The Journey of Coming Unto Christ

This is the talk that I gave in sacrament meeting this last Sunday. I'm so grateful for the chance that I had to give it. Hope you guys enjoy it and are inspired!

My topic is “The Journey of Coming Unto Christ”. I found that the best source I could find for this topic was my own journey. Now, my journey didn’t involve trials like losing a loved one, doubting my faith, or developing an illness or disease. It did, however, involve finding myself and feeling like I had a purpose and I found myself and my purpose through Christ. There are four things that I want to talk about today that were steps in my journey besides the primary answers of reading our scriptures, praying, and going to church. These are less popular answers and ones that we forget all too often.

Step One: Service

“When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” Mosiah 2:17

My mom is my go to when times get hard. When I go to her for something that is causing me to feel unhappy, she has replied time and time again, “You should serve.” And she doesn’t say it in a way so much of the world views service—to forget yourself and focus on others. She uses it in a way that says, “Go find your joy by bringing joy to others.”

During my sophomore year, my class went on a field trip up to the planetarium in Salt Lake. My friend and I were passing by a homeless man. I had about two dollars in my wallet and as I pulled them out to put into the man’s jar, my friend put his arm around my shoulder and tried to pull me away, explaining to me that this man would only use it for drugs or alcohol. I replied by saying, “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that I did something.” And I walked back over and placed my two dollars into the man’s jar. The man looked up at me and said, “God bless you.” I knew that God did bless me that day, because I served him by serving that man.

Later, my friend was telling our classmates about how I gave money to this homeless man. Another boy in our group told us how he had given money to a handicapped veteran down the street. I didn’t comment. But I had thoughts flooding through my head. The first was, “Don’t you dare try to top me” since as an actress, I didn’t like my spot light being stolen. The second was similar to what I said to my friend, “It doesn’t matter.” Service is not measured by how much we give, but on how much we listen to the spirit and act on inspired moments.

President Monson said, “It is more important to walk as Christ walked than to walk where he walked.”

Christ was the ultimate example of how to selflessly serve. From giving to the poor, to healing the sick, to washing the feet of his disciples. His ultimate service was his ultimate sacrifice as he suffered and bled not just for our sins, but for how sorrows too. And he gave his life for us. Though He died for us, Christ would not ask us to die for Him. Instead, I feel that He would ask us to live for him by giving our lives to serving God’s children. What a simple request.

“For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.” Then shall we ask the Lord, “When did we do these things?” And the Lord shall reply, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

What does God need? He needs His children to be happy. What an amazing thing to know that we can serve God by doing just that.

Step Two: Family History

This is a topic so talked about now, but why have so many of you not acted on it? When apostles and prophets and teachers and leaders are talking about one thing repetitively, then it is important, so listen and do.

We can do family history in so many ways. We can index to allow others to find their ancestors. We can find our own ancestors names. We can go to the temple and be baptized for those people.

We have been promised that if we do family history, then we will be protected in this life—that the influences of the adversary won’t affect us. Last year, only 25% of church members had registered on FamilySearch and only 8% had logged on and used it. And we wonder why it’s so hard to resist temptation and why so many of us have given into it. If you struggle with temptation, you were just given a way to fight it and I can promise you that it works.

A key thing to remember about family history is that there are two halves to the blessings of it. The first is engaging in family history work. The second is performing the temple ordinances for those names.

I attended the temple with a friend once. I didn’t have my own names, but as I was being confirmed for the temple names, I suddenly started to cry. I had never experienced that feeling while in the temple. As I stood up, the man who confirmed me asked if my last name, McIntosh, was Scottish? I said it was and he said to me, “That’s interesting, because all of these came from Scotland.”

If you had the opportunity to watch your favorite performer on TV or the chance to go see them live, wouldn’t you choose the latter? Watching them on TV is only half the joy, but seeing them live is a whole new experience. Finding names and stories of ancestors is only half the joy of the blessings of family history, but taking those names to the temple is a whole new experience.

Step Three: Forgiveness

Now this was a milestone in my journey. Christ said, “I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.” Forgiveness is a commandment. Christ has made it possible for you to be forgiven of your lowest sins, so why is it so hard for us to forgive others? He expressed His forgiveness to those who had harmed Him the most as He hung on the cross and spoke to His father, asking him to forgive those who had put him there.

A poem by Robert Burns opened my eyes to forgiving others. It reads:

Therefore look gently on men

And even more gently on women.

Although they may go a little wrong,

Do not condemn them.

Above all consider not merely what they have done,

But why.

God alone has the power to look into a human heart,

To judge actions and motives and regrets.

He alone knows not what one has done and why,

But what one has resisted doing and why—

Man’s responsibility is to forgive.

Only God has the authority to judge.

Only Christ is in a position to judge for He is perfect and we are not. We have all made mistakes. “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.” We all hope to be forgiven by others, so forgive others. It is not meant for the other person, but for ourselves. For we have committed the greater sin if we do not forgive someone’s imperfection.

Another very important thing with forgiveness is remembering to forgive ourselves. This is probably the hardest thing that we all face in this life; so many of us just choose not face it. We are required to forgive EVERYONE. We are someone, so therefore we are required to forgive ourselves.

Richard Paul Evans’ said, “In a bizarre act of injustice, we try ourselves over and over for the same crime.” He continues by explaining that we are committing double jeopardy which goes against the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution. He later writes, “Oftentimes we specifically attack others for the crimes we are unable to forgive in ourselves. Therefore, the act of forgiving ourselves opens us up to the possibility of forgiving others.”

Forgiving others is for our own benefit and sometimes, forgiving ourselves is for someone else’s benefit.

Step Four: Love

Living Only in Vast Selflessness Even as God.

Our ultimate goal in life should be to see other’s through the eyes of Christ, for Christ loved us so deeply that He gave His whole life to us.

“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. This is the first commandment. And the second is like, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.”

Love is not love without God. He displayed the greatest amount of love by giving his Only Begotten Son that we may return to live with him some day. Christ’s Atonement was a similar act of His love for us.

In Richard Paul Evans’ book The Letter he writes: “Love, for the sake of love, will always be enough. And if our lives are but a single flash in the dark hollow of eternity, then, if, but for the briefest of moments, we shine—then how brilliantly our light has burned. For darkness has no power to quell such light. All light is eternal and all love is light.”

We gain light when we love others. Christ is Light, so ultimately we are gaining Christ—we are coming unto Christ. And if you struggle with loving others, and especially with loving yourself—for you cannot truly love others without loving yourself—then return to step one through three. Serve God’s children, obtain the full blessings of Family History, and forgive everyone—including yourself. Too often are we inspired without action. Let this be your day of inspired action. The journey of coming unto Christ is but a day, for this life compared to eternity, is only a that. But, think about how much we are able to accomplish in one day. This life will be the most important day of your eternal life.

I know Christ lives and I know that only through Him can I feel true joy. My journey will continue every day until I am able to come unto Christ face-to-face. I will choose this life, this day in eternity, to come unto Him. I say these things in the name of my Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

My Two Dollars

Something stood out to me in the October General Conference that many of us Latter Day Saints heard this past weekend. Elder Holland stood up and repeated a commandment that we have all heard, but never seem to really think about. He quoted a scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 6:38 which says, "Look to the poor and the needy, administer to their relief that they shall not suffer." This is that commandment. Look to the poor. Or in other words, serve.

"Are we not all beggars?" Elder Holland says. Aren't we? Don't we beg for help, for better lives? There are many aspects of my life that I am not content with, that I am unhappy with. But, my life is good. I will never say that I have an unhappy life for I might have a bad day, but there is always something good in every day. However, there is something that we can all do to make those small, unhappy aspects of our lives go away and it's simple. Serve.

I took to heart not just the commandment of looking to the poor and giving to the poor, but serving everyone around us. President Monson said in one of his talks, "It is more important to walk as Christ walked, then to walk where he walked." Christ's life was dedicated to serving those around him even to his last breath when he was on the cross and asked God to forgive those who had wronged him, who had put him on that cross. Every time I tell my mom that I am unhappy with my life she immediately responds to me by saying, "You need to serve." Service to God's children is where we find ultimate joy.

My sophomore year, my class took a field trip up to the planetarium in Salt Lake City. I was amazed by how many homeless people there were. As my friends and I were walking back to the bus, we passed an old man begging for anything we could spare. I had two dollars in my wallet and as I pulled it out my friend pulled me away from the man. My friend said to me that he would just use it for drugs or alcohol. I responded by saying that it didn't matter. What mattered is that I did something. I walked back to the man and put my two dollars in his jar. The man said, "God bless you" and I remember thinking, "I have enough. I hope he blesses you with more." When we got back to the bus my friend told everyone else how I had given money to a homeless man. Another boy made the comment that he had given money to a handicapped veteran down the street, implying that he needed more than the man that I gave the money to. I didn't respond. I was happy with my choice. It didn't matter how small or how great my service was. All I did was set two dollars in a jar. Money that I could probably find in coins in my couch at home. But it's what I had at the moment and so I gave it away. It mattered that I did something. Service is measured by how often you act on inspired moments, not how much you give.

True joy is not an external thing. It is internal, therefore we cannot have true joy through external, tangible things. We must look for internal things, things that come from our hearts, things like serving others. Someone can live in a mansion and have millions to billions of dollars and people around them will say, "Wow, they must be so happy" or "I would be happy if I had their life." But, in reality, this person could be the loneliest and saddest person in the world. What we feel inside isn't always reflected on our outside. I had a teacher tell me that she had the opportunity to marry someone who made eight million dollars a year, but she declined. Later, she found who is now her current husband. When he proposed to her he told her that he would never make eight million dollars. She responded by saying that she would scratch for dimes and nickels if she could just live the rest of her life with him. That is an example of something that can bring you true joy and it isn't tangible, just like service.

Choose to serve today. Don't let this be just an inspiration that makes you think about it. Too many times are we inspired without action. Let this be the time of inspired action. A truly poor life is not determined by how much money we make; it is determined by how much we try to bring joy into others' lives.