The Great Worth of Souls

Another talk given with the help of my amazing grandma, Kathy Wagher. I am so grateful for all the amazing women in my life that have taught me how to be a better person.

The Great Worth of Souls

November 17, 2019

Good morning, brothers and sisters. Today I have been asked to speak on a topic that I probably could never stop talking about if anyone stayed here long enough to listen. But I have decided against putting you all to sleep and have instead chosen to focus my thoughts a little bit. I was given the scripture found in Doctrine and Covenants 18 verse 10

Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;

There are so many different ways that I could go in my talk with this scripture alone. Divine worth, individual worth, Heavenly Father’s love, loving one another, and so on. This is why I could talk about this forever, and I do want to briefly touch on all these topics. 

First I would like to share a quote from the talk “You Matter to Him” By President Dieter F. Uchtdorf that reminds us about the worth of souls. He says, 

“This is a paradox of man: compared to God, man is nothing; yet we are everything to God. While against the backdrop of infinite creation we may appear to be nothing, we have a spark of eternal fire burning within our breast. We have the incomprehensible promise of exaltation—worlds without end—within our grasp. And it is God’s great desire to help us reach it.”

God sees who we are and all that we can become. 

Now I’d like to share a little story. My grandma was a blogger. She wrote down many stories and life lessons that my family and I have cherished. One of her stories is about my mom and something she did on a family vacation to Disneyland a few years ago.

The story is called, Kim’s Hyacinth, and it starts off with a poem:

If of all the world's goods thou art bereft,

And to thee alone but two loaves of bread are left,

Sell one, and with the dole,

Buy hyacinths to feed thy soul.

My grandma then writes, “Each was instructed to buy a “hyacinth” on the trip.  It was explained that hyacinths are flowers but theirs might look like a churro or Minnie Mouse keychain. Kim (my mom) said it was great for each kid to have a little to spend without having to ask.

Then today she told me about her "chrysanthemum" as she called it.  It took me a while to figure out what she was talking about.

It seems they had stopped at the beach on the day before they were to go to the parks. The kids all ran out to the ocean while she stayed at the van to make sandwiches. Hard at work she looked up to see a bedraggled woman pass by on the sidewalk. She looked worn down and possibly homeless. Kim thought of her $10 of hyacinth money and ran with it to give to the woman. She actually had to chase her. The lady was so grateful it broke Kim's heart. So she touched the woman gently and asked her if she was hungry. Kim explained that she was making sandwiches and she had turkey and cheese or peanut butter and jelly. Would she like one? The lady said she'd like peanut butter and jelly.

Kim went back to make it.

While she was spreading peanut butter and jelly she said something very special happened.  It was almost like a voice actually spoke to her.

She heard, "You're making that sandwich for me."

She started to cry.

She didn't know what else to do.

So, still crying, she put more peanut butter.

Then she made up a little bag of "kid treats" to go with it.  Raisins, Vienna sausages, and the like. She took it and the sandwich to the lady.

I'm so grateful for my children.

They're all trying to live the truths of the gospel.

Larry and I may be raggedy old converts but our kids are covering up a multitude of our sins.

Sometimes with peanut butter and jelly.

May Heavenly Father always bless and protect them while they do what they can.

May He always bless and protect you and your efforts too.”

I can recall many times that my mother would invite someone who happened to be passing by to our family picnics, offering them food and whatever else we had to give.

“Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;”

When we don’t focus on people’s outward appearance, we can see their true worth and divine potential. We are all children of God, and I am so grateful for my mother for teaching me that. 

Another thing I learned from this story is about the hyacinths for the soul. So in the poem you’re left with 2 loaves of bread, like that’s all you have, 2 loaves of bread. I love bread so I’d just want to eat both of them, as any hungry person might. But the poem says to sell one, and use that money to buy Hyacinths to feed the soul. 

I have learned, by observing my mother and from my own experience, that service is the kind of thing that feeds your soul. The semesters that I chose to ‘take a break’ and ‘focus on myself’ did not go as well as I thought or expected them to. I found that when I took time each week to volunteer at a local elementary school or tutor at the detention center or go to the temple I was happier and I had better grades, despite having less time to study. When we remember that the worth of souls is great in the sight of God, we have a greater desire to serve, and I think it’s because we love our Heavenly Father, and we know that when we are in the service of our fellow beings, we are only in the service of our God, just as King Benjamin taught.

Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.

I have greater understood the meaning of this scripture as I have worked with various types of teenagers: I was an EFY counselor, I work at a youth crisis center and I volunteer at a juvenile detention center. Teenagers aren’t the most fun people to be around all the time, but I have gained a lot of patience and have learned to love all my interactions with youth. Sometimes it is hard to see a person as God sees them when they have done horrible things or when they are annoying or if they have different values than you. The first day I started at EFY and my current job and my first day at the detention center I definitely had doubts about those kids and my ability to befriend and love them. However, I have learned to greatly appreciate the power of proximity when it comes to seeing someone’s true worth. 

One of my favorite authors, Bryan Stevenson, wrote in his book, Just Mercy, these words:

“Proximity has taught me some basic and humbling truths, including this vital lesson: Each of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done.

When we take the time to talk and get to know a person, it is so much easier to understand, relate to and love them. Bryan Stevenson put it beautifully when he said, “There is a strength, a power even, in understanding brokenness, because embracing our brokenness creates a need and desire for mercy, and perhaps a corresponding need to show mercy. When you experience mercy, you learn things that are hard to learn otherwise. You see things you can't otherwise see; you hear things you can't otherwise hear. You begin to recognize the humanity [and I’d like to add, Light of Christ] that resides in each of us.”

Brent H. Neilson said, “All of us fall short of the glory of the Father. All of us need the Savior’s Atonement to heal us. All of us are lost and need to be found.” 

When that week of EFY was over, I loved every single one of those kids. I had been with them almost every hour of every day for a week and I could see their potential for greatness. After volunteering a few times at the detention center, I realized that those boys were just people, deserving of love and kindness, and they quickly became my friends. 

Proximity. Is. Powerful.

So please, remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.

Heavenly Father wants ALL of His children to return to live with Him. I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and that He died and rose again so that I can be with my family forever, so that everyone can live with their families forever. I know that I am a daughter of loving Heavenly Parents and that I have divine worth and unlimited potential. I’m grateful for the amazing people in my life that have taught me the true ability of service to help me recognize the great worth of souls.

The Power of the Book of Mormon

I gave a talk this past Sunday at church and of course it's about missionary work, so I thought it would be good to post on here. Enjoy!

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The Power of the Book of Mormon

 I was asked to speak today about the power of the Book of Mormon. I tried to think of some crazy amazing experience that I’ve had but I couldn’t think of one in particular. My experiences with the Book of Mormon have been more like small and simple things that can bring to pass great things. I know that it is true. I know that it is the word of God written down by the prophets of old and translated in this dispensation by the prophet Joseph Smith. When I read the Book of Mormon daily I am happier and more Christ like. I would like to tell a story about my dad though, and his first experiences with the Church and the Book of Mormon.

 First of all, I love my dad. He’s a convert to the church, the only member of his family and I don’t think I have thanked him enough for choosing to be baptized and enduring to the end. Recently, my little sister who left on a mission asked my dad to tell his conversion story, something that I had not heard all the way through. I mean, I knew some of the basics but not a lot of the details. My dad isn’t really a talker. So thankfully my dad wrote it down for her in a letter and my mom made copies for all the kids. Before this, I knew he was 26 years old living in a trailer in front of his friend’s house when he started looking for a church to go to. He had grown up going to the Lutheran church and visited some other churches since but he wasn’t interested in any of them. So he decided to pray. He had never prayed out loud before but that’s exactly what he decided to do: ask God which church he should go to. A couple of days later the missionaries started showing up at his friends house! An answer to prayers right?! Well my dad said he wasn’t interested. So he was still praying to find the right church and they showed up again! And again he said no. Then one day he said yes and he got baptized! And that’s pretty much all I knew, until my dad wrote it all down (importance of journaling, folks!). I want to read you a bit of what he wrote. I’m gonna start right after he rejected the missionaries the first time.

 “A few days later, maybe a week, I still hadn’t found a church to go to, so I kneeled down again and asked God to help me find a church and have a better life. And again the missionaries knocked on the door of my friend’s home when I was the only one there. I answered the door and said “hello again.” They asked if my friends were home. I told them no and they asked me if I wanted to hear a message. I said “no thanks, maybe some other time” and said goodbye. I know what you’re thinking, I pray, they come, I pray, they come, but I did not catch on.

 About a week later, I got home from work and needed to work on my car. I hadn’t noticed that the missionaries had come by. My friend was home and invited them in to talk. I had some car parts in my hand when I went around to a side door that went out onto the deck. I was using a hose just off the deck when I saw the missionaries sitting on chairs and my friend sitting on the couch. I opened the door and said “hello, what’s up?” My friend, Susan, said “these young ladies are talking about Jesus and His gospel”. I said “cool” and told them that I was working on my car. I went back to my project. I finished up and went back to my friend’s living room and they were still talking!

 I asked if I could sit in and they said yes, but were just finishing up. They invited both of us to come to church on Sunday. They met at 1pm in Monroe, my home town. It was about 15 minutes away. We both said we had to work on Sundays, usually till 3 or 4 (we both worked at the same restaurant and I worked at the bakery too.)

 They asked if they could bear their testimonies. I had never heard of this and didn’t know what they meant. My friend said “of course,” (she was very nice all the time and to everyone.) Sister Henry, from Idaho, gave us her testimony. I had never heard anyone talk like this before. I don’t remember much of what she said, but I did feel it. She talked about growing up on a farm and sometimes having to feed baby sheep, lambs, I guess, with bottles and relating this in some way to Jesus, saying “feed my sheep.”And that THAT was what she was doing in Clearview, Washington, FEEDING HIS SHEEP. They asked if they could come back and my friend made some excuses, but that if she was home and they knocked she would let them in.

 A week went by and I was thinking about that testimony of Sister Henry’s. A week or two later on a Sunday, I was working at the bakery and just after noon I finished up. The boss didn’t have anything extra for me to do so he sent me home. I got home at 12:30. I thought to myself, “Maybe I should check out that Mormon church.” I didn’t have much time, but I put on my best clothes and got to church about 1:05. When I walked in they were singing a hymn, when they finished everyone got up like they were leaving. I seriously thought I had missed it. A ten minute service was kinda cool, if not too quick. I looked around and the people sitting around me started introducing themselves to me… The missionaries finally noticed and came over and explained what was happening. They had sacrament meeting last hour…

 Again, I don’t remember what was talked about, but everyone was very nice. The ward mission leader took me to priesthood, where I stood up and introduced myself. Lots of people asked questions about where I lived and worked and why I was there… I really enjoyed priesthood, there were a lot of real men sitting around, discussing the gospel and how to really apply it in their lives. I had never been in a situation like that, ever. It was amazing. From there we went back in to the chapel… This must have been the first Sunday in September 1991 because it was fast sunday. Someone in the Bishopric talked a little bit, and then two of the young men got microphones from the front and stood facing us. When someone stood up, the closest boy would run to them and hand them the microphone. They started telling stories and saying that they believed in this church and the Book of Mormon. I remembered Sister Henry in my friend’s living room had said something similar. I could not believe the overwhelming feeling of the Holy Ghost almost filling me entirely up. I had never been in a church meeting and had these feelings. I was laughing and crying and almost in awe of the ease with which these people were talking about God and Jesus Christ and their tender feelings of a spiritual event in their lives, just right there in church in front of everyone.

 I did know that all the people I met were good people and the men were real men, and I wanted to be a ‘real man.’ I truly wanted to be like them and have families like theirs. I hadn’t really been around real men with real families, and everyone seemed happy. I spent the next two months meeting with the missionaries in the Richards’ home… I don’t remember all the lessons but I do remember thinking “yes, yes that’s what I think.”

 My dad got baptized on November 12th. He finishes his story by saying, “I am grateful for missionaries, that they do something like knock on doors of people they don’t know, tell them their innermost thoughts and invite them to church. Complete strangers. I’m grateful for missionaries who listen to the Spirit and not to the dumb kid standing in the doorway saying “no thanks.” … Thank God for all missionaries.”

 I know that missionary work would not be possible without the Book of Mormon. I know that the Book of Mormon can teach boys how to be ‘real men’ like my dad saw in church that fast Sunday, and it can teach girls how to be strong women, just like I see in church every Sunday. I know that it teaches us to “not esteem one flesh above another” and to “preach of Christ and talk of Christ and prophecy of Christ.” It teaches us to defend our beliefs and fight for what is right. The Book of Mormon is the word of God and the moment you begin a serious study of that book “a power will begin to flow into your life,” just as President Benson once said.

 In one of the last talks given by President Thomas S. Monson in April 2017, he invited each of us to gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon and said “My dear associates in the work of the Lord, I implore each of us to prayerfully study and ponder the Book of Mormon each day. As we do so, we will be in a position to hear the voice of the Spirit, to resist temptation, to overcome doubt and fear, and to receive heaven’s help in our lives.”

 I love this gospel and all that it teaches me. I am grateful for the 18 months that I had to testify of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon and that I can continue to testify of its truthfulness. I know that the Book of Mormon has the power to change your life and the lives of generations to come. Read the book daily and feel the power come into your life.

 I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

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 Citations 

  The Power of the Book of Mormon By President Thomas S. Monson

  The Book of Mormon—Keystone of Our Religion by Ezra Taft Benson

Alma 37:6-7
2 Nephi 25:26
Mosiah 23:7
Alma 46