My Farewell Talk

Copy of my talk given 6/30/24   

Hello everyone! For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Morgan Pursglove and I’ve been called to serve in the Las Vegas West mission speaking Spanish. While I was waiting to get my call, I was praying for two things: I wanted to speak Spanish and I didn’t want to go somewhere cold. What I learned from my call is that prayer really does work, and Heavenly Father has a sense of humor because rather than send me somewhere cold, he sent me to what I think may be the hottest place on Earth, in July, and what’s more, he put me in a biking mission. So if you learn anything from this talk, it’s to be specific in your prayers.

 

Today, I was assigned the topic of Jesus Christ, His Restored Gospel, and the Joy of Sharing the Gospel and Serving Others. I would especially like to focus on the joy that all of these aspects bring into our lives. Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught that “Only by aligning our wills with God’s is full [joy] to be found. Anything less results in a lesser portion.” A large part of God’s plan for us is to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, but I believe on a deeper level, to bring peace and joy into people’s lives. Elder Stevenson shared a story in his talk, Love, Share, Invite from 2019 about mothers in Poland who set out strollers at train stations for refugee mothers and children, knowing that they would need them when they arrived. He talks about the importance of sharing the gospel through love, rather than through our words. 

The second great commandment is to love our neighbors, and one of the best ways to follow this is to show Christlike love to others and a willingness to help and serve. A big part of being a missionary and serving a mission isn’t just to knock on doors and hand out Books of Mormon, but to help those in need and always be ready and willing to serve. Oftentimes, through our love and service towards others, they can see the light in us and may be interested in hearing about the gospel. However, even if they aren’t interested, you are still able to provide service to one of God’s children and be an expression of His love for them. When we do things out of love and serve others, an important thing to remember is that we aren’t doing it for any other reason. We shouldn’t be doing it so that we can be praised by others and recognized for our efforts, but rather so that we can be true disciples of Jesus Christ and share His love. 

President Nelson recently gave a challenge on social media that had to do with the parable of the lost sheep. He challenged “each of us to reach out to ‘the one’ in our lives who may be feeling lost or alone,” and invited everyone to take time to prayerfully consider who they may need to reach out to and seek inspiration as to how they can best help them. When we do this, we can not only find joy for ourselves through helping others, but we can also help others feel joy because we are showing our love for them and showing them that they have a friend.

 

In his talk Sharing the Restored Gospel by President Oaks, he discusses things all members can do to share the gospel, regardless of their circumstances. One of these is to “pray for inspiration on what we can do in our individual circumstances to share the gospel with others.” He says “When we pray, we should remember that prayers for this kind of inspiration will be answered if accompanied by a commitment.” If we truly want to help others, the best way to do so is with the help of the Holy Ghost. Those who may be struggling the most may appear to be perfectly fine, and it is only through the Holy Ghost and inspiration that we can know who needs our help. In this same talk, another one of the points he makes is “...to pray for a desire to help with this vital part of the work of salvation.” 

For years I was hesitant to serve a mission because I have a severe allergy to tree nuts. I’ve always been afraid that I’d go into the field and would unknowingly eat something with nuts. This fear was so great that a mission was always on the back burner for me. When I was fourteen I received my patriarchal blessing and it mentioned I’d be blessed if I chose to serve a mission. It was after this I started seriously considering serving, although I was still very nervous. When I was deciding whether or not I should serve a mission, praying for a desire and the faith to serve was something I spent a lot of time focusing on. My parents and my sister all served missions, so I grew up frequently hearing about what an amazing yet challenging experience it was and the many ways it blessed their lives and the lives of those they met. I knew that a mission would change my life and would be an incredible experience if I should choose to go, but I wanted that confirmation for myself. While I was praying about this, I had an experience that, in hindsight, completely influenced my decision to serve a mission. 

Last summer, I had a non-member friend who was living with us, and she ended up taking lessons with the missionaries in our ward. During these lessons, the elders would frequently ask my family to share experiences that related to the topic or bear our testimonies. I remember one lesson, instead of asking any of us to bear our testimonies about the topic, one of the elders asked my friend if she would be comfortable sharing hers. She seemed nervous, but she agreed to do it and bore her testimony. The Spirit that filled the room was one of the strongest feelings I’ve ever had, and when she was done, everyone had tears in their eyes. During these lessons, up until she left for college, it was amazing to see her grow and see how she changed. A few months earlier, when my mom first met her, I remember she left our house and my mom said to me that this girl just had a light about her and was a good person. This was before she was taking lessons with the missionaries, but I know that at least for my family and everyone who got to know her, we were able to see the light in her become brighter every day.

 

After she left for college, I was down at BYU and was still praying for this strong desire to be the reason I went on a mission. I was talking to my mom about it, and she brought up this friend and how this was kind of one of my first big experiences with missionary work. I spent a lot of time thinking about it and how it had influenced me, but what mainly drove me to choose to serve a mission was the joy everyone felt when we had these lessons with her. Seeing her accept gospel principles and seeing the joy it brought to her was one of the best moments of my life because I knew she was choosing the right thing for her. I now wanted to go on a mission so that I could see this for other people as well. 

In Doctrine and Covenants 18, verses 15 and 16, it reads, “And if it so be that you should labor 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! And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought… how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls…” I have a desire to go and bring people to Christ because I know of the joy, the peace, the comfort, and everything good that He can bring into their lives. For me, without this strong desire, the process of getting ready for a mission would be much different. When we have this desire to share the gospel, I think it is easier for us to put our whole efforts into it and do it with the purest of intentions. This desire to share His gospel with people and see the joy and peace it truly brings, is, I believe, one of the best motivators to share the gospel.

 

Now I’d like to focus particularly on the joy of serving others. Recently, on JustServe’s Instagram account, they posted a poll that said “Have you ever felt joy after serving someone?” and, as expected, the results were 100% yes. We have been told many times by apostles and general authorities that one of the best ways to experience joy is to stop focusing on yourself, and instead focus on helping others. Some of my best memories involve providing service and helping others. Last year, I had to get 60 service hours, so my parents and I decided to serve dinner once a week at the Men’s Roadhome. We would just stand there for about two hours and serve dinner, and while it wasn't the most exciting thing, every once in a while we would get someone who was so appreciative and was genuinely so grateful. While scooping dinners wasn’t always my favorite thing to do and wasn’t necessarily the thing that brought me joy, I was always happy by the time we left because I had stopped thinking about everything else going on in my life for a brief period and could just focus on helping other people. 

In a BYU speech from 1977, President Hinckley said “The most miserable people I know are those obsessed with themselves; the happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others.” Christ’s life and ministry was all about helping others and showing them genuine love and care, so our lives should be the same.

 

When we serve others and show our love for them, we feel joy. This is because we are trying to emulate Christ and do what He did. Christ’s life was spent finding the one and helping them, serving others, teaching others, and bringing them to a knowledge of the gospel. These are the things that He was put here to do, and I do not doubt that bringing people to the gospel brought Him joy because they now get to know of the blessings that come from it and experience the joy and peace that accompany this knowledge. When we do these things, as Christ did, we will also feel joy. If we truly have a testimony of the church, and if it is something that brings us joy, why wouldn’t we want to share it with others?

As a missionary, I’ll have the opportunity to go out every day and search for people who are ready and willing to learn about the gospel. I know this will be the highlight of my mission because for me, having the gospel in my life has been the greatest blessing and has helped me through so many things. I sometimes think about what my life would be like without the gospel and how I’ve been blessed because of it. What would my life be like if I didn’t have faith that I’d be with my family forever and I didn’t believe that I could be forgiven for my mistakes? 

When I went through the temple for the first time, I was told to focus not so much on everything that was said and done, but rather focus on how I was feeling and any impressions that came to my mind. I think I spent the majority of the time thinking about my family and how amazing it was that I was able to do this with them. When I finally reached the celestial room, the first thing I saw was my family all waiting for me. This was the best part of the whole experience for me because after I’d just been thinking about my family and the opportunity that I had to go through the temple with them, there they were at the end, waiting for me with open arms. I know it brought all of us joy that I’d chosen to do this and that we could be united more deeply, and I believe that is how Christ and our Heavenly Father feel when we choose to do what they have asked, which above all is to love Them and love our neighbors. When we are there for those who need help and when we provide service, we are showing our love for them. We are treating them like children of God, and like our brothers and sisters. I believe we have primarily been put here to be a positive influence in other’s lives. To show them the love that our Heavenly Parents and Christ have for them, and essentially just be someone that they can rely on and can turn to in any situation. 

President Oaks says that “Love of God and love of His children is the highest reason for service. Those who teach out of love will be magnified as instruments in the hands of Him whom they serve.”

 

Now all of these things, serving and loving others, are done through Christ. Without Christ, we wouldn’t have the perfect example of how we should be. Because of Christ, we are able to work on these things and continuously grow. He has given us prophets who are His mouthpiece on the earth and who give direct revelation from Heavenly Father regarding what we need to be doing not only for others but also for ourselves. We receive direction from prophets and scriptures, but also through the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is one of the greatest gifts our Heavenly Father could give us, and more often than not, he is a source of peace and joy as well. For me, the Holy Ghost is someone I know I can rely on to guide me through difficult times and important decisions. When making the decision of which college to go to, I tried to rely heavily on the Holy Ghost and on revelation. 

While I knew that having an angel appear in my room and give me the answer probably wasn’t the most realistic hope, at that point that’s what I was looking for. I kept praying about it and praying about which program and school would be better, but never felt like I had a solid answer. When it started to get close to when I needed to make my decision, I still didn’t know what to do. There is a quote by Elder Scott that I’ve always loved and have used throughout my life which says “When you are living righteously and are acting with trust, God will not let you proceed too far without a warning impression if you have made the wrong decision.” I had faith that no matter which decision I made, the Holy Ghost would be there to guide me, and this is one of the many gifts which Christ has given us. A Member of the Godhead who can always be there to guide us and help us through whatever we need. Above all, the greatest gift that Christ has given us is Himself. Christ died for us, atoned for our sins, and was resurrected all so that we can be saved and live with Him and our Father again. Christ is the person that we can turn to in any situation, no matter what. He is the only one who completely understands us and anything we’re going through, which is one of the greatest blessings we could ever have.

 

When we are told to share the gospel and serve others, we can look to Christ as our perfect example. Although we may not know exactly how to help everyone, we can turn to Christ because He knows exactly what they are going through and what can provide comfort. We can teach others as He has taught us, and we can bring them to Him through our words and actions. I know that when we do all things through Christ, nothing is impossible and we can help bring joy into other people’s lives. I’d like to bear my testimony that…