Reno here I come!!

I know it's been a while since I've written. But I just had to write a post to say goodbye to all of you lovely folks. If I thought my family could handle technology I would assemble a mission blog, but alas they can't. So this will be it. I wish I could my mission pictures up..maybe if I come back to Denny's before I get set apart..we'll see this may be updated. Anyways.

Wow. It's here. I feel like I'm sort of walking in the air because nothing is grounding me. I'm nervous but excited and almost void of emotion because there are so many to feel. I think I'll go crazy at some point but not yet. It just doesn't feel real. I don't even think my wedding day will fill me with this much of a ...overload of emotions questioning if this is really happening.

One thing I do know is that I have a testimony. I will always have that. I love my Savior and I'm so excited to be able to serve him. So here is my farewell talk. take into mind that it ended with my testimony which isn't included.


Introduction: name, school, mission call, when I leave
funny: first talk since high school at mission farewell
I’d like to title my talk: Our Infinite worth
I’ve titled it so because I want to focus today on the worth of each soul, of each of us. I have a knowledge of my individual worth in the eyes of God.  And I know that each of you have an interchangeable  worth. So what is this “worth” that I keep speaking of and what is ours?
Well Uchtdorf speaks of it quite nicely in the talk that I will be referencing today from the October 2011 General Conference talk: You Matter To Him
He spoke:
This is a paradox of man: compared to God, man is nothing; yet we are everything to God. While against the backdrop of infinite creation we may appear to be nothing, we have a spark of eternal fire burning within our breast. We have the incomprehensible promise of exaltation—worlds without end—within our grasp. And it is God’s great desire to help us reach it.
In the eyes of God, we are everything. We’re his children. Princes, and Princesses. Yet for some reason, I don’t see people acting as such, even I find myself not acting so. Why is that?
Because of adversity. Satan has his own tactics to keep us from staying of the path of eternal glory.
Ucthdorf speaks of two ways that Satan does this:
The great deceiver knows that one of his most effective tools in leading the children of God astray is to appeal to the extremes of the paradox of man. To some, he appeals to their prideful tendencies, puffing them up and encouraging them to believe in the fantasy of their own self-importance and invincibility. He tells them they have transcended the ordinary and that because of ability, birthright, or social status, they are set apart from the common measure of all that surrounds them. He leads them to conclude that they are therefore not subject to anyone else’s rules and not to be bothered by anyone else’s problems.
This tactic saddens my heart. No one is of less importance than another.
Mosiah 6:7 shows an example of how we ought to help one another, no matter our status
“And King Mosiah did cause his people that they should till the earth. And he also, himself did till the earth, that thereby he might not become burdensome to his people. That he might do according to that which his father had done in all things.”
Mosiah was a King as the scripture states, yet it was not below him to serve his people. Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace and Lord of Lords was in every definition: perfect. We all strive for perfection. So if we truly want to become perfect, we must follow in his example do what he did. Serve those around us.
Uchtdorf speaks of the second way Satan tries to keep us from our worth
Another way Satan deceives is through discouragement. He attempts to focus our sight on our own insignificance until we begin to doubt that we have much worth. He tells us that we are too small for anyone to take notice, that we are forgotten—especially by God.
What a strong tool this is: to be able to get us to question our very roots of existence. It is an even stronger tool if we never knew our worth in the first place. I find myself sometimes wondering where I would be in my life if I didn’t know of my worth. What a difference it makes knowing that you have a heavenly being, a Father to be exact who knows you. He knows every part of you the wonderful strong and cherished parts; the ones that we sometimes fail to see in their full spectrum, and also the weak  dismissible parts.
We try to hide these parts of ourselves (The weak) from those we meet we and stay in contact with. The longer we can hide the these unwanted parts of ourselves, the longer we believe people will want to stay around. But you cannot hide anything, any part of yourself from God. He sees all. But the miraculous thing that is hard to comprehend: is that he loves us still. He loves us more than even our earthly parents do-which if is like mine, that’s a whole lot. In God’s eyes, he doesn’t see weakness as something to repress or hide. He sees it as something to expose and strengthen.
In Ether chapter 12:27 it reads: And if men come unto me I will sow unto them their weakness. I will 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 will I make weak things become strong unto them.
God has a plan for us. Let me conclude with the words that Utchdorf used to finish his point: that we matter to God.
My dear brothers and sisters, it may be true that man is nothing in comparison to the greatness of the universe. At times we may even feel insignificant, invisible, alone, or forgotten. But always remember—you matter to Him! If you ever doubt that, consider these four divine principles:
First, God loves the humble and meek, for they are “greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”17
Second, the Lord entrusts “the fulness of [His] gospel [to] be proclaimed by the weak and the simple unto the ends of the world.”18 He has chosen “the weak things of the world [to] come forth and break down the mighty and strong ones”19 and to put to shame “the things which are mighty.”20
Third, no matter where you live, no matter how humble your circumstances, how meager your employment, how limited your abilities, how ordinary your appearance, or how little your calling in the Church may appear to you, you are not invisible to your Heavenly Father. He loves you. He knows your humble heart and your acts of love and kindness. Together, they form a lasting testimony of your fidelity and faith.
Fourth and finally, please understand that what you see and experience now is not what forever will be. You will not feel loneliness, sorrow, pain, or discouragement forever. We have the faithful promise of God that He will neither forget nor forsake those who incline their hearts to Him.21 Have hope and faith in that promise. Learn to love your Heavenly Father and become His disciple in word and in deed.
Be assured that if you but hold on, believe in Him, and remain faithful in keeping the commandments, one day you will experience for yourselves the promises revealed to the Apostle Paul: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”22
Brothers and sisters, the most powerful Being in the universe is the Father of your spirit. He knows you. He loves you with a perfect love.
God sees you not only as a mortal being on a small planet who lives for a brief season—He sees you as His child. He sees you as the being you are capable and designed to become. He wants you to know that you matter to Him.