Breathe, read slow, pause between sentences.
Say something about Allie, I loved the spirit it brought. Good morning Brothers and Sisters. I’m grateful for my assignment to talk. Though it is a little nerve wracking to talk, writing this talk has helped me find peace despite my busy and distracted life. Brother Bailey asked me to talk on acceptance.
He shared a story called, “Angel unaware.” It described a new girl named Jana at school who wanted to make friends, who wanted to be accepted. The first two sentences are, “I was sure Heavenly Father had failed me. Or He had at least forgotten I existed.” She joined a peer mentorship class for the purpose of making friends. She was paired up with a kid named Kevin Mathison. He had no hands, nor feet and he controlled his electric wheelchair with his mouth. She admitted that she had less than Chirstlike feelings. She was afraid that her hopes of making friends would be crushed because she was the one who had to help Kevin. She felt lonely and disappointed. Throughout the years she stayed with him and it took her awhile to become comfortable and start to enjoy their time together. Around that time he gave her a present and inside it was a small pin- a guardian angel. Softly, he said, “Thanks for being a friend Jana.” She realized that the whole time she was praying and searching for friends, her answer was right there in front of her. The answer wasn’t what she wanted, which sometimes it isn’t but he gave her a lesson in service, friendship and unconditional love. I loved this sentence from the story, “This young man, the sight of whom made me uncomfortable and afraid 5 years ago had become beautiful-not because his appearance ever changed, but because he gave me better eyes to see.”
This hit me because sometimes I feel distance from God. I never said it out loud that I thought He had left me but I’m sure I've had the feeling deep in my heart. The apostle Paul teaches us in 2 corinthians 5:7 and 9, “We walk by faith, not by sight”, “Wherefore we labor that we may be accepted of Him.” It’s difficult to take a step in faith when you’re feeling left out, alone, without friends like Jana. When Jana became close to Kevin, she became closer to God. Kevin taught Jana how to see, to not judge without eyes but rather have faith in God that he will lead us through our trials.
If we want to be loved and cared for, to have friends, to be accepted, we must show these qualities first.
So my dad was helping me with my talk when I was getting stressed about it. He told me to pray about what everyone needed to hear not how good or bad I would give the talk. So I got down on my knees thinking it wouldn’t really help, because at that time I thought nothing would help me. However after I finished the prayer, still feeling kinda lost, the song, Heavenly Father loves me popped into my head. Heavenly Father are you really there and do you hear and answer every child's prayer. I sang the whole song in my head and felt the spirit and it calmed me down a lot. Than my dad gave me this sentence, “Those times we feel most alone are usually because we have pulled away from God or distanced ourselves from others by holding back from service.” I felt so touched by the spirit, this one sentence, just one sentence answered the questions I’ve been asking for so long. I realized that the times I feel most lonely are because im focusing too much on myself. Which i’m not saying we shouldn’t care about ourselves but if all we see is our own problems, if all we see is our own two feet then we don’t see the many opportunities God gives us. King benjamin teaches us that, “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” Furthermore when we obey his commandments and serve others, he immediately blesses us. So not only do we feel good about serving others but we also feel the love from God himself. Service is like learning to see with new eyes. Looking back on all my memories i saw that the times I felt most happy were when I brought others together rather than waiting to be brought in. When connecting with others, you show that you accept them. I want to show others that I accept them because then I’ll truly be serving God and can be at my happiest.
As I searched up acceptance in the gospel library app almost all of the searches said something along the lines of “accept the Savior’s invitation” an invitation to come and see. I love how it says invitation because it reminded me that his hands are always outstretched just waiting for us to open up and come running back to Him. All we have to do is face him, sometimes it’s hard for me to accept that we may be facing him but we are imperfect, we will stumble - but that’s ok - the most important thing is that we are facing him.
Perfectionism runs in my family, especially my dad and I, so I've truly never been able to accept anything as good enough. I struggle with the thought that I can repent because I feel as if since I’m not perfect, I’m not worthy. That I may be a lost cause. However a lesson quite a long time ago gave me the saying that, “sometimes we may be unworthy but we are never worthless.”
A Come follow me lesson called, “How can I learn to be more patient?” and it was a little tender mercy because I’ve been impatient lately, well I guess more than usual. And it said, “We can develop patience by seeking to do God’s will and accepting His timing, trusting that He will fulfill all of His promises to us. As we learn to be patient in small things, we prepare ourselves to face larger trials with patience.”
Heavenly Father has such patience with us.That however often we repent he will forgive and will always love. He accepts our efforts to repent, so we should accept others flaws and our own just as he does. It’s my prayer that as we try hard to come out of our shell and serve others we will better understand how to accept, forgive and love one another. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
