Sister Gish's Homecoming Talk

Homecoming Talk

            Good morning brothers and sisters! It feels so good to be up here speaking today! I recently returned home from serving in the Colorado Fort Collins mission! It was one of the greatest experiences of my life, but it definitely feels good to be among my friends and family in the New Haven ward! Today I was asked to expound on my mission and to talk about what my mission taught me about loving my fellow man. I honestly couldn’t have picked a more perfect topic to speak on today because love was at the very center of my whole mission. It was such a sweet experience because I would have these moments where my heart felt so full and right when I didn’t think I could be any happier or love anymore, the Lord would bless us with another person to teach or someone would return to the fold, but I have to say it didn’t come easy.

            I thought that when I was set apart, that I would automatically have this overwhelming love for everyone I came in contact with, but I was dead wrong. I got to the field and guess what? People were not always nice to us. People we tracted into were mean, they would say rude things to us, they would bash the church, and sometimes they would just straight up ignore us.  That was hard because rejection is uncomfortable. I remember reading this scripture in 1 nephi 19:9 about christ’s ministry. It says:

“And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men.”

So I started to realize that things weren’t going to be easy for me. I certainly knew that they were not easy for Christ. So I needed to learn how he got through it and I remember my first general conference as a missionary, Jeffrey R Holland gave a talk called “Be Ye Therefore Perfect- Eventually.” In the talk he is talking about the perfect love that God and Christ have for and he says:

“I am grateful to know that in spite of my imperfections, at least God is perfect- that at least He is, for example able to love His enemies, because too often, due to the “natural man” and woman in us, you and I are sometimes that enemy. How grateful I am that at least God can bless those who despitefully use Him because without wanting or intending to do so, we all despitefully use him sometimes.”

So there it was. I knew that if I wanted to love the people, I needed to love God. I needed to learn to see His children as He does. And the key to doing this is found in the Book of Mormon. In Moroni 7:45-47 it explains what this Christ-like love is, why we need it, and how we can gain it. It says:

“And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Wherefore my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail.

But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

Wherefore my beloved brethren, pray unto the father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his son Jesus Christ.”

I love that scripture. It taught me that without charity, I was nothing, so clearly I would need it to be an effective missionary. It taught me that I couldn’t just pray for it, but I had to pray for it with all the energy of my heart. I had to plead with God to give it to me because it is a gift that he only gives to those who truly follow the Savior.

So I prayed harder than I ever had before, and I strengthened my faith in the savior, I learned of His character, and repented daily so I could be more like him and when I did that, my love for people grew in every aspect of my life.

-My love for my family grew- right? Distance makes the heart grow fonder. I came to realize how much my family actually did for me!

-I came to love the members of the wards that I served in. People always say it’s not the place, it’s the people and that is so true. I lived with members for most of my mission, and what a sweet experience that was. I was very fortunate to get to eat with members on my mission and I came to love and respect each and every one of them. They always made being from home easier and I could feel my Savior’s love through them, and in turn that made me love the Savior.
-I came to have a great love for each and every single one of my companions. That wasn’t always easy. it’s inevitable that when you spend time with someone 24/7 that you will find things that annoy you. Sometimes, I had companions that were easy to love because we just seemed to click. Sometimes I had companions that I struggled to find things in common with. But, In the Missionary Handbook it talks about your relationship with your companions and it says specifically to “look for the good in each companion” and to “find ways to serve one another.” I testify that it was when I would serve my companions and when I would look for the good that my companion and I were able to teach with more power and conviction. We were united, and each and every single one of my companions taught me how to be more like the Savior. I will forever be thankful for all 11 of my sweet companions.

-I came to love, on a very deep level, the people that I taught. Now, all missions are hard for different reasons, but in my mission it can be very difficult to find people to teach. So I didn’t teach that many people. I only witnessed 6 people I taught enter the waters of baptism. There were times in my mission where that was really discouraging. I would read the emails of my friends in foreign countries and how they had more baptisms in one week than I had my whole mission. It was times like that where I had to remember that it is about the one. That maybe it wasn’t god’s will for me to teach hundreds of people. Maybe I was there to find the one. Maybe that one was myself, but none the less this church, this Work, Jesus Christ is all about the one. I love this scripture in 3 Nephi 11:15 when the savior appears to the people in America.

“And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into His side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.”

What a pleasure it was teaching the people of Colorado and Wyoming one by one. I came to love each and every one of those 6 converts and I came to love a countless number of returning members. It was a miracle to watch people grow their faith in Jesus Christ! As they prayed with real intent and as they read the scriptures, they came to know who Jesus Christ is, they wanted to become like Him, so they repented. I know more than ever that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is big enough. For anything. For anyone. I saw it change the lives of people from a variety of backgrounds.

            Most importantly, I came to love Jesus Christ. My mission allowed me to study His life more than I ever had before. I could feel His love and His spirit every day. My faith in him grew and He turned my collection of ideas about Him into a relationship with Him. I relied on His atonement to change me! I came to love the sacrament more than ever before. What a sacred privilege we have to reflect on His sacrifice every week. One of my favorite things I ever heard on my mission was “The sacrament may not be a saving ordinance, but it is the ordinance that saves us.” I know that Christ’s way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. As we live His gospel our love for Him and for others increases.

So I invite you to strengthen your faith in Jesus Christ, and to repent, and to make covenants with Him such as baptism, confirmation, and those covenants that we make in His holy temples. I would encourage the youth in the ward to seriously consider serving missions. You are all needed. You all have such an amazing light to share, and there are people out there searching for the truth. You have the capacity to change someone’s life, and even more than that a mission and the Savior could change yours. I know this because mine has been changed forever.

I will end with my testimony that I love the Savior. What a pleasure it was to bear His name for 18 months. I know that He lives today and that He is the Savior of the World. I know that He and His father appeared to the boy Joseph Smith and they called Him to be a prophet. I know that through Joseph Smith, Christ restored His church and His priesthood to the earth today. I am thankful for the Book of Mormon. It truly testifies of the Savior on every page and it brings people closer to Him. I know that God still guides us today through our loving prophet, Russell M. Nelson. This is my testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.