Good morning brothers and sisters. I am so happy to be here today, preparing to leave on Wednesday to serve a mission in Romania and Moldova. Four months ago, while I was impatiently waiting for my mission call to arrive in the mail, I imagined preparing to serve in California, or possibly South America. I didn’t even know where Romania or Moldova was on a map, and I definitely hadn’t imagined living there for eighteen months! However, since opening that call, I have realized that Eastern Europe is perfectly where I am meant to be, and I am so incredibly grateful for this opportunity to preach the gospel there. Today is made even more special in that we have the opportunity to celebrate fathers, as I am so grateful for everything my dad has taught me and the example he has been to my family throughout my life. As I was thinking about today and preparing for this talk, I realized that not only can we use today to express our gratitude towards our earthly fathers, but we also should be thinking about everything that our Father in Heaven has done for us.
Many people in the past year have asked what made me decide to serve a mission. I never really knew what to say, because there wasn’t one crucial moment when, all of a sudden, everything was clear and I immediately planned to serve a mission. For months, I debated back and forth with myself. I would decide to go one day, and the next I would be reminded of everything I would leave behind here in Utah. However, after months of frustration, decision and prayer, I realized that I want to serve a mission because my Father in Heaven loves me, and I love Him. For me, this was the answer I needed. I felt peace as I looked at everything I have, because of Him. I remember thinking that the desire to serve because I love God is more important and worthwhile than any other inconveniences telling me to stay.
Once I made my decision to serve a mission, I began to be more aware of the gifts and love our Father in Heaven has given me and my family. That increased my motivation to prepare for a mission and serve Him. One of my favorite quotes from Dieter F Uchtdorf says, “Our Father in Heaven has given us, His children, much more than any mortal mind can comprehend. Under His direction the Great Jehovah created this wondrous world we live in. God the Father watches over us, fills our hearts with breathtaking joy, brightens our darkest hours with blessed peace, distills upon our minds precious truths, shepherds us through times of distress, rejoices when we rejoice, and answers our righteous petitions...He has promised us all that He has. If all that is not enough reason to love our Heavenly Father, perhaps we can learn from the words of the Apostle John, who said, ‘We love him, because he first loved us.’”
Everywhere we turn, we can see evidence of the love our Father in Heaven has for us. The earth itself is so amazing. I am constantly reminded that of course God exists and loves us, because without Him, how could something so diversely beautiful as the world be created? My parents and I had the opportunity to travel to Hawaii earlier this summer. We love to hike, and my mom definitely had many adventures planned trekking to the top of waterfalls, green sand beaches, and amazing volcanic lookouts. I remember one particular hike that looked out over the bluest ocean, with waves crashing on a black sand beach, and a tall waterfall out in the distance. It was one of the most stunning views I have ever seen, and I remember thinking how grateful I am that we have a Father in Heaven who loves us enough to give us such a beautiful place to live. Each time I look around at the nature surrounding me, I have no question that our Heavenly Father loves us and for me it is evidenced in the unique ways he has provided to help us simply find joy.
A couple of years ago, my family was living in Columbus, Ohio. We frequently had the opportunity to have the missionaries over for dinner. Each time they would visit, they would share a scripture or thought before they left. One time I remember one of the missionaries shared with us his favorite poem titled “The Race,” which really helped me think about the nature of our Father in Heaven and how He wants us to succeed. The poem describes a boy who is running a race with his father watching on the sidelines. This particular boy is in the lead and thinks to himself, “My dad will be so proud.” However, he soon stumbles and falls. He picks himself up, continues running, and then just as he begins to catch up to his peers, slips and falls twice more. Each time his father calls to him, “Get up and win that race!” The poem is quite long, so I will just share with you my favorite part in the end.
“Get up,” an echo sounded low, “you haven’t lost at all,
for all you have to do to win is rise each time you fall.
Get up!” the echo urged him on, “Get up and take your place!
You were not meant for failure here! Get up and win that race!”
So, up he rose to run once more, refusing to forfeit,
and he resolved that win or lose, at least he wouldn’t quit.
So far behind the others now, the most he’d ever been,
still he gave it all he had and ran like he could win.
Three times he’d fallen stumbling, three times he rose again.
Too far behind to hope to win, he still ran to the end.
They cheered another boy who crossed the line and won first place,
head high and proud and happy -- no falling, no disgrace.
But, when the fallen youngster crossed the line, in last place,
the crowd gave him a greater cheer for finishing the race.
And even though he came in last with head bowed low, unproud,
you would have thought he’d won the race, to listen to the crowd.
And to his dad he sadly said, “I didn’t do so well.”
“To me, you won,” his father said. “You rose each time you fell.”
This poem exemplifies the relationship between us and our Father in Heaven. Our experiences here on earth are part of the so called race in the poem. We are here to progress to the finish line of living with God once more. Our Heavenly Father is watching us and cheering us on, and when we fall, which we will, He is there to tell us “you were not meant for failure here, get up and win that race.” And in the end when the race is finished, just like the father in the poem, all that matters to Him is whether or not we rise each time we fall.
When I think of God’s love for us, I begin to think of the Atonement. In church classes, we often learn about the immense love that Christ had for us to atone for our many painful sins in Gethsemane and sacrifice his perfect life for all of us living imperfectly. We talk about how hard it must have been for Christ to willingly bleed from every pore while his friends slept through his pain. How hard it must have been for Christ to be betrayed by his friend Judas and then be forced to wear a crown of thorns and carry his own cross through the mocking crowd. I think it is very important for us to ponder the perspective of our Father in Heaven as well. How hard must it have been to see His Son Jesus Christ go through all of this? God had such unimaginable love for us that He sent His perfect Son to suffer. We are so imperfect, yet He still loves us so much.
One of my favorite lessons in my high school seminary classes helped me understand the overwhelming love God has for each and every one of us. My teacher, Brother Lammers, used Elder Melvin J Ballard’s talk, “His Great Heart Almost Breaking” to help us have a deeper understanding of this love. This talk has become one of my very favorite messages, and each time I read it I am blown away as I remember God’s overwhelming devotion to each and every one of us. Elder Ballard begins his talk by telling the story of Abraham and Isaac. Brother Lammers used the symbolism of this Old Testament story to help us understand the Atonement sacrifice. Before this seminary lesson, I never thought of the connection between this story and the sacrifice God had to make to send Christ to earth to be crucified in the Atonement. This seminary lesson changed the way I thought about God’s love, as I realized how hard that would have been to see the Son which our Father in Heaven loved so deeply, suffer so much.
While I highly recommend reading Elder Ballard’s talk, I will share his concluding remarks, describing the pain that Heavenly Father experienced in sacrificing His Son so that we can live again with him. Elder Ballard testifies, “In that hour I think I can see our dear Father, behind the veil looking upon Jesus Christ’s dying struggles, until even he could not endure it any longer, and, like the mother who bids farewell to her dying child, has to be taken out of the room, so as not to look upon the last struggles. So he bowed his head, and hid in some part of this universe, his great heart almost breaking for the love that he had for his Son... And so this is what it cost, in part, for our Father in Heaven to give the gift of his Son unto men.” I love this quote, because it makes me even more grateful for God’s love for us. He could have stopped Christ’s suffering. He could have interfered and saved our brother Jesus Christ on that cross, saving himself from watching his Beloved Son die for us. But He did not, because of His love for each and every one of His children. Our Father in Heaven watched His perfect Son suffer and be crucified so that we may live with Him again.
I have felt the love of our Father over and over throughout my life. I feel His love every time I pray and find answers. I feel His love when I take time to appreciate the beautiful world He has given us. I felt His comforting love when I moved away from my family to study in college and I felt His love when I decided to serve Him on a mission. I feel His incredible love right now and always. The love of our Father in Heaven is why I am here today preparing to leave to Europe for eighteen months. It is why I continue to go to church each week, pray, and study my scriptures every day. I know that God has a plan for all of us. He knows what we need, and how we will best progress toward Him. He sees our potential, and because He loves us, He has given us everything. Our Father in Heaven wants us to be happy, and He has a plan so that we may find joy.
My Father in Heaven has given me my family, which is one of the greatest gifts ever given. I am so indescribably excited to serve the people of Romania and Moldova, and teach them that God loves them. To teach them that they can live forever with their own families just as I can live forever with mine. This gospel makes me so incredibly happy, and I want to share that happiness with the people I will be serving on my mission. I know that God will help me learn and grow throughout these next eighteen months. It is my hope that on this Father’s Day, we all will ponder our Father in Heaven’s love for us, and our gratitude toward Him and everything He has given us. I am so grateful for this gospel, for this ward and your support, and for my family and everything they have taught me. I thank God for His love and the gifts He has given me, and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ amen.
