Farewell Talk

Hello Friends, it’s my hope and my prayer that what I have prepared for you today can add to the spirit of this meeting that is already here. Over the course of this year, I have run into old friends, made new ones, and increase talent and skill in various hobbies all while having Jesus Christ in the center. This year ended up being the most important year of my life. I had the opportunity to graduate high school, play in a bunch of golf tournaments, drink a lot of Dr. Pepper and have as much fun as any 18-year-old could have. I traveled to some bucket list destinations and saw the world in a bigger light. But through it all the greatest decision I ever made was to be a missionary for the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints.

Today I will be discussing the topic of how has the atonement has helped me grow closer to the savior. In Matthew 26:39 it states “And he went a little further and fell on his face and prayed saying o my Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me nevertheless not as I will l but as thou wilt”. When I think of the atonement, I think of Jesus Christ kneeling in the garden. Asking Heavenly Father is there any other way. Like Christ always did he put the Fathers needs before his own. I can picture the blood from his head down to his feet and all the suffering, pain, sorrows, and all transgressions that he witnessed. That same night he would be taken to be crucified. I think of the beating he took in his side and the nails bashed into his hands and wrists but there through it all he remained proving to the world that he was and still is the savior of the world.

Brothers and Sisters, I chose to serve a mission for three reasons. The first being I have felt the power of Jesus Christ and it is something that I cannot deny, second is the lord needs me to serve, and third I want to lose myself in the service of others. Through examples of my life, I will share why I have selected these three reasons. Many years ago, I had the great privilege of attending a program called EFY. In this program you leave home for a week and meet people from all across the world. In the beginning, you have no idea who anyone is but by the time we all got to Saturday we didn’t want to go home. Throughout the week you attend multiple classes that have one topic. It was here in these lessons that I was able to find a sure understanding of the gospel. It was a Wednesday meaning round two of classes. The topic we talked about was surely enough the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We had a great teacher who found ways to corollate the gospel and the world to us. Ill never forget the pause he took in the middle of that lesson. At the same time, I was struck with an overwhelming feeling of what he was saying was true. For the first time in my life, I personally knew the lord was speaking to me through that brother. It was the most monumental thing that happened to me because on that day I knew I had truly become one with God and felt that everlasting power of the gospel. 

In October of 2021, I had the chance to receive my patriarchal blessing. In there I noticed it states Brexten you will serve a mission for the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints. When I heard it, I was stunned, all of my prayers all of my truths I had learned all came full circle. At this point I knew the next step was to start preparing to be a missionary. Ever since then this doubt kept coming back, you have all of these friends who are going to amazing places like Germany, Spain, and even Brazil and you’re just going to South Carolina. I knew I stopped thinking it was doubt as soon as the thought finished in my mind. Deep down inside I knew I made the right choice, the choice of even going in the first place. I remembered that no matter where you get called it’s not about where you serve its about how you serve. 

Lastly, I’d like to share a story regarding the atonement it goes as follows.  I would like to speak of one particular attitude and practice, we need to adopt if we are to meet our Heavenly Father’s high expectations. It is this: willingly to accept and even seek correction. President Hugh B. Brown told of purchasing a rundown farm in Canada many years ago. As he went about cleaning up and repairing his property, he came across a currant bush that had grown over six feet (1.8 m) high and was yielding no berries, so he pruned it back drastically, leaving only small stumps. Then he saw a drop like a tear on the top of each of these little stumps, as if the currant bush were crying, and thought he heard it say: “How could you do this to me? I was making such wonderful growth. … And now you have cut me down. Every plant in the garden will look down on me. … How could you do this to me? I thought you were the gardener here.”

President Brown replied, “Look, little currant bush, I am the gardener here, and I know what I want you to be. I didn’t intend you to be a fruit tree or a shade tree. I want you to be a currant bush, and someday, little currant bush, when you are laden with fruit, you are going to say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down.’”

Years later, President Brown was in line to be promoted to general, but even though he was fully qualified for the promotion, it was denied him because he was a Mormon. Continuing his story, President Brown remembered: “I got on the train and started back … with a broken heart, with bitterness in my soul. … When I got to my tent, … I threw my cap on the cot. I clenched my fists, and I shook them at heaven. I said, ‘How could you do this to me, God? I have done everything I could do to measure up. There is nothing that I could have done—that I should have done—that I haven’t done. How could you do this to me?’

“And then I heard a voice, It was my own voice, and the voice said, ‘I am the gardener here. I know what I want you to do.’ The bitterness went out of my soul, and I fell on my knees to ask forgiveness for my ungratefulness. …  “… And now, almost 50 years later, I look up to [God] and say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for cutting me down, for loving me enough to hurt me.’”5

As I reflect upon this last year, I think of all the people who greatly impacted my life. I could say my dad for giving me my golf clubs, I could say my friends for letting me be a part of their lives but the person I think of is my mother. She spent every waking moment in my corner no matter how bad or how good my life has been. The lesson I will take away from her is there is nothing more powerful than a mother’s love. I have received that gift not just from God but my mother as well. So, mom this is my promise as we learn in proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the lord with all the heart and lean not unto thy own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall grant thy paths. It is through this truth and through this passage I have grown up with loving parents in a house where home was moved around a lot but it didn’t matter because to me home was with my family and not in any house, we lived in.

Every missionary receives a plaque for two years of service. On that plaque is things about where they serve and having a scripture that helps them serve. To find mine I searched and I prayed I worried and I studied what would be the best for me. That scripture is And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.    9.55

Bear your testimony: thank dad, thank sisters, thank grandmas, thank Jordan, thank everyone else and make sure to smile and say name of Jesus Christ amen.