For those of you who weren't able to attend Darren's farewell and those who asked for a copy of his talk, here you go.
Farewell Talk
I want to thank my friends and family who are here today to support me as a I prepare to leave for a mission. Each has helped prepare me in some way to enter the mission field and serve the Lord. For those who may not know, I've been called to serve in the Slovenia / Croatia Mission which is comprised of the seven former Yugoslavian republics. Only three of those countries are open to missionary work: Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia. Each has its own primary language and I've already been told by my mission president that I'll be learning the Serbian language and serving exclusively in that country. The call is especially exciting to my family and I as my Great-Grandfather is Serbian and came to America from Yugoslavia in the early 1900's.
The Bishop asked that I speak a little about how I prepared for my mission. As I considered this topic over the past several weeks I struggled with what I could say. After extensive thought and study I've come up with a three step program. First, read your scriptures. Second, pray. Finally, attend your meetings. With my talk out of the way, I'll close with my testimony....
Just kidding, but I would like to talk for a few minutes about ant hills. An ant hill in its simplest form is a just a pile of dirt. On the surface, there doesn't seem to be much to an ant hill. But when you stop to consider what it takes to build one and the complexity of the tunneling and caverns below the surface, you begin to appreciate this wondrous creation.
An ant hill is the by-product of ants digging subterranean tunnels. It is created by carrying and piling millions of individual grains of dirt outside of the colony entrance. The effort is not done by a single ant alone, rather legions of worker ants are committed to maintaining and building the ant hill and colony. The colony is maintained and the ant hill created through sustained effort. In fact, building the colony is a life-long pursuit. The ants work hard during the summer heat to build up their food stores and provide warmth and safety for the winter months. The resulting ant hill is a monument to the ants efforts.
As I considered the process to prepare for a mission, I realized that it was a lot like building an ant hill. For the remainder of my talk I want to talk about some of the comparable elements of building an ant hill including: consistent effort, work, collaboration, building your reserves, etc.
In 2 Nephi 31: 20, Nephi talks about the plan of salvation and what we must do once we've entered onto the straight and narrow path through baptism:
"Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward feasting upon the word of Christ and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life."
Nephi's reminder is that as children of a Heavenly Father our journey to return to his presence is one that requires consistent, steadfast effort. Our continued, daily efforts to follow the path the Savior has trodden result in our covering distances that amaze us when we look back on where our journey has taken us. An ant hill isn't created by a single exertion and neither is our testimony. In the book of Luke we read about the Joseph and Mary taking Jesus to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover.
After departing from Jerusalem, his parents realized that Jesus was not with them. A three day search resulting in their finding Him in the temple, "...sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions." Mary inquired why he had left them to which the future Savior of the world proclaimed, "How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" He knew as a 12 year old boy that his actions and learning were necessary to fulfill his pre-ordained calling. Luke only records one more verse between this experience and the start of the Savior's earthly ministry. "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man."
I acknowledge that it has taken an entire colony to help prepare me for missionary service. I was born to goodly parents and felt love and support from them and from my siblings. Grand-Parents started righteous traditions that continue in my household. Aunts, Uncles and cousins have been examples to me. I was fortunate to be taught by caring young men leaders and Sunday school teachers. Four years and four seminary teachers taught me to love the scriptures. Supportive friends have provided encouragement and strength.
Brent H. Nielson shared this experience. While serving in Finland, I learned that my mission president’s wife, Sister Lea Mahoney, was a native of Finland. As a young girl she had grown up in the eastern portion of Finland in a city named Viipuri. As the ravages of war engulfed Finland and other countries during World War II, she and her family left their home, and Viipuri became part of the Soviet Union and was renamed Vyborg. In our zone conferences, Sister Mahoney would tell us of those left behind in Viipuri and of her desire that the gospel be taken to them. Following President Kimball’s challenge, we unitedly prayed that the hearts of the leaders of that nation would be softened so that the gospel could be taken by our missionaries into the Soviet Union.
We would go to the border between Finland and the Soviet Union and see the guard towers and the fences, and we would wonder who those brave young men and young women would be and when they would cross that border to take the gospel to the people there. I must admit, at that time it seemed like an impossible task.
Three years ago, our son Eric received a mission call to serve in the Russia St. Petersburg Mission. In his first letter home, he wrote something like this: “Dear Mom and Dad, I have been assigned to my first city in Russia. Dad, you may have heard of it before. It is called Vyborg, but it was previously a Finnish city named Viipuri.”
Tears came to my eyes as I understood that Eric was in the very city we had prayed about 32 years earlier. Eric found a chapel there and a branch of faithful Saints. He was living and serving in a place that to me as a young man had seemed impossible to enter.
I did not realize those many years ago, as we prayed for the borders to open and the missionaries to go in, that I was praying for our son. Most importantly for you of the rising generation, our son Eric did not realize that he and his companions were the answer to the prayers that had been offered by thousands of faithful Saints so many years ago. You of the rising generation are the fulfillment of prophecy that in our day “the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done” .
I ask for your prayers on behalf of me and the other missionaries serving throughout the world that this great gospel might be heard by those seeking is peaceful message.
Just like the ant doesn't remove a single large stone and place it on its hill, evidencing completion of the colony, there wasn't one overriding thing I did to help prepare myself for my mission. Some of the things that helped me included:
· Attending four years of Seminary. My parents taught me from an early age that graduation from seminary was as important as graduation from high school.
· Taking my school studies seriously.
· Accepting and fulfilling priesthood callings.
· Performing service to others. Just last Saturday, I joined my father and Tyson on a priesthood service assignment. The two hours together in service of others was rewarding and helps remind me of my many blessings and responsibility to help our Heavenly Fathers children.
· Honoring my parents.
· Learning to work.
· Reading the scriptures and in particular the Book of Mormon. I first completed the Book of Mormon when I accepted President Hinckley's challenge to read it cover to cover before the end of the year.
· Developing a habit of personal prayer.
· Regular exercise and physical health.
· Selecting friends who have helped me hold to the iron rod, not stray from it.
For all of us, there are many demands on our time and energy. We often must choose between something good and something better. Do our choices during the day allow us to set aside those few precious moments required to study the scriptures or perform an act of service.
Bishop H. David Burton shared this analogy. One of the defining differences between the good and the great is what sports psychologists call “focus.” Competitors who have the ability to set aside the unimportant and be completely attentive to that which is critical are able to improve their performance. Focus is a critical success factor.
I overheard a conversation between golfing great Arnold Palmer and a young caddie he was using for the first time. The young caddie, while handing Mr. Palmer his club, told him the distance to the flag was 165 yards, there was an unseen stream on the left, and a long and treacherous rough on the right. In a very kind but firm way, Mr. Palmer reminded the young man that the only information he required was the distance to the hole. He further suggested he didn’t want to lose focus by worrying about what was on the right or left.
It is easy to lose sight of the really important objectives of life. There is much to distract us. Some are floundering in the water hazards on the left, and others are finding the long, treacherous rough on the right insurmountable. Safety and success come when focus is maintained on the important opportunities found by driving the ball straight down the middle—priesthood advancement, temple worthiness, and missionary service. And that’s the way it is.
Recently, my parents and I discussed Section 4 of the Doctrine and Covenants which reads:
"Now behold a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men. 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. Therefore if ye have desires to serve God, ye are called to the work; ...and faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work. Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence."
This scripture contains a long list of attributes that we should strive for as we prepare for and serve as missionaries. Perhaps most important is serving the Lord with all your heart.
President Hinckley described what happens to the heart of every missionary who commits his or her life and work to the Lord when he talked about his own missionary experiences. It was early in his mission, and he was discouraged. The work was hard, and the people were not receptive. However, there came a time when discouragement turned to commitment. For him, the beginning was a letter from his father in which he read: “Dear Gordon, I have your letter. … I have only one suggestion: Forget yourself and go to work.” In describing what happened next, he said: “I got on my knees in that little bedroom … and made a pledge that I would try to give myself unto the Lord.
“The whole world changed. The fog lifted. The sun began to shine in my life. I had a new interest. I saw the beauty of this land. I saw the greatness of the people. … Everything that has happened to me since that’s been good I can trace to that decision made in that little house.
President Hinckley continued by saying: “You want to be happy? Forget yourself and get lost in this great cause, and bend your efforts to helping people”.
Continuing with a quote from Elder David Evans. To every young man I would say, do you want to be happy? If so, come and join with us, 52,000 strong and counting, and serve your fellow man as a missionary for the Lord. Make the commitment to give two years of your life to the Lord. It will change everything. You will be happy. The fog will lift. You will come to love the culture and the people you are called to serve. The work will be difficult, but there will also be great satisfaction and joy as you serve. If you are faithful during your mission and thereafter, you will look back on your life and say with President Hinckley, “Everything that has happened to me since that’s been good I can trace to that decision to serve a mission and give my life to the Lord.”
In a recent conference talk Elder Ron Rasband shared a revelation to the Whitmer brothers, who had a profound role in the early days of the Restoration. They were witnesses to the gold plates, and their signed testimonies are included at the front of every copy of the Book of Mormon. They were among the first band of missionaries called by a prophet of God in 1829 to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the preface to section 14 of the Doctrine and Covenants, it states, “Three of the Whitmer sons, each having received a testimony as to the genuineness of the work, became deeply concerned over the matter of their individual duty.”
To John and Peter Whitmer Jr. the Lord said this: “For many times you have desired of me to know that which would be of the most worth unto you.” I suppose many of you young men have asked yourselves that same question. Here is the Lord’s answer: “And now, behold, I say unto you, that the thing which will be of the most worth unto you will be to declare repentance unto this people, that you may bring souls unto me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father.”
To the young men of the ward who are considering missionary service, I share with you a quote from our prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, “The missionary opportunity of a lifetime is yours. The blessings of eternity await you. Yours is the privilege to be not spectators but participants on the stage of priesthood service.” I'm grateful the Lord has entrusted me with my call to serve and pray that my service will be worthy of his trust and calling.
