Farewell
December 18th,
2016
Good morning
Brothers and Sisters! I’m Sarah Draper for those of you who moved into our ward
in the last year and have no idea who this girl at the pulpit is. That’s my dad
(point at dad) and my mom, Tanya Draper, is seated with my siblings Josh, Ben
and Rachel. It is a true joy to see so many familiar faces and to be home here
in Corinne after traveling all over the country this past year. I have been
called to serve as a missionary in the Georgia Atlanta Mission where I will be
sharing the beautiful message of the Gospel in Spanish. I report to the Provo
Missionary Training Center January 4 which is in (check phone)________. It’s
not like I’m excited or anything. The first thing people respond with when I
tell them where I am going is “You poor Utahn, they have humidity there.”
And I think God
was preparing me for Georgia’s humidity because I spent 2 weeks in our nation’s
capital this past summer… in July. 100% humidity and around 100 degrees. Thank
you, humidity, I always wanted to look like the lion king. We were there to put
on the State Presidents’ Conference for the National FFA Organization. I say
we, because I was there preparing for this event with my 5 other teammates.
State President’s Conference is where 2 state FFA officers from each state
association gather in Washington D.C for a week to learn more about advocating
for agriculture, career and technical education as well as start the delegate
process for the entire organization of 649,000 members.
The week prior to
this conference is spent prepping everything, memorizing scripts and parts,
practicing sessions. The man who was sorta in charge of us for those weeks, Mr.
Jacques, decided we needed a break before we completely fried our brains. So, a
Segway tour is what he decided would be a nice little outing. If you don’t know
what a Segway is, it’s the contraption Paul Blart rides around on in the Mall
Cop. As we are basically swimming in the air to get to where the Segway tour
starts we stop at Panera to get a quick dinner. We order and take a seat,
chatting and waiting for our food to come out.
Our food is
brought to us and I dig into my sandwich. Abbey, one of my teammates gasp in
true horror, “What on earth did they bring me?” We all gather round to behold
Abbey’s plate of slivered almonds, salad dressing, bits of bacon, some cheese
in a small mound in the center of the plate. All of us have no clue what
happened and are amazed at what the restaurant had concocted. “Abbey what
exactly did you order??” She responded, “I ordered an Arugula Salad. But I
didn’t know what Arugula was, so I asked for it without the arugula.” “Abbey,
arugula is a type of lettuce. You ordered a salad without lettuce.” “Oh…”
It’s a lot like
the Gospel. We can’t order the Gospel and leave things out, even if we don’t
necessarily see the importance of some ingredients. Each part of the Gospel is
perfect and essential. God’s plan of salvation is perfect.
Each
piece of the plan is critical. When we were spirits in heaven before we came to
earth, we gathered to hear our Father lay out this plan. We’d gain a body, be
blessed with a family, we’d be able to choose for ourselves, Christ was chosen
to be the Savior of all mankind, a piece most central to God’s plan. And
Lucifer, a brother of ours wanted to order something different. He wanted to
take away our gift of agency and take all the glory for himself. Now I don’t
know about you but that sounds like one crappy salad. Probably shouldn’t say
crappy at the pulpit… oh well… a terrible salad we’d be forced to eat!
Thank
goodness, we went with God’s plan. And though we are separated from our Father
in Heaven, He wants us all to find peace in this life, return to Him, become as
He is and gain all that He has. Moses 1:39, I could quote it, but with all of
you staring at me I’d probably mess up….
We
have been given a body here on an Earth that was created for us by Jesus Christ
under the direction of the Father. We have agency to choose for ourselves how
we will live, a gift which will ultimately determine our eternal progression.
This is a time for testing. In Alma 12: 24 it reads…
We must walk by
faith, not by sight because we don’t remember our pre-earth life. We choose who
we will follow. Sin is a part of this life and an obstacle that keeps us from
becoming like our Father in Heaven and returning to His presence. We each make
mistakes, we slip up. Break God’s commandments and give in to temptation. We
think that sinning will bring us happiness. But it doesn’t. Instead there are
feelings of guilt and shame. We are unable to return to live with our Father
unless we are forgiven and cleansed. We can’t overcome the effects of sin or
death by ourselves. We are helpless without the Atonement of Christ.
We
all have a mission call of sorts. All different. Some of us are called to be
mothers, fathers, siblings, teachers, doctors, Primary workers. All unique and
no less valuable than another’s. God sent us here to love another and have
families.
There
is a short story I read a long time ago that I absolutely love about one
particular person’s call.
The Mission
Call
Years ago, I had an older
brother who was called to go on a mission. When he was called, the leader
interviewing him told him of an impression he had, a revelation if you will,
concerning his mission, that he felt he had to tell my brother about. Because
of the nature of the revelation the leader suggested that my brother counsel
with the rest of my family before he accepted the call, but encouraged him to
accept regardless of the outcome of the discussion.
The leader then told my
brother about the revelation. He told him that he would have a difficult
mission, but because of the seeds he would sow, many would be converted, and
many would return to live with their Father in Heaven. Then he told my brother
the part that was difficult for him to relate. He said that he foresaw my
brother’s death during his mission, and that it would be hard for his family to
bear. The leader wanted our family together, to help choose whether the good
works that my brother would do, was worth losing him in the process. The
hardest choice was for my brother, but my family had to be willing to support
his decision.
What a difficult choice.
What would your family choose? Would you fathers be willing to send your son
off knowing of his eventual death? Would you siblings be willing to support
your brother in his resolve to go on a mission, including his death, even if
you knew Heavenly Father would be pleased at your brother’s success in
converting people? Would your view of the importance of missionary work be
changed following this experience? I believe it would.
You see, this is a true
story. My older brother did accept this mission call, and was killed while on
his mission. He was instrumental in converting many people while on his
mission, and because of him, many will return to Heavenly Father. I love him
for his dedication and commitment, and for the example he set for me. I know you
will love him too, if ever you get to know him. I hope you do. You see, his name
is Jesus, and he’s your brother too.
That story always has a way of
putting it into perspective. We each have some kind of mission here on this
earth. And this was Christ’s mission. He was sent to overcome death and the
effects of the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. To be our advocate
with the Father. Through His blood, we are forgiven of our sins when we repent
and made clean. To fulfill the plan of salvation, Christ paid the penalty for
our sins. He alone was able to do that. He was called and prepared in pre-earth
life. He is the literal Son of God in the flesh. He was sinless and completely
obedient to His Father. When the Father asked His Beloved Son to pay the price
of the world’s sins, Jesus was prepared and willing.
Christ
even asked like many of us do in times of suffering and trial, if this burden
could be lifted or if there was some other way. But He submitted to the
Father’s will in the deepest expression of love any person on this earth to
ever live has ever shone. And Christ overcame. He fulfilled His mission.
Through his grace and mercy we can return to live with our Father in Heaven.
I often get asked
why I chose to serve a mission. Even though it seems like I don’t, since I am
postponing it yet another year and a half, I do like school! I’m not going to
Georgia for 18 months to avoid school. Growing up, I can always remember
wanting to go to some really cool place and be an instrument in the Lord’s
hands to share the Gospel. And after seeing those black nametags the missionaries
would wear as they ate dinner with my family, I really wanted to go on a
mission. A few times I changed my mind. But the desire to serve never left. I
thought it would leave during my time with the FFA, I expected it to fade. But
it didn’t. Halfway through I needed to start thinking ahead if a mission was
what I wanted to do. I prayed. And part of my answer was found in Doctrine and
Covenants 11:3, last half of 8, 26, 27
If I desired it.
Then go. I prayed with a sincere heart and a willingness to act on whatever
answer I received and Heavenly Father listened and gave me an answer.
We believe in a
loving God. A God who hears a child’s prayer, opens the door when we knock. And
I’m not the only one who has taken a question to the heavens. I’m positive each
one of us at one time or another have taken the desires of our hearts or turned
our faces upwards. It only makes sense that when a 14-year-old boy was
searching for truth, God would answer him too.
Joseph Smith
Translation 1:11
The circumstances
were right, and Heavenly Father once again reached out to His children in love.
He called a young man named Joseph Smith as a prophet. Through him the fullness
of the gospel was restored to the earth.
I got asked in so
many airports or out at conventions what sets Mormons, or members of The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints apart. Why are we so different? We believe
in Christ, the Atonement, the Resurrection, but what is it that we believe that
makes us different?
In a conference
talk April 2016 by Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson, she phrases it beautifully…..
Think for just a minute about the profound claims we make as a
religion. We believe that the same Church Jesus Christ established while on the
earth has been restored once again by a prophet called of God in our time and
that our leaders hold the same power and authority to act in God’s name that
ancient Apostles held. It is called the priesthood of God. We claim that
through this restored authority, we can receive saving ordinances, such as
baptism, and enjoy the purifying and refining gift of the Holy Ghost to be with
us at all times. We have apostles and prophets leading and directing this
Church through priesthood keys, and we believe that God speaks to His children
through these prophets.
We also believe that this priesthood power makes it possible to
make covenants and receive ordinances in holy temples that will someday enable
us to return to the presence of God and live with Him forever. We also claim
that, through this power, families can be bound together for eternity when
couples enter the new and everlasting covenant of marriage in sacred buildings
that we believe are literally the houses of God. We believe that we can receive
these saving ordinances not only for ourselves but also for our ancestors who
lived on the earth without having the chance to participate in these essential
saving ordinances. We believe we can perform ordinances for our ancestors by
proxy in these same holy temples.
We believe that, through a prophet and the power of God, we have
received additional scriptures, adding to the testimony of that in the Bible
declaring that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world.
We have a knowledge of these things, but do we believe them? If these things are true, then we
have the greatest message of hope and help that the world has ever known.
Believing them is a matter of eternal significance for us and for those we
love.
We have the
greatest message of hope and help that the world has ever known.
One of my favorite
movies is Secretariat. I know this isn’t very reverent to do, but raise our
hand if we’ve seen Secretariat. Ok, so it’s about a horse who wins the Triple
Crown. To win this title, a horse must win three races over the course of five
weeks, The Kentucky Derby, The Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes. I’m
watching this movie and it’s in the middle of the 2nd race, the
Preakness Stakes. Getting nervous, edge of my seat, palms sweaty, watching a TV
screen as I’m crossing my fingers that Secretariat will win the races as hooves
pound around the track. Then it hits me. Why on earth am I nervous? Why is my
heart rate nearing the dangerous zone? I know exactly how this movie ends!
Secretariat goes on to win the race and the Triple Crown. I know how the movie
goes, why am I stressed about the middle?
We know how God’s plan goes. Why do we get
worried, nervous, anxious, in the middle? Too often we get hung up on the
frivolities of life and let those weight us down. We lose sight of what is waiting for us, the open arms of our
Father in Heaven, the reality of eternal families. There is a deep peace that
can be found in having a testimony of God’s perfect Plan of Happiness. We know
the big picture.
Romans 8:28
Doctrine and Covenants 123:17
contains encouragement to the Saints as Joseph Smith was a prisoner in Liberty
Jail, he writes,---- 17 Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all
things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost
assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be
revealed.
In Proverbs 3:5-6 it reads…. Trust
in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto
thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
He will guide us
in the in-between and the uncertainty we find day to day. Trust in a loving
Heavenly Father as we live in the what “is” instead of the what “if”. It’s hard
to look past what could have been or might have happened and focus on what is
happening. It’s hard to not wallow in self-pity or regret, especially when
you’re going through something tough. But Keep the Faith!
D&C 128:22…
I grew up in this
ward playing the piano and organ. Might as well end it that way too. Music is
the song of the heart and a praise to our God and Savior. I’ll play an arrangement
of “I’ll Go Where You Want Me To Go”. Not only in the spirit of missionary work
and trusting in God to use us as an instrument to bring about much good in this
world, but I feel as if this was also the attitude of the Wisemen. Anxiously
awaiting the birth of Christ. Studying scripture and then trusting a star to
lead them, over mountains or maybe plains or sea, to a humble stable where they
found and worshipped the Christ child. I pray that we will be as those Wisemen
were, ever trusting and faithful as we travel life’s path and heed God’s will.
Being who God wants us to be, for He can make us into more than we could ever
imagine.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
