Howdy Brothers and Sisters !!!
I feel so beyond blessed to be speaking to y’all today !! MAN I can't believe how fast a year and a half goes!! It feels like I was just up here saying goodbye and im right back here !! Like bishop…has said i just returned almost a month ago now from the Texas Houston Mission!! I had the chance to serve in truly the best mission ever !! with BBQ, Tex Mex, and Bucees no one else can ever top this heaven sent mission!! All y’all will have to take a stop in to try the best Fajitas and meet the most amazing people!! Serving my mission allowed me to be on God's errand, which was the most life changing experience I know I will ever go through. The chance to have the savior's name across my chest taught me more than I can ever express !! To sum it up!! Serve a mission!! Come closer to Jesus Christ!! And take the time to love those around you!! You will never regret the choice to go!!
While writing this talk I had a ton of time to think about the growth and change and love I found on my mission!! While on my mission the most important thing I learned was the importance of Conversion, it is the process of changing or causing something to change from one form to another!! I love that the definition emphasizes the process and choice we make when it comes to conversion to anything but most importantly Christ !! Within the last year and a half I saw the change of Christ in myself. I am by no means perfect !! and will absolutely be the first one to tell you that !! but becoming converted to Christ in my heart. Experiencing a Mighty Change of heart as Alma says has truly brought me more happiness and peace then i could have ever imagined!! It is such a significant change that the Lord and His prophets of old and new refer to conversion as a rebirth, a change of heart, and a baptism of fire. While on my mission the preach my gospel manual or missionary cheat sheet changed! The new version talks so profoundly of the baptism of water and fire!! In my first area i had the chance to teach the sweetest little girls!! These two stole my heart! They taught me more than i could have ever imagined when it came to being converted to jesus christ! They were in a super difficult situation with a split home and no support from their dad in their choice to join the church, we were stuck at a standstill. They were both young and so we had to get the approval and support of their dad before they could join the church through baptism. They would have us over every Tuesday and mom would make the most amazing dinners and we would talk cheer and tumbling which was heaven for me as they were the same ages as my little sisters and reminded me of home. At the end of each visit and dinner we would share a sweet little message to teach them about the simple and small principles of the gospel of Jesus christ! One night while we were teaching them we read about the atonement of jesus christ and the power, healing, and change it brings to our hearts as we read about the process and steps our savior went through to truly know each of us individually. We read in the book of mormon, in alma chapter 7!! We read a few verses in the middle and discussed them. The spirit OVERTOOK the room! Teaching me more then i could ever know about the love god had for these little girls to send a savior for each one of them to feel the pains and temptations, anxieties and frustrations they were feeling. One of the sweet girls read on past what we read. I know because of the spirit of god she found a verse that has now forever shaped my life. Alma 7:17 And now my beloved brethren, do you believe these things? Behold, I say unto you, yea, I know that ye believe them; and the way that I know that ye believe them is by the manifestation of the Spirit which is in me. And now because your faith is strong concerning that, yea, concerning the things which I have spoken, great is my joy.
Great was my joy because of the faith of these little girls. And the opportunity to feel and realize how god speaks to me through the holy ghost!! Matthew 18:3 reads Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. These little girls taught me what the kingdom of heaven was. They taught me the simple power of god, and how powerful our family unit is. They have a grandma, an aunt and uncle, and mom to look up to as they were teaching them the power of conversion from their own personal conversions to christ. These little girls baptism was one of the most powerful experiences i have ever been apart of. In the end after Much prayer, trial of their faiths, and miracles from the mercy and grace of god. These sweet, sweet little girls were baptized by water and then baptized by fire as they received the gift of the holy ghost. The spirit of god was promised to them constantly for the rest of their lives. The testimony and conversion they experienced was not only for a small time of their lives but eternity to come because of the power of god that is given to us as we exercise our faith and choose christ.
While studying and preparing to talk about conversion I came back to one of the sweetest memory of my mission. While serving in my last area with my last companion! We were in our own personal studies. I came across a talk by Elder Ballard called Small, and Simple things. He talked about the simplicity of the gospel, and the conversion to christ another missionary saw on her mission. The part that truly stood out to me the most was when he read a letter she wrote home. She says it better than i ever could but expressed the feelings i had in my heart when it came to my own time serving the members of the church in texas. It reads, “It’s really interesting with the people from the country—they are so quiet, timid, shy, and embarrassed. You are never sure exactly how much they understand. They will live and die in this small town. They are so poor and so simple and so childlike. They may never see a General Authority, never attend general conference, never go to BYU. They’ll never be Boy Scouts, never play basketball in a huge Church gym, never drive a car to stake conference, regional basketball finals, or anywhere. Many of the things we think about when we think of the Church—and take for granted—they may never see. [Now, the point.] But they have faith, they repent, they are baptized, they receive the Holy Ghost, and they renew their baptismal covenants each week when they partake of the sacrament. They pray and read the scriptures daily. They know God lives and that Christ is our Savior. And, I believe, they are going to the celestial kingdom. I do all the things they never will, but I’m not so sure about my own salvation.” This talk was so profound and so powerful when we came together for our companionship study. I was so excited to express to her how I felt while reading this talk and the spirit that came over me. A spirit of change and understanding. The spirit of revelation truly spoke to me while listening to Elder Ballards words!! Although conversion is miraculous and life changing, it is a quiet miracle and one i knew i had been continually feeling during my mission. When we came together and she began telling me about her studies from Elder Uchtdorf and how important the simple fundamentals of the gospel is, i felt God's presence so profound and so powerfully it was one of the most powerful tender mercies of my mission. We cried together as we did too often, and realized the power of this message. How choosing the fundamentals, Faith, Repentance, baptism, the gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end is God's game plan for conversion. It is the only steps we know WE can control in this life. It is the way that we choose christ. The way that We choose god!!!
While i was serving in the YSA i had the chance to meet Karla!! Karla was one of a kind. One of gods most beloved daughters!! She gave all she had to everyone else around her. The amount of Arepas she made for me was truly outrageous. In the end Karla and her mom became my family!! Karlas mom was a convert at age 17 in Venezuela! She fell away from the church in her actions and desires but still held to the fact that this church is true. That this church brought her peace and happiness that cant be explained. Once we met karla and started to teach her about our faith she talked about the growth in her prayers and her scripture study. The happiness she would feel along with some of the most opposition I have ever seen! She was facing more then a 21 should ever have to face !! it was a nightmare each time we would go over all i wanted to do was cry for her and with her and help in ANY way i possibly could. She truly took on everything and still made time for us to come twice a week for an hour and talk about jesus christ. While she was learning more she made the choice to be baptized a member of the church. It seriously was only uphill from there!! More trials and stresses and overwhelmed nights came but she would tell us each time. Gods got her. God knows her. Jesus christ already has planned something better then she can imagine. She was the living breathing example of the Widow's Might. She choose jesus christ!! She was converted to him. She was baptized on her birthday 2 hours late, in freezing cold water, twice !! And still raves about her beautiful baptism. When my companion and i were in the bathroom helping get her ready we talked about her feelings right after having been baptized. While being baptized the priesthood holder forgot to say her name. So we had to redo her baptism again. She said that during the first baptism it simply felt like a really cold bath. And during her second time being placed in the water correctly she told us that she felt god take away her burdens, her anxieties, her stresses. She told us she knew without a shadow of a doubt that she was cleansed. That she was forgiven. She knew that when she followed Jesus Christ's example, she received the blessings of the covenant she had made with god. She knew that she was converted to him forever. After her baptism she followed after the example of so many prophets of the Book of Mormon and shared her conversion to christ. Her rebirth. Her living testimony. She shared the good news or gospel of Jesus Christ like Enos, Alma the Elder, Alma the Younger, the sons of Mosiah, Amulek, and Zeezrom dedicated themselves to preaching the gospel after they became converted to the Lord.
Conversion is a process, not an event. You become converted as a result of your righteous efforts to follow the Savior. These efforts include exercising faith in Jesus Christ, repenting of sin, being baptized, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end in faith.
They are filled with love.
After the resurrected Savior visited the people in the Americas, “the people were all converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites, and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another. …
“And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people.
“And there were no envyings, nor strifes, nor tumults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murders, nor any manner of lasciviousness; and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God.
“There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God” (4 Nephi 1:2, 15–17).
You have primary responsibility for your own conversion. No one can be converted for you, and no one can force you to be converted. However, others can help you in the process of conversion. Learn from the righteous examples of family members, Church leaders and teachers, and men and women in the scriptures.
Your capacity to experience a mighty change of heart will increase as you strive to follow the Savior’s perfect example. Study the scriptures, pray in faith, keep the commandments, and seek the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. As you continue in the conversion process, you will receive “exceedingly great joy,” as King Benjamin’s people did when the Spirit “wrought a mighty change in [their] hearts” (see Mosiah 5:2, 4). You will be able to follow King Benjamin’s counsel to “be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you his, that you may be brought to heaven, that ye may have everlasting salvation and eternal life” (Mosiah 5:15)
