Roger's farwell speech: The Savior, His special plans for us, and His angels

The Savior, His special plans for us, and His angels Hello everybody!! Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers, Happy Sunday to everyone else! So glad to see everyone here! I emailed bishop earlier this week, asking if there is any topic assigned to my farewell address. He responded right back and ask me to talk about my conversion story and anything to do with the savior. …I think that’s a great idea. In fact, I think telling a story sounds way easier than giving a farewell address. So, I am going to tell you this story, and I promise, everything happened in the story has to do with the Savior.         A talk must have a topic or theme, however, even it’s a story. So I decided to make up a topic myself. I believe that our Savior doesn’t not only give us the Great Plan of Salvation but also a unique plan which each person has their own. I also believe that throughout these special plans he gives us, our Savior send us angles to prepare the way among us so we may bear testimony of Him. Brothers and Sisters, the topic of my talk today is “The Savior, His special plans for us, and His angels” In the summer before my sophomore year, I and my sister Grace signed up for the exchange student program, decided that we wanted to experience a new life in America. The first thing and the most important thing an exchange student must do is to find a hosting family. The way to do this is that we tell the program agency what our backgrounds are, and what kind of hosting families we are looking for. The agency then helps us to find families that match the best. At that time, everyone in my family was the new member of the church but me. I did not know much about this church. But surely didn’t like how this church suddenly changed the lives of my family. I was upset that my family suddenly stopped doing fun things on Sunday, stopped buying my favorite milk tea, and that we always need to praise God before we eat meals. So I remember when the agency asked us what kind of family we prefer the most, Grace wanted only LDS families, and I told them that any family that is not Christian and doesn’t go to church on Sunday is fine for me. It turned out that my sister found her hosting family just in a couple of days, a LDS familyJust the kind of family she wanted. At the mean time, me and  non-Christian family were just seemed to have trouble finding each others.   Before I continue on what happened after I was having trouble finding a host family that doesn’t go to church, I want to talk about Elder Bai. Elder Bai served in our local branch before this whole exchange-students thing. When he was serving there, my mom invited all the missionaries for dinners as usual and met  him. However, for some reasons Elder Bai had to pause his mission and go back home for a while. When he was back on his mission, he was surprisingly called to serve in our home town again, but this time in a different branch which shares the same church building with ours. Because Elder Bai goes to the church at different times from my family, he seldom saw my family anymore. There was one time, however, my parents stayed at church a little bit longer for a meetings, and Elder Bai and his companion went to church earlier. Elder Bai saw my mother and said hi. It turned out that my mother has invited too many missionaries, so when Elder Bai introduced himself again, she did not really remember him. But she could feel the desire of this elder for coming to our house again. I once thought that he wanted to come to my house because of the food,(my mom is a good cook) but now I realize he wanted to come because he was guided by the Spirit. My mother asked my sister Grace to find a good excuse, so Elder Bai and his companion can come to my house (remember we were in different branches). She made it. This was when Grace was being all cool on her exchange students thing and hadd started contacting her hosting family, and was when I decided to give up on non-Christian family, telling my mother that any families would be fine, even LDS, since it was very late for the hosting arranagement.        On the day of Elder Bai’ visiting, Elder Bai’s companion, Elder Castleton heard the situation and told us: Hey, contact my parents in California, maybe they will host you! When we got hold to Brother and Sister Castleton, the high school I will be going has already started for two weeks. I flew to the Castleton family in less than ten days after we called them. It was Sunday when I arrived the Castleton family in California. Meanwhile, my mom stayed late at at church, trying to find Elder Castleton and Elder Bai. She looked into every classroom but she couldn’t find them anywhere. She suddenly realized how difficult it is to actually run into or see someone who is not in your branch. Finally, she found the Elders at Sunday school. My mom quietly told Elder Castleton, “My son is at your parent’s house now, thank you!” Before Elder Castleton had time to respond, Elder Bai told my mom: “Sister Chu, it’s so nice to know you. I am being transferred tomorrow.” Both Bible Dictionary and The Guild to the Scriptures tell us that other than immortal angels, a divine messenger, a righteous mortal man is also called angel. Savior sends us angles “to cause us to behold of his glory”. In Moroni 7:31, Moroni tells us that the office of angel’s ministry: is to call men unto repentance, and to fulfil and to do the work of the covenants of the Father, which he hath made unto the children of men, to prepare the way among the children of men, by declaring the word of Christ unto the achosen vessels of the Lord, that they may bear testimony of him. It wasn’t until later after my mom told me everything that I understand how meaningful this story is. Now the more I think what happened, the more I think that the Savior has made me a special plan. He sent Elder Bai as His angle to come back to Hualien for another two months. So Elder Bai can lead me in finding a worthily LDS family, where I can gain my own testimony and have a chance to remember my Savior once again. Once I found the family, the Savior then send Elder Bai to somewhere else, where he can prepare the way for someone else. If I were a seed, Elder Bai and Elder Castleton were the angels that put me in soil, then Castleton family were that soil which gave me nourishment. When we called the number that Elder Castleton gave us, his parents were on a vacation. It wasn’t until three weeks later that we finally got in touch with Missy Castleton, Elder Castleton’s mom.After Missy understood what my mother was asking, she told my mother right away that I can stay with her family for a year with no charge. My mom was surprised, she thought that her English was not good enough for Missy to fully understand her. And she wondered: for such a big thing to hosting a non-member stranger, doesn’t Missy need to discuss with her husband first? It wasn’t till later Missy told us that she usually does discuss everything with her husband first. But when my mother called her, she strongly felt the Spirit telling her to say yes to my mom’s request.         After the calling, my mom emailed Missy my information, autobiography letter, and a picture of my family. Missy put the picture on the fridge. That was the second picture in their house that has Chinese people on it. The first picture was taken for Elder Castleton with his first converter during the baptism. Although he didn’t baptize the new converter, he taught her all the lessons, so the picture means a lot to him. One day Elder Castleton’s sister came home and, to her surprise, she found that my parents were also in that baptism picture! It turned out that the new converter is the student of my mother. She hoped that my father can baptize her. However, she was in the west side of Taiwan, when my family were in the east. It is a six-hour car ride. My dad is a busy man. The baptism was thus arranged at a time when he had meetings both before and after that baptism. Therefore, he rushed into the church, baptized her, took a picture, and rush out. He had no time to get to meet Elder Castleton, but only left his image on the picture, which had been hanged in Castleton house for over one year when I arrived. I believe that savior has been watched over my life ever since I wasn’t even a member. In fact, I believe that the Savior is watching all of us. To him, the aworth of every souls is great in the sight because he truly loves us. The love of our savoir to us is general and universal. He loves everyone in the same way--- a great and infinite love. Because he loves us greatly, he gives us the Great plan of salvation, giving us a chance to have Eternal Life and to be with Him again. The love of our savoir is also unique and specific. He knows every single person on earth just like their mothers do. Because he loves us so specifically, he also gives each of us a unique plan, helping us to grow spiritually. The plan for each person is different, but everyone has a plan that is best for him. My patriarchal blessing says that I am a product of many families, that the Savior has had a hand in their lives in helping to build me. Indeed. In the plan the savior gives me, he sends me many angles to help me build up testimony. He sent Elder Bai and Elder Castleton to give me Castleton family, where my heart was soften, where I started to like LDS. He knew my testimony would still not be strong enough to want to make a covenant with him after a year living with them. Thus, right before my Junior year when I was finding hosting family again, he sent Natalie Cook to Taiwan, so I got to stay with her family. And for my senior year, he sent me Hattie Prosence, so I got to stay with the Prosence family. When I stayed with these two wonderful families, my testimony gets to grow stronger and stronger. In December 2009, I felt like that my testimony of the Savior is strong enough and I made my first covenant with Him in the baptism found. Life is usually cool, sweat, awesome, but there are always time when we face difficulty or adversity. When we do face difficulty, just remember that the Savior loves us, that all difficulties we encounter are part of the special plans He gives each of us. He plans us to have difficulties in our lives, not to fail us, but to let us learn, grow, so we can be more perfect like him. And we shall always remember that the Savior never let us fight alone. In his plans, he always sends his angels to help us. His angels can be anyone. Our parents, our siblings, our friends, or even someone we don’t know. Meanwhile, we should know that we ourselves could be the angles of God. We may be the angel that God has planned to help out someone, to prepare someone’s way, or to change someone’s life. I want to encourage all of us do be a righteous mortal man, to find ways in our lives that we can be the angels of God. We can do this just by doing little things such as saying hi to a stranger, home teaching and such. But most importantly, we shall always listen to our Spirit, pray often and ask our Father: Is there anyone that I can help today? Is there anything that I can do? We should all to be active helping others. Elder Bednar once taught, “don’t be an object that is acted upon, but be an agent who acts”. I believe that we can’t be an angel just by only being a righteous mortal man, but by being a righteous mortal man who acts as an agent, who seeks chances to help others every day. M. RUSSELL BALLARD “If we could truly understand the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, we would realize how precious is one son or daughter of God. I believe our Heavenly Father's everlasting purpose for His children is generally achieved by the small and simple things we do for one another.” I want to bear my testimony to you, that I do know that our savior lives, and that the Book of Mormon is true, and that Prophet Joseph Smith was the person who translated it, who is also the person who restored the Gospel. I also know that God gives us a great plan of salvation and a unique plan for each of us. I also believe in ministering angles, that will help us overcome our difficulties. I am so grateful for everyone, my families, my host families, my friends, and the wards I have been through. You guys built me, set good examples, and helped my testimony grow. I know that God’s plan for me hasn’t and never ends. He has sent me on a mission in Seattle. I am grateful to be called to serve my mission in Seattle. I know that is where the Savior planned me to go, where my faith and testimony will grow the most, where I will meet more angels, and where I can myself be the angle of God. I want to end with: Third Nephi 5:13 13 Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life.