My Farewell Talk: What does the Father ask?

[Leave it to Kayla to already be crying before her farewell talk]
I’m SO grateful for Tara being able to follow some sweeeet inspiration to sing what has become my favorite hymn [Savior, Redeemer of My Soul] as I’ve approached leaving on my mission. It perfectly describes how I feel toward my Savior and my hopes to let his love work in me to make me better than I could ever be on my own.

Brothers and Sisters, my heart is incredibly full today looking out upon the individuals and families who have shaped and really raised me into loving this gospel so much that I want to share what has brought me such joy.

At 13, I received my patriarchal blessing from a beloved grandfather who passed away 2 years ago. From that moment on, I knew that the Lord wanted me to serve a mission for Him. The path of the mission hasn’t always been clear. “Sister Moon, you are hereby called to serve in the Chile Santiago North Mission.” Coincidentally enough, it was that same grandfather, who presided over this same mission 35 years ago. I can’t help but think that he may have been helping the missionary department with a few keystrokes from the other side of the veil. I know it’s not where I serve, but how I serve that is important -- but in this case I know the tender mercies of the Lord are upon all his children.

Searching for a theme, what came to mind one day as I was praying for some guidance was a primary song that later became my favorite. “What does the father ask of us, what do the scriptures say? Have faith, have hope, live like his son, help others on their way.” It’s put so clearly in this song and in the hearts of these young primary children what all of our lives should center around, which is making sure, through EVERY SINGLE TRIAL we face, we not forget to #1 Have faith, #2 have hope, #3 live like Jesus did, and #4 help others do the same.

          faith

First, I want to talk about faith-the first principle of the gospel. What I’ve learned about faith is that it’s just as much about having faith in Jesus Christ’s atonement to heal us from our troubles as it is about having faith to accept the Father’s will, or as Elder Bednar describes “the faith not to be healed.”

I love how Elder Holland describes the account of the sick boy in Mark chapter 9: “The father appealed to Jesus with what must have been last-resort desperation in his voice:

“If thou canst do any thing,” he said, “have compassion on us, and help us.

“Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

“And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”

"We are told that is good enough for a beginning. “Even if ye can no more than desire to believe,” Alma declares, “let this desire work in you, even until ye believe.” Elder Holland continues: I would say to all who wish for more faith, remember this man! When those moments come and issues surface, the resolution of which is not immediately forthcoming, hold fast to what you already know and stand strong until additional knowledge comes. It was of this very incident, this specific miracle, that Jesus said, “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”6 The size of your faith or the degree of your knowledge is not the issue—it is the integrity you demonstrate toward the faith you do have and the truth you already know."

struggle deciding to serve-me having faith to not be healed When I started my first semester up at BYU where I’d always wanted to go, I was provided with dreamy kind of things I’d wished for my whole life ... endless awesome adventures. Well, these included RMs, which you all might guess meant I was going to be in a whole 'nother ball game as far as how serious my dating was bound to end up, and I had not anticipated the confusion I had as to how in the world I was going to follow my dreams of serving a mission when I realized the possibility of Heavenly Father maaaybe having another plan for me. I felt the pressure and obligation to ask for and receive this answer FAST, but the pressure left as I let go of the more serious dating and decided to not demand answers I wasn’t willing to wait for, and actually give it up to the Lord and his timing to direct my path. I’d love to say that immediately after I did this I was hit over the head with a flashing sign saying “YOU’RE GOING ON A MISSION!” with the date I’d be leaving and what to do until then, but that was not the case because #1 that’s just silly, and #2 the Lord obviously needed to teach me about patience while searching for answers, and ultimately having “faith to not be healed”, which for me at the time, was not receiving immediate answers.  Through much trying to do it on my own, I finally realized that we need to show our faith like the children of Israel did, placing their feet in the water moving forward until Moses parted the Red Sea for them to cross.

Neil Anderson said:

"Faith never demands an answer to every question but seeks the assurance and courage to move forward, sometimes acknowledging, “I don’t know everything, but I do know enough to continue on the path of discipleship.”16

I know that as I did this, light came, and on several occasions I received and still do receive sacred manifestations from the spirit, picturing Heavenly Father’s face smiling down on me, nodding, ‘Yes! You’ve got it right Kayla', and I’ve felt like my good friend Elder Allred has, describing it as feeling the greatest happiness when our plans for ourselves are the same as God’s plans for us, who is, after all, the ultimate planner.

President Boyd K. Packer, has said: “Faith, to be faith, must center around something that is not known. Faith, to be faith, must go beyond that for which there is confirming evidence. Faith, to be faith, must go into the unknown. Faith, to be faith, must walk to the edge of the light, and then a few steps into the darkness.”1

Faith does not fall upon us by chance or stay with us by birthright. It is, as the scriptures say, “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Hope 

It’s hard to talk about faith without also talking about  it’s companion virtue hope. President James E Faust taught.“Hope is the anchor to our souls. Hope is trust in God’s promises, faith that if we act now, the desired blessings will be fulfilled in the future”

Near the close of the Book of Mormon in Moroni ch 7, Moroni asks:  

41 And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.

42 Wherefore, if a man have faith he must needs have hope; for without faith there cannot be any hope.

So brothers and sisters, how can we show our faith and hope in Christ who can and will heal us? Moroni continues and answers:

43 And again, behold I say unto you that he cannot have faith and hope, save he shall be meek, and lowly of heart. (so being teachable)

He goes on to describe that charity is the pure love of christ and lists incredible blessings which come with having it. I’ve realized these blessings (and the lack of them) TOO MANY times,  living and working with several different people,and living like the Savior with charity truly never faileth.  Charity never gets tired and charity never gives up. Charity is just  one of the great attributes of Christ, yet all of them can be fulfilled through this love we have for Him to move us toward Him. If we want to be tutored in math, we go to Amy Branson. If we want to be tutored in charity or similar attributes, we go to the Savior. Loving him includes learning about him, too, for Mosiah asks: “How knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?”

Faith Walk-living as He did As a 13 year old girl, the young women’s organization instilled this in me with one particular event: the famous “walk of faith” to the Dallas Temple. We girls and our leaders prepared for weeks physically and mentally to walk together from this very building 15 miles to the Dallas temple, and at the end, we would recite together “The Living Christ”. Tears come to my eyes now as they did then just knowing HE LIVES. The preparation and the event was a sacred experience. We got tired and had trouble memorizing, so we stopped for breaks and nourishment, but I can tell you that I would do it again if it meant growing as close to my Savior as I did then. I know the Chilean kilometers I will soon be walking will bring some of that closeness back. Sometimes, even when we are doing our best to follow Christ’s example, we will run into obstacles that can bring frustration, disappointment, and even despair.

But jesus says:I’ve been where you are- and worse than that. I know what you’re feeling, for I have felt it. I remember my own pain when I went through it, and my heart aches for you. But I want you back. I’ll even carry you back, if you’ll let me. No matter how lost we get, Jesus Christ, the way back, the door home, is always at our elbow.

Many of the things that weigh us down in our lives are not the result of sin. For example, the death or illness of loved ones, stress at work, or the difficulty of raising a family can bring challenges and heartache. Jesus Christ said, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). As soon as we are willing to turn to Him and live as loving, faithful, and purely as he did, we will feel His love and presence to hold us up in our walk through life.

Help others on their way

One line we’d recited from The Living Christ  was: As Risen Lord, He visited among those he had loved in life.”  After he was crucified, the apostles found themselves wondering  what to do with their lives now that their master was gone, so they did what they always did-fished. While they were stuck, having no luck, a man shouted,  from across the water asking how the fishing was going. I can imagine their tired expressions and shrugs. The man suggested Peter cast the net on the other side of the boat. He must have laughed or scoffed like REALLY? That simple act of faith changed everything as the nets nearly broke under the weight of the many fish. Noow they recognized their beloved risen Savior. The Savior asked Peter, “Lovest thou me?” and he quickly answered “Yea Lord, I love thee!” He then asked a second time “Peter: Lovest thou me?” hesitating he answered, “YEA Lord, I love thee!!” And a third time he asked: “Peter-lovest thou me?” He answered “yea Lord, I love thee.” Each time Peter declared his love, in essence the Lord was saying, Then feed. my. sheep.

I always seem to forget these last couple parts of what the father asks of us, which is why I’ve got these two rings inscribed with good reminders: the first being Moroni 7:48 which says: 

“48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons [and daughters] of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

And the second one says “Llamados a servir” meaning called to serve in spanish. A lot of the time we focus on the “call” part of that statement, like where we’re going and what language we’ll speak and the culture we’ll get to be apart of, which is all exciting and fun, but I and all of us have been called to SERVE.

I absolutely loved going to something at BYU called “tunnel singing” where tons of people gather in circles on a sunday night and valiantly and tenderly sing hymns for an hour in the tunnel under the bridge where the voices echo so beautifully, and the spirit is SO strong. The highlight would always be at the half-way point where everyone would sit down and those who got a mission call or recently returned stood up, shouting to the tons of people their name, where they will serve, what language they would speak, and when they would report or when they came back. Tears filled my eyes seeing surprising numbers of these young adults who will or have dedicated so much to the Lord because they LOVE Him and what has been given to them. We love Him because He first loved us.

Brothers and Sisters, we have been given much and we too must give. Through our callings at church, as parents, brothers, sisters, friends, fellow children of our Heavenly Father... the Father and Savior have ultimately asked us to share the light of the gospel, the happiness it brings us, and the peace that resides when we abide by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Joseph Smith declared that “...a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things, never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation.” We are working toward the power to know Jesus Christ and Heavenly father and their kingdom.

President Hinckley once said: “Generally speaking, the most miserable people I know are those who are obsessed with themselves; the happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others...By and large, I have come to see that if we complain about life, it is because we are thinking only of ourselves.”

As the Lord said unto Enoch: Go forth and do as I have commanded thee, and no man shall pierce thee. Open thy mouth, and it shall be filled, and I will give thee utterance, for all flesh is in my hands, and I will do as seemeth me good. (Moses 6:31-32)

are you scared? Many, namely my non-member friends, have asked “Well, aren’t you scared to leave your family, go to a foreign land, try to speak their language, and hope that they accept you?” And the answer has been “of course! It’s going to be hard no matter what.” But as it’s come closer, I know the reality of God’s power has become more and more evident as peace and excitement has filled me these past couple weeks.*talk about scary dream* [a night I was woken up from a dream and felt that it was real- that I was being kidnapped and was just miserably afraid. Prayed for comfort, peace, and to be able to go back to sleep, and in that same tone that the Lord would’ve said ‘feed. my. sheep’ I heard ‘I. Am. Here.’ after the many times His spirit had manifested itself to me and as I’ve seen in the scriptures, He’s always been there! I just have to believe Him!]

quoting Elder Bednar’s words, “[I] will have help from heaven. Because [I] know who is in charge and that [I] am not alone. [So] no, I am not scared.”  “For in his strength I can do all things.”

challenge I learned a lot working at Chick-fil-A a few times now, and the main thing is that there is ALWAYS something to be doing. Someone to serve, something to stock, clean, make better, work toward... we can all let a little service in our lives, put some oil in our lamps, purify ourselves and improve choices of where we spend our time, examples to follow more perfectly... I challenge you all to increase your capacity to serve our Heavenly Father and know Jesus Christ better by having faith in his atonement to heal you, hope that good things are to come when we act, knowing the Savior as you try to emulate his light, and to feed his sheep by spreading the good news of His message.

testimony I know that God lives and loves us so much that he allowed his son to be sacrificed so we can return perfected-in-Him. I’ve seen that the Lord’s timing is perfect. I have and know I will always conquer any trial this earthly life gives me because of the support beyond the veil, namely the Redeemer of the world who sunk below any and all misery we will ever feel. I know a farm boy could not have written the work that is full of the truths of eternity and he wouldn’t have sealed it with his blood, and I would not be dedicating any part of my life to it if I didn’t know it was truth. I know that the heavens are not closed. I love the temple and the beauty and peace I feel by being worthy to enter in the Lord’s house and His presence one day. I love the scriptures with all my heart. I love my family and the unconditional, heavenly love in it. I know what heaven will be like because I have seen it at home. I love what the gospel has and will make of me as I pledge my all to this sacred work.