Sacrament Meeting Talk

I gave this talk twice this Sunday. It went really well! We also performed an arrangement of amazing grace which should be on Facebook soon, so keep your eyes open for it. I hope the talk makes you feel a little better haha.

Good morning everyone. My name is elder walker. I'm from south Denver Colorado. I'm super happy to be here  speaking, and I'm so happy to be a missionary as well, because it is the best. Before I was a missionary I was really into music, Spider-Man and batman, and the Denver broncos.

As a missionary in Utah, I've found myself in a few awkward situations. I've really come to know that missionary work is hard, frustrating, and sometimes scary. It really began when I got my call to the Utah Ogden mission. It started with just the stigma of being called to Utah. I honestly didn't care or really think about it at first. Then, other people started to find out. First my friends, with the constant "what sin have not confessed to that would get you sent to Utah???" The teasing started to wear me down. Then, informing my boss at the Lego store that I would no longer be playing with children's toys for a living because I was going to Utah for a mission. He looked at me, fairly puzzled and said, "well at least they'll be receptive to your message there, right?" My breaking point came when I was buying suits a few weeks before leaving. The salesman helping me out asked where I would be headed to for my mission. When I replied Ogden Utah, he nodded thoughtfully and said "well yeah I know you go there at first, but I mean where do you go after that?"

After that, I honestly got a little frustrated. I finally knelt down and prayed, is Ogden really where I'm supposed to go? I spent some long hours studying and really trying to figure out why on earth I would be called to Utah, where I was sure everyone would already be mormon and I would walk around just wearing a tag doing nothing. I came to know the answer that yes, I am supposed to go to Ogden and I would indeed be needed there, in a really startling way. I've never had an experience in my life where I received an answer to a prayer just right on the spot. My answers always came through a lot of prayer and study, over time. That night, I decided I'd just pop open the scriptures and read the first verse I saw. I never read that way, because I'd always liked to really study something specifically and in depth. This time I just went for it. The verse I read was dc 48 v1. It says, 1 It is necessary that ye should remain for the present time in your places of abode, as it shall be suitable to your circumstances.

(D&C 48:1). To me, it was pretty clear that for the present time I was meant to be in Ogden and it would be good for the circumstances around me. And I know for sure that's true now. So far, Utah has been such a good place and there is so so so much great work to be done.

I've performed in different plays, musicals and concerts hundreds of times, so I like to think I'm in control of my nerves. I could not have been more wrong.  In the weeks leading up to it, I started to get pretty nervous. I realized that as a missionary I would no longer have a script or lyrics right in front of me that I can just memorize and be fine. I was legitimately going to have to talk to real living people, and have real actual conversations. Some of you have nightmares about clowns. Some of you have nightmares about slenderman.

Some of you have nightmares about Jeffery r. Holland. I personally have incredibly disturbing nightmares where I have to walk around and talk to people about uncomfortable subjects all day long. Now, I literally live my nightmare everyday. But it's not a nightmare. It's living a dream.

The best part is it's a dream that all of you and us can live together.  I know many of you have already served missions and know how it is. The bottom line is missionary work is always going to be missionary work, no matter where you are. Every single soul has worth, and is great in the eyes of God. And, to make things even better, we are all in this together! President Gordon B. Hinckley taught: “So many of us look upon missionary work as simply tracting. Everyone who is familiar with this work knows there is a better way. That way is through the members of the Church. Whenever there is a member who introduces an investigator, there is an immediate support system. The member bears testimony of the truth of the work. He is anxious for the happiness of his investigator friend. He becomes excited as that friend makes progress in learning the gospel. (9: How Do I Find People to Teach?)" that's so true, especially in Utah. The vast majority of nonmembers in Utah have already been contacted around 700 times about the Lds church. They know who missionaries are, and they are constantly bombarded by them, because they are a minority. When we hear the word nonmember, that immediately becomes our priority, because there's honestly just so few of them, especially in Smithfield. Because of this, nonmembers are pretty sick of missionaries.

An invitation to church, to read the Book of Mormon, or just even to pray, means so much more coming from a friend than it does coming from a random missionary. You are trusted, known, and more loved than we are. We are annoying, one-note missionaries who seem to only care about baptism. That's true, and we want baptism so much because we love the gospel so much and know how it can bless everyone's lives. We want everyone to have it, so we go and preach it. As members though, you can be the steering wheel in the speeding race car of missionary work. We know the work is being hastened, and that it will continue to grow. We as missionaries will not slow down. What you can do is steer us to the most receptive places, so that rather than continually running over nonmembers, we drive by them and pull them into our car of baptism and blessings.

Missionary work is scary though. I know I rarely tried to do it before my mission, because I was afraid of losing a friend or offending someone. The one time I did actually try, it ended awful. It seemed completely golden to me at the time. A girl I sat by in one of my classes asked me out of the blue one day if she could have a Book of Mormon. I excitedly said yes and that I could bring it by the end of the work. She smiled and thanked me, and said she was excited to look over it. I called the elders in my area, explained the situation, and began meticulously highlighting all the best verses that my friend could read. I wrote several drafts of my testimony till it was finally perfect, then wrote it in the front cover in my neatest, 7th grade handwriting. Finally, I delivered the finished product to her. She was so excited and quickly put it in her bag and left. I kid you not about what happens next. That weekend, she took it to her pastor, who taught her a crash course on how to prove the Book of Mormon wrong, and literally began walking the hallways of the school preaching the evils of the satanic mormon cult.

You may wonder why I share a bad experience when I'm trying to persuade to the need of doing missionary work. It's simple as this.

While that is definitely an extreme, often times missionary work does not end how we would plan or even like it to end. We can role play and rehearse lessons and conversations as much as we want, but they never really end up anything close to what actually happens. Rarely will someone be completely open and prepared to receive the gospel and be baptized immediately. Conversion is always possible through the spirit, but it does take time. If someone is not open to receiving that spirit and being open, sadly we cannot force them to feel it.

What will happen though, is that we will slowly improve, and quickly receive the blessings that come from missionary work. Comfort, happiness and new friends all come from the work. And I testify that as the work continues, as you push forward despite the hardships and rejections, people do appear in your path that are genuinely prepared in their own way to receive the gospel. Some are more prepared than others, but it is up to us all to find those receptive to the message.

We know that God has prepared and is still preparing his beloved children to know of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. 1 Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men. 2 Therefore, 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. 3 Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work; 4 For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul;

5 And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work. 6 Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence. 7 Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen. (D&C 4:1-7).

If you have any desire at all to share the gospel, you are called to do so. Do not fear that calling. God qualifies you, and trusts you to do the work that is needed. We can do whatever that need is, whether we merely plant a seed or we harvest an entire field, as God has told us they are ready. We can rely on the savior and the Holy Ghost to make us so much more than what we are now. I testify that he would not have called the two skinniest, whitest, and nerdiest boys in the church to serve together if he did not plan on strengthening us so far beyond what we are capable of. Through myself, I am capable of waking up in the morning and eating a few pop tarts, maybe some toast thrown in if I'm feeling motivated. Through Jesus Christ, if I were to completely throw myself away and have faith in him and his atonement, I would be capable of converting nations. Brothers and sisters, let us take the steps we all need to as missionaries of Jesus Christ The Lord to become more effective servants, to bring the gospel to as many as we can, and to preach the message of salvation. As we do so, i testify to you that the blessings you receive from the work will be so numerous that you will have not room enough to receive them all. Be brave, be wise, be yourself, and teach with the spirit. You will find that really, in the end, that is all you need.

-Elder Walker

Jacob 6:12