Hello. My name is still Brooklyn. When the Stake Presidency asked me to share some of my thoughts and feelings for eight minutes, I was really excited. However, I believe it is very impossible for any 18-year-old girl to comprehensively explain her feelings in eight minutes. And besides, you wouldn’t understand. All drama aside, I chose just a few passionate feelings and I’m grateful to share them with you today.
I will begin by introducing myself a little, just in case some of you don’t follow me on Twitter. I am Brooklyn Brewer from the Hillcrest Ward, my daddy Paul and I do magic shows, my beautiful, amazing mother Jodi teaches dance classes, and my baby sister Katelyn makes really delectable cupcakes. I go to school at Westminster College, where I major in being a Freshman, which means I have no idea what I want to do with my life yet.
However, I do know who I am. Which I think is a good first step.
I am a child of God. God is my Heavenly Father and He loves me. I know he loves me because he gave me an earthly home. The Earthly Home came with a lot of great amenities. My body, my agency, my parents kind and dear. And best of all, my trials. Comparatively, my life isn’t difficult at all. But I have frustrating days, sad moments, I get upset over which sweater to wear over-analyze a one-word text message. It is in these weak, devilish moments that I have been able to feel the love of my Heavenly Father so purely. I am a child of God. God is my Heavenly Father and He loves me. Good news: YOU are a child of God. God is your Heavenly Father and He loves YOU. He loves you so much. Let’s turn to Acts 17:28. Here we learn something very important. [READ] You are a child of God. Families are forever. Heavenly Father has always been, and always will be your loving, supportive Father.
Additional good news: He sent His only begotten Son not only to die for us, but to live for us. He shows us the way, He gives us the light. Jesus Christ literally understands you, your thoughts, your pain, your anger, your mortality. He has plenty of love for all of us, so it’s time for us to embrace it, and even more importantly, it’s time for us to share it.
Missionary work is the sacred duty each and every one of us has been fervently called to. Let me share with you some powerful words from President Hinckley. Now I would invite you to listen here, because this is a prophet of God.
“We are here to assist our Father in His work and His glory, ‘to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man’ (Moses 1:39). Let there be cultivated an awareness in every member’s heart of his own potential for bringing others to a knowledge of the truth. Let him work at it. Let him pray with great earnestness about it.”
You are a child of God. That means every single person you encounter in your life, even the ornery ones, is a child of God.
Our precious, full-time missionaries are doing a wonderful job dedicating all of their time to the salvation of their brothers and sisters. I recently wrote every missionary I know to ask them why missionary work is so important, here are some of their answers:
Sister Becca Baldridge- “People need the healing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. You get to see that Light of Christ become brighter and brighter in their eyes as they begin to apply the teachings of the gospel.”
Elder Thomas Rodriguez- “Everyone needs to have the atonment in there life and know how to use it so that all there pains and challenges can be gone and so they can be clean again.”
Elder Jason Porter-
Elder Arthur Diaz- “Missionary work is so important and happy because we are all brothers and sisters which means ohana and ohana means family and family means nobody gets left behind!”
Elder Connor Holt- “Because you get to share the Happiness that Jesus Christ gave us when he suffered for us! :)”
Sister Lennyx Hatch- “Missionary work is important because it is God's work. It is Christ's work. As missionaries, we invite people to give them the choice. If they didn't have the information, how would they ever be able to CHOOSE it? Missionary work is service, and it is the best possible thing we could ever be doing.”
Sister Alyssa Chamberlain- “Missionary work is joyful, hard, invigorating, blissful, euphoric. Reminding people who they truly are and helping them feel the spirit is beautiful.”
As you can tell, these missionaries are special. They understand the importance of Christ in our lives and everybody’s life. They need our help. We can be missionaries by sharing our testimonies. We can be missionaries by praying for and looking for people to teach ourselves. We can be missionaries by being kind. The purpose of missionary work is bring the light of Christ into the lives of our brothers and sisters. What better way to do that than acting as Christ did? We are missionaries when we befriend people, help people, talk to people, encourage people, love people.
“If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report, or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.”
If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report, or praiseworthy, it comes from our Heavenly Father. If there is anything corrupted, destructive, sinful, or vain, it comes from Satan. SATAN DOES NOT LOVE US. Satan works hard to make us miserable like him. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are there for us, to love us, to deliver us from the unfortunate things of the world.
Ammon says it best in the Book of Mormon: "Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we...Blessed be the name of God, who has been mindful of us, wanderers in a strange land." ALMA 26:35-36.
I am so grateful for my testimony, and it is this:
You are a child of God.
This Gospel of Jesus Chris is the truth and it always will be.
I hope they call me on a mission.
I love you.
No comments:
Post a Comment