Sacrament Meeting Talks

T & I were asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting on the same Sunday.  In our church members of the congregation are asked to speak most weeks.  We are given a topic, sometimes a talk by a Prophet or a specific scripture to focus our talk on. 

We were asked about 3 weeks in advance.  At first, I thought - no big deal, I can do this.  The topic was part of the Proclamation.  I didn't worry too much about this.  I have read over the proclamation multiple times (I even have a copy of it on my fridge).  I re-read the part we were asked to focus on.  Both T & I were given specific directions on what part to talk on.  I started thinking about how to talk about it and how to make it "work".  I prayed a lot about it as well.  As the time drew closer, I started to get real nervous.  I couldn't figure out how to share this information without it being boring!  (I hate boring Sacrament Meeting talks!)

I probably wrote the talk out at least three times and it wasn't until Saturday night that I thought it was done.  I put a copy on my Kindle to read as I was falling asleep.  The next morning after my shower I had the computer on and was making changes.  I had had the inspiration that obviously I needed.  I recorded our talks so I could send copies to Emmie.  They're not very good.  I've taken our notes & modified them as best as I can (to match what we actually said) so you can read our talks. (His was about 5 minutes, mine was a bit over 12 minutes)

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Here's T's talk: 

Hello. I’m Anthony Leon also known as Tony Leon and I was asked to give a talk on Choosing to Follow the Plan of Salvation of Heavenly Father. Specifically, I was asked to speak about the premortal life and what happened there and the choices we made. The premortal existence occurred in a time before we were born when we were all just spirits. In the premortal existence, we lived with our Heavenly Father. This is shown in D&C 93:29 which says, “Man was also in the beginning with God.” It was during this time that the Plan we chose to follow was established. This plan required we come down to Earth to be tried and tested. Abraham 3:25-26 reads, “And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.”

Two plans were presented to fulfill this. One was presented by Lucifer and proposed that all people be forced to be righteous. This would allow people to return to Heavenly Father, however, we would lose our agency and would not get the chance to learn and grow. Lucifer also wanted glory for presenting the plan. The other was presented by Jesus and proposed that a Savior redeem the world and allow us to make our own decisions and to learn and grow. It also gave everyone the opportunity to return to God.

The two plans presented a choice to everyone. Although Heavenly Father had final say, we all had our agency and therefore the ability to choose which plan we were to follow.  Because we are here right now, we obviously know that we chose to follow the plan Jesus proposed. We agreed to have agency and a Savior to redeem our sins. This plan entitles all of us to make our own decisions as well as our own mistakes. With Jesus as our Savior, we have the ability to be forgiven of our sins. Our decisions in the premortal existence allowed us this opportunity to be on Earth to learn and grow.

I know that Jesus is our Savior and  gave us the opportunity to forgive and be forgiven of our sins. I know that we lived with God and can live with God again in eternal life. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

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And here's my talk:

 

In the proclamation we read, "In the Pre-mortal Realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshiped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress towards perfection and ultimately realize his or her divine destiny as an heir of eternal life."

Anthony, thank you, did an awesome job on explaining what happened in our pre-mortal lives.  Since then, we all have had the opportunity of being born. We retained and kept the right to choose, our agency, for ourselves.

We are now experiencing mortal life.  Our spirits are untied with our bodies.  We have opportunities to grow and develop in ways that were not possible in our pre-mortal life. In order to progress and become like God, each of us had to obtain a body and be tested during a time of probation here on earth.  While on the earth we are out of God’s physical presence.  We do not remember our pre-earth life and we must walk by faith rather than sight.

In the scriptures we learn about Adam & Eve. While they were in the Garden of Eden they were still in God’s presence and they could have lived there forever.  They lived in innocence, and God provided them everything that they needed. They did though have their agency. And there was one thing that they were not allowed to do.  And that was to eat of the fruit, the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  Now, if they obeyed this commandment they could stay in the garden, yet they would not progress and experience opposition. They knew no joy but they did not know pain or sorrow either.  

Satan was there to tempt them.  The did choose to eat of that fruit.  Because of this choice, they were cast out of the garden and out of God’s physical presence.  This is referred to often as the Fall of Adam.

Separation from God is spiritual death.  Adam & Eve then became mortal – subject to disease, suffering and physical death.

Like Adam & Eve we are also separated from God in this life.  We do not have Him walking and talking among us.  We are also experiencing Spiritual Death.  This life is a time that we can learn, we can prove ourselves.  It's a time to choose to come unto Christ. And it's a time to prepare to be worthy to receive eternal life.

Our goal is eternal life.  The road to Eternal Life has a gate and the gate has a door.  Baptism opens that door to get us onto the correct path.

I want to tell you a story about a boy named Jon.  Jon was born into an LDS family.  He was the 7^th of 11 children. Jon was, his family was estatic when he arrived. They had all these girls and they were ready for a boy.  They were estatic when Jon arrived.  Jon grew up in the church and was baptized at age 8.

We also have to be baptised.  We don't have to be baptized at 8 but we must also, like Jon, be baptized.  This is our first step on that path.  Our Savior set this example for us when he to the water with John the Baptist, who was authorized by God to baptize Jesus by immersion. This set the mode of baptism that we all must follow.

But is baptism enough? 

Jon became a Deacon at age 12, a Teacher at age 14 and a Priest at age 16.  He attended Seminary, almost regularly and most of his youth activities. But somewhere in Jon’s youth he started to go astray.  As Jon matured, he fell away from from the church and activity in the church.  He started making some bad choices.  When the time came for Jon to consider a mission, he was far from being ready, possibly not even eligible to serve.

In mortality we live in a condition where we are subject to both spiritual and physical death.  God has a perfect, glorified, immortal body of flesh and bones.  To become like God and return to His presence, we too must have a perfect, immortal body of flesh and bones. 

At some point our mortal bodies will die.  When our bodies die, we as spirits enter the spirit world and wait.  If not for the Savior Jesus Christ, death would end all hope for future existence with Heavenly Father.

Along with physical death, sin is an obstacle that keeps us from becoming like our Heavenly Father.  We often yield to temptation, break commandments, and sin. We all make mistakes. We must be forgiven and cleansed. We are helpless without the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

As Anthony explained Jesus was chosen before we were born to be our Savior and Redeemer.  His atoning sacrifice makes it possible for us to overcome the effects of the Fall. 

We will still suffer physical death, but Jesus Christ overcame the obstacle of physical death for us.  When He died on the cross, His spirit became separated from His body.  On the 3^rd day, His spirit & body were reunited and He was resurrected. His body is no longer subject to disease, pain or death.

Having a resurrected body is the only way we can obtain eternal life.  We must also be cleansed from sin.  We are not responsible for anyone else’s sins.  Adam & Eve must repent for their own sins as must our parents and grandparents and on and on in our generations.  We though are responsible for our sins.  These sins prevent us from living in Heavenly Father’s presence.  Only through the Savior’s grace and mercy can we become clean from our sin in order to live with God again.

If we have not been baptized, we must first repent.  After baptism and receiving of the Holy Ghost, we must endure to the end.  Christ paid the penalty for our sins.  He alone was able to do this. We learn in the New Testament that He is the literal Son of God.  He lived a sinless life and was completely obedient to His Father.  Even though He was tempted, He did not give in. When the time came to pay the price of the world’s sins, He was prepared and willing. Even though it was excruciatingly painful – causing Him to bleed from every pore – He submitted to the Father’s will in an expression of love to our Father and to us. This is the Atonement. 

Christ promises to forgive our sins on the condition that we accept Him.  We must strive to faithfully keep the commandments to the end of our lives. We must be continually repentant and asking for forgiveness.

When Jon was 20 years old, circumstances changed in his life and he realized he had gone astray.  After counseling with his Bishop, he chose to move away from the life he was living.  He moved across the country to live with his older sister who was married and had a family.  As Jon was progressing back to activity in the church, he decided he wanted to serve a mission.  He continued to keep in touch with his Bishop from home.  They made an action plan & Jon started preparing for a mission. 

Through our obedience and the Atonement of Jesus Christ everyone has the opportunity to receive eternal life. 

Even though Christ conquered physical death, we still must die.  Death is a part of the process of our transformation from mortality to immortality.

Jon was preparing to go on a mission.  One day Jon was at work.  He was a pizza delivery-boy.  It was raining that day.  Jon had an older car, he really needed new tires.  Jon skidded in the rain and had a major car accident.  Jon was killed on impact!

A testimony of the plan of salvation can give us hope and purpose as we wrestle with the challenges of life.  We can find reassurance in the knowledge that we are children of God and that we lived in His presence before we were born. We know that our actions during mortality influence our eternal destiny. Knowing this helps us to make important decisions on eternal truths rather than on the circumstances of life. We understand and have the promise of eternal families.

Death does not change our personality or our desires for good or evil.  Those who chose to obey God in this life live in a state of happiness, peace and rest from troubles and cares.  Those who chose not to obey in this life and did not repent live in a state of unhappiness. We remain in the spirit world until we are resurrected.

What about those who died without the knowledge of Christ or without baptism?  Do they have a chance?  In the spirit world the gospel is preached to those who did not obey the gospel or have the opportunity to hear it while here on this earth.

Jon is my brother.  He was 20 when he was killed in a car accident.  He was preparing to go on a mission.  When he died my family had a wide variety of reactions.  Some were depressed.  Some were confused.  Some were angry.  Some of them stopped going to church.  And 2 of them still haven't gone back, 3 of them. Some of them were angry with Heavenly Father for allowing this to happen.  Everyone was sad.  I was accepting.  I knew Jon had received his mission call, it wasn’t the one we were expecting.  He didn't have to learn a language or go to a foreign county.  He was called home to teach those brothers and sisters who passed on without the knowledge of the gospel, without having the opportunity to learn and be baptised. I am proud of my brother for serving his mission.  I miss him and cannot wait to see him again, but I am proud of him. 

When our bodies and spirits are reunited, when we're resurrected, we will be brought before God to be judged. We will remember our good and our bad deeds. If we have repented, we will receive mercy. We will be rewarded according to our works and our desires.

Through the resurrection all people will become immortal, they will live forever. It's a free gift to everyone whether they were good or bad. Eternal life is not the same as immortality.  Eternal life is given only to those who obey the gospel and are freed from sin though the Atonement of Christ. It means living forever with God and with our eternal families.

Most people have lost a family member some time in their life.  What if we never got to see them again? Most of you know my daughter, Monica, left about a month ago.  She went away to college, school, to live in another state.  I had a really hard time when she left.  It hurt, it physically hurt to have her be gone from me. What if I could never see her again, what if that were the end?  She didn't die, but what if she had and that were the end?  I can't imagine the pain that we would feel if we had Eternal life knowing we could never be with our family members again.

I have a testimony of the Atonement.  I know that I make mistakes and I know that I probably will continue to, but I know that I can ask for forgiveness and I can repent and that through Christ's atonement I can still have eternal life.

I used to know that God loved everybody. Everybody says that God loves everybody. But a few years ago I learned & realized that it's not just everybody, it's me. God loves me. He loves each one of us individually, not just as a whole.  He cares about each of us individually. I know that Christ gave His life for me. He loves me.  And I appreciate all that He did and continues to do.  I am extremely grateful for the knowledge that I can be with my family again and with my brother, Jon, who I haven't seen for over 10 years. 

I know that through the Savior we can all be together again as a family. I share this with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Two years ago my mother came to my home one afternoon after working in the Temple.  She told me she was concerned.  She had had the impression that I was dying.  She told me I needed to go to the doctor. I did & basically he did nothing.  I started praying about what my Mom had said. It took me some time but I did get to the point where I was okay with the idea that I might be dying.  I asked Heavenly Father that if this were to happen that my children would understand.  I got the impression to talk to my children about the conversation with my mother.  I was able to share with them my thoughts and beliefs.  I let them know that if I were to die that they needed to know that it was okay with me.  I remembered when Jon died & how hard it was for my siblings and parents.  I did not want my children to be upset with Heavenly Father.  It was a weird conversation and had us all in tears.  About 2 ½ months later I ended up in the emergency room.  The next morning, when waking up in the hospital, I had a very spiritual experience.  A few days later my doctor told me that if I had not come to the hospital when I did, I would not have survived the night.