Talks on Thoughts of a Latter-Day Saint

Mission Farewell

Sun, 17 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Good morning brothers and sisters. It’s so great to have the opportunity to be able to speak here in my home ward before I go out into the mission field. For one last time, those who are unaware, I report to the Mexico MTC on Tuesday where I will then proceed to my mission area, in Texas Houston East. This includes Lake Charles and Beaumont for those who are familiar with the geography. It is such a privilege to speak with my little brother and an actual missionary so I believe the Lord’s hand was involved with this.

Modern Challenges, Eternal Trust

Sun, 13 Oct 2019 00:00:00 +0000

As this is my last time speaking with the fine men of our stake high council, they certainly decided to assign me a great topic and some great people to speak alongside with. This General Conference last week was certainly a fantastic one, one that personally fed my Spirit in ways that I hadn’t noticed before. I certainly hope it fed yours as well.

The topic I was assigned was Elder L. Todd Budge’s talk from the Saturday Afternoon Session titled “Consistent and Resilient Trust”. Before I start with his talk, I have a personal experience I would love to share. An entry to a journal I keep reads: “Experience with doing my own Endowments (and afterward)”. I’d like to focus on the “and afterward” part of that title. For some context, I had done my endowments and was asked if I’d like to be a temple worker until I left for my mission, which I joyfully accepted.

Pray Always

Sun, 13 Oct 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Good morning brothers and sisters. I’m grateful to be speaking with you today with these fine men behind me. They have been such a positive influence in my life. I was asked to speak today on Elder Bednar’s talk from the October 2008 conference, “Pray Always”. He outlines his talk with three principles. #1, Prayer becomes more meaningful as we counsel with the Lord in all our doings. #2, Prayer becomes more meaningful as we express heartfelt gratitude. #3, Prayer becomes more meaningful as we pray for others with real intent and a sincere heart. Notice how with all these principles, they start with ‘prayer becomes more meaningful as we…’ then continues to the principle itself. This was intriguing to me.

Preparing to Teach the Gospel

Sun, 18 Aug 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Hello everybody. I’m grateful to be here speaking to you. I was given the topic of Preparing to Teach the Gospel.

This first part comes from the Preach My Gospel Manual, Section 2. The Lord has said, “Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men” (D&C 11:21). To teach effectively, you need to obtain spiritual knowledge. For you to grow in the gospel and stay on the path that leads to eternal life, you need to develop a habit of daily gospel study.

God's Compelling Witness: The Book of Mormon

Sun, 28 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Sunday School General President Tad R. Callister gave a talk in the October 2017 General Conference titled “God’s Compelling Witness: The Book of Mormon”. In this talk, he takes an interesting “well what if this” or “what if that” approach to disprove the adversaries claims about the Book of Mormon being a figment of Joseph Smith’s imagination that he wrote and we use so frequently in our church today. “The Book of Mormon is not only the keystone of our religion, but it can also become the keystone of our testimonies so that when trials or unanswered questions confront us, it can hold our testimonies securely in place.” The Book of Mormon, in any case, sits on the scales of truth with the critics’ arguments and outweighs them. Why is this? Because if the Book of Mormon is true, then Joseph Smith was a true prophet and this is the restored Church of Jesus Christ, regardless of any historical or other arguments that are contrary. For this reason among many others, the adversary is determined on disproving the Book of Mormon, but the obstacles are insurmountable because of the truth that the book holds.

Behold, the Lamb of God

Thu, 18 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Over the last year, I’ve come to realize some not-so-pleasant things about others. I never thought that it would be possible to become friends with someone and then have them stab you in the back. It hurts, and I had never felt this sort of hurt before. I was left with many questions but I was focused on one in particular: what did I do wrong? What did I miss?

Behold, the Lamb of God

Sun, 26 May 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Good morning brothers and sisters. As I stated before, you’re going to be seeing a lot of younger faces up here as we prepare for missions, no offense to those that are also on the stand with me today.

So my talk today is based on another talk given in this last general conference. It is “Behold, the Lamb of God” by Jeffery R. Holland. He starts with the following: “Looking up from the water’s edge, past the eager crowds seeking baptism at his hand, John, called the Baptist, saw in the distance his cousin, Jesus of Nazareth, striding resolutely toward him to make a request for that same ordinance. Reverently, but audible enough for those nearby to hear, John uttered the admiration that still moves us two millennia later: ‘Behold the Lamb of God.’” Now, at the time, a lamb was used as a figure in sacrificial ceremonies, a very common image among the religious. The sacrificial lamb was offered in atonement for the sins and sorrows of the fallen world. Elder Holland then goes into a short history lesson explaining why a lamb of all animals was used. Allow me to shorten this even further. After Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, they faced a devastatingly confusing future. They opened the doors to mortality and in turn, closed the doors to immortality and eternal life for their own selves. “Due to a transgression they had consciously chosen to make in our behalf, they now faced physical death and spiritual banishment, separation from the presence of God forever. … We are not certain just how much the two were allowed to remember of the instruction they received while still in the garden, but they did remember they were to regularly offer for a sacrifice unto God a pure, unblemished lamb, the first male born of their flock. An angel later came to explain that this sacrifice was a type, a prefiguration of the offering that would be made in their behalf by the Savior of the world who was to come.” In the premortal council, God promised Adam and Eve along with everyone else that help would come from his unblemished Firstborn Son, the Lamb of God.

Where can true happiness be found?

Sun, 12 May 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Good morning brothers and sisters. So, before I start off, I’d just like to say that this isn’t the last time you’re going to see me up here at this podium. As a future missionary, the stake presidency has assigned me to a high councilman and every month, I speak with that high councilman in whatever ward we’re assigned to.

So I was asked to speak on Where can true happiness be found? And while I was getting ready to fall asleep one night, I was pondering this question when a thought came to mind. That thought was Heavenly Mother, because today is Mother’s Day after all. We all talk about our Heavenly Father and what He does for us, but have we stopped to think, and remember, that we have a Heavenly Mother? Not a lot of people do, it’s something we sometimes forget about because it isn’t mentioned like at all anywhere in the scriptures. Churchofjesuschrist.org mentions this fact in its definition of Heavenly Mother.

Answers to Prayer

Sun, 28 Apr 2019 00:00:00 +0000

My topic was based upon the talk given just this last general conference titled “Answers to Prayer” given by Elder Brook P. Hales of the Seventy in the Saturday morning session. I personally did not watch it at the time, being occupied with something that I don’t even remember. That’s how insignificant it was compared to general conference but at the time, it took precedence. While talking about my inability to make choices concerning my own spiritual welfare, the title of this talk stands out to me. “Answers to Prayer”. While remaining simple, it speaks on a much larger magnitude. Through personal experience, I have found, as many people do, that God sometimes has a sense of humor. Your question may not be answered right away or in the way that you had anticipated, sometimes far from it.