Follow thou me

Viewers! Whattup? I decided to post my talk from yesterday since I was told I talked so fast it was hard for the congregation to keep up with me, hahaha. Seriously, I need to just breathe and slow down:

Good morning brothers and sisters and happy international women's day to the sisters!

As I prepared for this talk, I recalled going on a walk with my dad in Calgary, AB around Christmas time. Those of you who have been to Calgary during Christmas time probably know where I'm going with this. On the way to the train station, a pile of about 1-2 feet of snow was in our way. My dad was wearing appropriate shoes for the condition, while I, being from BC, was wearing converse sneakers, which by the way were really Air Walk sneakers that had a couple holes in the corner. My dad came up with the following idea: "I will walk ahead of you and all you need to do is step where I stepped, and your feet won't get frozen or wet." He was wearing the proper shoes that made him capable of sinking his feet into the snow so that I wouldn't need to.

I tried to step where he stepped, but because he's taller and has longer legs than mine, his strides were too long for me to be able to do so. Frustrated, impatient, and somewhat prideful,  I thought it'd be easier and quicker if I just went my own way, thinking it wouldn't be so bad if I did. Not so. As soon as my feet stepped outside of where he stepped, they froze, especially with the holes in my shoes. And for those of you who have gotten their feet frozen, can agree that it's not fun. After those painful and traumatizing seconds, I never wanted it to happen to me again so I did my best to follow his every footstep. And when it got hard, I asked him to hold my hand so that he could better guide me in following his every step. Had it not been for my dad walking in front of me and laying down the footsteps, I wouldn't have been able to make that walk.

Our path back to our Heavenly home can be like that pile of snow. And as human beings, we don't have the adequate shoes to walk to our destination without stumbling and freezing our feet on the way there. We cannot make it by ourselves. That is why we have the Saviour, who was perfect and thus capable of sinking his feet into the snow so that all we need to do is follow Him, and as we do, we will return home. It's not always easy and his strides may be too long for us at times, but we can pray and ask him to take our hand and guide us home as my dad guided me to the train station.

The Saviour said “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Sometimes it can be quite the labour and we can feel heavy laden as we try to walk across the pile of snow. But if we come unto the Saviour, He will give us rest. These words come from our loving older brother who not only loved us so much to provide instructions on how to return to our Heavenly Father and to make the ultimate sacrifice to help us get there, but who genuinely knows, loves, and cares about us and wants us to come home more than anything. He wants us to be happy, He wants us to succeed. His invitation is simple: "Come, follow me."

Now what does it mean to follow Him? Elder Gavarret, in the October 2014 General Conference said the following:

"One who is a member of the Church and has accepted this invitation renews the commitment each week by partaking of the sacrament.6 Part of that commitment includes keeping the commandments; by doing so you are saying, “Yes, Lord, I will follow Thee!”

As a kid, I didn't really know what was going on when I took the Sacrament. But now, when I see a Priesthood holder extending the tray to me, I imagine it being the Saviour extending His arm to me, saying, "Come, follow me." And we are so blessed to have that experience every Sunday where we can come unto Him, repent, and strive to be a little bit better as we go about our week.

The prophet Nephi also adds insight to this concept "And [Jesus] said unto the children of men: Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?"

What Nephi is basically saying is that we need to be willing to be obedient. Following the Saviour is the equivalent to Keeping the Commandments; these terms are interchangeable. We cannot follow the Saviour without keeping the commandments, and we cannot keep the commandments without following the Saviour. His path is a sure way back to our Heavenly home, because He walked that path. And we are so privileged to be in this last dispensation where we have access to all the published works that tell us about the Saviour's life and ministry and Heavenly Father's expectations for us. All we need to do is familiarize ourselves with it and apply them in our lives.

Hymn #220 "Lord, I would follow thee" provides further instructions on how we can follow the Saviour even more. I will list out its instructions for us:

·      Learn to love the Saviour

·       Walk the path that He has shown us

·       Pause to help and lift another

·       Be our brother's keeper

·       Learn the healer's art

·       Show a gentle heart to the wounded and the weary

·       Love our brother as we know the Saviour loves me

·       Be the Saviour's servant

Some of you may have noticed I skipped the second verse, and it's because I have a story behind it. Back in the day there was a girl (who is not from this stake so don't bother trying to guess who it is!) who wasn't very nice to me or my friends, so we just didn't get along and I ignored her. One Sunday she taught a really good lesson where she shared a difficult trial that she went through. It was similar to a trial I went through as well, except it affected her a lot more and it explained why she was the way that she was. I start balling my eyes out because I could feel nothing but love and compassion for her. The words of the hymn came to my mind: "Who am I to judge another when I walk imperfectly? In the quiet heart is hidden sorrow that the eye can't see. Who am I to judge another? Lord, I would follow thee." and that's exactly it! Who was I to judge her? I'm not the nicest person in the world all the time; I'm also imperfect and I also make mistakes. And I had no idea she was feeling sorrow. As mother Teresa put it: "Be kind to those who are unkind; they need it the most." And that's exactly how we follow the Saviour: sharing kindness with everyone; no exceptions. So after the lesson we hugged out our differences and now we're friends! YAY!

(Testify the Saviour lives) I remember one time I was very burdened with a trial in my life. It wasn't so much its level of difficulty that phased me, but more so the fact that I truly and deeply felt that there was no one I could talk to about what I was going through. No one I knew fully understood my pain, my sadness, or my situation. I was concerned about being judged or getting the right advice. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I couldn't think of anyone to talk to. Then, I heard a loving voice in my heart say: "You can talk to me about anything. I'm here for you always." And I knew that was the Saviour reaching out to me and that I was never forgotten and never will be, and neither will you. I knelt down and began to pray and pour my heart out and as I did, I had a glimpse of the Saviour's experience in the Garden of Gethsemane. I knew that He experienced that exact pain I was feeling then and was ready to have that burden transferred over to Him. And that's what encourages me to follow the Saviour: knowing He suffered for me.

I testify that these things are true. I was in the temple last week and the temple workers asked us to turn off our phones and leave them in the front desk during our session. I was surprised that there were people who hid their phones in their pockets or purses. I thought to myself, "We're in the House of the Lord, do we really need anything else? We don't even get reception in the temple!" And it made me think of the Apostles dropping their fishnets to follow the Saviour. Are we willing to give up our temporal and worldly affairs in order to receive greater eternal blessings by following the Saviour?

I testify through personal experience that it is only by following the Saviour that we can experience true happiness. As I've chosen to follow the Saviour, I was forgiven for my sins and I was able to experience the miracle of forgiveness and it is truly beautiful and strengthening. I was also able to have the strength to overcome my trials because the Saviour was there for me when no one else could be. And it was by following the Saviour that I am becoming more and more prepared to enter the temple and make sacred covenants with God.