I would be amiss to begin this
farewell in any other way than to express my deep profound gratitude to this
ward, to my family, and my friends who are here today. I can truly say that I
would not be who I am today if it were not for the many ways all of you here
have in someway influenced me. I am grateful for my father who sits up here,
with me, for the steady example of quiet integrity and diligence that he is. I
am grateful for the way my parents have raised me in this Gospel. There are no
such things as excuses or comfortable seats at church in my family, and I would
have it no other way. I am grateful for my mother and sisters, as well as
sister-in-law’s who I consider to be my very own sisters, for their examples of
devoted motherhood. All that I am and hope to be is because of my family here
on earth and their examples to me. I aspire to be worthy of the Baker name.
I have pondered frequently how I best
could give this talk and what I should say… I hope to have the Spirit teach and
testify to you what I can only so inadequately put into words.
Many of you can probably vividly
recall that whenever the topic of me serving a mission would come up, I would
often remark that I did not think I was ever going. A mission was not for me,
or so I thought, but the very fact that I am up here shows God has a different
plan in mind. I am very grateful my plans have changed. I never thought I would
ever be at this very pulpit where my brothers and sister have stood, giving MY
very own farewell talk.
I believe God was preparing me, in
His own way, until He knew I was ready to hear the answer to serve and willing
to act upon whatever would be asked of me. I was so fearful of getting that
answer to leave everything behind for 18 months and serve my very own mission. I
do not think I was ready to admit it then but in the back of my mind, I knew
what was going to be asked of me, for I would often remark to my mom in my
calls home, “that I did not want to ask God, because I was afraid I would get
my answer.” It was not easy for me but eventually I approached my Heavenly
Father in humble prayer pleading with Him that if it was right for me to go and
serve, I would not be so fearful to receive that answer. That prayer was not
answered right away, rather many tearful nights ensued where I was caught up in
prayer with God to help me know. Well brothers and sisters, I now know.
In a moment dear to my heart, peace
flooded over me, a feeling I never thought I would ever feel about serving my
own mission. I knew in that moment I not only wanted to serve a mission
but that I truly needed to serve a mission. For me, there was no other
way.
But with that assurance came doubts
and worries; fears that I did not know enough, that I was not spiritually in-tune
enough, that I was lacking conviction, or that I was not strong enough to face
what would be ahead of me. As these thoughts came to dismantle what I once was
so firm on, a word came to me, a word that has been engrained in me since I was
in Primary. A word I do not really think I knew the full meaning of until I
left for college. A word that has been my answer to so many unanswered and
answered prayers. Faith. I needed faith. I did not need complete
spiritual security before going forward, all I needed was faith. I do not need
to know everything right now, rather all I needed was hope that one day
I would. I needed faith in God’s promises, that He would give me “power to be
mighty in testimony” and that He will be with me “even unto the end.” (D&C
100). I needed to go back to my foundation of faith, and rely on Christ for He
is the only sure foundation in this world.
Because of these trials that came pouring
forth after my decision to serve, I saw myself gradually change. I saw the Lord
work through me and I had yet to put on that recognizable nametag. Although the
adversary was there every step of the way helping me doubt my path here, I felt
very much like Joseph Smith when he said “I knew it, and I knew that God
knew it, and I could not deny it.” So how could I turn back? I could almost visualize
the Lord telling me “did I not speak peace to your hearts, what greater witness
than this? (D&C 6:23).
I questioned why after I had made
this wonderful decision to serve a mission, why things became so challenging
for me. I found inspiration and comfort, as I so often do, in the Book of
Mormon, the story of the Anti-Nephi-Lehi’s who were a people that recently
converted to the true gospel and because of that conversion, many of their
brethren were angry with them and sought to destroy their new-found faith, even
if that meant bloodshed. In this great peril, they did not complain about their
trials or question their faith or default on what they had previously thought
they knew, they simply thanked God. Instead of asking, “Why me?” they
stated “if it so be.” The remarkable story testifies to me that these people
knew something we so often forget, that God knows something we don’t. Because
of these people’s great example, I have come to the answer in the words of
President Lorenzo Snow when he said “we have suffered and we shall have to
suffer again; why? Because the Lord requires it at our hands for our
sanctification.” Or in other truly divine and inspired words spoken by the
mouth of Elder Holland, “How could we believe it would be easy for us when it
was never, ever easy for Him” speaking of the Savior. Those people sacrificed their
lives for their faith, and I intend to do the same. My sacrifice will not be
one for the battle fields but for the mission field. My heart, might, mind and
strength will be devoted to those people whom I will be greatly blessed to
serve.
I know my mission will not be easy, I
never expected it would be. Life of a devoted disciple of Christ was never
meant to, and never will be, easy. But I have faith which is, “believing that
although WE do not understand all things, HE does. Faith is knowing that although
OUR power is limited, HIS is not. Faith in Jesus Christ consists of complete
reliance on HIM.” I no longer consider my mission a slight detour, for really
it is deserving of so much more that that. As Gordon B. Hinckley puts it “you
will come to know that what appears today to be a sacrifice will prove instead
to be the greatest investment that you will ever make.” My earnest desire is
that my mission changes me, just as much as I hope to change the lives of the
people of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. I know there is a reason
and purpose for me to be called to serve in the Florida Tallahassee mission and
I intend on finding out what that is. Despite the call to serve in that
mission, I have really been called by God to give all that I am back to Him,
for my life was never truly mine to begin with so how could I do any less?
And now if I may, I would like to
testify of things that I now know and have come to believe in. I know that my
mission will be one of the greatest blessings in my life, as stated so
beautifully by David F. Evans of the Seventy in which he stated, “make the
commitment to give [18 months or two years] of your life to the Lord. It will
change everything. You will be happy. The fog will lift. You will come to love
the culture and the people you are called to serve. The work will be difficult,
but there is satisfaction and joy as you serve. If you are faithful during your
mission and thereafter, you will look back on your life and say with President
Hinckley, “Everything that has happened to me since that’s been good I can
trace to that decision to serve a mission and give my life to the Lord.” I know
that my mission will change me and that because of it I will become a better
friend, a better future wife and mother, and most importantly, a better
instrument at the hands of our Savior. I know I will become more fully
converted to this Gospel. I can see myself falling in love with the Book of
Mormon over and over again as I testify of its truthfulness and see people’s
lives, including my own, change because of it.
I know that the closer we come to the
Light, even Jesus Christ, the more clearly we will see ourselves and those
around us. We will see things as they truly are. I know that nothing is of more
worth or value than diligent, daily scripture study and sincere, heartfelt
prayers to your Father in Heaven who is listening at any moment we choose to
speak to Him. I know that God is not some distant being or some abstract
concept, but that He is my and your Father in Heaven who wants to bless us. His
invitation to all is to come unto Him. I believe that Christ came to this earth
to Atone for us because He saw us as something worthy of atoning for, and that
if we just simply come to Him, our lives will be all the better for it. I know
that how close we feel with the Savior depends entirely on us. I know that God
cares about us just as much as he cared about the people in ancient, Biblical
times and because of that, He has given us continued revelation in the form of
the Book of Mormon to show just how much He loves us. I know that we cannot let
what we deem to be lacking in ourselves prevent us from going forward with
faith.
If God is real, and I believe that He
is, then shouldn’t we spend more time earnestly praying to Him and serving His
children?
If this church, The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints, is true, and I believe it is, then shouldn’t we
spend more time serving in His church?
If the prophet is a prophet called by
God, and I believe that he is, then shouldn’t we listen to and obey him with a
little more exactness?
If the Book of Mormon is the actual
and literal word of God, and I know it is, then shouldn’t we spend a
little more time reading it, studying it, and living it?
Let us not forget what we have, brothers
and sisters. At the end of the day, all that matters is that God is real and He
is loving. And I testify that He is, He is real, and there is nothing of more
importance than to make sure others know that as well.
I would like to close this talk by
reading one of my favorite scriptures that has brought me so much peace as I
have prepared to serve my mission. “Behold now, I do not say that these things
shall be, of myself, for I do not know them of myself but behold I know these things are true for behold
the Lord God has made them known unto me, therefore I shall testify that they
shall be.” (Helaman 7:29). I say these things humbly in the name of my Savior
Jesus Christ, Amen.
