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| Thanks to the best family in the world! |
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It was an emotional day for sure.
Happy tears with his big sis.
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A few have asked, so here is his talk from Sacrament Meeting that day. Words from a future missionary. Enjoy!
Mission Farewell Talk
Take a deep breath.
Good afternoon Brother’s and Sisters, I am Brother Stott I didn’t know
if I should go by Elder yet so we’ll just go with Brother right now so I won’t
get in trouble. I report to the MTC in three days to serve a full-time mission
in the Sydney Australia South Mission. I
am super pumped to have the opportunity to serve a full-time mission I know it
will help me in ways that I cannot believe.
Before I start my talk today I need to forewarn you guys of some things. I am kind of a dork so please ignore my weird
hand gestures or weird analogies they make sense in my mind but probably not
anybody else’s. Also, please forgive my
not good English sometimes I wonder if I really should have graduated high
school. Now if it looks like I am
strangling my paper up here it is probably because I am but don’t worry it’s
not suppose to be anybody’s face. Now
last I got the worst family gene ever!
The ball-baby gene, thanks dad.
However, someone has to be strong for the family and I know that
everyone in the first few rows are going to be crying so I will try my hardest
to be the strong one in the family and not cry.
Also, before I start I would like to say some Thank You’s
real quick. There are so many people who
have helped me to get to this point in my life.
I owe them everything. I am not
going to thank everybody by name because first of all I probably don’t remember
all of your names and second I would hate to leave anybody out. So I am just going to give one big THANK YOU
to everybody who has helped me in my life. THANK YOU and I love you guys. Thanks to all of my friends who have been
there for me and especially thanks to all of my family for putting up with me
through all the years. It’ll probably be
nice to get a break from me for two years.
Ok before I start crying let’s start…
Now for my talk I have been asked to speak on Standing
in Holy Places. What’s a better
topic to be asked to talk about than that, on a Glorious Sabbath Day at church
with all of our friends and family? I’ll
answer that nothin!! When I received
this topic I thought to myself oh well this’ll be easy I’ll just talk about
church and the temple because those are holy places but I thought to myself there
are so many more Holy Places in this world than that. Of course there are no more Holy Places than
church and the temple but why can’t we make work or places we are often Holy
Places.
In
2013 the mutual theme was “Stand ye in Holy Places.” Perfect! They had a whole
mutual theme based off of my topic for today.
In D&C 87:8 it says…(read scripture). When I read this scripture I thought to
myself well I can stand, but how do I not be moved? In a quote from Elder Hales he says, “Above all, have faith in the Savior! Fear not! As we diligently live the
gospel, we become strong in the Lord. In
the strength of the Lord we are able to stand against any philosophy or creed
that denies the Savior and contradicts the great, eternal plan of happiness for
all of God’s children.”
If we have faith and the companionship of the Holy
Ghost we will not “Be Moved” by anything that Satan throws our way. If we are spiritually strong we can make any
place we want a Holy Place. So yes of
course there are Holy Places like church, our homes, and the strongest of all
the temple. But if we are spiritually
strong, things and places we are and do everyday can become Holy Places and the
devil cannot tempt us. The Spirit that
we feel at church and at our homes with our families is a special spirit it is
the time when the world does not control what we do or think is right in our
lives.
President Thomas S. Monson gave a talk in the October 2011 General
Conference in this talk he talked about the world today and how it is
changing. A quote from President Monson
says, “Although
the world has changed, the laws of God remain constant. They have not changed;
they will not change. The Ten Commandments are just that—commandments. They are
not suggestions. They are every bit as requisite today as they were when
God gave them to the children of Israel. If we but listen, we hear the echo of
God’s voice, speaking to us here and now:
“Thou shalt
have no other gods before me.
“Thou shalt
not make unto thee any graven image. …
“Thou shalt
not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. …
“Remember the
sabbath day, to keep it holy. …
“Honour thy
father and thy mother. …
“Thou shalt
not kill.
“Thou shalt
not commit adultery.
“Thou shalt
not steal.
“Thou shalt
not bear false witness. …
“Thou shalt
not covet.”2
Our
code of conduct is definitive; it is not negotiable. It is found not only in
the Ten Commandments but also in the Sermon on the Mount, given to us by the
Savior when He walked upon the earth. It is found throughout His teachings. It
is found in the words of modern revelation.
In the Book of Mormon in Mormon 9:9 it says…(read scripture.) The prophet Mormon tells us that God is
“unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity.”3 In this world
where nearly everything seems to be changing, His constancy is something on
which we can rely, an anchor to which we can hold fast and be safe, lest we be
swept away into uncharted waters.”
As President Monson says the world
controls everything. It tells us what is
right and what is socially acceptable, but we know what is right or wrong
through the spirit and the commandments.
When we are standing in Holy Places it is easier to listen to the spirit
than when we are not in Holy Places. In
Malaysia they built a tunnel in 2003 called the “Stormwater Management And Road
Tunnel” also known as the “SMART Tunnel.”
The main purpose of this tunnel was to help solve the problems of Flash
Floods. There are two parts of this
tunnel, the stormwater tunnel and the motorway tunnel. This tunnel was built to be very strong so it
could withstand the forces of nature and floods. Now if we think of our day as living inside
of a tunnel. Which is kind of what we
have to do everyday. We have to protect
ourselves from the world and the ways of the world. However though, even if we are going about
our day inside a tunnel like the SMART Tunnel the devil is very perceptive and
sneaky. I think of the devil kind of
like Swiper in Dora the Explora. Now I
warned you guys of my dorky analogies.
Now the devil can be very tricky sometimes. He might seem nice and like our friend
sometimes but the next thing we know he has stabbed us right in the back and
has tricked us. Even if we are in the
strongest tunnel in the world or we have a strong spirit or unshakeable faith
none of us are perfect. Sometimes there
are cracks or flaws in our tunnels and Satan will find them and tempt us to
become as miserable as he is. But if we
are constantly standing in Holy Places we strengthen our cracks in our tunnels
and become stronger.
President Monson talks about in the talk I
mentioned before about one way we can strength our spirits and to Stand in Holy
Places. By praying to our Heavenly
Father often and to have a relationship with him through prayer we can ask for
things that we need to help us to overcome the temptations of Satan. In 3 Nephi
18:18-20 it says… (read scripture.) If
we pray to our Heavenly Father often and ask for things that we need he will be
there to help and answer our prayers. If
we are willing to do our part to stand in Holy Places we can be blessed with
things that we need to strengthen our spirits.
The
church is amazing and has blessed us in so many ways. The church has provided countless ways to
participate in church activities and stand in Holy Places over the week. Of course there is the regular meeting’s on
Sunday but the Lord has provided other ways during the week to stand in Holy
Places. We have the opportunity to have
family home evening every Monday night.
There is also mutual once a week for youth. Seminary and institute are available for youth
and young adults everyday. There are
monthly things such as home and visiting teaching. The Lord has provided ways for us to Stand in
Holy Places to strength our spirit and testimonies. So our tunnels can become Holy Places to
stand constantly to protect us from Satan and the ways of the world.
These quotes are from youth members
in our church that stand in Holy Places during this corrupt time on this
earth. One kid from Washington says “Standing
in holy places means that I must carefully choose how I spend my free time,
which friends I hang out with, and what things I think about. When I remember
that I can have the companionship of the Holy Spirit and be worthy of my
duties as a priesthood holder, it helps me be obedient.”
Another kid from Utah
says, “Service helps me gain a different perspective by showing me all of my
blessings as well as what I can give to others. It’s a way for me to be in a
holy place, take Christ’s name upon me, and be an example everywhere I go.”
Just like these youth in our church today if we
Stand in Holy Places we can be strong in the church and overcome the strong and
very deceptive powers of Satan.
I know that if we Stand in Holy Places we can be
strengthened to go out into the world and face temptations that Satan throws
our way and overcome them and with the companionship of the Holy Ghost and
through prayer and through our unshakeable faith and indestructible tunnels we
can Stand in Holy Places and return and live with our Heavenly Father and
Savior Jesus Christ again. I would like end
with my testimony of this Church…
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