"Farewell" Talk

Here's a copy of the talk Joseph gave in our ward sacrament meeting on the last Sunday before he left, 24 June 2018. He followed it pretty well, so here is how it was prepared and mostly how it was delivered.
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Hello Brothers and Sisters, I am so excited to be here today and hope that I can add something meaningful to what has already been said. In case you haven’t heard I am going to be serving as a missionary in the Guatemala Guatemala City South Mission. I’m trying to be very authentic right now by dressing how I’ll be dressed the majority of the time on my mission with a short sleeve white shirt instead of a full suit, which I’ll wear for primarily special occasions. And you know I’m legit because this tie is actually from Guatemala and so is this wallet. It’s a Guatewallet! A little bit about Guatemala is that the church has been there since 1947, after a church member named John F. O’donnell, who was in Guatemala as an agricultural adviser to the U. S. Government, felt that the people there really needed the gospel and were ready for it. So in 1947 was when they sent the first missionaries down to Guatemala from the Mexico mission and the church has been growing fast there ever since. It is also through Guatemala that the church was brought to the rest of Central America and the Guatemala City Temple was the first temple in Central America as well, dedicated in 1984. Currently there are 2 temples in Guatemala, 6 missions, 440 congregations, and 272,449 members. The first branch in Central America is also in my mission and the people there refer to it as the true ward. Kinda like the true church but they say the true ward.

Learning about the spread of the church to Guatemala and how it has been, and still is, reaching places all around the world reminds me of the 10th article of faith, talking about the gathering of Israel, and scripture saying that the gospel “shall be declared to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.” As a missionary I will be a big part of that and will be working to find the elect of God and to gather Israel. In the worldwide devotional to youth three weeks ago, President and Sister Nelson focused on the topic of the gathering of Israel. They talked about how we have been saved for these latter days for a reason. Among a number of things we are here on earth to do, we all have missions that we need to accomplish and premortally we committed to help in the great work which is the gathering of Israel. President Nelson continued stating that “That gathering is the most important thing taking place on earth today. Nothing else compares in magnitude, nothing else compares in importance, nothing else compares in majesty.” This “gathering” simply means that “every one of our Heavenly Father’s children, on both sides of the veil, deserves to hear the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. They decide for themselves if they want to know more.” He refers to this gathering as “the greatest challenge, the greatest cause, and the greatest work on earth today.” The reason it is so great is because we are preparing the world for the Latter-day coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because of its greatness each of us should be anxiously engaged in this work, being willing to make sacrifices and do our part, and then rely on the Lord to magnify our efforts.

As a full-time missionary I will have a unique opportunity to spend all day of every day, using all of my energy resources in progressing this great work. But you don’t have to go to the MTC or wear a name badge to be a missionary. We can all be missionaries and bring the light and joy of the gospel to those around us. As Quinten L. Cook has said, “Missionary work is not just one of the 88 keys on a piano that is occasionally played; it is a major chord in a compelling melody that needs to be played continuously throughout our lives if we are to remain in harmony with our commitment to Christianity and the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Thinking about the time I spent in Chile three years ago and the great mission preparation experience that was reminds me of what one of the missionaries said when I went on splits with them. Which was that the biggest thing he was going to take home with him from his mission is how important member missionaries are and how big of a difference they can make. After seeing how big an influence member missionaries can play he resolved that when he got home he was going to be a much better member missionary. An elder I talked to in the temple a few months ago related the same exact thing. Being a member missionary is crucial in progressing God’s work on the earth and it’s something we hear a lot but at least for me it’s not something I actually do a lot. So I’d like to talk today about how we can be better member missionaries and in doing so, hasten the work of salvation and the gathering of Israel.

The first thing is become truly converted yourself. Whether you are born into the church or find it some other way, we all need to become personally converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and gain our own testimony. That can be through defining spiritual events or gradually, but the great challenge is to endure to the end, holding onto that conversion and strengthening it. Our testimonies are like plants in a garden. If we don’t keep watering and nourishing our testimonies through church and temple attendance, prayer, and scripture study - the primary answers - our testimonies will fade away. That doesn’t mean we never had a testimony and that what we knew wasn’t true, it just means that we didn’t take care of it.

Second is that we should all want to keep learning and growing in our knowledge. The gospel is simple but magnificent and there is always more to learn and ways to deepen our understanding and relationship with God. We are revealed things “line upon line, precept on precept” until our “light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.” We need to know what we are teaching in order to teach it. As it says in D&C “Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed”. We have to do our part and put in the work first, before we can ask for God’s help.

Third, if you believe something you should live it. We all need to stand as a witness of God at all times, in all things, and in all places. Just being a good example, living your beliefs, is one of the strongest testimonies. Living the gospel yourself gives validity to what you teach. People will see your light, happiness, and peace and want to receive that as well. A quote attributed to St. Francis of Assisi demonstrates this point of standing as a witness of God which is “Preach the Gospel at all times and if necessary, use words.”

Fourth we all need to pray for missionary opportunities. God will answer our prayers but we have to ask before he can do that. First pray for the desire to help with missionary work, then pray for inspiration to know what you can do in your individual circumstances to share the gospel.

Fifth we need to go forward, accruing in faith and God will magnify your efforts. President Thomas S. Monson has said: “Now is the time for members and missionaries to come together … [and] labor in the Lord’s vineyard to bring souls unto Him. He has prepared the means for us to share the gospel in a multitude of ways, and He will assist us in our labors if we will act in faith to fulfill His work.” Faith is a principle of action and after we've done all these things we need to simply go forward with faith.

Another good point that Dallin H. Oaks makes in sharing the gospel effectively is knowing that people will “learn when they are ready to learn, not when we are ready to teach them”. As missionaries it can sometimes become too focused on just getting a baptism rather than the person and making sure that they are converted like the people of Ammon in The Book of Mormon where it says that “as many of the Lamanites as believed in their preaching, and were converted unto the Lord, never did fall away.” My mom was recently hiking up little cottonwood canyon at the temple quarry trail where she collected lots of small granite rocks like this one. I don’t know how many I’m going to take but I plan on taking some of these rocks with me to Guatemala to give to people that I teach and baptize. This rock literally came from the same quarry that built the Salt Lake Temple, and by giving it to them I want it to symbolize a firm foundation, being truly converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ, reminding them to keep their sights on the temple so they keep progressing until they can receive the blessings of the temple and ensure their exaltation.

I know that missionary work, both out in the field and in our own homes, neighborhoods, workplaces and everywhere we go, is the most important work on the Earth today and that as we go forward with faith preaching The gospel, however that may be, to every nation kindred tongue and people, that God will magnify our efforts, miracles will happen and like Ammon and the sons of Mosiah, it will bring greater Joy than ever experienced. It is by hope and prayer that each of us will go forward with renewed efforts to become converted and bring others to the gospel as well with new efforts. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.