Farewell Talk

So this is the basic outline of what I said. It's not what I said but pretty close.

 Hello, I'm Matthew Barry if you didn't realize that by now. But if I could say one thing about me to describe me, that would be I'm going on a mission. Hopefully all of you know that before you came but if you didn't. Well... here ya go. Honestly I would of never thought I'd be going on a mission. Well, I did but I didn't. That doesn't make sense. What I mean to say is I don't believe it's really happening. Growing up I remember always saying that I wanted to be a missionary. Saying that I would go with no doubt. But now my words have turned into actions. Actions that I’ve heard will change the rest of my life. It's a scary thought that I’m actually leaving. It's unbelievable. Can I really do this?

I want to share a line from a song from a show that I remember watching when I was little. The show was called ”It's a Miracle”. This show is a really good show about kids who want to serve missions but as they grow up they have to make decisions about if they really want to go or not. One particular part gets all the kids in one room singing the words “Imagine me, a missionary traveling through the land. Imagine me, a missionary doing what I can, to spread the gospel message in the latter-day” Well I did imagine me a missionary. But it still makes me really really scared. I'm actually going, it's surreal. It's unbelievable. It's scarier than I thought it would be.

But with being scared I found two scriptures that really have helped me get used to the idea of leaving. One is Psalms 23:4 “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” Another one I have found comfort in is D&C 38:30 “... If ye are prepared ye shall not fear.”

Basically even though I'm scared out of my mind. He's still there. To guide me and to guide you. He will comfort us through any trials. And we have the wonderful knowledge to know that if we are prepared that we should not fear. For in D&C 11:21 it reads – “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.”

As we all strive to obtain the word of God we can look to some scriptures to help us.

Joshua 1:8 – Meditate - But thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

2 Nefi 32:3 – Feast upon the words of Christ – Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all thing what ye should do.

3 Nefi 17:3 – Ponder and Pray – Therefore, go ye unto your homes, and ponder upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand, and prepare your minds for the morrow.

1 Nefi 19:23 – Liken – I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning.

In college I am taking a Book of Mormon class. In this class we strive to learn more from the Book of Mormon and to increase our knowledge. One particular assignment that we are doing right now is called a personal application paper. The basics of this paper is every week for three weeks we find a scripture. So I'd have three different scriptures for three different weeks. Each week we try to apply one scripture to the whole week. Then at the end of the week we write up basic a summary of what happened. What we experienced and felt. Last week the scripture I choose was 2 Nefi 32:8-9. Let me read it for you – Nefi 32:8-9 “...For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray , but teacheth him that he must not pray. But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.”

My favorite part of this scripture is how many times it says pray and the different ways it says pray. It's say “ye must pray” “pray” “pray always” “pray unto the Father in the name of Christ.” It says pray 6 different times within two verses of scriptures. In D&C 10:5 it reads – Pray always, that you may come of conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work.

In this scripture we are promised that if we pray always; we will be able to conquer Satan and his followers. We will be able to resist the temptation of whatever they give us. Another thing I love about this scripture is the two words “Pray Always”. It may not seem significant but to me this represents that the communication of prayer is always open. Even though electricity may fail and technology wont work. We always have an open communication with our Father in heaven.

We may have an open communication with our Father in heaven but to be able to receive guidence we ourselvs need to be worthy to receive that gifts of the Holy Ghost. Without the spirit it says in D&C 42:12 that Without the spirit ye shall not teach. It also says “The spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith. It just seems like prayer comes up everywhere.

“Pray always”

In D&C 18:8 it reads – “...if he shall be diligent in keeping my commandments he shall be blessed unto eternal life...” He being Joseph Smith. But if we follow the counsel of Nephi. We should liken this scripture unto ourselves. So now it should read “... if I shall be diligent in keeping God's commandments I shall be blessed unto eternal life...” Blessed unto eternal life. Blessed unto salvation by keeping God's commandments. By following in Christ's footsteps. Trying to be perfect even as Christ is perfect.

To be perfect... that's a tall order. All of us sin a little and all of us live in a fallen state. How can we be perfect. Well the truth is we can't by ourselves. It is Physically and Spiritually impossible for us to be perfect by ourselves. But with Christ we are can be perfect. We can strive to be the best person we can be and Christ will help with the rest. If being perfect was being at 100%. I'd say I am at 50% or 60%. But it is wonderful to know that if I'm at 60% then Christ will make up for the extra 40% I'm missing. He does that because He loves us. He suffered in the Garden and on the Cross for us. He suffered for all man kind.

Last friday I went to a play called “I Am Jane” This play is about the difficulties black people had even with members of the church. At on particular point Jane is extremely upset about the trials and the things that have been happening in her life. A friend of her's comes by and comforts her with the doctrine of Christ. He talks about how Christ suffered for everyone. He knows what it's like to be a slave. But He went bellow that so that He could push us up.

Brothers and Sisters. He can push us up if we accept His help. A saying I got in on of my classes from school that acts like a comfort and a warning reads “Live how Christ lived or Suffer how Christ suffered. I think i'd like to choose the first choice. It may seem hard now but the Harder it is for us here on earth. The easier it will be for us in heaven. But this can be the other way too. The easier it is for us on earth. The harder it will be for us in heaven.

We've all heard about attributes and qualities Christ had. Let me list some out for you.

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  Knowledge
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  Humility
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  Charity
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  Love
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  Obedience
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  Diligence
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  Faith
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  Hope

My favorite ones are Love, Diligence, Obedience and Hope. But I want to talk about Obedience the most because obedience is the way and the path to make it back to our Heavenly Father. My sister who is on her mission right now told us an experience she had with obedience. She talked about how the work wasn't going so well for her or her companion. So is order to overcome that gap. Jessica and Her companion decided to follow every mission rule they knew of. As they strived to follow every rule; to wake up on time, study personally, with a companion and study the language. Then strived to be out of the door at the time specified by the mission president. They experienced a change in the way the work progressed. They we able to talk to more people. To use their time more effectively. How amazing would it be if all of us could have that much trust and willing to put that much effort into being obedient to the Lord.

Now the Lord has commanded us to spread the Gospel to all the world. It is our duty to do this thing. To bring others into the fold of God. To spread His infinite love to everyone we meet. We are responsible for all who have/do/will live on the earth.

I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true. I know the Christ lived and died for us. He Atoned for our sins. I know He was resurrected the third day. I know that this is the restored Gospel. That this is the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that our Father in heaven loves us and that he will continue to always love us and hope for our return to the kingdom of heaven. I'm so grateful that Joseph Smith saw a vision and that God guided him to form this church. Just like joseph we can pray to our Father in Heaven anytime and anywhere. I know that if we liken the scriptures unto ourselves that we will be edified and grow stronger in spirit that we may come off conqueror to Satan. I'm so grateful for the faithfulness of friends and family. Their continued trust and love makes me to want to become a better person. I know this Church is true.

And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Signing Out

Matt