Farewell Talk- Sunday, June 21, 2015 (Father's Day)

Hello everyone! I’m Nachelle Hunt and I’m going to the Oklahoma Oklahoma City mission Spanish speaking so I will be beginning the best eighteen months for my life so far on Wednesday and I’m very excited! Before I get into things, I would like to make a shout-out to all you Fathers out there, and especially my own daddy, and thank you for everything you do! Dads do so much to be the best dad while working to provide for their families and I don’t think I’ve thanked my dad enough for everything he does for me! He is the most hard working and dedicated man to his job, his family, and most importantly to the Lord that I know and he is amazing! So thank you and happy Father’s Day!

Also, I want to thank all of my family, friends and ward members who are here to support me. I really have appreciated your encouragement and kinds words throughout my life and especially leading up to my going on a mission. You are very important to me and I’m very grateful to have had your examples in my life.

With that said, I would like to begin by sharing a quote that I heard in a stake conference up at BYU and was reminded of at my friend, Elder Shaner’s, farewell. “The main thing is to keep the main thing, the main thing.” If I recall correctly this was a quote from a military leader to his soldier before going into a war zone but in my talk the main thing I’m referring to is the main person of this church- Jesus Christ. I would like you all to keep this quote in mind throughout my talk because I will come back to it.

Another thing that I’m going to be referring to a lot is Elder Holland’s talk “An High Priest of Good Things to Come” from General Conference in October of 1999. It’s a beautiful talk that can be applied to almost any point of anyone’s life and so I highly recommend that any and all of you read it!

In Elder Holland’s talk he explicitly states a few examples of to whom he addresses his message to. He says”I think of newly called missionaries leaving family and friends to face, on occasion, some rejection and some discouragement and, at least in the beginning, a moment or two of homesickness and perhaps a little fear.

“I think of young mothers and fathers who are faithfully having their families while still in school—or just newly out—trying to make ends meet even as they hope for a brighter financial future someday. At the same time, I think of other parents who would give any earthly possession they own to have a wayward child return.

“I think of single parents who face all of this but face it alone, having confronted death or divorce, alienation or abandonment, or some other misfortune they had not foreseen in happier days and certainly had not wanted.

“I think of those who want to be married and aren’t,those who desire to have children and cannot, those who have acquaintances but very few friends, those who are grieving over the death of a loved one or are themselves ill with disease. I think of those who suffer from sin—their own or someone else’s—who need to know there is a way back and that happiness can be restored. I think of the disconsolate and downtrodden who feel life has passed them by, or now wish that it would pass them by. To all of these and so many more,I say: Cling to your faith. Hold on to your hope. “Pray always, and be believing.” Indeed, as Paul wrote of Abraham, he “against [all] hope believed in hope” and“staggered not … through unbelief.” He was “strong in faith” and was “fully persuaded that, what [God] had promised, he was able … to perform.”

Even if you don’t fall under one of those categories of life trials, sadness or adversity, I know that what Elder Holland mentioned at the end to be extremely important to remember during any hardship in life. Remember to “Cling to your faith. Hold on to your hope. “Pray always and be believing.””Again, Elder Holland says “Every one of us has times when we need to know things will get better.” Throughout my life, but especially in the past few years while preparing for my mission, I have had many moments when I needed to know that things would get better.

I decided after a youth conference based on missions a few years ago that I wanted to go on a mission. I had an experience a few months later that solidified my resolve to serve once I was 21, and then the age change was announced in General Conference and I was ecstatic. From that point on, I have planned on going on a mission as soon as I turned 19 and had begun preparing from mission prep, to seminary, to reading my scriptures almost daily, among other things. And I have wanted to serve since then until my first semester at BYU.

Ironically enough, one of the reasons for not wanting to serve a mission during my first semester was my Mission Prep religion class. I was pretty salty about how we were tested in the class and what we were graded on. Besides not liking my Mission Prep class, I had this internal struggle with “Am I going on a mission just because everyone else is and it’s the “cool” thing to do, or did I really want to serve?”, and then I really didn’t have a desire to serve a mission at the time, but the main thing was that I felt like I was going on a mission to check something off an imaginary list that I had created of the To-do’s for Nachelle’s life. But I really didn’t feel like a mission was something “to just get done with” so I could to move on with life. Although this struggle in my life wasn’t something really tangible- I struggled with it for at least the first month or two of college.

At times, we feel like we are alone in our decisions (which ultimately we are), but many times overcoming some of our challenges takes being able to express our thoughts and concerns to the people who know us best and who can help us think it through. So I did just that. I ended up expressing my feelings and internal debate to my friend, Tessa Larsen, who honestly straight up said something to the point of “Maybe you aren’t supposed to go.” Which I actually hadn’t really considered before because I had already told so many people that I had started my mission papers or that I was going on a mission as soon as I could.

Talking to Tessa had brought some peace of mind but not completely so I ended up calling my mom- who I would have called anyways, just saying. I honestly can’t remember everything we had talked about or any of the advice she gave me, but I do remember and know that she was inspired in her advice and had said just the right things at that time to help me come to my ultimate decision to put my papers on hold but that I would keep a mission as an open option.

Let’s fast forward a few months to December. One Tuesday morning- December 9th to be exact- I went to the BYU devotional alone. I was sitting there listening to the speaker a bit, mostly absorbed in my own thoughts, when the inspiration struck me. “If I am to become the person and future mother that I need and want to become, I need to go on a mission.” That was it. That’s all I thought and I knew I needed to go on a mission. After all of the struggle and thought in the previous months about serving a mission and deciding now wasn’t the time, just a few months later through about three seconds of personal revelation, I knew I needed to go on a mission. I remember the rest of that day was a struggle though. I even walked home that evening thinking how my life was perfectly how I had wanted it- I was going to BYU- my dream school, dating my best friend, taking the classes to become my dream job- a nurse and yet my I felt like I trapped in living nightmare. I was a bit depressed that day.

It’s kind of funny how things work out sometimes. I didn’t realize then that when we are following our own will rather than God’s how we can be creating our own trials even if what we want isn’t necessarily bad. There is also times where we are following God’s will and we have trials because Satan knows we are following God’s plan and we know from 2 Nephi chapter 2 verse 11 that “it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things”. However, in both of these circumstances, I have found that “the main thing is to keep the main thing, the main thing.” We are going to have hard times, there’s no way around it. In Elder Holland’s talk he reminds us that “Christ knows better than all others that the trials of life can be very deep and we are not shallow people if we struggle with them. But… [h]e expects us to believe!” Christ expects us to believe in Him and God’s plan for us. The atonement is not only for our sins, it is for any of our struggles and weaknesses. Christ has invited us to "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28), and we know from Alma in chapter seven verses 11 and 12 that Christ "shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities." Christ understands. He knows and he has felt what struggles we are dealing with, and all we must do is have faith in him. We must not only have faith in Christ that he lived, but we must have faith that what Christ said he did, he has done and that we CAN access the atonement. We can cry unto our Heavenly Father and say “Hey, you know I’m doing my best down here, and it’s hard. But I believe. I believe Christ. I believe that the atonement is real and can help me. Please, allow me to let Christ strengthen me. I will act in faith then do my best to do thy will.” And it’s still going to be hard, but you will be blessed and be strengthened through Christ.

I promise you that I know this to be true. Because I have offered many prayers similar to this in the recent months. After realizing I was going to go on a mission, I had many more experiences that I needed my Savior’s love and strength through. Let me continue explaining my journey.

Well, things happen for a reason- I had not planned on being at school for a second semester, but I realize now that I needed to be at that second semester of school. God’s plan is greater than mine so I started my mission papers back up, but I only told my really good friend, Sara Davis, who I had actually met in my Mission Prep class. And because I needed someone to set up doctor’s appointments for my mission papers, I also told my mom. Let me clarify real quickly, I love my mom a lot, but I didn’t want to tell anyone that I was going on a mission again yet, not even my family or roommates. When I had decided not to serve at the beginning of college, one of the things I was debating was whether I was going for myself or because it was the “cool” thing to do. I didn’t want to tell anyone more as a selfish kind of proof that I was going because I knew I needed to go on a mission and not because everyone else was.

Back to my experiences in December. It was a couple weeks later and I was still struggling even though I was trying to do everything right, so I asked my friends, Nathan Clark and Jared Johnson, to help me out by giving me a Priesthood blessing. I hadn’t told anyone about my choice to serve a mission again except Sara and my mom, and obviously my Heavenly Father knew but Nathan and Jared had no idea. In my blessing from my Father in Heaven, it was again confirmed that I needed to serve a mission. The words didn’t exactly state “you need to go on a mission”, but through the Holy Ghost I knew that a mission was one thing that the words had implied.

Priesthood blessings, no matter who administers them, are such an incredible and an intimate gift from God that is given to strengthen us in times of trial, sadness, or adversity. They will answers prayers, give us guidance and help us overcome difficulties in our lives. I know that the Priesthood has real power. I know that it is from God. And I know without a doubt that when the Priesthood is given to any worthy man who exercises it under God’s will, it will bless our lives as well as the Priesthood holder’s with countless blessings. The Priesthood is a beautiful miracle that God has graciously given us access to as we have the faith to receive its’ blessings.

I now would like to continue on with my story with a very personal, difficult time in my life as well as in the lives of my roommates. I don’t know fully why I was involved with this experience, but I know I was supposed to, I know that my testimony grew immensely during these times, and I feel strongly that I will be involved with others who will need my help because of what I learned during this experience.

During my second semester, I had roommate who passed away. Leading up to her death, I was having struggles living with her. I did not think her circumstances were fair nor was it fair that I had to deal with living with her during them. I even got to the point of hating her. However, I know hating someone is really not a good route, so I prayed a lot to ask to find love for my roommate. I really wanted to love her, I just didn’t know how with seeing how her life was going. I didn’t understand her trials or what she was really going through. While I prayed for love, I wasn’t feeling it. So I did what I had done before, I call my mom up. I told my mom everything that had been going on and how I hated this roommate, but I really didn’t want to feel hate towards her but I was struggling to find love for her. Again, my mom gave me some inspired advice. She suggested that I pray to feel nothing towards this roommate, until I could love her again. It really was kind of an odd thought, but after hanging up with her I thought about it more. It wasn’t until I went to the temple though and I was sitting, waiting to do baptisms one Friday evening that I really felt peace and I knew that I could try to feel nothing for my roommate until I could love her again.

I came home that night and I had a very busy week ahead of me. I had four tests the next weekend to go to reviews and study for, a ten page paper I needed to start research for, anatomy to keep on studying and memorizing, and not to mention it was also my birthday in a week and I was really bummed that I wouldn’t have any time to do anything fun the whole weekend. I was really stressed and again feeling depressed. I hopped in my bed to get as much sleep before the next day when my roommate and her friend came into the apartment. They were laughing and talking and I was trying to get to sleep. I wanted to go tell them that I was trying to get to bed and they needed to quiet down, but I didn’t. I had a feeling that just told me- it didn’t matter. I had resolved to feel nothing for my roommate and to prove it to myself I wasn’t going to be mad at them for being a little loud. Plus, I would fall asleep soon enough.

The next morning I woke up and my roommate wasn’t there, which really happened more often than not so I didn’t worry about it. I started getting ready for my chemistry test review and anatomy open lab when I got some phone calls from my roommate’s mom. During the course of the morning, I learned that my roommate had passed away. I tried doing school that day, but I honestly couldn’t focus or go very long without breaking down and crying so when my Aunt Janet called and invited me to come over to her son’s home, although I was stressed and I knew I wouldn’t get my school work done, I accepted her invite and went on over. I don’t recall much of what my Aunt Janet or Uncle Brian or cousins had said, but I knew they loved me. The sadness that I had been feeling was replaced with peace and strength.

Although I still have times where I miss my roommate a ton and cry because I wish I could just give her a hug or talk about a joke we had had, I learned so much from my experiences in the following days and the past few months because of her death. I felt the power of pray like I had never experienced before. I realized some of my God given strengths as well as weaknesses. I came to understand the atonement on a deeper level. I was given some sacred and spiritual experiences with my roommate’s parents and my other roommates. And the biggest thing of all I learned that God has a plan for me as well as everyone else. He puts certain people in our lives for a reason and we impact each other’s lives incredibly for good and bad.

While I can’t comprehend what trials everyone else is going through, I know that I can share my experiences, be there for others, and most importantly try to be the best Christlike example that I can be for anyone who I come into contact with. The main thing is that we need to be keeping the main thing in our lives, the main thing. Christ invites us all to come unto Him and he will give us relief and joy through the good and difficult times in life.

In Elder Holland’s talk, he explains how through Christ we can find this relief and joy in life. He said that “Because Christ’s eyes were unfailingly fixed on the future, He could endure all that was required of Him.” Later on in Elder Holland’s talk he figuratively calls out to his younger self some words of encouragement that I’m sure our Savior has tried calling out to us

“Don’t give up… Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead... You keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come…”

In another part of Elder Holland’s talk he promises us and I promise you as well that “There is help. There is happiness. There really is light at the end of the tunnel. It is the Light of the World, the Bright and Morning Star, the “light that is endless, that can never be darkened.” It is the very Son of God Himself” But you need to “Hold on. Keep trying. [Remember that] God loves you. Things will improve. Christ comes to you in His “more excellent ministry” with a future of “better promises”. He is your “high priest of good things to come.”

Whether you are in some kind of trial, sad time, or are facing some kind of adversity right now in your life or you will face some kind of opposition later on in life, please remember that Christ has promised His help and strength. Pray for His guidance and help, don’t be afraid to ask those who have been placed in your life for advice or help too, ask for a Priesthood blessing, and do all that you know how to do to show your faith and believe that Christ will help you. Good things will come.

I know that we have a Heavenly Father who loves each and every one of us, as well as a brother, Jesus Christ, who loves us just the same. I know that the power of prayer and the Priesthood is real. I know God has a plan for us and that the opposition we face is there to help us reach our full potential and is for our good. I know that this church- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints- has been restored to this earth through Joseph Smith by God’s direction and it is true. I know President Thomas S. Monson is called of by God and that he is the prophet on Earth today. I’m very grateful for the opportunity that I have had to speak to you all today and I’m very excited to be able to share my testimony for the next eighteen months to the people in Oklahoma. And I would like to close in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.