I would like to start out by sort of introducing myself since
I don't feel like I know everyone here very well yet. I apologize for that and
will try to get to know you all better.
I was born and raised on a cattle ranch in Driggs, Idaho
which is on the west side of the Grand Tetons, and in my opinion a much prettier
side than the Wyoming side! I loved being part of a small LDS community growing
up but was ready to bust out of there and see the world after high school so I
loaded up and moved all the way to Rexburg, ID about 45 miles away and went to
Ricks College for a year. Wow, come to find out the big, bad world wasn't much
different than good old Driggs, ID!!! Of course, I went home practically every
weekend to work on the ranch, so maybe that isn't a fair assessment. I
eventually went to Utah State University in Logan and got degrees in Business
and Ag. Business. Then I really did load up and move to some different scenery.
I moved to SE Oklahoma for a job for about a year and then was transferred to
South Texas for a few years, then back to NW Oklahoma. I eventually found that I
wanted to get back to Idaho and so I moved to Idaho Falls and then to this area
in 2004 for my job. I work for the Farm Service Agency in Burley. I was lucky
and married Stephanie in 2006 and we
love living here in
this area.
I was asked to speak on the Honor and Order of the
Priesthood. In the interest of time I obviously left quite a bit of my life
story out, but I do want to go back in time just a bit. As a boy I always knew
that I wanted to serve a mission because I grew up enjoying listening to my
father's stories of being a missionary in Mexico. He talked of those 2 1/2 years
a lot and I could tell that his experience molded him and made him the person
that he is. (Back in that day foreign missions were 30 months long.) Now, they
weren't all good experiences per se that he talked about, but oh, what an
adventure it sounded to me as a boy! His testimony of the gospel was formed and
strengthened by his experiences and I knew that I wanted and needed to
experience that. His dad, my grandfather, did not serve a mission and he often
told me how much he regretted that. He was the youngest of several children and
was needed at home during some very tough economic times so he felt like he
couldn't go on a mission and leave his family.
I spent a lot of time with my grandfather working on the
ranch and we talked with each other a lot so I knew that I didn't want to have
the same regrets in life of not serving a mission. So then, all of a sudden I
turned 19 and I started feeling the pressure of submitting my mission papers.
Suddenly, I wasn't so certain that I wanted to go! I had an on-again, off-again
girlfriend that I was sure to lose for good if I chose to leave for 2 years! (It
amazes me now, looking back, that I didn't see that as a good thing!) Plus, I
was just getting in the groove at college and had made a lot of friends that I
hated to leave behind. Then I started to notice that most of my friends were
going on missions and leaving me behind!
So, I had a lot of trepidation, some hesitation, fears, and
doubts about going on a mission but I knew what I needed to do so I turned in my
papers and eventually received a call to serve in the Brazil, Sao Paulo North
Mission. I was excited but nervous. I put on a suit for the very first time on
the morning of my farewell and I just didn't feel like the cowboy that I knew I
was. How could anyone even know of my successes in rodeoing if I wasn't wearing
my belt buckle to proudly display it?! Needless to say, I needed some lessons in
humility.
It was a difficult transition for me to go from the life that
I knew to being just one of many thousands of missionaries who all seemed to be
just alike. When I put on my conservative suit and got my standard missionary
haircut, I had lost my identity along with my mullet. After being in the MTC
for 3 months I was sent to Jackson, Mississippi while waiting for my visa to
Brazil and that was another big transition. Mississippians speak a foreign
language to me but it wasn't the one I was learning in the MTC! Finally, the day
came for me to go to Brazil and getting dumped into a foreign country without
being able to communicate properly was quite a humbling experience. It wasn't
very long until I received that dreaded "Dear John" letter and I really
struggled for a while. I felt like I had lost complete control over my life. I
was even tempted to give up, but I wasn't a quitter. What a position I was in, I
didn't want to be in Brazil, but I knew that I couldn't quit.
One morning during this time, I read my Patriarchal blessing
and it just said how I would accomplish all these great and wonderful things in
life including completing a full-time mission. I began to reflect on a father's
blessing that my dad had given me shortly before entering the mission field. My
dad was inspired to bless me to have the ability to immerse myself into the
Lord's work, and to work hard and to utilize the priesthood and my calling as a
missionary to not only reach out to and help many people, but to help me to
strengthen my testimony as well. It was at this point in my mission that I began
the quest of gaining a better understanding of the priesthood.
Most of us here today likely have a pretty good understanding
of what the priesthood is to us Latter-Day-Saints. I really like the simplicity
of Elder David A. Bednar's words as he explains it. "The priesthood is the
authority of God delegated to men on the earth to act in all things for the
salvation of mankind. Priesthood is the means whereby the Lord acts through men
to save souls." That sounds pretty important for a missionary to understand that
concept! We are blessed as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day-Saints to have His divine authority.
President Boyd K. Packer is quoted as saying "Authority
in the priesthood comes by way of ordination; power in the priesthood
comes through faithful and obedient living in honoring covenants. It is
increased by exercising and using the priesthood in righteousness."
As a young man, and as a young missionary, I knew and
understood the concept of having the authority of the priesthood. My father was
an authorized priesthood holder and he had laid his hands upon my head and
conferred both the Aaronic and Melchizidek priesthood upon me at the appropriate
times in my life. He had received it the same way from his father. But, I
probably didn't understand very well the whole concept of the power of
the priesthood.
President Ezra Taft Benson said- "It is not enough to receive
the priesthood and then sit back passively and wait until someone prods us into
activity. When we receive the priesthood, we have the obligation of becoming
actively and anxiously engaged in promoting the cause of righteousness on the
earth, because the Lord says:…He that doeth not anything until he is commanded,
and receiveth a commandment with doubtful heart, and keepeth it with
slothfulness, the same is damned. (D&C 58:29)
President Spencer W. Kimball also pointedly emphasized the
active nature of the priesthood: "One breaks the priesthood covenant by
transgressing commandments – but also by leaving undone his duties. Accordingly,
to break this covenant one needs only to do nothing." (The Miracle of
Forgiveness)
As I studied, and prayed, and watched my leaders on my
mission I began to understand that my priesthood power and therefore my success
as a missionary hinged upon my active participation in utilizing it.
Since everyone likes a story with a happy ending I am happy
to report that as I worked hard and was diligent in using the power of the
priesthood throughout my mission, I was blessed beyond words in both carrying
out the Lord's work and even more importantly in building and strengthening my
own convictions and testimony of the gospel. One of those blessings was that
"Dear John" letter that I received!! (in retrospect)
I have a strong testimony of the gospel. In carrying on the
tradition, I now tell lots and lots of missionary stories to my 4 boys and I
encourage them all to serve missions. I know that God is our Father, and that He
introduced his son, Jesus Christ, to Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove. I firmly
believe that Thomas S. Monson is a living prophet of God. I hope that those of
us who are priesthood holders will not merely be worthy of the priesthood but
seek out opportunities to actively use the priesthood to bring about the
salvation of mankind. That is what we have been charged with. These things I
leave you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
