Hello brothers and sisters, I am so excited that I have the opportunity to speak to
you today as I prepare to serve my mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints. I cannot believe I am just a couple days away from beginning my mission. I am so
excited to serve the people in Santos, and I hope that I will be able to bring them joy through
the gospel. For those of you that may not know what a mission is, I will be in Brazil for the
next two years preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to people that are willing to listen and
also to people that may not have even heard of Jesus Christ. I am so excited that I get to do
this because my relationship with Jesus Christ is the most valuable thing that I have and
the fact that I can help others have a relationship like I have with him brings me so much
joy.
The topic I was given today to speak on was how can we be not weary in well doing? I
think that this is a challenge sometimes because serving others and doing the right things
can sometimes feel inconvenient, exhausting, and challenging. Whenever I have feelings
like these, I think of something that my mom brought up the other day as we were driving.
She said that one of her favorite words describing Jesus Christ was Interruptible. During
Christ’s ministry on the Earth, there were many things that seemed to interrupt him. One
example that came to mind was the story of Christ healing the woman with the issue of
blood in the book of Mark in the New Testament. As Christ was winding his way through
large crowds of people in an effort to get to the house of a man named Jairus who had a
daughter that was on the verge of death, Jesus was touched by a woman seeking a cure for
her chronic illness that she had been dealing with for 12 years. She believed that if she
could simply touch his clothing, she would be healed, and she was. It is so wild to me that
even in a huge crowd of people, Christ knew that there was someone there that needed his
help. It would have been so easy for him to ignore this feeling as he was attending to man
who had a daughter that was extremely ill. Instead, he stopped and asked who had
touched him. The woman stated that she was the one that touched him and Christ said to
her “Daughter, be of good comfort, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.”Christ had
an agenda that was very important, yet he still allowed it to be interrupted. Interruptions
like this look very different today yet they still serve a very important purpose. In a talk by
Patrick Kearon he states, “I came to understand why everyone serves one another in a
ward: it affords us all the opportunity to pursue Christ and His virtues such as charity,
humility, meekness, forgiveness, and love.” I personally feel like these moments in our day
where helping someone might be inconvenient are the moments Christ appreciates the
most. If we can realize that offering our services to another person is the best way to show
our love to God, we will be blessed with even more than we sacrificed. The first and great
commandment is to Love God and there is a reason that the next commandment is to love
your neighbor.
even in a huge crowd of people, Christ knew that there was someone there that needed his
help. It would have been so easy for him to ignore this feeling as he was attending to man
who had a daughter that was extremely ill. Instead, he stopped and asked who had
touched him. The woman stated that she was the one that touched him and Christ said to
her “Daughter, be of good comfort, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.”Christ had
an agenda that was very important, yet he still allowed it to be interrupted. Interruptions
like this look very different today yet they still serve a very important purpose. In a talk by
Patrick Kearon he states, “I came to understand why everyone serves one another in a
ward: it affords us all the opportunity to pursue Christ and His virtues such as charity,
humility, meekness, forgiveness, and love.” I personally feel like these moments in our day
where helping someone might be inconvenient are the moments Christ appreciates the
most. If we can realize that offering our services to another person is the best way to show
our love to God, we will be blessed with even more than we sacrificed. The first and great
commandment is to Love God and there is a reason that the next commandment is to love
your neighbor.
In D&C 64:33-34 it reads, “Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying
the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.
Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall
eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days.” I love that these verses say that the Lord
requires the heart and a willing mind when talking about well-doing. It is easy to be
annoyed when asked to help with something but that is not how we should serve. When we
serve, we are not simply fulfilling an assignment, we are uplifting God’s children. This is one
of the reasons I am so excited and motivated to serve a mission. I have been blessed to
grow up in a home with two loving parents where I was taught the gospel since I was little,
loved unconditionally, and never had to be afraid to ask for help. It would be so easy to take
it for granted and not share what I have experienced with others. How can I not share the
great news of the gospel of Jesus Christ when it has changed my life for the better? Why
wouldn’t I want other people to experience the same unconditional love that I have felt?
How can I not serve others in need when my needs have been met?
In the book of Mark, there is another story that stands out to me that shows how
Christ can be interrupted. Christ and his apostles were on the Sea of Galilee when a violent
storm started. Christ was asleep in the boat and his apostles woke him up to warn him of
the storm going on outside and he immediately got up to help them. In verse 39 it says,
“And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind
ceased, and there was a great calm.”Christ did not get annoyed with his apostles when he
was woken up. Instead, he used it as a teaching moment. In the next verses he exclaims,
“Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and
said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey
him?”Christ’s apostles had witnessed many miracles and yet they still had their doubts
about whether they would be safe from this storm. Christ taught them that if you have faith
in God, there is no need to fear. I think that this applies so well to life as Christ is our rock
and our redeemer and as long as we stand with him, we will be protected. One of my
favorite verses of scripture in the Book of Mormon is Helaman 5:12 and it is actually the
scripture that is on my mission plaque and it reads, “And now, my sons, remember,
remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye
must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his
shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it
shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo,
because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation
whereon if men build they cannot fall.” This verse brings me so much comfort because
there are so many promised blessings that come along with building our foundation in
Christ. The devil will have no power over you and even when you have trials and hardships,
you will not fall as long as you are rooted in Jesus Christ.
I want to share a story about my mom that really left an impression on me recently
and taught me what it means to serve as the Savior would. This past Christmas, I came
home for about three weeks from Utah State to spend time with my family. While I was
home, my mom saw an opportunity to help a lady that had recently become homeless just
a few days before Christmas and needed somewhere to stay. She immediately got in the
car and drove to pick up this lady that couldn’t find a homeless shelter to stay in because
they were all full. My mom spent multiple days finding hotels for her to stay in, getting her
food, and calling around to see if there was any place that was safe and available for her to
stay in. She did all of this while getting ready for Christmas and entertaining all of our
family. I was so amazed at my mom’s willingness to drop everything to serve someone that
was in so much need. It is so easy to get caught up in our own chaotic lives that we
sometimes forget to look around and realize there are others that need uplifting.
Being not weary in well-doing is not an easy task so here are a few things that I think
could help with this:
1. Try to see others as God sees them
a. When you see someone in need, it is easy to let our own judgements of them
get in the way. If we can see them as a child of God and love them, it will be
so much easier to serve them with the right mindset
2. Focus on the One
a. It is so easy to try to do a million things at once but try to shift your focus to
helping one person at a time or doing one kind thing at a time. Out of small
things proceedeth that which is great
3. Check you motives
a. Make sure that you are doing things for the right reason not for gain or
validation
4. Trust in the Lord
a. It will take sacrifice to serve others but God loves sacrifice and he rewards it
Another way that we can avoid being weary in well-doing is by being physically and
spiritually recharged. It is important to be physically available so that you can serve others.
Getting enough sleep, fueling your body with nutritious food, and taking care of yourself in
terms of hygiene are all very important in being able to do good to others. In addition to
being physically able to help others, you need to be spiritually recharged to help others. If
we are not growing and improving our spirituality by reading the scriptures, communicating
with Heavenly Father through prayer, and acting Christlike, how are we supposed to help
others? This is similar to safety instructions on planes when they advise you to put on your
own oxygen mask first before helping others with their masks. You must be in a stable
condition so that you can help others get to this point as well. The Lord has promised that if
we take time for Him each day, he will strengthen us, and he will fortify us.
a. It will take sacrifice to serve others but God loves sacrifice and he rewards it
Another way that we can avoid being weary in well-doing is by being physically and
spiritually recharged. It is important to be physically available so that you can serve others.
Getting enough sleep, fueling your body with nutritious food, and taking care of yourself in
terms of hygiene are all very important in being able to do good to others. In addition to
being physically able to help others, you need to be spiritually recharged to help others. If
we are not growing and improving our spirituality by reading the scriptures, communicating
with Heavenly Father through prayer, and acting Christlike, how are we supposed to help
others? This is similar to safety instructions on planes when they advise you to put on your
own oxygen mask first before helping others with their masks. You must be in a stable
condition so that you can help others get to this point as well. The Lord has promised that if
we take time for Him each day, he will strengthen us, and he will fortify us.
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