FAREWELL TALK
One
of my ballet teachers at BYU often said, “the lessons you don’t learn the first time, you will be
forced to repeat.” You have to learn to point your toes before you can
move on to jumps and leaps. Proper body alignment has to become second nature before
you can hope to execute a double pirouette. We have to learn the simple
foundational movements before we can be successful in the more complicated
ones.
One
of the things I love about BYU is that ballet teachers can double as great
gospel teachers. My wise teacher was talking about more than just ballet. What
she was really saying and what she was trying to instill in us is that every
experience in life is a lesson that we have to internalize. That is why we’re
here on this earth; to learn.
SIMPLE LESSONS AND HARD
QUESTIONS
Specifically
talking about the gospel, we start small. We learn the basics. We learn that we
are children of God. We learn that God is our Heavenly Father who loves us. We
learn that there is such a thing as right and wrong-that there are commandments
that we must obey. If we obey them, we receive blessings. We learn that Jesus
Christ came to this earth to provide a perfect example for us to follow. He suffered
and died for our sins so that we could receive forgiveness when we make wrong
choices. We learn that the purpose of this life is to find joy and happiness as
we prepare to return to our loving Father in Heaven. Our Heavenly Father has
put a plan in place so that we can do this. God’s entire purpose revolves
around this plan of helping and saving his children. These are the basics.
As life goes on, the lessons get harder. We
learn that life isn’t always fair. That sometimes, often-times, bad things
happen to good people. That we don’t always get what we want, even if it’s
something good. And the lesson that I have lately been learning- that good
decisions are often met with opposition.
It is during these times when we’re learning
the hard lessons that people can get lost in their search for answers. The
beauty of the gospel is that we learn “line upon line, precept upon precept.”
Meaning that knowing the basics of the gospel provides a foundation for finding
answers to the harder questions that come up throughout our lives. Yes, it is
true that this life is unfair. Tragedies and hardships happen and it’s
difficult to accept. But that does not change the simple truth that God loves
each of His children, and he takes care of every one. Every injustice in this
life is made up for in the next, because of the atoning sacrifice of our
Savior. Trusting in the simple lessons keep us grounded while we confront hard
things.
GOING
ON A MISSION
Surprisingly,
at least to me, the aftermath of deciding to go on a mission was one of the
hardest lessons I’ve had to go through. Going on a mission was a good thing! It
was a good decision, but almost instantly I had to face some emotional
challenges that made it clear that the road to serving a mission was not going to be an easy one.
I didn’t always want to serve a mission. I
was never one of those girls who knew practically from birth that they wanted
to do this. I thought about it off and on, and I wasn’t necessarily against it,
but a mission never really felt like part of my plan. When they first changed
the mission age, my best friend called our bishop that very day and started her
papers. Thousands of sisters were right there with her. I prayed about it, and
my answer was no. Obviously, some things have changed…but it was not an easy transition.
I was having a great time at BYU. I loved my major, my friends, the things I
was learning-I was all set to graduate next year. I had a great plan full of
lots of good, worthwhile things. But about a year ago I started feeling like it
was time to pray about a mission again. I pushed against this feeling for a
long time, but I couldn’t shake it. I finally decided to stop ignoring the
spirit and start my papers. My answer was no a year ago, but now was the right
time for me.
One of my return missionary friends kind of
warned me that the second you get your mission call it’s like walking around
with a huge fiery darts of the adversary dartboard on your face. I am here to
testify that that is true. It’s true any time one of God’s children decides to
do something in line with Heavenly Father’s will. Satan is just as real as
Heavenly Father, and he really will do everything in his power to subtly distract
you from doing the right thing. But a simple truth that I had been taught was
that, with the help of my Savior, I was stronger than my doubts. I was stronger
than the adversary who was trying to make me believe these awful things about
myself. One of my favorite scriptures is, “God hath not given us a spirit of fear; but of power,
and of love, and of a sound mind.” Because I knew this, I knew that these
thoughts were not from God and that I could find the strength to move past
them.
GOD’S PLAN OVER MY PLAN
It was during this time that I really had to
rely on the simple truths that I had been taught since childhood. There were times
when it honestly felt like I would be happier if I just continued with my
previous plan, stayed in Utah and graduated, moved to New York…all of those
good things. However, I had been taught-and I knew-that Heavenly Father has a
far larger perspective on my life than I do, and that He has a plan for my
happiness. When we are discouraged or lost, the Lord counsels us to:
“Cast your mind upon the night that you cried unto me in
your heart, that you might know concerning the truth of these things.
23 Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning
the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?”
So, I put my faith in my Heavenly Father, trusting
His plan over my own, knowing that he would never lead me astray.
HOW THE SPIRIT SPEAKS
I think it’s so interesting that the Spirit
answers prayers not through a loud, easily distinguished voice commanding us
what to do, but through quiet feelings of peace. Quiet, unobtrusive voices
can be easily dismissed and hard to hear. So why does Heavenly Father speak to
his children in this way? But you know, think about how you feel whenever you are
trying to make a decision. Where to move, what job to take, how to speak about
a difficult topic with a family member. There are a thousand voices going in
your head all at once. Opinions of experts, parents, friends, family, your own
pro and con list; it’s loud! How, in the middle of all of these opinions which
demand our consideration, can we discern the correct choice? We can know because the right choice, the
choice that our Heavenly Father knows will lead us to the greatest happiness
and fulfillment, will be accompanied by a quiet feeling of calm-which
completely contrasts with the loud clamor going on everywhere else.
In cases like this, the
peace of the Spirit is not easily dismissed. The peace of the Spirit-the answer
from Heavenly Father-is so obviously different from the previous confusion that
it is unmistakable. It reminds me of the famous story from the Savior’s life
found in Matthew: “And,
behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was
covered with waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke
him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye
fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the
sea; and there was a great calm.”
When we call on our
Savior to guide us through life, when we actively seek his guidance and pay
attention to his answers, the peace that he brings is undeniable. The storms
come, and they will come again, but we have to remember that Christ has the
ability to calm the storms. “Remember,
remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of
God, that ye must build yoru foundation; that when the devil shall send forth
his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and
his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag
you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which
ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build
they cannot fall.” There truly is no greater witness than the peace that
comes from following the Savior.
STICK WITH IT
So now, once I really
felt this peace and felt like I had my answer, the challenge was sticking to
it. Enduring. This
quote by Elder Holland helped me a lot. He said: Beware the temptation to retreat from a
good thing. If it was right when you prayed about it and trusted it and lived
for it, it is right now. Don’t give up when the pressure mounts. Face your
doubts. Master your fears. “Cast not away therefore your confidence.” Stay the
course and see the beauty of life unfold for you.
There is opposition in
all things. Doing the right thing is never easy, but it is always worth it. It
requires courage and faith.
CHICK-FIL-A IS TRUE
For me, maintaining that
faith and courage came from recognizing the little everyday blessings; the
times when I could tell that Heavenly Father was aware of me in my daily life.
This story happened before I decided to serve, but it applies, I promise. There
was this one day when I found out that a huge performance project I thought we
were presenting in eight days was actually due in three, and I was SO
overwhelmed and blindsided by this. I went into the student center to lay
everything out and figure out how in the world we were going to get everything
done in less than half the time we thought we had. I was hungry, but being me-I
had left my wallet at home so I couldn’t buy lunch. I had only been sitting
there a few minutes when a guy I didn’t know asked if he could share my table.
I said sure and kept working. After a couple of minutes he asked me how my day
was going. I was obviously frazzled, so not really in a position to lie and say
that I was fine, so I told him that I was feeling a little stressed. He asked
if I had eaten lunch yet, and I said no. He had Chick-fil-A, which is hands
down the best food the Wilk has to offer. To my surprise, he pulled out an
extra chicken sandwich and said, “I don’t know why, but when I was in line I
just felt like I should buy another sandwich. Do you want it? … … and then I
married him. No. But I was so grateful. His random act of kindness completely turned
my day around. We still had to present in three days instead of eight, but I
felt so uplifted and more able to face that challenge.
It might seem silly, but
if we look for them, little things like that happen every day. That is the
beauty of life Elder Holland was talking about. The problems at hand don’t go
away, but sometimes Heavenly Father lets you know he loves you in the form of a
kind stranger with an extra sandwich.
As I developed the habit
of looking for the blessings: the good friends in my life, the kind gestures,
hikes in the mountains, the proximity of the Provo temple; they completely
overshadowed any negativity I was feeling. I was able to look at my life from a
more optimistic and resilient place.
HEAVENLY
FATHER HAS YOUR BACK
We can put our full confidence and trust in
God. There is nothing that brings greater peace to my heart than that
knowledge. I am so grateful for those simple lessons I learned to rely on so
young in my life. What a great blessing it is to know without a doubt that
every person on this earth is loved beyond human comprehension. I can’t wait to
share that message of hope with the people I will meet in Denmark. I know that
Heavenly Father sent me down this path for a reason. He sends us all down our
own separate paths for reasons that we don’t always understand right away, but
if we follow Him, we will discover our full potential in this life. The prophet
Ezra Taft Benson said, ““Men
and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot
more out of their lives than they can. He can deepen their joys, expand their
vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits,
multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls,
and pour out peace.”
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