Riley's Farewell and Setting Apart
Riley's farewell talk at church was super special. We had all kinds of friends come to see him. Chris and Brandon (of course), from work was Troy, Rob and Mark, plus the Heaven family. The Zemp's, Tatlow's, Cutler's and Molcak's. Meshak, Nate. Of course the Lee's. I had a long ago friend, Gena, drive down from Edmonton to be with us. Plus on Zoom we had The Crenshaw's and Droegemueller's from Idaho Falls, Steven Tran, Grandma and Grandpa Martin, Grandpa and Champ, Tyler Baker family, and Grams and Victor and Shail! The Dean Girls all sang Go and Do, Riley gave his talk on Service, which I was told was very genuine and humble. Brandon gave the closing prayer. It was a good day.
Riley's talk
I have been asked to speak on service. Now service in the dictionary says, “the action of helping or doing work for someone.” And don’t get me wrong this is a correct definition but I found another definition that I prefer it says, “to love, care, repair, maintain, or provide help to someone.” The reason I like this definition better is because service isn’t just the act of doing work for someone, service is caring for someone and loving them enough that you will sacrifice your time to help them with whatever they need. This help doesn’t always have to be labor or yard work which is very helpful for sure, but sometimes service can be a loving and inviting text, or driving someone when they need a ride. No matter how “big or small” they seem, one act of service is not better than the other. The 4 word phrase “First observe, then serve” spoken of by Linda K. Burton are applicable to this. We need to assess or “OBSERVE” and see what is needed to be done in that certain situation. Observing can also mean praying to Heavenly Father and asking what the certain individual needs at the moment. An example for the kids and of course myself is when we are at home and we see a mess or we see dishes we can “OBSERVE” that there is work needed to be done, and momma is already stressed out so we can “SERVE” momma by cleaning up that mess or doing those dishes.
The 2 great commandments can be read in Matthew 22:37-39 they state, “...Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” So if we truly love God we should try and do what he says by loving others. Sometimes love requires work and patience and loving certain individuals may require extra work and patience for whatever reason that is. But if we pray daily for strength from the Lord and try our best to love everyone around us and everyone we encounter each day, the love will grow and the result, we will be more willing to serve. Sometimes there will be people who are “YOURE ENEMY” this could be a bully this could be someone that doesn’t like you and is talking behind your back this could be someone who is just rude to you all the time. And in order to love these individuals you need the extra strength I just mentioned. Some days you may think why should I love someone who doesn’t love me or why should I help someone who is a “bad” person. Well Jesus has said, “...Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” This can be extremely hard I have experienced it in the past and I’m sure everyone here has too, and some may be dealing with that right now. But like I said before pray for help and for strength and be committed to spreading Gods love thru acts of service.
In Dieter F. Uchtdorfs talk in the April 2010 session he gave a quick story. I will summarize so in WW|| a statue of Jesus was damaged and found in the rubble most likely the result of a bombing. And the people in the town took the statue and fixed it as best as possible but the hands were too badly damaged so they decided to leave the statue without hands and they engraved on the bottom “You are my hands”.
This saying is very important because Christ is not physically on the earth right now so we need to be doing what he would if he were here at the moment. Jesus said in 3 Nephi 27:21, “the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do...” Jesus Christ gave us the perfect example of all things while he was on earth. In this case the aspect of service. He was always doing only the will of the father. He loved everyone perfectly so he could serve them perfectly in a way they needed at that time. So if we want to become more loving and better at service, we can follow the example of Jesus.
And if you haven’t watched the Chosen yet I strongly suggest watching it I love it because it makes the stories of Jesus come to life, and it help me come closer and feel closer to Christ.
Another great example of missionary work and service is Ammon. He didn’t just go into the Lamanites and start teaching the gospel. He went to them and said he would serve the king even if it took all his days. He dedicated his entire life to serving the Lamanites and by serving his fellow men he was serving God.
In Elder Uchtdorf’s talk he said, “We can spend our days obsessing about the finest details of life, the law, and long lists of things to do; but should we neglect the great commandments, we are missing the point...” I am guilty of this sometimes I get caught up in the things of my life that sometimes they aren’t even important things and I don’t see people around me or I miss service opportunities. Sometimes we may think I’m “BUSY” and I have things to do so I can’t go help. Sometimes we may think I’ll go help next time the opportunity comes or next time they send an email to invite us to a service project because right now is not a convenient time for me or I’m tired from work. Another quote in Sister Burton’s talk states, “...serving is not always convenient and doesn’t always fit our own timetable.” Ive had a lot of people ask me things like, why would you sacrifice 2 years of your time just to teach about your religion. Or what about basketball no coach wants somebody who hasn’t played in 2 years. Or won’t you miss your family and friends. And yes I have thought about all these questions for a while now but I KNOW that if I serve God by serving the people in my mission not only will I be blessing their lives but I will be blessed.
The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the most important event to happen in this earth. The whole plan of salvation would not have been possible without it. As a result of the atonement each and every one of us can repent and change daily. This is so important because we are all human and you and myself make mistakes every single day. But by repenting and changing our hearts everyday, we can progress and become better and more like our saviour. Repentance brings me so much Joy because as I make mistakes daily I know I can turn to God and ask for forgiveness and feel a sense of relief.
One of the main reasons I am serving a mission is to teach others and bring others to know of the joy that the Atonement brings. I want to see others feel the love of God as they learn to repent and try to be more like Jesus daily. In 2 Nephi 26:25, 28 it states, “[And] he saith: Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, … [for] all men are privileged the one like unto the other, and none are forbidden.” This quote shows us that everyone is welcomed unto God. However the only way is thru the atonement. People maybe don’t even know these things, so that is my purpose for serving to help others see the Joy that comes from the atonement, and to help them thru it.
We don’t have to be called to a mission to serve and love others. If we keep our eyes open for service opportunities and keep love in our hearts we will see that service is needed everywhere.
Nathan Biccum and Riley
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