Tribute to my Dad (as given in a talk in church)

I gave a talk in one of the wards that I serve in today. I talked about two things. Hope and my dad. I wanted to share some of the thoughts that I shared about my dad here.

What I had written down for my talk and what I spoke were slightly different. I edited it to be more accurate to what I spoke.

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Good Morning Brothers and Sisters! Happy Father's Day! *Introduce myself and my family a bit. Talk briefly about what each sibling is up to and talk about the Dairy Farm because people seem to enjoy hearing about it. Share that both my parents are teachers and that I want to be a teacher as well (specifically math)*

I wanted to pay a little tribute to my father in my talk, even though he is not here listening.

I wanted to highlight two of the things that I really appreciate about my dad.

1. My dad is the best example of Christ-like service I know. 

If he has 5 minutes in his schedule, he will gladly fit you in. [author's note: That is a quote from a givethanks post my mom did] He is always out ministering to individuals in need. I was just talking about this the other week to someone; if my dad wasn't home, he was either at work or serving someone. That's what he did. And serving others is part of who he is.

He is genuine and serves with no expectation of anything in return. He just wants to help.

A quick example, is he always picks up trash off the ground when he walks by. He is involved in and takes care of his community.

2. He always got invested into our interests growing up, and continues to do so. When I talk to him on Mondays, he often asks about the people I am teaching, and references things I talked about last week.

Before my mission, he would ask questions about the music artist I am listening to, or the games I am playing, or the books I am reading. Not for some ulterior motive of micromanaging me or sneakily trying to find me doing something I’m not supposed to. But instead because he genuinely cares about what I care about and wants to learn more about why I care about it so much.

He listens intently and allows me to talk freely about the things I'm passionate about.

My father is awesome.

[Author's note: this is where I branch off a little into talking about Father's in general. I really like the quote and such, though, so I thought I would include it in this blog post as well]

I love the quote by A. Theodore Tuttle in his talk entitled “The Role of Fathers” given in October 1973.

"It should have great meaning that of all the titles of respect and honor and admiration that could be given him, that God himself, he who is the highest of all, chose to be addressed simply as 'Father.'"

I know a good Father can make a big impact in a child’s life. I hope that we all have good Fathers. And if we don’t down here, I promise you we have a perfect father up there.

[Author's note: At this point in my talk, I then transition to talking about hope. I share a shortened and altered version of my "Hope is Sometimes Misunderstood" talk that I posted a while back]

More Than Thin Air

More Than Thin Air (6/2/21)

Quandaries to an open sky?

Yet no answers from on high.

Rise no more than the ceiling?

Where is the promised feeling?

I have faith that he is there,

But it's hard to feel in prayer.

Now those thoughts feel so foreign.

To not cry is alien.

Peace and solace brought to me.

Revelation I receive.

I have faith that he is there,

And I feel so in my prayer.

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My breakdown of this poem can be found here: 

https://whateveriwant7.blogspot.com/2021/07/breakdown-of-more-than-thin-air.html.

Moroni's Thought

I met a wonderful man named Moroni in my 4th area. You can learn about him by watching a video called "Step 5: Confession-Moroni's Story about Drug Addiction Recovery" :)

He truly is an incredible person and is one of the best member missionaries I know. Here is a thought that he shared with my companions and I alongside his friends.

The rest of the post is my written transcription of what Moroni has shared several times. Each time his thoughts were shifted depending on his audience. I did my best to merge and mold them into one.

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I do not want to go on judgement day to the judgement bar of God to find my friends turning to me and asking me questions I never want to hear. 

"Moroni. You knew about all of this? And you didn't tell us? Moroni, why didn't you tell us? This could have helped us so much down there." 

I might stutter out a response saying something like, 

"Well, I just didn't think you would be interested, and I was worried I might offend you."

To which the response comes,

"You didn't think we would be interested in all of this? In dwelling with God and our families forever? You didn't think we would be interested in having the Priesthood, the very authority and power of God itself, in our lives? And why would we get offended at you offering us something so wonderful that has helped you so drastically in your life? If we would have, we certainly shouldn't have."

I do not want that hanging over my head. I do not want God or my friends to ask me why I didn't help *insert one of Moroni's friend's names here* become worthy of the Priesthood they hold or *insert one of Moroni's friend's names here* prepare for the ordinance and covenant of baptism.

And so I share what I know and treasure. That Jesus is the Christ and is our Savior. And that His Church has been restored on the earth again. That it has changed my life and can change every single individual's.

Arian's Prayer

Arian is this cool 8-year old who is preparing to be baptized in my last area (Rock Springs, Wyoming).

We met with the whole family many times to help Arian prepare to be baptized and help the father prepare to be the one to baptize him. 

I actually got to participate in being in the circle when the father was given the Aaronic Priesthood. An awesome experience I got to have right before I left the area.

Anyhoo, Arian, in a prayer once, said something that I thought was kind of profound.

He's just an 8-year old, but what he said caugt my attention.

As he was praying he said, "Thank you for saving us every day."

Frequently when I think about the idea of being saved, I think of it more as a singular event. But, in reality, Jesus Christ saves us every day. Because we make mistakes every single day. And if even one of those days was not covered, we would not be able to return back to our Father in Heaven. 

Jesus Christ really does save us every single day. And for that, we should be grateful. Just like Arian is.

James's Comment

James is this awesome 9-year old from one of my favorite member families ever. He read the Book of Mormon with his dad when he was 7. His testimony of its truthfulness grew and he decided to be baptized when he was 8.

Watch out for this kid while playing board games! He's got a few tricks up his sleeve; he's no joke in the game of Secret Hitler. One P. Day when we were playing Secret Hitler with him, his mom, and his dad, James made a comment that caught my attention.

We frequently taught one of our friends who was not a member at their household. James often joined in for the conversations. That friend of ours decided to make covenants with God. They were baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

While playing a game with James, he said something to the effect of, "I think it's really cool what you guys did. You got someone who wasn't coming to church at all and helped them come to church to the point where they were even baptized!"

I overlooked the comment at first and simpled agreed with him. But the more I thought about it, the more cool it became. The thought of getting people who don't come to church to go and eventually be baptized is such a common thought amongst missionaries. It's what we try to help people do every single day.

And because of that, it's become so normal. You forgot how wonderful that thought truly is. Because it is really cool. We are helping people change their lives. We are helping people draw closer to God and their Savior. We are helping people make covenants with their Father in Heaven. And we do it every single day.

James, you are oh so right. It is really really really cool what we had the chance to do. And what I have the chance to do for these two years of my life.

I LOVE being a full-time missionary. I've never been so consistently and resiliently happy in my entire life.