December 21, 2014

This week I was given the opportunity to speak at church! It felt special since the program was a youth, myself, and then the temple president, who visited our ward. I decided to speak about something that had really impressed me, coming from Moroni 7 -- a "full heart." My talk went probably something like this:

     "Good afternoon, everybody. I'm quite anxious right now. I pray that the Holy Ghost will carry my words to your hearts. 

     My family lives in America. Among my siblings, I have a sister whose name in Korean is [charity]. (that's a sticky subject; translations not exact, so I won't dive into that right now). In the Book of Moroni, Mormon taught his son Moroni about Charity. If we read Moroni 7:45-47, he explains it quite well. 

    "And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 

     Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail -- 

     But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him."

     How great is Charity! If all men had charity, war, famine, and poverty would disappear. Lust, greed, and all other expressions of selfishness would disappear from our lives. When we have charity, there is no room for evil in our hearts. Finally, we would celebrate Christmas all year round!

     In that case, obtaining charity is the most important thing we can do. Mormon taught us how we can obtain charity in verse 48 of Moroni 7:

     "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ..."

     To attain charity, we must pray unto God with "all the energy of heart." What does "all the energy of heart" mean? My thought is that it means we have real intent. In this case, real intent means that if we receive charity, we'll express it, and share it with others. As we receive the gift of charity, our hearts become full of love. A heart full of love truly is a full heart.

     This is the road of the prophets, and of Jesus Christ. They understood God's love -- charity -- and they spent their lives sharing it with others. Charity is the reason I am a missionary, and why the church does missionary work. I promise that as we strive to attain charity, our hearts will become full of love, and we will become closer to God and our families. 

     I testify that Jesus Christ lives. He truly is "the gift." I know that God loves us, and sent His Son Jesus Christ so that we could return to His presence. I testify that Christ loves us all, with pure love, with charity. I promise that as you pray with "all the energy of heart," God will answer your prayers, and bestow charity upon you. I promise that your heart will become full, with love. I say these things, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

     Something like that; translating is always sketchy. Not my best, but alright for a day of preparation. Another thing I thought about this week was endurance. We don't have a lot of appointments right now, so we've had to do our best and push through and work at finding new ones. I was thinking, if I can't keep my head up and remain optimistic during these periods, how on earth would I be able to make it as an actor, where I have to rely on people to decide they want me, where I may have to wait long periods of time without feeling successful? When I realized that, I was able to treat this period as a moment of preparation for the future. 

     I wanted to thank everybody from Olathe 1st Ward! I got the cards, ala Brother Cory Wofford, at the temple last Thursday! It was such a nice surprise. Thank you so much for the kind thoughts, and for all of your prayers! 

     Here's my first video, from Gimpo, while we were searching for less-actives in the wilderness! https://www.dropbox.com/s/97tuwit9pkxm8w4/DSCN4755.AVI?dl=0 

     Funny side note: we were meeting with some potentials in their shop, and they asked us what our dreams were. I told them I wanted to become an actor or voice actor, and he looked at me for a minute, then told us that if I lost some weight, I'd look just like Tom Cruise! Guess my haircut went well, eh? That was a funny experience. 

     Last, but never least, I wanted to share a thought about Jesus Christ, His Atonement, and His relationship with us. Jesus Christ understands all of our pains and afflictions; when He suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross at Calvary, He literally experienced everything we will. He is perfectly positioned to be our advocate and healer. I've always taken great comfort in the fact that my Savior understands me perfectly, in a way that nobody else on earth does. I've understood this for a long time, but this week I added a greater, deeper level of understanding to this. 
Not only did Christ experience all of my pains and trials, but He overcame them. Not only does He understand what I'm feeling, but He understands what to do to overcome those feelings and situations! How incredible! That underscores our need to reach out and communicate with God through prayer --- not only can He comfort us, but He can teach us the solution, give us the key to victory! I am so grateful for a Savior who suffered for me, who drank the bitter cup, so that He could come to me, and heal me of the wounds and scars we all accumulate as we walk life's path. Reach out to Him, and He will come to you. I promise that. 

   

With Love,

Elder Austin Lynn