(The following is the talk Chaylee gave in church this past Sunday)
Talk on Missionary Work – August 25, 2013
Good morning Brothers and Sisters,
To introduce myself a little, I am Sister Randall. My family is currently living in Saudi Arabia, and I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. However, the Lord sent my home for my mission. I was born in the Redlands Hospital, and was blessed in this very chapel.
Being on a mission was not something that I had planned. I had decided when I was younger, that I wasn't going to serve a mission, because I was going to be married by the time I turned 21. (The congregation laughed right here.) Things changed though when I received my patriarchal blessing. In it I was told that I would, “be blessed to serve as a missionary and bear witness to the world of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Now, being who I was and already have a plan for myself I thought, "yeah right (laughter from the ward) Heavenly Father, if you want me to serve a mission, you better figure something out" (more laughter). About four months after I got my blessing, during the October 2012 General Conference, President Monson changed the age for missionaries. When that happened, my immediate thought was:"fine, I guess I will go" (more laughter). After some health trials, and a lot of prayer on my part, I finally received my mission call. It was a huge blessing to serve in the Redlands CA mission, and then to get sent to my home area as my first transfer. I am so thankful to be here, and am very excited to serve with each and every one of you.
If you look in the dictionary a missionary is defined as “a person commissioned by a church to spread its faith or carry on humanitarian work.”
The fifth Article of Faith states, “We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophesy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in the authority to preach the gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.”
The Article of Faith and the dictionary both have similar definitions of a missionary. One of the differences between the two is that the dictionary states that the missionary is commissioned by the church, where as the article of faith states that a missionary is called of God.
But the article of faith doesn't just say 'missionary', it says 'man'. We have all been called by God to preach the Gospel to everyone.
My older sister just got home from her mission six months ago. When she got home, she showed us a blog of one of her old EFY kids. (EFY stands for Especially For Youth. This is a youth summer camp that Tysha participated in as a counselor. She refers to those in her groups as her "kids") This Elder is serving in the same mission that she just got home from. In a letter he wrote to her, he said that he and his companion were walking down a street, when a thrown rock almost hit them. They looked up and saw a man standing in an alley swearing at them. The Elder then takes off after this man who started to run away. The Elder chases him into his house and starts banging on the man’s door until he opens it. A few weeks later, the man that threw the rock got baptized (insert laughter from ward). On the blog, the Elder posted this man’s testimony. He said that when the Elder came chasing after him, he was terrified. The elder ended up teaching this man. After just one hour, he says that, “the same young man who scared me half to death, he filled my soul with light.” The man used to think that our church was a cult, but now he is a member and realized how beneficial the church is towards his life.
We can talk to anyone, preferably we won’t go chasing anyone down (laughter), but we can have a simple conversation with a friend. If the Lord could soften the heart of the man the Elder worked with couldn't He soften the hearts of our neighbors, friends, and co-workers? I promise you that He can, and He will.
Elder William J. Bennett in the April 1972 General Conference started “… the door is wide open and many opportunities are available for doing missionary work – if we are just alert and will put forth a little effort.”
We need to be God’s lights. We were not sent here to shove our wonderful gospel into people’s faces. We were sent here to be His examples, and to show people the Gospel. Others will wonder what the light we have is, and then we can explain what it is, and what we study.
Currently, my companion and I are working on talking to everyone. At first I was trying to figure out how we were going to talk to everyone, and make it all gospel related. To be honest, I was a little scared about this.
This past Thursday, we had an experience that changed the way I thought.
After we got out of an appointment, we started to pull away from the curb. We saw an adorable cute little baby, and her mom. Sister Young then suddenly stopped the car, and rolled down the window. We talked to this mother, and commented on the baby. We found out that this little baby ended up eating through the moms bible, and her Mormon bible (insert more laughter). She asked us if we were moving into the complex, and we told her that we were just teaching some other sisters, and that we were missionaries. We gave this mother our number, and she told us that she would call, because the Lord keeps putting people in her way that are trying to do the Lord’s work.
That entire conversation happened because we thought she had a really cute baby, and we wanted to tell her.
If we are kind and considerate, and really show people that we care, then they will want to know what makes us different.
In Preach my Gospel there are a couple of pages with missionary quotes from the different prophets. President David O. McKay stated “True Christianity is love in action. There is no better way to manifest love for God than to show an unselfish love for your fellow men. This is the Spirit of Missionary Work.”
Brothers and Sisters, I know that this gospel is true. I know that the Lord provide us with the Book of Mormon to help us in these days. I know that we have a prophet today to lead a guide us as we go through the craziness of life. I know that my Savior and Redeemer love me, and that I am a child of God. I know that no matter how far from my family I am, I will also have the love of my Father in Heaven to surround me with strength and peace. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Talk on Missionary Work – August 25, 2013
Good morning Brothers and Sisters,
To introduce myself a little, I am Sister Randall. My family is currently living in Saudi Arabia, and I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. However, the Lord sent my home for my mission. I was born in the Redlands Hospital, and was blessed in this very chapel.
Being on a mission was not something that I had planned. I had decided when I was younger, that I wasn't going to serve a mission, because I was going to be married by the time I turned 21. (The congregation laughed right here.) Things changed though when I received my patriarchal blessing. In it I was told that I would, “be blessed to serve as a missionary and bear witness to the world of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Now, being who I was and already have a plan for myself I thought, "yeah right (laughter from the ward) Heavenly Father, if you want me to serve a mission, you better figure something out" (more laughter). About four months after I got my blessing, during the October 2012 General Conference, President Monson changed the age for missionaries. When that happened, my immediate thought was:"fine, I guess I will go" (more laughter). After some health trials, and a lot of prayer on my part, I finally received my mission call. It was a huge blessing to serve in the Redlands CA mission, and then to get sent to my home area as my first transfer. I am so thankful to be here, and am very excited to serve with each and every one of you.
If you look in the dictionary a missionary is defined as “a person commissioned by a church to spread its faith or carry on humanitarian work.”
The fifth Article of Faith states, “We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophesy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in the authority to preach the gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.”
The Article of Faith and the dictionary both have similar definitions of a missionary. One of the differences between the two is that the dictionary states that the missionary is commissioned by the church, where as the article of faith states that a missionary is called of God.
But the article of faith doesn't just say 'missionary', it says 'man'. We have all been called by God to preach the Gospel to everyone.
My older sister just got home from her mission six months ago. When she got home, she showed us a blog of one of her old EFY kids. (EFY stands for Especially For Youth. This is a youth summer camp that Tysha participated in as a counselor. She refers to those in her groups as her "kids") This Elder is serving in the same mission that she just got home from. In a letter he wrote to her, he said that he and his companion were walking down a street, when a thrown rock almost hit them. They looked up and saw a man standing in an alley swearing at them. The Elder then takes off after this man who started to run away. The Elder chases him into his house and starts banging on the man’s door until he opens it. A few weeks later, the man that threw the rock got baptized (insert laughter from ward). On the blog, the Elder posted this man’s testimony. He said that when the Elder came chasing after him, he was terrified. The elder ended up teaching this man. After just one hour, he says that, “the same young man who scared me half to death, he filled my soul with light.” The man used to think that our church was a cult, but now he is a member and realized how beneficial the church is towards his life.
We can talk to anyone, preferably we won’t go chasing anyone down (laughter), but we can have a simple conversation with a friend. If the Lord could soften the heart of the man the Elder worked with couldn't He soften the hearts of our neighbors, friends, and co-workers? I promise you that He can, and He will.
Elder William J. Bennett in the April 1972 General Conference started “… the door is wide open and many opportunities are available for doing missionary work – if we are just alert and will put forth a little effort.”
We need to be God’s lights. We were not sent here to shove our wonderful gospel into people’s faces. We were sent here to be His examples, and to show people the Gospel. Others will wonder what the light we have is, and then we can explain what it is, and what we study.
Currently, my companion and I are working on talking to everyone. At first I was trying to figure out how we were going to talk to everyone, and make it all gospel related. To be honest, I was a little scared about this.
This past Thursday, we had an experience that changed the way I thought.
After we got out of an appointment, we started to pull away from the curb. We saw an adorable cute little baby, and her mom. Sister Young then suddenly stopped the car, and rolled down the window. We talked to this mother, and commented on the baby. We found out that this little baby ended up eating through the moms bible, and her Mormon bible (insert more laughter). She asked us if we were moving into the complex, and we told her that we were just teaching some other sisters, and that we were missionaries. We gave this mother our number, and she told us that she would call, because the Lord keeps putting people in her way that are trying to do the Lord’s work.
That entire conversation happened because we thought she had a really cute baby, and we wanted to tell her.
If we are kind and considerate, and really show people that we care, then they will want to know what makes us different.
In Preach my Gospel there are a couple of pages with missionary quotes from the different prophets. President David O. McKay stated “True Christianity is love in action. There is no better way to manifest love for God than to show an unselfish love for your fellow men. This is the Spirit of Missionary Work.”
Brothers and Sisters, I know that this gospel is true. I know that the Lord provide us with the Book of Mormon to help us in these days. I know that we have a prophet today to lead a guide us as we go through the craziness of life. I know that my Savior and Redeemer love me, and that I am a child of God. I know that no matter how far from my family I am, I will also have the love of my Father in Heaven to surround me with strength and peace. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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