Hey so this was my farewell talk. It's a rough draft and has lots of grammar errors, so don't hate. Yep that's it. Probably the only time I'll post on my own blog :) 

Greeting

Subject: Love.

Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of their –Chrissy, age 6

Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen-Bobby, age 7

During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn’t scared anymore. –Cindy, age 8

In a musical I recently had the opportunity to be in a question is asked, “Do you love me”. This question is what I’d like to focus my talk on. In our lives the greatest source of love comes from our Father in Heaven and our Savior and brother Jesus Christ. But many in this world do not know of this love. They may have felt an occasional peace in this life or a sense of a higher power, but often they regard that as being “at one with nature” or even nirvana. As children of our Heavenly Father we must ask him “Do You Love Me”. But before we do so we must study. We must try to find out if he loves us from the things which he has already given us. If we look in the scriptures the love our Father has for us is obvious. In 2 Nephi 2:25 it says “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.” From this we learn that the purpose for our Father’s plan before we came to this earth, was that we could be happy. We gain this happiness through obedience to our Father’s commands, and through truly living the standards provided by us through the scriptures and modern revelation. Many people think believe that the “rules that Mormons have” restrict us from having fun. And in fact, many people in the church believe that these are restrictions. That they are fences that keep us in, never allowing us the be a part of the outside world. Many people push these boundaries. They go right up next to the fence and try to peer between the slats at what’s going on. What they don’t realize is that the fence isn’t meant to keep us in, it’s meant to keep the world out. And in fact there is no fence there at all. Not even a line to keep us in. Nothing keeps us from going into the world but a sincere warning from the one that knows exactly what is there. Our Father gives us these instructions not to hinder us, but to free us from the chains of sin. If we choose so we may venture into the world beyond the area we have been given, we will be trapped by the snares of the devil. His snares are hidden in all the areas he knows we will venture. He knows us and has studied our every move. He knows exactly where we will go and that is exactly where he sets his traps. Our Father knows that these traps are difficult to avoid and extremely difficult to get out of. Some of the traps are small, like mouse-traps. They may catch you for only a moment but you can easily escape them. But others are pits. Deep dark pits that make you feel like you will be trapped forever. But our Father in Heaven is a pretty smart guy and he has prepared for that. In every trap and every pit, the Lord has made a way for us to escape. If, at the bottom of the pit of sin, we look around we will see that there is a rope just in our reach. If we make the effort to climb out, we can return to our Father’s land and be safe from bondage. Another perfect example of our Father’s love for us is found in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The Atonement is the purest show of love that any being has even performed. A friend of mine, who live in our ward and whose name starts with a C and ends with Handler reminded me the other day that the Atonement encompassed everything we have ever felt. Every sadness, every joy. Every pain, every accomplishment. Every pride, and every feeling of inadequacy that we have ever experienced. Our Savior has felt every single thing we have ever felt and therefore knows us perfectly and loves us perfectly. After we have studied and seen evidence of this love we must go directly to the source. If you ask your Father in sincere prayer, “Do you love me?” I guarantee you will get and answer and that answer will be yes.

            As important as it is to know that the Lord loves us I would suggest that there is even a greater calling for us on this earth. And that is answering the Savior when HE asks “Do you love me.” In General Conference just a few weeks ago we were able to listen to Elder Jeffery R. Holland’s talk that addressed this same thing. He told of the 11 remaining apostles after the death of Christ. The apostles had no idea how to continue on. The base of their church the cornerstone of their understanding was gone. Looking for leadership the apostles turned to Peter. Peter like the rest did not know what to do but he attempted to lead. This is a direct quote from Elder Holland’s talk, “Here I ask your indulgence as I take some nonscriptural liberty in my portrayal of this exchange. In effect, Peter said to his associates: “Brethren, it has been a glorious three years. None of us could have imagined such a few short months ago the miracles we have seen and the divinity we have enjoyed. We have talked with, prayed with, and labored with the very Son of God Himself. We have walked with Him and wept with Him, and on the night of that horrible ending, no one wept more bitterly than I. But that is over. He has finished His work, and He has risen from the tomb. He has worked out His salvation and ours. So you ask, ‘What do we do now?’ I don’t know more to tell you than to return to your former life, rejoicing. I intend to ‘go a fishing.’” And at least six of the ten other remaining Apostles said in agreement, “We also go with thee.” John, who was one of them, writes, “They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately.”3. So the apostles went back to what they knew, fishing. [John 21] ask and respond. Jesus responded, and again I quote: “To which Jesus responded (and here again I acknowledge my nonscriptural elaboration), perhaps saying something like: “Then Peter, why are you here? Why are we back on this same shore, by these same nets, having this same conversation? Wasn’t it obvious then and isn’t it obvious now that if I want fish, I can get fish? What I need, Peter, are disciples—and I need them forever. I need someone to feed my sheep and save my lambs. I need someone to preach my gospel and defend my faith. I need someone who loves me, truly, truly loves me, and loves what our Father in Heaven has commissioned me to do. Ours is not a feeble message. It is not a fleeting task. It is not hapless; it is not hopeless; it is not to be consigned to the ash heap of history. It is the work of Almighty God, and it is to change the world. So, Peter, for the second and presumably the last time, I am asking you to leave all this and to go teach and testify, labor and serve loyally until the day in which they will do to you exactly what they did to me.”

Then, turning to all the Apostles, He might well have said something like: “Were you as foolhardy as the scribes and Pharisees? As Herod and Pilate? Did you, like they, think that this work could be killed simply by killing me? Did you, like they, think the cross and the nails and the tomb were the end of it all and each could blissfully go back to being whatever you were before? Children, did not my life and my love touch your hearts more deeply than this?”

This is how we show our love. In this talk Elder Holland states that “the crowning characteristic of love is always loyalty.” We must follow what the Lord has told us to do to show him we love him. “If ye love me, keep my commandments,”14 Jesus said. So we have neighbors to bless, children to protect, the poor to lift up, and the truth to defend. We have wrongs to make right, truths to share, and good to do. In short, we have a life of devoted discipleship to give in demonstrating our love of the Lord. We can’t quit and we can’t go back.” If we can do this and follow this mandate of selflessness and service we can answer will full confidence when we return to our Father’s presence “Yea Lord, we do love thee”

Testimony

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