Matthew's Homecoming Talk

 Matthew would speak in Rupert 1st Ward on February 12th.  Many friends came to hear him and spend the weekend. Then he would speak in Upland 3rd Ward on March 19th

Matthew's Homecoming Talk

When I gave my farewell talk it was in a parking lot underneath some EZ Ups and everyone was wearing masks. As cool as it was to do Sacrament meeting outside, I figured that COVID would die down by the time I gave my homecoming talk and I would speak in a building. I wasn’t expecting that building to be in 

Rupert Idaho, or for my homecoming talk to be my first impression to most of you but I am so happy to be here.

As many of you have heard, I served my mission in the North Dakota Bismarck Mission which encompasses all of North Dakota, 2/3s of South Dakota, a bit of Minnesota, Montana, and a small piece of Nebraska and it is the largest geographical mission in the continental U.S. One transfer day I even drove 10 hours to my new area. Some of the best advice I got in preparation for my mission on several different occasions, that at the time I found redundant, was “ You are going to North Dakota? Bring a coat!”. I remember my first day in the field when I walked off of the plane and for the first time ever, I experienced what cold actually felt like and couldn’t stop scrunching my nose around because of the feeling of the inside of my nose freezing. The coldest I ever saw it get was -50 degrees with wind chill. To give you an idea of how flat it is, out there they say that you can watch your dog run away for 2 weeks and that anyone can love the mountains but that it takes a special person to love the prairie. I truly did fall in love with the prairie as well as the long drives, the random farm churches in the middle of nowhere, the thousands of miniature lakes, the perfect view of the stars at night. But what I really fell in love with was the reason I was there in the first place. Jesus Christ and the people.

I had the opportunity to serve in many different areas which provided for me to meet so many different people from so many different backgrounds of life. As missionaries we are sent out to be teachers, but anyone that has served a mission knows that in reality we are the ones being taught. 

There were many times that I was and still am in awe at the examples of faith, hope, and charity in the people that I had the opportunity to teach about the Restored Gospel. Their examples inspired me and I am excited to be able to share some of their stories with you all today.

When I got to my first area in Minot North Dakota. I was stuck inside for a few weeks due to COVID and all we could do was call people and friend people on facebook. I remember reading a few friends’ emails who were also out serving missions and they all repeatedly mentioned that they were happier than they had ever been in life. I know these friends really well and that we have all been blessed with fun lives which made me a bit confused at the fact that being a missionary was what made them the happiest. I knew that what I was doing was right, but couldn’t confidently say that I was the happiest I had ever been. But I had a strong desire to figure out how I could get to that point, and truly fall in love with what I was doing and the people I was serving. Throughout my mission, I have reflected back on that point in time and have come to realize that I did achieve that state and it came from working with all my heart, might, mind, and strength no matter the circumstances. As I prioritized working in this manner above all other personal affairs, I began to grow and to understand what it meant and felt like to really be a missionary. I started to love God’s children enough to focus more on those that were truly ready and help them progress to become more like Jesus Christ.

When we are able to find those that are truly ready, we teach them the Plan of Salvation which when we have faith in this plan, can better help us view things with an eternal perspective. Of course part of that includes teaching “Why are we here on earth?” This is one of my favorite principles to teach because it brings so many lost people direction. When I teach it I always share 2 Nephi 2:25 because it is so simple, yet so profound. It says “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have JOY”

If our whole purpose in life is to gain experience and do our best to have joy through it all, then the question is.. "what is it that brings me joy, and how can I better prioritize these things in my life?"

Before my mission I thought I understood that scripture. I thought I understood what joy really was. I thought that all it was was riding my dirt bike out in the sand dunes, or an afternoon of kiteboarding, or just being out boating with friends and family and don’t get me wrong these things are things that I love and they bring me happiness but they are conditional upon circumstance. My mission taught me what pure and true joy is, and how to better feel it in my daily life. I began to feel the truth of President Nelson’s counsel of “The Joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives, and everything to do with the focus of our lives”. I learned that consistent joy comes through faith and hope in Jesus Christ in all things as we strive to live and to follow his teachings. I have watched the pursuit of this joy change and essentially save lives and families first hand.

Belle Fourche:

4 ½ months into my mission I was transferred to Belle Fourche South Dakota and this area has a pretty big chunk of the Black Hills in it and it is beautiful there. Nearby was Mt. Rushmore if any of you have ever been there before. One of the first people that I met here was a boy named Vinnie and we met with him since he had just recently been baptized. He started to dodge our visits and thought he was clever enough to peek through the window without us seeing him a couple of times. We decided to stop playing games and to set up to meet with his dad Monty instead, who had been working on coming back to church after 20 years of inactivity. Vinnies Mom, Sabrina, has never been interested in the gospel and everyone we talked to confirmed that including herself. When we came by for our appointment with Monty, he told us that it wasn’t a good time because Sabrina’s grandma was in the hospital. We immediately asked if we could come in and pray for her and he ran and asked if she would be okay with that and repeatedly said “It can’t hurt, it can’t hurt!” She said that we could and then we continued to share the message that we had prepared as if she wasn’t there, but in reality we were teaching specifically to her and her needs because we still knew that she was listening. Later we asked if we could give her grandmother a Priesthood blessing and the dad, Monty, looked at her and said “It can’t hurt, It can’t hurt!” and Sabrina, in a very dry manner, told us she would ask. Then I turned to her and asked her if we could give her a blessing and her husband Monty again said “It can’t hurt, it can’t hurt!” and she accepted. I had the opportunity to give her the blessing and afterward it was as if we were talking to a new person. She had a smile on her face and was talkative as could be. In an instant she went from always giving us the cold shoulder to wanting to meet with us consistently and take the lessons. We grew pretty close with this family and Vinnie even apologized for always dodging our visits and started flying through the Book of Mormon. Everyone in the family was noticeably happier. It didn’t take any more temporal successes to change the family, all it took was a spark of the Holy Spirit, the feeling of the pure Joy that Jesus Christ has to offer, and a change of priorities in their lives. She was progressing toward baptism just 2 visits later and because of some distractions it was delayed a few times but I had the opportunity to go back a year later and stand in the waters of baptism with Sabrina. Nothing beat the smile on her face when she came up out of the water that day. I had faith and a testimony in the Priesthood, but Sabrina helped me realize how real it is. Sabrina helped me realize that “it can’t hurt” to offer the blessings that come from the direct authority and power of God. 

Stanley:

About a year in I was in Stanley North Dakota which has a population of about 2,500 people and is right in the middle of the oil field. If you are able to find a spot that is slightly more elevated than the rest, you can see tons of flares burning out by each oil pump and can be a pretty cool sight to see. Every road you drive on is loaded with Semi trucks hauling water, sand, and oil and we even lived on our bishops trucking yard in one of his trailers. I saw some of the greatest miracles I have ever witnessed, and met some of the best and hardest working people I have ever met who better helped me actually understand what 2 Nephi 2:25 meant and how we can find Joy in our lives. 

Stubbs:

One family that we taught was the Stubbs. We walked into church on Sunday and saw a guy sitting in one of the middle rows by himself and because we were new we figured he was a member that had recently moved in because of the Oil Field so we sat with him and talked with him during church. After Sacrament meeting, my companion at the time was talking with him and asked him if he was a member. His response was “No, but I want to be”. We then set up to meet with him and he said his wife wanted to come and learn more as well. They were amazing to get to know because they thirsted for knowledge and sought it out through inquiring of the Lord anytime they had a question. We would teach them a principle and they would be unsure of it and then later send us a text saying things like “I received my testimony of tithing” and then we would move forward. The level of faith that both of them had was amazing to me. It allowed for miracles to be worked in their lives and helped them come closer to Jesus Christ when they were probably as close to Him as you can get without baptism and receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost. They progressed towards baptism steadily and later I was transferred a few weeks before their baptism. Luckily I was able to come back and watch them get baptized. I had the opportunity to confirm the wife Acelin and after the baptismal service she came up to us and asked us if the confirmation is from a script that we read. We responded and mentioned that we try to follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance to the best of our ability to bless them with what the Lord knows they need in their lives at that time. She informed us with tears in her eyes that in the blessing I addressed everything she was struggling with in life at the time and then would immediately bless her with peace of mind or strength afterwards. My companion and I looked at each other with our jaws dropped. I had no idea what she was going through at the time. I hadn’t spoken to them in weeks and really just said whatever came to mind as we confirmed her as a member of The Church. I remember being in that very moment recognizing the joy that I felt from doing nothing but allowing the Lord to work through me. This experience helped me understand how much God is in the details of our lives and cares enough to show His children that he is paying attention to our needs. It helped me develop a greater understanding of how sacred the priesthood is and the importance of prioritizing living worthy so that I can be there to help His children in the times He needs me to. And lastly it helped me to realize the truth of Alma 29:9 which says “ I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy.” In this moment I realized that nothing brought me greater joy than being an instrument in the Lord’s hands. I wish I was better at it and that the Lord didn’t always have to work through nothing but imperfect people but his patience with me and his willingness to help me to grow into who He needs me to be so that I can have more of this Joy in my life, is something I will forever be indebted for.

Bismarck: 

To close I want to share one last experience with all of you. At this point in my mission I was about 18 or so months out and I was in Bismarck North Dakota. It was summer at the time and so people were always out and it seemed that there were endless people to talk to. On our way to an appointment we saw a guy walking home from work so we went up to him and invited him to learn more about the gospel. He explained that he used to be a faithful Christian but now advocated for the exact opposite. We asked him what specifically in his life caused such a drastic change. The interaction that we had with him was almost identical to the one that takes place in Alma 30 between Korihor and Alma, except no one was struck dumb. The conversation that we had with the man was peaceful and we were able to leave him with a Book of Mormon and later invite him to read Alma chapter 30. Although there was nothing that he said that made me doubt my faith or my testimony, the interaction made me realize that no matter how faithful I am in this moment, if I do not nurture the testimony I have developed throughout my life and specifically my mission I can still fall away. I realized that in order to follow through in diligence and not just follow through the motions I would truly have to apply myself and consistently “feel” the gospel work in my life. At this point I took a lot of time to re-evaluate my testimony a bit and heed to Alma’s teachings in chapter 5 verse 26 and ponder on it. “And now my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?” While pondering on this verse I wanted to make sure that my belief wasn’t just an idea of hope or a pre-disposed mindset or way of thinking, but that I truly could “feel so now” and am not just doing things because I have been taught that they are right but because I truly know of their truth for myself. This time helped me re-enforce my testimony and dig my roots deeper so that I could sincerely “feel” the reality of the things in which I taught and testified daily. From this point on I had a different level of confidence in my Savior and everything that comes with Him and the Restoration of His church on the earth.

I have a strong testimony of the gospel and the divinity of the marvelous work of the Lord that is currently taking place worldwide. It is amazing to me that when I put everything that I had previously structured my life on in the past and focused on Jesus Christ, I became a “new creature” in Him and became the happiest I have ever been in my life.

• A friend asked me if I “LOVE” the Book of Mormon

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