On Sunday, I gave my farewell talk. For those of you who missed it, here it is!
My
brothers and sisters, Aloha.
My talk today is on “Lessons learned throughout my
life in preparing me to serve the Lord as a full-time Missionary.” For those of
you who may not know, I have been called to serve in the California San Jose
Mission. This means that for the next 18 months I have made the decision to
serve the Lord by sharing the gospel with His children every day. I am assigned
to labor in the San Jose area and my mission extends all the way up towards
Palo Alto and includes the coast all the way past Monterey and I am so excited
to serve!
Looking back, many things in my life have
prepared me to serve the Lord as a full-time missionary. But, I was actually
having a very hard time writing this talk because while I was going to through
many of these experiences, I didn’t know that those were the times that were
preparing me to serve a full-time mission. There have been many instances and people
in my life who have taught me numerous things that I would’ve run out of time
before talking about all of these lessons.
So I kept thinking about what I could say.
I thought of one part of my life that was an seemingly unlikely place to find
lessons to prepare me for a mission. Hula. Hula, has been a huge part of my
life. Dancing hula is something that I really enjoy and learning and performing
has really taught me so much.
As a young girl, I was taught this ‘ōleo no‘eau, “Kuhi no ka lima, hele no ka maka.” This
means “Where the hands move, the eyes follow.” I was taught to do this so that
the audience would know where to focus. My kumu would tell me and my class that
if we werenʻt
focused on the dance then how could we expect our audience to do so. I think
that this can apply to missionary work as well. In Doctrine and Covenants Section 4:2 it says, “O ye
that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart,
might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last
day.” I learned to focus on my hula so that others could do the same. Likewise,
how could I expect those I meet and teach to focus on the gospel of Jesus
Christ if I can’t do the same?
Then when I was a
little older, I was taught to look past my hand so I could engage the audience
I performing for better. I have tried to do this while I dance so that I could
include the audience in the hula I was dancing instead just performing for
them. Continuing in Doctrine and Covanents 4:3, it reads, “if ye have desires
to serve God ye are called to the work.” In hula we look past our hand the same
way my desire as a missionary is to serve God and it is not just something for
myself. I try to look past myself and go to work, the same way my hands perform
hula motions, my hands will be in the service of God.
On my mission, I
will be on the Lordʻs
errand, I will be acting as a servant to the Lord doing His work on this earth
and because I have a desire, I am called to this work, missionary work. My
desire to serve is what people will see when I am out in the mission field
similar to the way I look past my hand when dancing hula, I can better engage
the people I meet by sharing this desire with them.
I
have never met a returned missionary that has told me missionary work is easy.
It is hard. But with a desire to engage those I teach and to include them in
our path back to our Heavnely Father, I hope that I can be successful in
helping them have a desire to get there.
The most frequent conversation
I’ve had in the past few weeks has been, “When do you leave on your mission,”
and when I reply they say, “Wow, that’s soon. Are you ready?” And as many of
you know I’ve replied back, “Well yes, I think so.” Up to this point, I’ve been
learning lessons all the way from Primary, through Young Women’s and as I’ve
been at BYU. In our church, I’ve heard lessons on faith, prayer, tithing, the
atonement, and the plan of salvation too many times to count but I’ve never
failed to gain something new each time I sit through a lesson being taught. I
think this is one of beautiful things about this church. Just in the way that
you can read the scriptures and learn something new every time, you can learn
the same lesson and glean new insight into a gospel priniciple. Added
experience in our lives and added preparation on our part makes each of us more
receptive for the Spirit to teach us valuable and timely lessons.
In
my own life, a few scriptures have popped up recently that have really made an
impression on me. One was shared with me from Noelani, and I’m sorry I hope I’m
not cutting into her talk for next week. But she shared the scripture from Alma
26:12, and it reads, “Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am
weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in
his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have
wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.”
At
first, this scripture didn’t mean that much to me. I thought it was a great
scripture and I thought it was wonderful to acknowledge that I can do all
things through Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ who are there to continually
strengthen me. But, I pondered this scripture for a while and as my report date
became sooner and sooner my overwhleming excitement turned into anxiety. Then,
I recieved a letter from a friend who is also serving his mission. He told me
of his experience so far and shared with me the same scripture, Alma 26:12. He
gave me some advice in preparing for a mission and said “to get rid of all the
expectations you have for your gain and let those become Heavenly Father’s and
Jesus Christ’s expectaions. Through Jesus Christ we can do anything He wants us
to do.”
Hearing
this scripture from both of these people, I was reminded of what is says in
Ether. In Ether 12:27 it reads, “And if men come unto me I will show them their
weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is
sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me, for if they humble
themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become
strong unto them.” Without knowing, I have been preparaing to serve a full-time
mission for my entire life. Learning gospel principles, applying them to my
life and having a willingness to serve God have prepared me for this next step
in my life.
Though
I know that I am weak, I know that Heavenly Father will bless my life and
strengthen my weakness. I know that through the atoning sacrfice of our savior
Jesus Christ I will never be alone. One of my favorite quotes from President Thomas
S. Monson is when he says, “whom the Lord calls, the Lord qualifies.” I have
done all the packing and buying all my missionary clothes. I have turned in my
forms and turned in my driving record but even though those things are
important, those are not the things that make a missionary. All the lessons
that I have been taught by many of you, lessons of faith, of perserverance, of
courage, of obedience, of the importance of prayer, and of the importance of
family are the lessons that will carry me through my mission. My heart is so
filled with gratitude for the wonderful things I have learned from you all that
have helped qualify me for this work. And I know that with the Lord’s help, he
will make my weak things become strong.
I
think it is so wonderful that in this gospel we continue to progress. We gain
more light and knowledge through everything we do to draw nearer unto Christ.
We all work towards our eternal exaltation to live with our Father in Heaven
again. As we work towards this purpose, we can only keep improving our lives.
Just as I have worked to draw nearer unto Christ while preparaing for my
mission, I will continue to do so throughout my mission and hopefully I will be
able to get to share the joy I feel through this gospel with others and help
them work towards the same goal.
Another
friend who is out on the mission field shared this with me. She quoted from our
letter that has our mission call. She said “most importantly remember, ‘you
have been recommended as one worthy to represent the Lord as a minister of the
restored gospel...As you do these things, the Lord will bless you and you will
become an effective advocate and messenger of truth.” I am so grateful for the
opportunity to serve the Lord for the next 18 months. I hope that I can be can
effective platform to the Spirit to teach through me. I pray that the Lord will
help me on my mission and continue to bless my life as I try to bless the lives
of others.
Last
night, I came home to fix some things in my talk and as I was working I got a
phone call from one of my friends from high school. He wasn’t able to be here
today and he is not a member of our church but he wanted wish me well and told
me to be safe. He asked how I was doing and if I was ready. I explained to him
how I was feeling like I mentioned earlier in my talk and what he replied has
been such a blessing to me. He said, “everything you’ve done up to this point
has prepared for this. You are ready.” It was such a reminder and testament to
me that the Lord is mindful of each and every one of us. He truly works in
mysterious ways and is wants to bless our lives. I am so grateful for my
wonderful friends and for that phone call that helped reassure me that this is
what the Lord wants me to do.
I
know that this is the restored gospel here upon this earth. I know that the
fulness of the gospel resides here and it is the true church of Jesus Christ on
this earth. I know that it was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. I
know that President Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet of the Lord and recieves
revelation for everyone.
I know that the
atonement is real because I have seen it work in my life and in the lives of
others. I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and the sacrfice He made so that I
can return to our Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for that opportunity and I
hope to remain worthy of it. I am so grateful for the completeness of the Plan
of Salvation and the sense of purpose it brings me. I am so excited to serve
the Lord and to serve the wonderful people of California. Thank you for helping
to prepare me to serve a mission and thank you for all the love and support you
have shown me. I know that I wouldn’t be the same without all of you. I am
especially grateful for my family and for the examples they have been in my
life. I love you all so much and I am so blessed to have you all in my life and
to have learned from you. I am so grateful for this gospel and the eternal joy
and sense of peace that it brings me and I am so humbled that I get to share
that joy and peace with others I will come into contant with in the next 18
months.
And I say these things in the name of
Jesus Christ, Amen.
In a few days I'll be checked into the MTC and then my mission will really begin! Whooo hoo! Here's some pictures with my family. I'm so grateful to everyone who came to support me!
