My Farewell Talk

Carissa talk was given on Sunday July 13, 2014:

For those of you who don’t know me I grew up in Concord 2^nd  and Clayton Valley 1^st ward. I attended Northgate High School and have been attending the YSA ward the past year.

I have been called to serve in the Quito Ecuador Mission. Quito is the capital of the country and is also the highest capital in the world at about 10,000 ft the city it self.

 I cannot believe that it is finally here….. I am so grateful for the opportunity to speak to all of you and most importantly the next 18 months in Ecuador. I feel so unbelievably humbled for the chance I have to serve a mission.  

In all honesty if you were to ask me a year ago if I was planning on serving a mission my answer would have been No.

Yes I have always believed in the teachings of this church but the idea of a mission honestly scared and intimidated me.  It seemed like such a distant idea and up until my senior year of high school, girls could not serve a mission until they were 21 years old. When the age was lowered to 19 in October 2012, I was 17 and remember the announcement caught my attention. This announcement and huge change in the church was talking to my specific age group. Even after the change, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.

DR SEUSS said, ““You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...”

This past year I took two Book of Mormon classes from Brother Fowler at the Institute. Participating in this class turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made. I committed to showing up and participating each week. I knew that no matter what happened that week I would feel the presence the lord in that class. It was not that we went over verse for verse but that we all wanted to gain a greater testimony of the book itself.

One of my favorite scripture mastery verses 2 Nephi 32:3 says “feast upon the words of Christ, for behold the words of Christ will tell you all things which ye should do.”

Throughout the many hours of discussing the Book of Mormon in that class I began to truly know of its power and truths. The amount of spiritual experiences I had were huge eye openers to me.

My entire life I have been familiar with the book of Mormon. I learned the amazing stories of the book of Mormon my whole life. I have had a testimony that it is true. Having the desire to honestly have a testimony takes work, it takes reading, it takes faith and it takes spending time on your knees pleading with the lord to know of its truths. I know that I really did experience my own individual conversion. I truly recognized he significance of the Book of Mormon in my life and how it generates personal peace and happiness.

As an 18 year old girl in the church conversations with people generally ask if I have any desire to serve a mission. I knew that I wanted to make the decision myself and not have that the social pressure to go. Most of my friends I went to high school with are gone on missions and it almost just seemed like the thing to be doing. I knew it was but why?

 A key central idea of our religion is explained in this scripture: 3 Nephi 27:29 reads: “Therefore, ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for he that asketh, receiveth; and unto him that knocketh, it shall be opened.” We believe in a god who knows and loves us personally, listening to what it is that we need and answering our prayers. I know this to be true for I have seen the hand of the lord in my own life through trials.

Getting my answer to serve a mission came from dedicating myself to the Church to know is this was the correct decision.

One late night I was seeking to know about serving a mission I flipped open my book of Mormon and read Alma 29:9 which reads,

 “I know that which the lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the lord hath commanded me; yea and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance and this is my joy.”

I know I have been called to this work, and know I need to be an instrument in the hand of the Lord to bring people unto Christ. I know I have a desire to serve a mission but my desire wasn’t because I wanted  praise and glory  but because I knew and now know that a mission would bring me 18 months of complete Joy and bring that same Joy to others.

Our heavenly father is not just coincidental he works through the scriptures, he works through the spirit in obvious ways to answer our questions, if we are sincere and ask with a full purpose of hear.

Throughout high school and this past year I have found myself in the same situation of being apart from everyone yet living in a world of good and bad people.

I got to a point in high school where I did not care what people thought of me. It was and has been a confusing part of my life. I do not know what I would have done without the gospel in my life and the friends I have from Church.

About 10 years ago I got to have my first experiences teaching with the missionaries. They would teach the simple lessons with my dad and I on hot summer nights. We would go to a family’s house that lived in my neighborhood and teach the mom the gospel. She had two daughters that listened to the lessons and they gained together just a grain of the testimony they have today. I remember being nervous to invite her to church and nervous going to the lessons.

One of my closest friends for all these years is truly a perfect example of missionary work. The perfect example of us as members of the church being who we are and letting our light so shine, trusting that the lord will help us share the gospel.  Our friendship would not be where it is today if it wasn’t for the gospel bringing us together.

We know that the scriptures teach us that the objective of missionary work is not to simply baptize and convert souls it is to bring them unto Christ.

Some of the qualities I want to penetrate as a missionary are found in…

Alma 7:23-24 it reads,

“And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.  And see that ye have faith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works.”

I love those last three words Faith Hope and Charity.

President Uchtdorf says- “Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith.”

I have great faith in our Heavenly Father and I know that if I continue to rely on him I will be safe and directed in Ecuador.

I have faith that the Spanish language will come to me to communicate and be blessed through out my mission.

I do not hope to baptize everyone I meet That is not the only reason I am going on a mission

I have hope that I will get to touch the lives I meet as they will touch my life.

I hope to be the best positive loving representative of Christ’s true church.

I have hope to teach people that they are children of God and that they can return to live with God again someday.

I hope to teach people that they have a Savior, Jesus Christ who died and suffered for them so they can return to live with God someday.

As a missionary, I am simply an instrument in Heavenly Father’s hand, as he directs me to those who need to hear the message of happiness that I have to share.  

I am not a saleswoman trying to convince someone to buy a product.  I am just a teenage girl who feels so passionate about this gospel and the things I believe to be true.  My intent is to positively effect those around me and to have them develop a stronger faith in themselves and in a God who loves them.

I owe all my ability and strength I have to serving my Heavenly Father, I know that without him holding my hand through this I would not have the strength to take this huge leap of faith and dedicate 18 months for the hard work I am expected to do.

Alma 26:12 reads,

““Yeah, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yeah behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for we will praise his name forever.”

I have a strong testimony of this scripture, I know that I will not be alone on my mission.

Yes I am beyond nervous to put myself out there in Ecuador

Yes I am terrified to learn Spanish

At times I have felt inadequate to say that I am a missionary

But I know that He will lead me every single step of the way.

The know the mission will be the hardest thing I will ever have to take on,

 I think it is the hardest knowing what the lord expects of me for the next 18 months.