat on the edge of cliffs to go whale watching, I gave marriage advice to a bunch of people that were all quite a few years older than me, and somehow this girl from potato land grew up to go kangaroo hunting. Maybe that one is not that surprising but kangaroos you guys, they’re pests and since I’m American and actually took hunters education classes, I have all these jealous old men as my friends as well. But best of all, I am going on a mission so that I can share with people what I love, what helps me, what has changed me, what gives me peace and hope and guidance in my life. All these crazy little occurrences are because of this Gospel in my life. The friends and examples I have surrounded myself with, who have shown me by their missionary-like service how to see myself not by the world’s eyes, but through the eyes of someone who knows the true desires of my heart, what I want to become, and what I am capable of doing to become that. 

Through this Gospel, we can change and become better. As we use our friendship and example as the best missionary tool, we are helping others to strengthen their friendship with our Savior, the one who can really give them the best advice, peace, and motivation. 

3 Nephi 18: 16, 24 - 

"16 And as I have prayed among you even so shall ye pray in my church, among my people who do repent and are baptized in my name. Behold I am the light; I have set an example for you.  24 Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do. Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed."

I know that this Gospel is so true, and its teachings are beautiful. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father loves us enough to make a path that returns us to His presence, where we can be with our families for all eternity. I know that through the Atonement and the merciful love of our Savior and Heavenly Father, we can change and see miracles that we wouldn’t think are possible. I know that friends and examples are placed in our lives as we seek them out, so that we can uplift one another as we strive to serve all of Heavenly Father’s children. I know that we can constantly prepare for a mission and be a missionary all the time. And I am so grateful that I get to serve as a missionary for 18 months in Wisconsin so that I can solely serve my brothers and sisters and love them no matter who they are or where they are or if they want my love. God never said any of this life would be easy, but it will be worth it. I have a sure testimony of this. I know that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Christ along with the teachings of the Bible. I know that the best way to be a missionary now and forever is by following the perfect example of the perfect friend Jesus Christ, who heals those who betray him, who loves the weak and afflicted, and stands up for those who have sinned. And I am so grateful and excited to be the Lord’s missionary, to bring the world his truth. I leave these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.