Farewell Talk
Beaver 1st Ward
July 10, 2016
Jarom’s Farewell Talk
Good morning
brothers and sisters. I’m really excited to be here. This day is kind of
surreal for me. It’s really a dream come true, I’ve been looking forward to
this day for a really long time.
For those
who don’t know me, I’m sure all of you do, my name is Jarom Harris and I have
been called to serve in the Peru Lima West Mission and I leave on Tuesday (July
12th) to the Peru MTC. I’m really grateful that I’m going to the Peru MTC
because I feel like I’m really just going to get to dive right into the
culture. The MTC is only 5 miles away from my mission home so I’m right there.
And so to
start off, I just wanted to kind of tell a few statistics about Peru because I
like statistics and stuff. Peru is a country in South America and is about
twice the size of Texas. So it’s pretty big. There is over half of a million
members of the church there. The church is pretty strong there. There’s two
temples there already, and there are two that have been announced. One of those
that has been announced is going to be in my mission, so I’m really excited
about that. There’s thirteen missions total in Peru, and my mission covers an
area of about 150 miles by 50 miles. It’s the northern city of Lima-- the northern
section of the city plus some other towns north of there. The highest point in
Peru is in the Andes Mountains, It’s like 22,000 feet. Peru has the world’s highest
concentration of llamas, ever. I thought that was cool.
Alright, I’m
just going to get started. There’s a scripture that has really been close to my
heart probably the last month that I’ve really been thinking a lot about. And
it, I think-- I believe it has changed my life. I’m going to read it to you.
The scripture is Ether 12:27. “And if men come unto me, I will show unto them
their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace
is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me. For if they humble
themselves before me, and have faith in me, then I will make weak things become
strong unto them.”
Okay, I’m
going to give you a little background behind this verse. So this verse is in
Ether, but the person who’s writing this verse is Moroni. In this chapter, in
Ether chapter 12, Moroni is, he’s kind of discussing the words of the prophet
Ether. So he’s kind of like reflecting on these words and he’s explaining how
Ether’s counsel has meant a lot to him. And so that verse is Ether’s counsel.
But if you go up a little before this, in verse 23, and this is Moroni speaking,
he says “And I said unto him, Lord, the gentiles will mock at these things
because of our weakness in writing. For Lord thou hast made us mighty in our
faith, but thou hast not made us mighty in writing. For thou hast made all this
people that they could speak much, because of the Spirit that thou hast given
him. And thou hast made us that we could write but little, because of the
awkwardness of our hands, but behold thou hast not made us mighty in writing
like unto the brother of Jared.”
And so,
right before this, Moroni is saying, Lord this is great that the Book of Mormon
is coming forth and all, but what if the gentiles, and the gentiles are us who
will have the scriptures in the modern days, what if they laugh at us, what if
they make fun of the way we wrote it. And because Moroni felt he had this
weakness in writing and then he shares the counsel about weak things becoming
strong through faith in the Lord and then right after, it says, “And I, Moroni,
having heard these words, was comforted, and said: O Lord, thy righteousness
will be done, for I know that thou workest unto the children of men according
to their faith (Ether 12:29).
Honestly, I
feel a lot like Moroni. I feel like these words are so comforting. To know that
although we have weaknesses they can be made strong through faith in
Christ. And it’s kind of interesting so
Moroni feels his weakness in writing and then he listens to this counsel. Over in verse 38 it says, “And now I Moroni,
bid farewell unto the Gentiles, yea, and also unto my brethren whom I love.”
(Ether 12:38) And later he says, “And
only a few have I written, because of my weakness in writing.” (Ether 12:40)
And so you
know this is towards the end of Ether, and this is where Moroni is bidding
farewell to us and so when I first read that I was kind of confused because I’m
like wait there is another whole book, Moroni, after Ether. And so I’m like why is he bidding farewell if
there is another book. I think that
Moroni was planning on ending the Book of Mormon right there in Ether. I think part of the reason why he was going
to end it there was because he had weak writing and he didn’t want to write
anymore.
But then at
the beginning of the book of Moroni it says, “Now I, Moroni, after having made
an end of abridging the account of the people of Jared, I had supposed not to
have written more, but I have not as yet perished; and I make not myself known
to the Lamanites lest they should destroy me.” (Moroni 1:1) And so he is saying well the Lamanites
haven’t killed me yet so I might as well write some more I guess.
But then in
verse 4 he says, “Wherefore, I write a few more things, contrary to that which
I had supposed; for I had supposed not to have written any more; but I write a
few more things, that perhaps they may be of worth unto my brethren, the
Lamanites, in some future day, according to the will of the Lord.” (Moroni
1:4) And so he is not really sure why he
is writing this extra add on to the Book of Mormon, but the Lord told him to so
he is going to do it even though he thinks he has a weakness in writing. And honestly what he writes in the next 10
chapters in the Book of Moroni, I think are some of the most powerful things in
the whole Book of Mormon.
In them, in
this writing, in chapters 4 and 5 he gives us the sacramental prayers. In chapter 7 he describes the wonderful way
of obtaining charity. In chapter 8 he
describes the doctrine of babies not needing to be baptized because they are
not capable of committing sin. These
doctrines are really comforting and we wouldn’t have them if Moroni hadn’t
decided to write this extra part of the Book of Mormon. And I think one of the most important things
he include was Moroni’s Promise in Chapter 10 verse 3. I think that this scripture is probably one
of the most quoted scriptures in the Church, and I would say missionaries
probably use it more than anyone else too because this is a promise that when
we pray God will answer our prayer and tell us if the Book of Mormon is true or
not.
And the
reason this all came to be is because of the words that Moroni was
contemplating that weak things will be made strong unto him. And so really the Book of Moroni, that whole
book of holy scripture, is just direct proof that God really can make weak
things become strong, because I don’t think any of you would argue that the
Book of Moroni is a weak book. It is a very strong book and it’s all because
Moroni exercised faith in Christ that his weakness would be made into a
strength.
So that is
one of my favorite scriptures and I’m going to hold it sacred with me
throughout my mission because I know it will really help me. So this concept of weak things becoming
strong things to the Lord is really, it’s really the essence of the
atonement. You know we hear a lot that
the atonement covers our sins so we can pray to God and repent of our
sins. But then we also hear that the
atonement doesn’t only cover our sins but that it covers are sicknesses and our
pains.
In Alma
chapter 7 it says that the atonement covers pains, afflictions, temptations of every
kind, sicknesses, death. And in Isaiah
is says that it cover our griefs, our sorrows, our iniquities, our sins, our
trials. Hearing all of those things it
makes me feel the atonement covers everything negative. It transforms negative things into positive
things. It also covers our infirmities,
and Google defines infirmities as a physical or mental weakness. And so the atonement covers our
weaknesses. This verse is talking about
the atonement. That’s just
amazing. Isn’t that amazing.
I used to
think that repentance and the atonement were kind of the same thing. They were kind of interchangeable words, but
as I’ve studied a lot I came to realize repentance is only a really small
portion of what the atonement covers.
The atonement doesn’t just cover our sins, it makes us better people in
every aspect of life. I truly believe
that. I also used to think that the
atonement was kind of a, I always knew it was really important, but I never
really saw how it fit in with the plan of salvation. I thought it was kind of a side doctrine, but
the atonement is so central to everything we do. In reality the atonement is the reason why we
worship Jesus Christ, because if he hadn’t performed the atonement what point
would we have in worshiping him. He’s
our Savior.
The only
ordinance that we do in the Church every week is the sacrament. I’ve always thought about that and I actually
used to wonder why we do the sacrament so much because to be honest a lot of
the time I wouldn’t really pay attention to it.
I wouldn’t really get into it. I
kind of thought that it was kind of a waste of time sometimes, but it’s so
important that we have the sacrament every week because it is a physical symbol
of the atonement of Jesus Christ. And
really it is a reminder that we should be using the atonement every week and
every day of our lives.
And as I’ve
prepared for my mission, I’ve noticed a lot of weaknesses that I have. And it’s kind of made me a little bit
scared. You know what if I get out there
and these weaknesses grow and get bigger and I have to come early or something. That would be really bad, but as I’ve
prepared I prayed to God that he would help me with my weaknesses that that
would be made into strengths. They
haven’t completely yet but I know that if I keep trying they will be.
The one
thing that I’ve learned through all this is that Christ makes all the
difference. I’ve tried in my life to
resolve my weaknesses by myself and it just doesn’t work like that, it doesn’t
work that way. You can but you won’t get
it completely without Christ, we need Christ.
There is a
scripture, and this is one of my all time favorite scriptures, Alma 26:12, I’ve
probably shared this in like every talk that I’ve ever given, but it’s really
good. “Yea, 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; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land,
for which we will praise his name forever.”
And I really love this scripture because it just shows that we are
nothing without Christ. We need
him.
In Preach my
Gospel it says, “All that is unfair about life can be made right through the
atonement of Jesus Christ.” I think that
statement is so powerful and so true.
Another
thing I’ve noticed as I’ve been preparing for my mission is the reality of
Satan. These last 6 months have been
some of the hardest months spiritually of my entire life. And I know it is because Satan is a real
being and he doesn’t want me to go on a mission. But, I know that because this verse says that
man is nothing, that since we are nothing, and if we do nothing, Satan is going
to have power over us, but if we have faith in Christ and turn to Christ
instead of Satan that we can be on the right path.
So you know,
farewell talk, it kind of begs the question, Jarom why are you going on a
mission? That’s a pretty hard question
and so I kind of made a list of things.
I feel like I’ve never not wanted to go on a mission. It’s always been something that I’ve wanted
to do, so I can’t really empathize with someone who doesn’t want to go on a
mission. I think the reason that I’ve
always wanted to go is because I’ve had such a huge example of family. I spent a lot of time over on the farm with
my four uncles and it seems like every day they are telling me another story
about their missions. When you have four
uncles doing that you get a lot of stories and a lot of advice. I’m grateful for those guys though I love
them. All of my uncles and grandpas and
my dad and my older brother. The
decision to serve would have been a lot harder if Zach hadn’t gone before me.
But, I made
this list of why I’m going on a mission. And so the first one is because it is
something different. A lot of these
reasons aren’t really super spiritual but they are kind of personal for
me. And so the first reason is I don’t
like to be doing the same thing for a long period of time, I kind of like
change, so that’s one of the reasons why I going.
Another
reason is that it sounds pretty fun, experiencing another culture and stuff. I really like traveling.
And it seems
honorable. I feel like it is a pretty
honorable thing in the church and I feel like everyone in the world would say
it’s a pretty respectable thing to do to go serve other people for two years
and pay your own way. I think it’s a
pretty honorable thing to do.
One of the
reasons is I want to learn more about the gospel. As I’ve been preparing for my mission I
realize I don’t know very much about the gospel and I want to learn some more.
I want to
learn a new language. I want to help
people change their lives for the better.
And also
because going on a mission is expected of me.
I kind of want to talk about this one because we live in a culture where
mission are very pushed and I feel like every talk is about encouraging us to
go on missions. I think this is a good
thing. I think it’s good. My parents expect me to go on a mission. All of you expect me to go on a mission and
I’m going to go. But I think more
important than that, the number one person who expects me to on a mission is
Jesus Christ. He expects me to go so I’m
going to go.
I really
feel like the encompassing reason of why I’m going on a mission is that the
gospel is true. And if it’s true then
why would I not do everything I possibly could to follow Jesus Christ and keep
his commandments. That’s the central
reason.
And you know
everyone says going on a mission is really hard and stuff, but when people say
that I just don’t really listen to them because I know that it’s going to be
hard, but I have Jesus, so it’s not going to be that hard, because all of my
weaknesses are nothing when I exercise the atonement.
Brothers and
Sisters I cannot wait three days when I get to put that badge right here, that
little black badge that says Elder Harris, but more importantly it says Jesus
Christ. That’s why I going, I’m going to
serve Jesus Christ and I can’t wait for that day. And it’s coming pretty fast.
I would just
like to express my love for my parents and my family. My dad is the best dad in the world. If I could point out one person and say you
have taught me how to be successful in life, how to find true happiness, you’ve
taught me the gospel, that person would be my dad. I love him so much he’s one
of my best friends. I can say the same
thing about my mom. I love my mom so
much. I love that she always expects
more of me. She wants me to be better
than I am. And, she’s the best mom in
the world. And I’d like to thank my two
little sisters Abby and Amelia. It’s so
awesome, ever since Zach left we’ve kind of gotten closer I think, and I’m
really grateful for their light and their example to me and I’m going to miss
them a lot when I go.
Just to
close, I want to read a great missionary scripture, because this scripture has
motivated me a lot to go serve. So this
is D&C 4:4, “For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he
that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that
he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul.”
Brothers and
Sisters I know that this church is true.
I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that he loves us. I love the Book of Mormon, it is the word of
God, I know that it is true. I want to
share it with the people of Peru. And I
know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real and that it works, it really
does work. A lot of the times it doesn’t
seem like it does if we don’t feel the spirit, but it does work. I know that the spirit is real. The spirit can direct our lives. I know these things are true and I say these
things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
grt
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