We drove the 3.5 hours home and the whole family followed us to attend Jay's baptism on Saturday afternoon. It was so special to have so many family members with us for Jay's special day. Watching my first child get baptized was beautiful and joyful. I am still processing it all, and it's still too close to my heart for me to convert my thoughts to words quite yet. More on that another day!
Last night after Jay's baptism, we had the Broadbents (my sister Em and her husband Jesse and their four kids) stay at our house. Cousin sleepover in the playroom! They all came to church with us today, which ended up being perfect timing because Jeff and I both spoke in sacrament meeting today. That's what this post is really about.
On Wednesday while we were at the lake, we got a phone call: the speakers that were lined up for church this Sunday fell through last minute. We agreed to speak in their place, even though it was only four days away, and we were out of town. Thus the stressing commenced. I had no idea when I was going to find time to write a 10-12 minute church talk without internet while out of town with family members that I only see once a year! I could have said no, but I figured:
- If we didn't speak this Sunday, we'd be asked to speak soon anyways since we're new in the ward. Fresh meat!
- I was going to stress about speaking in front of the entire congregation no matter how long I had to prepare, so this way I'd be anxious for less total time.
- If not us, then who? Someone had to speak today, so if we didn't say yes then we were "dooming" someone else to give a last-minute talk instead!
- I have been in the position of finding speakers for Sunday (I was the secretary for the young women's program in our old ward and one of my jobs was to find and assign the youth speakers for sacrament meeting when it was the girls' turn). So I had great sympathy with Jason Moyer and his difficulties with last minute cancellations, and agreed to speak.
- Jeff is a professional teacher, so if my talk ended up being too short, he would be able to fill in the remaining time no problem. (his talk ended up being shorter than mine due to a choir performance!)
All of those reasons went through my mind in the split second before I took the plunge and said I'd do it. I tried to remember those reasons as I proceeded to agonize over the next four days, but it didn't help too much. After worrying and wondering where on earth the time to write this talk was going to come from, I had an epiphany: just stay up late! I am all about going to bed at a decent hour, so it took me two of my allotted four days to realize that I could squeeze in all of the family reunion time I wanted and then just stay up late to write my talk after everyone else was in bed. So I stayed up till midnight on Friday night and 2am on Saturday night, writing this talk. I was completely lost after the first two days but just before falling asleep on Thursday night, I had another epiphany/prompting of how to organize this talk and I finally felt good about the whole ordeal for the first time.
Speaking in a new ward is tricky because I wanted to be interested in what I was saying, but I also wanted to share things that would help people get to know the new kids. I don't like using old material in church talks. I like all of my personal stories to be recent and/or ones I haven't shared publicly before. It keeps me invested in what I'm saying. And when I'm not recycling the same old material, it helps me feel more in tune with the spirit--more open to new ideas of what to share. Since I was trying to subtly introduce our family along the way this time, however, I told some of the same stories I've told before (both on the blog and in previous church talks) this time, and it felt right.
I wish I had checked my heart rate on my watch when I got up to speak! Standing and speaking in front of people is one of the hardest things for me to do. I prepare and prepare and write out 90% of the words I say, but the act of getting UP and speaking into the microphone is sheer agony. My heart about jumped out of my chest when the cute youth speaker sat down and it was my turn! Next time it's my turn to speak in church, I almost feel like the bishop should ask my husband and my mom if they are up for a week or so of dealing with pre-talk-stress-case-Shaina, hah! Both my mom and Jeff were very patient with all of my annoying anxiety. And now the talk is over. The flames of my fear have been doused. I am calm once more. I wish I could do all of this without the agony, but I can't figure out how to turn off my penchant for stressing over public speaking, so I just surrender to the stress, speak, and then get over it. While I don't always want four days' notice for a church talk, it was nice to get the whole thing over with in 4 days, start to finish for once!
Now that you've waded through all of my issues, (ha) here's my talk. [I deleted the part about "we just moved here, we've been married for ten years and we have three kids" part because blah, it looks lame written out.]
My official topic today is patriotism since the 4th of July is
coming up. The most patriotic scripture hero I could think of is Captain
Moroni. The most patriotic gospel topic that I could think of is service. When
I read and thought more about Captain Moroni, I realized that not only is he one
of the great patriots in the Book of Mormon, but he also shows us a powerful
pattern for service. Alma chapter 46 talks about Captain Moroni. Verse 12 says:
12 And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece
thereof, and wrote upon it—In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and
our peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a
pole.
Captain Moroni knew what was important and made it a priority.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks said “We have to forego some good things in order to
choose others that are better or best because they develop faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ and strengthen our families.”
One of the things I love about my husband is how he prioritizes his
family. One of the reasons he wanted to be a teacher was so that he could spend
as much time with his family as possible. We feel very blessed to have so much
quality family time during summer break. Jeff knows what’s important and he
makes it a priority. He serves his family by making us a priority.
Back to Alma 46 and Captain Moroni:
13 And he fastened on his breastplate, and his shields, and girded on his
armor about his loins and he took the pole, which had on the end thereof his
rent coat, (and he called it the title of liberty) and he bowed himself to the
earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest
upon his brethren, so long as there should a band of Christians remain to
possess the land—
Before going forth, Captain Moroni prepared himself physically with
armor and spiritually with prayer.
Two months ago during General Conference, our prophet President Monson said:
“I speak about the power of the Book of Mormon and the critical need we have as
members of this Church to study, ponder, and apply its teachings in our lives.
The importance of having a firm and sure testimony of the Book of Mormon cannot
be overstated.
“We live in a time of great trouble and wickedness. What will protect us
from the sin and evil so prevalent in the world today? I maintain that a strong
testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and of His gospel will help see us
through to safety. If you are not reading the Book of Mormon each day, please
do so. If you will read it prayerfully and with a sincere desire to know the
truth, the Holy Ghost will manifest its truth to you.
“My dear associates in the work of the Lord, I implore each of us to
prayerfully study and ponder the Book of Mormon each day. As we do so, we will
be in a position to hear the voice of the Spirit, to resist temptation, to
overcome doubt and fear, and to receive heaven’s help in our lives. I so
testify with all my heart.”
Critical need, importance, implore: those are
strong words straight from our living prophet telling us how to prepare
ourselves and stay spiritually strong right now: study The Book of Mormon and
pray daily. When we are doing these
daily spiritual preparations, our testimonies will be strong enough to “see us
through to safety,” we will have the spirit with us, and we will be ready to
serve others.
Anyone with small children knows how hard it can be to get in some quiet
personal scripture study every day, and then there’s family scripture time too!
I have to remind myself every day that this is worthwhile, even if it sure
doesn’t seem like it in the moment. Right now what works for our family is we
read one column from the Book of Mormon right before family prayer each night.
It seems like a tiny drop in the bucket, but after five years of reading our
nightly column as regularly as we could manage, we finished reading the Book of
Mormon for the first time together as a family during October last year. When
we finished the last verse, Jeff asked the kids “guess what we’re going to do
tomorrow? Start over!” The kids thought he was joking! It was fun to see the
kids start to understand that scripture reading is about the journey, not the
destination or the speed. Even though family scripture time in our house usually
involves at least one wrestling match and a whole lot of noise and I would be
interested to see what percentage of verses we actually hear when we read together, it is worth the effort and chaos to
invite that light and spirit into our home.
Staying close to the spirit is key to service, just like Captain Moroni
exemplified. We can’t serve others until we’ve filled our own tank. Back to
Alma 46…
17 And it came to pass that when [Captain Moroni] had poured out his soul
to God…
18. …he said: Surely God will not suffer that we, who are despised
because we take upon us the name of Christ, shall be trodden down and destroyed
until we bring it upon us by our own transgressions.
19 And when Moroni had said these words, he went forth among the people,
waving the rent part of his garment in the air, that all might see the writing
which he had written upon the rent part, and crying with a loud voice, saying:
20 Behold, whosoever will maintain this title upon the land, let them
come forth in the strength of the Lord, and enter into a covenant that they
will maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless
them.
*Captain Moroni knew the nature of God and had faith that a loving God
would not suffer his righteous people to be destroyed. He had strong faith and
acted upon it.
Elder Robert D. Hales said "We measure our faith by what it leads us
to do—by our obedience. “If ye will have faith in me,” the Lord promised, “ye
shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me.” Faith is a catalyst.”
Deciding to sell our house and move to Sunnyside was a leap of faith for
us. We knew we were going to move to Sunnyside eventually, but the time was
never right. Four months ago we felt very good about moving, so we got our house
ready and put it on the market. It sold much faster than we anticipated, and
the closing date was at the end of May before the school year ended. But we
felt good about it, so we signed the papers even though we didn’t have another
place to live yet. At that time there were hardly any houses on the market in
Sunnyside, and we did not know what to do. Our house’s closing date was
approaching and we did not have another house yet! We explored tons of
different ideas and options and endured a stressful month of uncertainty before
finally deciding to change gears and look for a place to rent in Sunnyside
instead of buying a house right away. Jeff alerted a few helpful people in this
ward, and after an inspired chain of events, we had a house to rent within a
few days.
We felt the prompting to move, but we did not know how it was going to
turn out. The entire time it felt like we were stumbling along, scrambling to
figure things out. It was hard to remember and keep moving forward in faith
along the path to Sunnyside, even when the way was not as straightforward as we
originally expected it to be. I am so grateful for those who served us by
helping us find a house!
Countless people have served me and my family, both in the past and more
recently. I remember all of them because service creates a bond of love between
both the givers and the recipients. What’s awesome is that service can be as
simple as a hug or as big as lifting a piano.
When I was pregnant with Amber, my intense morning sickness landed me in
the hospital for a week with a tube in my arm. The hours crawled by and I was
miserable, weak, and exhausted. I will never forget a visit from a sister in
our ward. She sat with me for ten or fifteen minutes, and when she got up to
leave, she and asked if she could give me a hug. She didn’t just do a quick
squeeze and leave, though. She hugged me tight and held me there, sitting in my
hospital bed, for a long time. A well-timed hug is definitely service. I felt
so loved, not only by her but also by the Lord. He knows each of us and when we
are prepared and in tune with the spirit like this sweet sister was, the Lord
sends us to be his hands to serve others. Service is a privilege—both receiving
and giving.
The day we moved from Grandview to Sunnyside, a group of men from the
ward came to help pack our furniture and unload it at our new house. Every now
and then during all of the lifting, I looked around at the cheerful men
sacrificing their Saturday morning to come sweat over moving heavy things like our
piano, and my heart was touched. I felt loved, by both our new ward and the
old, by both the people doing the lifting and by their families who sacrificed
time with them so they could go do exhausting service on a weekend. Most of all
I felt loved by the Lord. He really does know and care about each one of us. Serving
others helps them feel God's love, whether it’s directly through a hug or
indirectly by lifting a piano.
One more thing about Captain Moroni—Alma chapter 48 describes him on a
personal level:
11 And Moroni was a strong and a mighty man; he was a man of a perfect
understanding; yea, a man that did not delight in bloodshed; a man whose soul
did joy in the liberty and the freedom of his country…
12 Yea, a man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the
many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people; a man who did
labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety of his people.
13 Yea, and he was a man who was firm in the faith of Christ, and he had
sworn with an oath to defend his people, his rights, and his country, and his
religion, even to the loss of his blood.
17 Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and
ever would be like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been
shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the
children of men.
That is the power of service. If we follow Captain Moroni’s pattern for
service by prioritizing, praying, preparing, moving forward in faith, and serving
humbly, evil will not have power over us! We will have the privilege of being
an instrument in the hands of the Lord to do his work. I know that Jesus Christ
lives and that showing love to others by serving them is one of the best ways
we can be more like him and share his love. I know that the gospel is true. I
love it, and service is the way to live it.
Sources:
Thomas S. Monson: The Power of the Book of Mormon. April 2017 General
Conference
Dallin H. Oaks, “Good, Better, Best,” Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2007,
107.
Robert D. Hales: Becoming a Disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ. April
2017 General Conference
1 comment:
EXCELLENT talk! As always, I was inspired by your words. You are wonderfully in-tune, and wonderfully courageous!
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