My farewell address

            During one of the first weeks of the summer, my family had the opportunity to spend a week on a houseboat at Lake Powell.  While we were there, we spent the week with our boat parked in a small bay about the size and shape of a typical neighborhood cul-de-sac. In fact, after the first day we were there, that’s what we referred to it as. We anchored, swam, played, and just relaxed at the cul-de-sac. For a few short days, life was fun, relaxing, and stress free all at the same time. But, as we all know, life never stays like that for very long.

            If any of you remember back to the month of June, we had a very hot month. And every summer, the heat, combined with the snow in the mountains produces what is known as run-off. Now, run-off is very important to the state of Utah, and is a constant source of anxiety to my dad, who worries about just about everything in the news. So the snowpack is built during the winter, and melts during the summer, and goes to the reservoirs, which helps keep our state wet during the dry summer months. This is really good for the entire state, since we’re always in a drought. But this summer, we happened to be on one of those reservoirs! Now, I don’t know the exact size of Lake Powell, but for those who’ve been there, you know it’s a massive lake. And during that first week, the water rose an average of 1 foot per day! Awesome for the hydration of the state, but again, we were on the lake. Staying in a boat. With anchors already fixed in place, on good, solid, immovable rocks. With water moving upward 1 foot per day. Now, that might not seem super important, but for every foot in elevation the water rose, it moved the shoreline three feet further, and our boat was then left further off shore. Our ropes began to get slack.

            Again, it might not seem like a huge problem. I mean, the anchors were still there. Our boat wasn’t going to move anywhere. We weren’t going to drift away. But the problem was that if the wind picked up at all, and our boat wasn’t tight against the shore, it could cause the hull to grate on the shore, or even smash against some of the rocks.

            Fortunately, we had a very observant captain, who noticed this quickly and made sure we tightened our ropes at least twice a day, morning and evening. We even moved one of our anchors to higher ground at least once. Because we paid attention to how much higher the water was getting in relation to the anchors, we were able to keep our vessel close to the shore, and, at the end of the week, back to the dock with no damage.

            Now, just like we had to take measures with our anchor ropes to keep us safe, there are certain things that we can do in our lives to tighten our ropes, so to speak, or to keep us safe. And just like our houseboat had four anchors, I’ve identified four key things we can do to keep our ropes tight and keep us safe from the waves and tides of the world. These four keys that can help to protect our spirit, and act as a port to any storm. In fact, that’s an acronym to help remember those four things. P-O-R-T. Port.

            The first letter, P, stands for Prayer. Prayer is essential for our spiritual protection. In D&C 10, v. 5, it says: “Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work.”

            Pretty straightforward, right? If we pray always, we will have the power to conquer Satan. I don’t know about you, but in the rising calamities of the world, that’s something that I’d definitely want the power do do. But praying is more than just a way to get away from the adversary. It is our best way of communicating with God. In “True To The Faith”, under the topic of prayer, it says this: “You are a child of God. Your Heavenly Father loves you and knows your needs, and he wants you to communicate with him through prayer. . . . As you make a habit of approaching God in prayer, you will come to know him and draw ever nearer to Him. Your desires will become more like His. You will be able to secure for yourself and for others blessings that He is ready to give if you will but ask in faith.”

            One of my favorite stories on the power of prayer is that of Alma the Younger. During his rebellious youth, as many of you know, he went around trying to destroy the church, until one day he was confronted by an Angel of God. In Mosiah 27, verse 14, it tells us that the angel says this to Alma. “Behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth; therefore, for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith.”

            Alma then repented from his sins and went on to become the high priest, chief judge, and one of the most powerful missionaries of his time. So if Alma’s father could pray for his son and receive an answer, we can definitely pray for our own help and protection. And I know that God hears and answers our prayers if we are faithful. And actually, that brings us to the next anchor.

            The second anchor that helps create our PORT is Obedience. In D&C 130:21, it says “and when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated,” or in other words, There are certain blessings associated with certain commandments, such as the health in the navel and marrow to the bones promised in following the Word of Wisdom, and we can only receive those blessings if we follow the commandments associated with them.

            Just like the attention we payed to the anchors on the houseboat, if we are strict to observe the commandments the Lord has given us we will be given freedom, rather than being bound down. The commandments the Lord has given us are there to keep us free. In True To The Faith, under the topic of Obedience it says this:

            “Many people feel that the commandments are burdensome and that they limit freedom from personal growth. But the Savior taught that true freedom comes only from following Him: ‘If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’ (John 8:31-32) God gives commandments for your benefit. They are loving instruction for your happiness and your physical and spiritual well being.”

            I know from personal experience that God’s commandments set us free rather than tie us down. When we start following Satan and disobeying the laws set by the Lord, we are caught in the snared, and then our freedom begins to be restricted. And I know that true happiness comes from following Christ.

           

            The third rope to keep tight on our PORT, the letter R, is Read. And by that, I mean read the scriptures, or learn of God’s wishes for us. Read can apply to reading the Ensign, listening to and watching General Conference, going to and participating at church, or anything else that will help us learn for ourselves God’s will for us. I mean, we can’t follow God’s commandments if we don’t even try to find out what they are!

            In D&C section 9, the Lord tells us exactly how to obtain answers to that question, or any question we have. We can’t just pray and expect to immediately receive an answer, there is work required on our part. The Lord tells us “I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel it is right.

            The Lord expects us to learn for ourselves in this life, since all we can take with us into the next life is what we’ve learned. Personal scripture study, as well as treasuring up the words of modern prophets will help us to keep our baptismal covenant to always remember Christ, as well as to keep our minds away from things that could cause us to get into difficult situations with the adversary.

            The final anchor to our spiritual PORT, the letter T, is the one I believe to be the most important of all. Temple. We have been so blessed to live in a state where temples are so available, and we have one just 15 minutes drive away from this building!

            The temple is one of the few places that I can go to truly experience peace from the distractions and troubles of life. And I know that at the temple, we can receive guidance for ourselves that we are unable to find from any other source. When we make an effort to regularly attend the temple, not only do we help those who have passed on, but we receive countless blessings from the Lord.

            Just thinking on the blessings that we have of living so close to the temple reminds me of a story told by Anne C. Pingree in the October 2003 General Conference. She told about when her husband was a mission president in Nigeria, and how they would often travel around the different branches to give temple recommend interviews to the saints there. She remembers this time in particular because of two relief society sisters from the branch who they realized had walked a distance of 9 miles one way, just to get to the interview site so they could receive a temple recommend they would likely never use. The reason they wouldn’t be able to use them is because the nearest temple was in Johannesburg, South Africa, an entire different country, at a distance of around 3000 miles away.

            These sisters knew that although they would not be able to use these recommends in their lifetime, and be able to attend the temple, but they also knew that they could receive blessings by always being worthy to enter in to the temple of the Lord, and that one day, whether in this life or in the next, they would have the opportunity to make those sacred covenants with our Lord. They had already decided that when that day came, they would be ready and waiting.

            This story not only reminds me of how blessed we are to be able to put our recommends to good use, but also reminds me that although some blessings we are promised may seem far off, in the end, if we are faithful and endure to the end, we will receive all that was promised ot us. I know that this is true, and that all we have to do to get back to heaven is be spiritually clean. In the Sunday School class taught by the Kjars this past year, one of the things that has been stressed is that we don’t have to be perfect, we are commanded to be clean, and that through the atonement of Jesus Christ, we can be made clean from any of our problems and be worthy of the blessings of the temple.

            So, in these ever troubling times, times that we all need protection from the influence of the adversary, if we seek the PORT of Christ by Praying, Obeying, Reading and learning of his will for us, and attending the Temple often, I know that we will be able to find peace from our troubles, answers to our questions, and consolation to all our fears through the power of the Atonement. We must always remember that the love of Christ is more powerful than any influence on this world.

            As I have prepared to go out into the mission field, I have put these four keys to protection to the test, and I just want you to know that they are true, and they work. I know that the Lord loves me, and I know that he loves each and every one of you. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I’ve had to grow up in this magnificent area, and I have learned so much here that I don’t think I could have learned anywhere else. I know that God has a perfect plan for us all, and that we are blessed when we are faithful in keeping his commandments. And I know that the love of our Savior Jesus Christ is more powerful than anything else that has ever and will ever be on the earth.

            I say these things in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.