Farewell Talk

Malena's talk:

Good Morning Ya'll.  Thanks for coming out today.  I have been called to the Texas Fort Worth Mission, and I report on June 5th, or in 17 days.  Ever since I received my call, I have been asked the question of "how I knew I wanted to serve a mission?" so too begin I would like to share a spiritual and life changing experience I have in the last year.

When I graduated high school, I had a large amount of my best friends leave all over the world to go serve missions.  I went to all of their call openings and farewells, and as I watched them prepare and worry and experience this, I began to wonder if this was the right choice for me.  I knew that if I wanted to go, it has to be because I love the gospel and want others to see the joy it can bring.  So, I began to pray and read my scriptures and think about going on a mission.  After pondering and praying for 2-3 months, the opportunity for me to go to the temple on my own came along.  Before I went to the waiting room, I prayed that somehow I would know for a surety that I was supposed to serve.  I went in and sat down and grabbed a quad.  I closed my eyes and opened  to a page in Doctrine and covenants.  The first scripture I saw was D&C 99:1 and it reads: "Beyond, thus saith the Lord unto my servant John Murdock, thou art called to go into the easter countries...to proclaim mine everlasting gospel unto the inhabitants thereof."  and met first thought was "WOW what a coincidence that I opened to a scripture about missionary work!"  So, I tried again, and again, and again.  All 4 times each scripture mentioned, testified, or spoke of the importance of missionary work.  A very clear and obvious answer, which was great b cease I am not good at picking up signals.  Through this answer I was filled with complete joy and excitement to serve a mission and that is why I am here today, to testify of the gospel and the power of missionary work.

About a month ago, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf spoke of Missionary work in General Conference.  He begins by speaking of his joy of the gospel spreading all around the world, but then explains how we are just a small flock of sheep in a big world.  While membership is growing throughout the glove, many are not attending church and receiving the immense blessings they could through regular gospel interaction.  This can be disheartening, but it can also be seen as Elder Uchtdorf giving us a challenge to show people the light of Christ.  In my opinion, when someone is baptized into the church, they have accepted a call to be a missionary by showing their light and happiness that comes from the gospel.  This doesn't entail proselyting, leaving your family, or wearing close toed shoes for 18 months, but it dow mean that you are sharing your love of the gospel with others and wanting them to feel the Love of Christ that you feel thought being a member of this church.  In his talk, Elder Uchtdorf gives 5 simple ways to fulfill this life calling:

The first is Draw Close to God.  I could stand up here and tell you why reading your scriptures, saying your prayers, and going to church will DEFINITELY help you draw closer to God, but there are other ways too that I have seen work in my life.  One is sharing your testimony to others.  This is hard.  But it can be done in ways other than testimony meeting on fast Sunday.  It can be done in small ways too.  For example, My family has a daily spiritual thought group chat.  My cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents send quotes, scriptures, or thought that are meaningful to them.  it creates an environment to share feelings and spiritual questions and help each other gain testimonies and knowledge on different topics.  Some other different ways to draw closer to our Father in Heaven is to act on spiritual promptings.  In Ether 7:12, it reads "wherefore, all things which are good cometh of God."  When good thoughts pop into our heads, such as "text that person who you haven't seen in a while, or ask that girl crying what's wrong, or turn your car around when you see someone in need, " we know that they all come from Heavenly Father.  By understanding this and acting on our promptings, we will grow closer to Him.

Elder Uchtdorf's second suggestions is "Fill you heart with Love for others".  It's explained how we should see everyone as a child of God, even though it can be hard.  One of my missionary friends was emailing me a while back, and mentioned that he was having troubles getting along with his companion.  I quickly found an article about ways to get along with a companion and sent the ideas to him, and the 2nd one was to learn to love him.  It explained that by getting to know someone and serving them, it can help your love fro them to grow, because you are seeing them less as a difficult companion, and more as a child of our Heavenly Father who is suffering and struggling as much as you are.  I told him how we don't have to love people as we would, we only have to love them as Christ would.  Christ loves everyone.  he sought out those who were different, banished, or mocked, and he showed them that they are important and loved and through faith they can be forgiven of anything.  As missionaries, we can't change people, we can only love them and soften their hearts so Christ can change them.

The third piece of advice is to Strive to Walk in the Path of His discipleship.  As we are drawing closer to God, and learning to love those around us, we will become more committed to the Lord and his gospel.  Even those who are firmly committed to the Lord and strive every day to walk perfectly along the line of the gospel will slip up.  It happens, we're human.  But by using the atonement, we can get back to Christ.  There has NEVER been a sin, or mistake that has been too harsh that can't be forgiven.  The Atonement is there to be taken advantage of.  Many people are ashamed to sue the atonement, because they will have to admit they missed up.  But that's why we're here!  To get better!  To learn!  Not taking full advantage of the atonement in our lives is like being about to use notes on an exam and never opening your notebook.  While striving to follow Christ, we need to progress through the atonement.  but through this we will be happier, cleaner, and more authentic in our lives.

The fourth is to share what's in your heart.  A great example of this in my life has been my mom.  About a year ago my mom and I were in Relief Society, and someone said that as mother, they need to be open and share their testimonies.  I've always known of the strong testimony my mom has, but I remember my mom turning to me and saying, "I need to be better at that."  And she flourished.  She began to keep her scriptures at the kitchen table, while eating meals or during free moments, she would open them, mark things, and ask questions which would spark family discussions about gospel topics.  When I moved up to Logan for school, she would text me thoughts she had form the Book of Mormon.  When President Nelson gave the challenge of reading the Book of Mormon last October, She bought me and herself new Book of Mormons and books that give explanations and in depth information about what we were reading.  She as been one of the best examples in my life of firmly sharing what's in your heart.

The first and final piece of advice is to Trust The Lord In His Miracles.  As missionaries, it is not our job to convert people.  It's not our job to get the most baptisms or reactivate an entire stake.  Our job is to love the people.  To create opportunities for people to learn about Heavenly Father and Christ.  Often, people think that their job isn't finished until someone is in a white jumpsuit, but sometimes, our job is finished by just sharing a message about the church.  My missionary prep teacher told the class that on average it  takes 9 interactions with the church before someone will be converted.  Nine separate interactions.  Somethings it is the missionaries job to show love, and spark interest rather than baptize.  We need to trust in the Lord, because He knows what he's doing.  As a missionary, we need to invite others to come unto Christ, and Heavenly Father will do the rest.

To close my talk I would like to thank those who traveled to hear me today, and also for not just going to my house after for free food.  I am so excited to serve the people of Texas and although it will be really hard, and I will probably cry a lot, I know that this is the right place for me, and what is 18 months for me with the possibility for salvation for someone else?  I am excited to give this time to the Lord to help his children come back to him.  I want to thank my family, especially my parents, because they are my number one fans, and my siblings, who are some of my best friends, and the craziest people I know.  Also all you as a ward, because it took a village, and I'm here because of Sunday School teachers, Young Women leaders, and my friends from the Ward.
 TESTIMONY
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.