On Tuesday, September 15 Katie was set apart as a Fulltime Missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. President Blaine Bird (Hobble Creek Stake) our Stake President set Katie apart. We were able to have Bradyn join us on a Zoom call from his Mission to be apart of this occasion. Bradyn was serving in the Albuquerque New Mexico Mission but was in the city of El Paso at the time. I (Todd Jackson) was able to join President Bird in Katie's setting apart and blessing.
Katie was able to speak in Sacrament Meeting on September 27th, 2020. It was the first time that I could remember that a missionary who was set apart and currently participating in the MTC was giving the farewell address, again, because of Covid. I was able to conduct the Sacrament Meeting which made it extra special for me. Katie did a wonderful job and showed how much she is prepared to serve her mission.
Buenas Días (Buenas Tardes), Brothers and Sisters what a privilege it is to be able to be with you this day and have the amazing opportunity to talk to you. Life right now for all of us is a little crazy with whatever we are experiencing. But during this crazy time I am still so lucky to be able to serve a mission and
I’ll begin by saying that the Savior is one amazing human being, He is someone who did the unthinkable, the one who sacrificed His life for us in the Atonement so we have the opportunity to live again with our families and we get to repent of our sins. How cool is that repenting of our sins, doing something and being forgiven, but learning so we don’t do it again. If Christ can forgive us just like that and love us like nothing happened and for who we truly are then I think I should
be able to do the same, well I’m trying to work on it. We are all God’s children and we should love everyone for who they truly are.
For me this is a great topic and one that I am more than happy to be speaking on. Going through a trial is something that is not easy,
God is not going to look at me and be like, wow, Katie has had a great year. What about
we shuffle the deck and give her something that she is going to go crazy over, that is really going to do her in. Because of our consequences, good or bad it can put us into a situation where we may not know what to do. It is going to work us usually in ways we have never been before. I was talking to my brother, Elder Jackson, about this very thing
about a month or two ago and he told me to think of it this way “Your testimony is like a Muscle in order for a muscle to get stronger you have to rip and tear it so it can build resistance and become even stronger, your testimony is the same way. You have to be tried and challenged from your trails and you become stronger.” What a great perspective and something that we can use in our day to
In Omni 1: 26 it reads - “And now, my beloved brethren, I would that you should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved.”
Here is a quick little story about me. During my senior year of high school, it was at the beginning of the school year and I was wanting to get into this college class so I could get college credit. But because my ACT score was just a few points lower than it needed to be for that section, I had to pass an accuplacer test. And let me tell you tests are not my forte, I can study for hours and hours, I will get all the information down, someone could quiz me and I could tell them all the correct answers, and I had done this, I knew my information, but once you put a test in front of me my mind goes blank and I don't know anything anymore so then I would do bad on the test. I knew I could take and pass the class but it was the test that I was worried about. I had confidence and I prayed and studied for the test and made sure that I knew the information, I took the test and I didn't pass. I tried it a second time and I didn’t pass, I only had one more chance before I had to wait to retake the test and then I would miss the deadline to be able to sign up for the class with UVU. During this time I had been working hard, studying for hours from my huge ACT prep class book, and praying that God will help me, I was doing everything that I could. That day I had the feeling that I needed to fast and pray about the test. I fasted that whole day and at the end of the day right before I went to take the test I prayed to God to have everything come back to my remembrance that I had studied, that I would do my best and if it is the right thing for me to be in the class then I would pass. I went and took the test and of course I was so unsure of how I did in the end and was freaking out a little because I didn't think that I passed. I got my results that same day and I passed the test by one point, one point!! How crazy everything that I did paid off.
Like the scripture says “Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end” The Lord was willing to help me with something that I truly wanted and was working so hard for, I was trying to do my part. When I put my guard down opened my heart and fasted showing him that I wanted it bad enough he was willing to help me. When we ponder and read the scriptures and use them to our advantage we will be able to communicate better and more with God. He can help us and give us the answers that we are in need of.
Here is a quote from the talk- “Joy and Spiritual Survival” by President Russell M. Nelson, it states:
“My dear brothers and sisters, the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.
When the focus of our lives on God’s plan of salvation, which President Thomas S. Monson just taught us, and Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening—or not happening—in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him. He is the source of all joy. We feel it at Christmastime when we sing, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come.” And we can feel it all year round. For Latter-day Saints, Jesus Christ is joy!
That is why our missionaries leave their homes to preach His gospel. Their goal is not to increase the number of Church members. Rather, our missionaries teach and baptize to bring joy to the people of the world!
Just as the Savior offers peace that “passeth all understanding,” He also offers an intensity, depth, and breadth of joy that defy human logic or mortal comprehension. For example, it doesn’t seem possible to feel joy when your child suffers with an incurable illness or when you lose your job or when your spouse betrays you. Yet that is precisely the joy the Savior offers. His joy is constant, assuring us that our “afflictions shall be but a small moment” and be consecrated to our gain.”
God's plan is centered around joy, through trials and tribulation it may seem that it is impossible, we may feel like we may not survive. But if we have that joy to be consistent in our lives then life is not going to feel like a waste. We are not going to look at the clock and ask how much time do I have left? We need to keep our heads held high and know that the dark and cold tunnel can feel long. But it is when we have Christ on our side with family and friends and everyone holding a candle of their own lights it can make the dark and empty space fill full and warm. God loves us and he is cheering us on. He is wanting us to become the best people that we can become. So when we get that strong light in us that can't be blown away, then we can help others come unto Christ and feel the same way so then the whole world will be full of the light of joy and love that comes only in and through Christ.
I know that God is a constant in our life and He is not going to go away. He is someone that is going to be there. We just need to open up to him and that can be hard, but doing that shows him that we are willing to put things aside so he can help each of us. The Savior gives us trials so we can become better people, we can’t think that he is trying to hurt us; it is the complete opposite. He wants us to become the best people that we can become through Him. Make sure you aren't looking down at the dirt road in life but look up and notice the amazing view of life ahead.
I know that this church is true and that God the Father and his son Jesus Christ do love us. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that it was passed down for prophets so they could write things in their time that would help us now. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet called by God to translate the Book of Mormon so we could have it for our day and to also restore the true church back to the earth. I am grateful to Jesus Christ for the love and sacrifice that he made for each one of us so we have the opportunity to live again. I know that missionary work is something that changes lives. I know that President Russell M. Nelson is a true prophet, that he has been called of God at this time to help us through these trying times. I am so immensely grateful for this church and for what it stands for the good that people see when they hear of our church. I am very blessed to be able to serve a mission and to know that this is something that is going to make me a better person. But to know that I am going to go out there and help people find something that is going to help them in their lives is such an amazing thing to be able to do. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen. ( En el nombre de Jesucristo Amén )
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