Nathan's farewell talk 10/26/2008

I have to say before I start that speaking in front of everyone today is a little bit of a change of scenery for me. For the past year or so I have been a teacher in sunbeams and have loved every minute of it. Each one of those kids teaches me something new every week. So when I got this talk I thought it would be easy right. I have been teaching for a year and this should be pretty easy too right. If you know who is in my sunbeams class you know that each one of those kids are a character and specialize in running you ragged. So I thought which would be harder, teaching them or talking in front of you I thought It would be a no brainer. This should be much easier. For the most part everyone here pays attention to the lesson, does not need treats or have to go to the bathroom every 2 minutes, does not need a rope to hold onto to keep reverent in the church or need to be walked before the lesson, does not need stuffed animals to hold onto or like to turn off the light in the middle of the lesson. I hope no one does that in here. But honestly right now I think I would take them right now if for nothing else the lesson in there takes on a good day around 5 minutes and is about heavenly father giving us food and animals. This was a little tougher to prepare for.

Our talk is by Kenneth Johnsons and its titled Restoring faith in the family. One of the things he talks about is role models in our lives. I want everyone to start off by thinking about your favorite role model as a kid or now. Someone that inspired you to be better or someone you wanted to be like. And while you are doing that I will tell you about mine. I went through many fazes when I was younger but I can clearly remember one of my favorites. I think im old enough now to tell everyone and you won’t make too much fun of me but I loved and wanted to be a power ranger. I thought they were the coolest people ever. Everyone else at school said it wasn’t cool to like them but you know we all watched them on TV. They had all these sweet moves and sayings, picking an animal to fight like. And when they weren’t tough enough to beat the bad guy they would power up into a giant transformer thing hundreds of feet tall and wipe out their enemy. They were all so awesome. But like most people I grew up and started trying to be like different things, more mature and adult things…. Like batman, superman, the incredible hulk and iron man.

But none of these people really gave me true help when I needed it or taught me things I would so desperately need later in life. Elder Johnson said reflecting on his own life he learned loyalty, integrity, dependability, selfless service, honor, respect, and the gospel principles in his home by his parents and family. They were his greatest role models. And think if we all think about it we would agree with him. Our parents are our greatest teachers. They teach us everything from everyday things like how to tie our shoes to the sweetest gospel principles. No one here would be the person they are today without their parents and families examples.

Our whole church revolves and is centered on the family. One of the reasons god sent us to earth was to multiply and replenish the earth by starting a family. In The Family: A Proclamation to the World it reads: “Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide
for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners”.

A lot was said in that passage but one of the key points it said was that happiness and success in the family is achieved when your family is founded upon the teachings of Jesus Christ. One of the most well known and great examples of this was the mothers of the stripling warriors. In the 56th chapter in Alma it reads “Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.
48 And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it.
21 Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them; and I did remember the words which they said unto me that their mothers had taught them.”

These 2,000 boys were taught by their mothers and by their father’s examples. When they were little they watched as their fathers willingly gave up their lives to keep the covenants they had made to not take up arms ever again. So from an early age their mothers taught them the gospel and how to live and obey its teachings. These two great examples of righteous parents helped these boys throughout their lives. As young men they took arms up to help aid the Nephites in battle. Heleman recounts after their first battle.

“And now it came to pass that when they had surrendered themselves up unto us, behold, I numbered those young men who had fought with me, fearing lest there were many of them slain. But behold, to my great joy, there had not one soul of them fallen to the earth; yea, and they had fought as if with the strength of God; yea, never were men known to have fought with such miraculous strength; and with such mighty power did they fall upon the Lamanites, that they did frighten them; and for this cause did the Lamanites deliver themselves up as prisoners of war.” These boys courage came from their mother’s teachings to them and their faith in the lord Jesus Christ. Imagine what we all could do with faith like that, what mountains and stumbling blocks we could remove and how strong we could become.

Another point that this talk brought up is that each member of your family is different and thinks and acts in a different way. One that speaks volumes to this point is Lehis family. Talk about your different personality types. You have Lehi who is a prophet of the lord, Laman and Lemual who could not stop murmuring against the lord and their father and brother, and Nephi who was their younger brother and grew up to be their leader and a prophet as well. Can you imagine being Lehi and Sariah guiding their family through the wilderness? Talk about a bad car trip. Watching the goodness of Nephi and Sam do what they tell them and always listening to the lord. And at the same time watching Laman and Lemual do what they are asked but always have a bad attitude and murmur the whole time. It’s all about your attitude. You could be doing all the right things but with a bad attitude it really takes away from everything. Elder Johnson says “our outlook or attitude can sometimes restrict our ability to enjoy life’s greatest opportunities.

An example I have of this was a service project I did a few years ago. I think it was when I had just turned 14 and was a teacher with Bryson Toth and some other boys. Brother White was our leader and for some reason or another we had the great opportunity to rake leaves around the church that night…. in the middle of December. It was freezing cold outside with probably about a foot of snow on the ground. We all froze because being tough 14 or 15 year old boys we didn’t really dress for the occasion. All the boys including myself were not in the best of moods while performing this. Talking about how dumb we thought it was. If we would have had a better attitude we might have actually gotten something from that night other than frostbite.

The last point Elder Johnson talks about is a question posed “What of those who have not experienced a positive family environment?” In answer to this he shares a short poem by Helen Steiner Rice.

When God makes a promise,

It remains forever true,

For everything God promises

He unalterably will do.

When you’re disillusioned

And every hope is blighted

Recall the promises of God

And your faith will be relighted.”

What one would have to think about if in that situation is that our ultimate father is Heavenly Father and Jesus is our older brother and we should look to them as a perfect example. To close with I would like to share a poem I found that really fits this talk.


By Henry Hallam Tweedy Entitled My two Homes.

Of all the houses in the world
The one that I love best
Is that in which I wake and play
And lay me down to rest.
My father built by his toil
My mother makes it a home
You cannot find a lovelier place
No matter where you roam.
The rooms are clean and bright and fair
With pictures books and toys
And food and clothes and beds and chairs
For all the girls and boys
We children work and care for it
And help to keep it clean
Our palace of true happiness
Where mother reigns as queen.
And father guards us with his strength
A wise and gracious king
To whom we pay the honor due
And glad obedience bring.
So full of love and joy it is
So safe and bright and warm
I would not go too far from it
Lest I should come to harm


And yet when I go out of doors
And look up at the sky
I know im in my father’s house
And his love is nigh.
For god is father-mother too
The world is my big home
The green grass is the carpet
And the blue sky is the dome
On every side are pictures
The fields are full of food
And all the things that god has made
Are beautiful and good
He keeps me by his mighty power
He loves me as his child
His paths are bright with happiness
His laws are just and mild
And all his children in this house
So wonderful and fair
Should love each other, learn his truth
And trust his love and care.
I thank thee father, for these homes
Where we may dwell with thee
And cast out fear and share the joys
Though givest full and free.


Testimony.
Church is true.
My family greatest example
Everyone in the ward.
My mission.