Funny side note: As I was taking the sacrament today, I dropped a cup of water on my lap and it got all over my talk so had to ad-lib some of it. And I had a wet dress the whole time :) Oh the adventures...
Here is my farewell talk that I gave in my college branch.
Until I sat down to write this talk I would have told you
that I couldn’t decide where to go in life, I heard the age-change
announcement, and decided right there to go on a mission. I started my papers
that Wednesday and leave exactly six months from that date. But as I
contemplated how in the world I was going to give a 20 minute talk on that I
realized that it wasn’t ever that simple and quick. You hear about people who
have been prepared their whole entire life to serve a mission. I am that person.
In 1991, my mom and dad met and started to date. My mom
decided she didn’t want to raise her children outside of the church and my dad
took missionary discussions. He got baptized. They got married. And a year
later, when I was 2 weeks old, we got sealed in the Idaho Falls temple as a
family for all time and eternity.
Fast forward to 2006: I had just turned 14 years old and the
idea of a blessing full of promises from God intrigued me. I decided I wanted
to receive my patriarchial blessing. I did, and it was one of the most
spiritual experiences of my life. It referenced a scripture about missionary
work that I had read just that Sunday in Sunday school. It also talked about
learning multiple languages and it talked about how as I learned these
languages that Heavenly Father would help and my ability to communicate would
flourish.
2007: I was attending education week at BYU Idaho with my
dear, sweet cousin and best friend. We were attending one of the classes when
the teacher sang and played a song about his wife’s brother who had passed away
at a young age. I heard a voice as clear as if they were sitting next to me,
and it said, “I am here. I am real. And it is all true. The church is true.”
2010: I started attending BYU. I stopped praying and reading
scriptures and was active only through outward appearances. I knew there was a
God but I wasn’t sure how involved He was in our lives. I knew religion was
important, but I wasn’t sure how this church fit into it.
Jan. 2012: My cousin and best friend began her mission
papers and I began to desire to serve a mission We had done everything together
up to that point and it was hard saying goodbye to her knowing that the next
time I got to see her I would be 22. I was only 19 at the time. At this point I
reevaluated my views on this religion and decided that God is here. God does
listen. God does care.
Apr. 2012: I chose to defer my BYU enrollment a semester so
that I could go ‘travel the world’. I got a passport, started saving money,
moved home for free rent and free food, and started the highest paying job I
could find: working in a plastic bag factory, and got accepted to teach English
in China. And then Lithuania. And then all my travel plans fell through and by
September I had decided to return to BYU and finish my degree and then go on a
mission. This plan still didn’t feel right but it was all that I had.
Oct. 2012: President Monson’s announcement. It was earth
shattering for nearly every Latter-day Saint, but more so for those it
affected. I was flitting in and out of the room where my dad had the computer
on watching General Conference and I heard that the prophet changed the boy’s
missionary age from 19 to 18. I ran in there in shock! I couldn’t believe what he had said. I was so
excited for the boy’s that this would affect. And then President Monson said
something I will NEVER forget. He said that starting immediately young women
would be able to go on missions starting at 19. I was 19! I knew immediately this was for me! Definitely
an answer to prayer! I sprinted upstairs and told my mom. I was crying and
shaking at the same time.
That Wednesday, I met with President Hanscom and started my
mission papers, something that I hadn’t expected to be able to do for another
year. On November 18th, I officially submitted my papers and
anxiously awaited word that my call had been assigned. The week after
Thanksgiving it had been assigned and I received my mission call on December 6,
2012. The moment I saw that large white envelope in my mailbox, it really hit
me. Wherever is in this envelope I would be spending my next 18 months!
Up to this point I had prayed fervently to be sent to a
foreign mission. I wanted to travel and learn another language. I had also had
2 dreams. In one I was sitting on a bench in a chapel and a missionary came
into the room and said ‘Sister Lillian, we are ready for you.’ I followed that
missionary into another room and began to translate in American Sign Language
for a bald, black man in his mid-twenties. In another dream I dreamt that I got
called to Salt Lake City. I took these dreams as a sign that I would be getting
called stateside, maybe speaking ASL. I had begun to prepare myself for this
possibility that I may not be going someplace cool and exotic. I hoped for
Ireland, or Australia, or, especially, Africa. But I expected someplace like
Salt Lake City or North Dakota.
After I got my mission call out of the mailbox, I took it
inside, and set it on the table. I spent some time with my brother and sister
and waited for my mom to get home. When she got home and saw the envelope she
was surprised I hadn’t opened it yet. I then took it downstairs, alone. I said
a prayer asking Heavenly Father to help me know that this call was for me,
where I needed to be, and when I needed to go. I then opened it and began to
read:
Dear Sister Lillian,
You have hereby been called as a missionary for
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. You have been assigned to
labor in the Brazil Vitoria Mission. It is anticipated you will serve for a
period of 18 months. You will preach the gospel in Portuguese. You will report
to the Brazil MTC April 10, 2013.
I know everyone says this about their mission calls, but
after I read that, I KNEW that there was someone waiting there for me. I would
be speaking Portuguese. A language I had never even heard of. And I would
report to the Brazil MTC in just under 17 weeks. 4 months. I had never even
considered South America. Brazil was never on my radar. But, a couple of people
in my branch had guessed that I would be going to Brazil that week prior. I
reread my patriarchial blessing and was reminded of this scripture, which my patriarchial
blessing quotes, and which sparked my desire to serve a mission back in 2006,
more than 7 years ago:
Jeremiah 16:16
Behold, I will send for many
afishers, saith
the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many
hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and
out of the holes of the rocks.
This was when it hit home that I have a Heavenly Father who
has a plan for each and every one of us. He knows us. He loves us.
After opening my call I ran up the stairs and just handed my
mom the letter. I told my family and none of my siblings really cared. It took
a while for it to sink in for them. I tried calling my dad, but it took a few
times to get through to him, since he was busy at work.
I was shocked. I was going to South America. I would live on
the beach, I would get really tan, and I would never be cold!
One idea that I’ve slowly wrapped my mind around, is that a
mission is not for me. It is a tithe of my life for my Heavenly Father.
I’m a member of a Facebook page that is called “Many are
called, few are sisters”. On this page, more than 5000 sisters post where they
have gotten their mission calls to and are able to connect with others who have
received that same call, or give advice to those who are going to be in their
home mission, or reach out to help uplift others and give advice and ask for
help in preparing. There are sisters on this page from new converts to 18 year
olds with mission calls to 23 or 24 year olds who have decided that now is
their time to serve a mission. There are also a few returned sister missionaries
who willingly give advice and comfort to those of us who are all new to this
missionary thing.
One of the sisters, a Sister Bonner, posted this in response
to another sister’s worries that she will not be called someplace ‘cool’
because of health problems: “Whether you go to Africa or Idaho you will be
doing the same thing...finding and bringing those to Christ! That's all that
truly matters in the end.”
It is great things like this that are uplifting and
definitely needed to assuage worries that we all have. This is what this
Facebook page is all about.
In a talk given by President Monson, titled “Missionary
Work”, he outlines 3 things that a missionary must do in order to be a
successful missionary. Prepare with purpose, teach with testimony, and labor
with love.
The first point is to: prepare with purpose. Whether you are
preparing to serve a full-time mission, a service mission, or simply preparing
to share the gospel with those you interact with every day, preparing with
purpose is imperative. Preparing to share the gospel in everyday situations is
what every one of you should be preparing to do and doing it. Whether you have
been a member of the church since you were 8, 18, or 28 the idea is the same.
We have something amazing. Why wouldn’t we want to share that?
We can prepare many different ways. Studying Preach My
Gospel is a great way to prepare to share the gospel in any type of missionary
setting. It will give you the tools you need to be confident and knowledgeable
in what you are trying to share. Reading your scriptures and prayer are also
powerful tools in preparing. As I was growing up, I have lived outside of the
“Mormon bubble” for most of my life. And I have had the opportunity to answer
many questions pertaining to why I did or didn’t certain things. Why I wasn’t
allowed to go anywhere on Sundays. Why I didn’t drink coffee or use vulgar
language. I believe that the only reason I was able to answer these things was
because I was prepared with the purpose that my friends would ask these things.
Listen in church, read and study your scriptures, and pray with the intent that
you may be able to help a questioning soul today.
Christ once made this statement, “behold, the Lord requireth
the heart and a willing mind”. A worry that is constantly coming up in my mind
and in the minds of others that I know is that there is no way we are good
enough to represent God and to share His gospel. However this is never the
case. Christ teaches here that as long as we have a willing heart and mind, and
we are willing to do our part in preparing then we will always be worthy enough
to represent Him.
There is a quote circulating around that is apparently from
a bumper sticker, which I have admittedly never seen, that says, “The Lord
doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies those he calls.” Even though this
quote is not church doctrine I have definitely come to recognize the truth in
these words. Just like what I said above, if we are willing and able to serve,
He doesn’t care in what capacity that service is rendered. He will always be
there to help us if we have prepared as well as we can.
The second point, teach with testimony, is not one that I’ve
necessarily been able to utilize often, but I’ve seen it every time I’ve gone
out with the sister missionaries we have here in our ward. One thing that they
do very well is that they lay out the doctrine and then they bear testimony of
what it is that they are teaching. I’ve noticed that when this happens it’s not
necessarily what they say that hits home to their investigators, but what the
spirit is saying along with their testimonies.
Thirdly, is to labor with love. One of the questions that
President Hanscom asked me in my final interview was whether or not I would be
able to love people. Of course I said yes, but after thinking about that
question I had to reconsider my answer. Every missionary, past and present,
that I’ve talked to has said that loving others is one of the biggest parts of
missionary work. I had to think…I love my family. I love my God and Jesus
Christ. But can I love someone who is in a gang and likes to hurt others or is
smoking and refusing to quit? And although I have not been in these
circumstances yet, I’ve come to the conclusion that I can do this.
Working in a factory is hard enough with the temperatures
and the crazy flip-flopping hours, but there are also people there. People who
smoke a lot, swear worse than a sailor, and work very hard for the little money
than can. And as I’ve thought about leaving and never going back there to work,
I start to miss it and I realized that it’s not the hours I’ll miss. Or my fork
truck. Or taping boxes. It’ll be the people that I’ll miss. And the only way to
miss people like that is if I love them. And I’ve come to the conclusion that I
really, truly have come to love and respect those who I work with.
President Hinckley said this on the topic of laboring with
love,
“There is no substitute for love. Often this love is kindled
in youth by a mother, expanded by a father, and kept vibrant through service to
God. Remember the Lord’s counsel: ‘And faith, hope, charity and love, with an
eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work.’ Well might
each of us ask himself: Today, have I increased in faith, in hope, in
charity, in love? When our lives comply with God’s standard and we
labor with love to bring souls unto Him, those within our sphere of influence
will never speak the lament, ‘The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we
are not saved.’”
Saint Francis of Assissi once said, “Preach the gospel at
all times, and if necessary, use words”.
I think that by laboring with love, which can also include
service for others, we are spreading the gospel. He does not always require
that we bear lengthy testimonies while standing on the street corners or that
we give every single person that we meet a Book of Mormon, although that is a
good thing. It is necessary to live what we know and to live what we teach,
throughout the church, whether a member or a ward missionary or a full time
missionary.
I could list so many things that I hope to accomplish as a
missionary. I hope to become fluent in Portuguese and to bring enough people to
the church that Vitoria can get its own temple. I hope to be able to read all 4
books of scripture and to be able to help others feel the spirit. I hope to
learn about another culture and to become more adventurous in my food choices.
But all of my goals can be summed up into one ultimate goal.
My goal as a missionary is to rely on my Heavenly Father in
all things. Far too often I’ve taken life upon myself and have decided that I
can do so much better. But time and time again I’ve been proven wrong and have
had to humble myself and turned to my father in heaven.
I turn for just a moment to member missionary work. I
realize that not everyone has or will serve a full time “official” mission. But
I do know that everyone can serve their own personal mission. My calling in
this ward is to be a ward missionary, and even though I’m rarely out with the
missionaries because of differing schedules, I’m still doing my part. And you
can too even without a special calling. In Doctrine and Covenants 88:81 Joseph
Smith says, “It becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor.”
Every single person sitting here can be a missionary. Being
a missionary means explaining misconceptions about the LDS church that you may
hear. Being a missionary means dressing and acting as disciples of our Heavenly
Father. The world is watching and how we approach a situation with someone may
later spark their interest in this very church. And in doing so you have done
your part to assist another person to eternal salvation. And that sounds pretty darn important.
In the 2003 Ensign, Elder M Russell Ballard gave a talk
titled “The Essential Role of Member Missionary Work”. Elder Ballard says this:
“Member missionary work does not require the development of
strategies or gimmicks. It does require faith—real faith and trust in the Lord.
It also requires genuine love. The first great commandment is to “love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. … The
second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (
Matt. 22:37,
39).
I am so excited to serve the people of Brazil in any way I
possibly can. I am terrified of being thrown into something that I’m not
prepared for, but I’ve also realized that if we do everything we can to be
prepared, then the Lord will fill in the gaps. I intend to do this!
