For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Tatiana Brenchley I have been called to serve in the Malaga Spain mission. The rumor is very true that you get called where you least expect it. I don’t know a lot about southern Spain, I know that it’s in Europe, their food I have heard is amazing, they are big into soccer, and it is really really hot in the summer. I have also been lucky enough to know some people who have served in Malaga and other Spanish missions and it makes me more and more excited to serve a mission there.
Alright so real quick I would like to give some advice to those of you who are preparing to serve a mission. The most important thing is to gain a testimony of our church. You aren’t serving a mission to gain a testimony. You should believe what you are teaching. Read and gain a testimony of The Book of Mormon. Don’t just read a verse or two a day, actually sit down and read it. Pray and ask the Lord to help you focus and to learn what you need to. Sometimes the Isaiah chapters can be a little intimidating, but if you get through those you’ll be able to relate their experiences to your life. Besides, what guy doesn’t like to read about wars and young men your age helping win battles? Be open about your religion to your friends, let them ask you questions and be prepared to answer. I had friends asking me questions I had never thought about before. As I found those answers, it strengthened my testimony as it will yours. The last bits of advice I would give you is start saving now and work on your papers much earlier than you were planning! Ten thousand dollars is not going to come to you over a summer or two. It takes a lot of work, and your papers are going to take longer than you think.
Now the real question I’m sure some of you are wondering is why I am serving a mission. And the answer I’m sure to many of your surprise is not that I couldn’t find someone to marry me. It all started at BYU Idaho when I decided to take a missionary prep class with a good friend of mine. I figured it would be interesting, and I was turning 21 soon so I thought I would check it out. And the rest is history. One of the questions he asked us to think about was why would we want to give up two years of our life (or in my case 18 months) to serve? Well, First I’d like you to think about something he regularly asks of us. Hopefully you remember that as members of the church we are asked to give ten percent of our income to tithing. That really is not that much if you think about it. We end up getting some of it back by being in this church building, attending the temple, ward and stake activities. It’s really not a bad deal. When I get back from my mission I will be twenty four and I will be gone for eighteen months. By the time I get back from my mission I will have given 6% of my life to the Lord. That’s really not a lot if you look at the Savior and remember that he gave his whole entire life. His whole life! 100% he was preaching sermons when he was younger than my little brother. So in reality, it really is not a sacrifice. Especially since I know my family and I will be blessed as I serve and I’ll have experiences that will help me for the rest of my life. I shared this quote last time I gave a talk but I love it so I’m going to share it again. It says, “The Savior did not give his life so I could give half of mine.” I think that is a very powerful quote and it puts a lot of things into perspective. If we are not serving the Lord every day, we are not doing enough.
Im here today to speak about sharing the gospel not only to those who potentially will be serving in the future, but to the whole congregation.
God has spoken through His prophet and announced to the world that “the Standard of Truth has been erected” and that “no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing.” That is undeniably and indisputably true. We have seen it for ourselves, in decade after decade, from the time of the Prophet Joseph Smith to the time of President Thomas S. Monson. Persecutions have raged. Calumny and lies and misrepresentation have attempted to defame. But in every decade from the time of the Restoration forward, the truth of God has gone “forth boldly, nobly, and independent.” The little Church that started in 1830 with just a handful of members has now grown to more than 13 million Latter-day Saints in many different nations around the world, and we are well on our way to penetrating every continent, visiting every clime, sweeping every country, and sounding in every ear.
This is God’s work, and God’s work will not be frustrated. But there is still much to be done before the Great Jehovah can announce that the work is done. While we praise and honor those faithful Saints who have brought us to this point of public prominence, we cannot afford, my brothers and sisters, to be comfortable or content.
He goes on to say,
We are all needed to finish the work that was begun by those pioneering Saints over 175 years ago and carried out through the subsequent decades by faithful Saints of every generation. We need to believe as they believed. We need to work as they worked. We need to serve as they served. And we need to overcome as they overcame.
Of course, our challenges are different today, but they are no less demanding. Instead of angry mobs, we face those who constantly try to defame. Instead of extreme exposure and hardship, we face alcohol and drug abuse, pornography, all kinds of filth, sleaze, greed, dishonesty, and spiritual apathy. Instead of families being uprooted and torn from their homes, we see the institution of the family, including the divine institution of marriage, under attack as groups and individuals seek to define away the prominent and divine role of the family in society.
This is not to suggest that our challenges today are more severe than the challenges faced by those who have gone before us. They are just different. The Lord isn’t asking us to load up a handcart; He’s asking us to fortify our faith. He isn’t asking us to walk across a continent; He’s asking us to walk across the street to visit our neighbor. He isn’t asking us to give all of our worldly possessions to build a temple; He’s asking us to give of our means and our time despite the pressures of modern living to continue to build temples and then to attend regularly the temples already built. He isn’t asking us to die a martyr’s death; He’s asking us to live a disciple’s life.
This is a great time to live, brothers and sisters, and it is up to us to carry on the rich tradition of devoted commitment that has been the hallmark of previous generations of Latter-day Saints. This is not a time for the spiritually faint of heart. We cannot afford to be superficially righteous. Our testimonies must run deep, with spiritual roots firmly embedded in the rock of revelation. And we must continue to move the work forward as a covenanted, consecrated people, with faith in every footstep, “till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”
President Monson said,
God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs. Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other in the kingdom. The people of the Church need each other’s strength, support, and leadership in a community of believers as an enclave of disciples. In the Doctrine and Covenants we read about how important it is to “… succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.” (D&C 81:5.) So often, our acts of service consist of simple encouragement or of giving mundane help with mundane tasks, but what glorious consequences can flow from mundane acts and from small but deliberate deeds!
If you think about all the members of the church are here because someone bore their testimony. Whether it was a missionary, neighbor, co worker, friend. Someone took the time to share this gift that changed your life as it has changed mine.
I don’t know if many of you know Jason Hunt, but he is currently serving in the Malaga Spain mission as well. Just to get a feel of Spain and the mission work over there, I have been reading the blog his mother updates every week. I would like to share a story he heard a few weeks ago. His story can be applied not only to missionary work, but to any aspect of the gospel really.
“There was once a supply depot that was located very far away from the stores of which it supplied. An order came in from one of the stores and they requested an order of 2 items: Sponges and logs of firewood. The owner of the warehouse loaded up two horses, one with the light weight of the sponges and the other carried the full weight of the wooden logs. The long journey began and as time passed, the horse carrying the logs began to show its decrease in strength and symptoms of fatigue. However the other horse, was the complete contrary, he had hardly been affected by the weight of his cargo. The horse with the weight of the logs was forced to walk in a strait path while the other walked, trotted, galloped and ran around as freely as he willed. After much time had passed and a lot of distance covered, the caravan was stopped at the bank of a river. At this point, the horse with the logs was shaking and sweating because of the burden he carried while the horse with the sponges walked unaffected. The travelers had to cross the river so the horses entered the water began to swim across. As the horse with the sponges crossed, he quickly realized that the weight of his cargo was dramatically increasing. The sponges absorbed the water and the weight became unbearable. The once free roaming horse with this light load could not keep above the water due to the extreme weight of his now soaked through sponges, and then, he drowned. As for the other horse, the one who had carried the heavier load now found that his load of wooden logs was helping him stay afloat and carried him to the opposite bank of the river.
Often times, we view obedience to the Gospel as a burden weighing us down. We see keeping the commandments as a means of limiting our freedom. We witness our friends and even loved ones participating and choosing to do whatsoever they please, while we are pushed down by the weight of obedience. But this is not so. It is our obedience to the gospel, holding to the rod that will keep us afloat when adversity comes. The wonderful thing about all this is that, unlike the horses, we can choose which "burden" we want to carry. We can take a burden of light sponges through our journey of life and do as we please, but when we have to cross the river, when that last day comes, we will not be able to support the weight, and we will drown. OR we can choose the path less traveled and walk in obedience.. We will still have our opportunities to lean, grow and progress, but at the river, it will be our obedience to the commandments of God that will carry us safely across the dangerous waters and help us finish the task we initially started out to do. Remember, the horse with the sponges did not fulfill his purpose of delivering his cargo.
Often times, we view obedience to the Gospel as a burden weighing us down. We see keeping the commandments as a means of limiting our freedom. We witness our friends and even loved ones participating and choosing to do whatsoever they please, while we are pushed down by the weight of obedience. But this is not so. It is our obedience to the gospel, holding to the rod that will keep us afloat when adversity comes. The wonderful thing about all this is that, unlike the horses, we can choose which "burden" we want to carry. We can take a burden of light sponges through our journey of life and do as we please, but when we have to cross the river, when that last day comes, we will not be able to support the weight, and we will drown. OR we can choose the path less traveled and walk in obedience.. We will still have our opportunities to lean, grow and progress, but at the river, it will be our obedience to the commandments of God that will carry us safely across the dangerous waters and help us finish the task we initially started out to do. Remember, the horse with the sponges did not fulfill his purpose of delivering his cargo.
So the choice seems very clear, we can walk, trot, gallop or run in a path of our own design, but drown at the end, or we can put ourselves on a straight and narrow path that was designed before the world was and be carried to safety”
I know that this is true. I know that although it is hard at times to do the right thing, to pay our tithing, to come to church every Sunday, to do our callings to the best of our abilities, to serve our friends, to share our testimonies. I know that the Lord blesses us so much for the daily sacrifices we make. I know that this is the true church and I know the Book of Mormon and the Bible are true. I know that life becomes so much easier when you’re reading the scriptures and praying daily. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and he saw the Father and His son. There is no possible way he could have made up this religion, especially since we have more than 14 million members worldwide and a highly functioning church. I know that President Monson is a true prophet of God and he receives revelation from our Father in Heaven and I am so grateful for conference and the opportunity to receive guidance from the leaders of our church. I know that through trials we become stronger and if we stay strong and endure to the end, our testimonies will become so much stronger. There is nothing about this church that I disagree with, and I am so grateful that anything I don’t understand I can search the scriptures or pray and I will find an answer.
I would like to take this time to thank my family and friends. I’m going to miss you all a lot. You have all played a part in my life whether you realize it or not, even if it was as simple as being a good example to me. I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve the Lord. I’m also grateful that I’m going to Spain and not Temple Square. I’m grateful for my parents who have always been there for me and have taught me many things, including patients. I love you guys. I’m thankful for my best friend, Steven Thomas, who was a big reason I took our Missionary Prep class and pushing me to reach my true potential. I would probably be out at BYUI right now if it wasn’t for him. I’m thankful for all my Sunday school and seminary teachers who put up with me for years and years. And I’m very thankful for such a great ward. And I’m especially thankful for our Savior and His example and willingness to give his life so I could live mine.
