Virtual talk

Benjamin gave a talk "in" primary on Sunday. He was actually rather excited to write his talk. Since he chooses to listen to the scriptures (rather than music) while he falls asleep and has thus become quite the little scriptorian. He wrote a lovely draft earlier in the week and we cleaned it up together and then he practiced it a few times before Sunday. 

He read it very nicely, even though he was nervous and when he was finished he apologized for "faltering" in the middle of his talk. I guess he felt like he had stammered a little, but I didn't notice him make any mistakes at all.

Here's his talk:

In Mormon 1:16, Mormon is forbidden to preach unto the Nephites because of their hard hearts and wickedness. Still he continued to want to preach repentance unto them, eventually settling for writing about repentance in the record he was keeping. In Mormon 3:22 he writes, “I would that I could persuade all ye ends of the earth to repent…”

A similar thing happened in Alma 29:1–2. Alma says:

O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!

Alma wasn’t able to cry repentance to every people. Mormon couldn’t persuade his own people to repent, either. In the end, the only person they had any power over was themselves.

But they did leave their testimony for us about the importance of repenting and coming into the fold of God. We have the power to choose for ourselves, whether we will follow their advice or whether we will ignore it. I hope to follow their advice the best that I can.

If I bring myself unto the fold of God, it will set an example for my younger siblings and to everyone I meet in my life. Then hopefully they, too, will want to repent and commit their lives to righteousness. But in the end, I can only control my own actions and choices.

D&C 18:15 says:

And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

I hope to be a missionary one day and then I’ll be called to preach repentance and faith on the Lord, but, like Mormon and Alma, I will not have any control on whether or not others choose to change their lives. In the end, I think I am the most important person I can bring into the fold of God, just as you are the most important person that you can bring into the fold of God.

If we can bring one soul—our own—unto God, he promises that our joy will be great in His kingdom. And if, by setting a good example and sharing our testimony and supporting others on their spiritual journey, we are able to help bring more souls to God’s kingdom, our joy will be even greater because we want everyone to be with us in Heaven.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.