Mission Farewell Talks (From 8/12/17)

Grandma's Talk:

FAITH

When I was a child my mother was not a member of the LDS faith and my dad wasn’t active in the Church.  Someone went out of their way to pick me up each week for Primary.  It was there that I learned about basic gospel principles, including faith.  I heard scripture stories and testimonies of others about miracles happening because of faith.  How cool would that be to move a mountain or heal the sick! I really wanted this power so I took a few minutes - I prayed, I believed, I truly felt that God was my Father and Jesus was the Christ.  I accepted the BoM and Joseph Smith as a prophet.  I figured I now had the faith necessary to do just about anything.  Well, when my prayers weren’t answered the way I wanted, I started to doubt myself and my faith. What wasn’t I doing well enough? What did I need to change to get the faith I needed! Over the years I have sought out an understanding of Faith. And I continue to do so.

Faith is not something magic as I thought as a child but the foundation or bedrock on which to build.

We are told in Alma 32:  That faith is not a perfect knowledge. We must start with just a desire to have faith – 32:27 says we just need to exercise a particle of faith.  In verse 28 faith is compared to a seed.  Our desire for fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet peas, corn and squash lead us to plant seeds in our gardens.  Planting the seed is an act of faith.  We plant the seed of faith in our spiritual gardens knowing that if we continue to care for the garden, the plants will flourish. The plants green up and grow but we don’t see the ripened crop immediately. What do we know for sure at this point?  We now know that the seeds were good because we can see the growth. This in and of itself provides a sense of satisfaction.  As it says in verse 28, even the realization that the seeds sprouted is “delicious to me.”  Then in verse 36 and 37 we read:

36 Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither must ye lay aside your faith, for ye have only exercised your faith to plant the seed that ye might try the experiment to know if the seed was good.

37 And behold, as the tree beginneth to grow, ye will say: Let us nourish it with great care, that it may get root, that it may grow up, and bring forth fruit unto us. And now behold, if ye nourish it with much care it will get root, and grow up, and bring forth fruit.

It was not enough just to plant the seed and expect a bounteous harvest of summer vegetables.  We need to continue to work on our garden.  It needs weeding, watering and fertilizing.   We need to protect it from bugs and deer.  

This past week in the MTC was one of the highlights of my life spiritually. I learned so much as we studied the scriptures and were taught by our incredible young adult trainers

One of the things we did on our second day there was to go over to the second floor of the new part of the MTC.  8 of us sat in front of a huge beautiful mural of Moses standing on the mountain top.  Moses is all alone on top of that mountain top as are each of us in our lives ….The scripture that accompanies this mural is Moses 1:6

6 And I have a work for thee, Moses, my son; and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten; and mine Only Begotten is and shall be the Savior, for he is full of grace and truth; but there is no God beside me, and all things are present with me, for I know them all.

As I looked at the mural, it was as if the Lord was speaking to me:  “I have a work for thee, Marilyn, my daughter.”  I want you to be a woman of faith.  A mother.  A grandmother.  A friend--and now, a missionary.

Another one of the murals that we got to enjoy was of Moses parting the Red Sea.  In Exodus 3:11 Moses is questioning the Lord.  He says ”Who am I , that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?  (I am slow of speech and get nervous in crowds.) I can ask myself similar questions,  …Who am I that I should be a mom, be a teacher, or serve as a missionary in Brazil?  I’m sure each of us can say. “Who am I that I should be a Primary teacher, the scout leader or bishop?"

Do I have enough faith in Jesus Christ to accomplish anything He wants me to do? My answer is yes!  A particle of faith is all we need!  As we serve that tiny seed of faith will continue to grow!

Planting that tiny seed of faith ourselves is more powerful than having a personal visit from an angel.  Alma the Younger is a great example of this principle.  He had a visit from an angel that told him if he didn’t want to plant his own spiritual garden, he should at least quit destroying the garden of his friends and family.  

Most of us think that a visit from an angel alone would be enough to shape us up.  But we learn that it wasn’t the visit from the angel that caused Alma and the sons of Mosiah to gain a testimony.   The angel just gave them the desire.   

Alma 5:45 – 46: Behold, I testify unto you that I do know that these things whereof I have spoken are true. And how do ye suppose that I know of their surety?

 46 Behold, I say unto you they are made a known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God. Behold, I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit.

The Angel may have given Alma the desire, but it was his own study, fasting and prayer (“hard work”) that resulted in a testimony. It all starts when we have a simple desire to plant the seed.

Neal Maxwell quote:

"The submission of one's will is really the only uniquely personal thing that we have to place on God's altar. The many other things we 'give' are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us."

The Gospel is a process for continuous personal change...continually moving forward in faith towards achieving our full potential as sons and daughters of God.

What I do know today that I didn’t know as a child is that ….

I do have faith enough to accept God's will for me to be a tool in his hands. I have faith enough to leave home and serve knowing that I will be placed in a position to make a difference in someone’s life. I have faith that as we serve in Brazil, our family will be fine.

Papa's Talk:

FAITH:  SPIRITUAL GARDEN SEED

(Matthew 17:20; Mark 4:30-32)

“If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”

“Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God?  It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth:  But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.”

1. Comments Regarding Song By Family & Marilyn’s Remarks (as prompted)

• 46 years ago, Sister Anderson and I were sealed as husband and wife in the Los Angeles Temple.  Thus, our branch of God’s family tree was planted.  We knew nothing about gardening, except it had something to do with seeds, water, fertilization, food, housing and education.  That beautiful song about families, and those that sang it, are some of the delicious fruits of our novice gardening venture.  
• Families and finance have a lot in common.  
• In finance, we save early and watch the interest compound.   
• In families, we spend early and watch the love compound.
• As our family tree continues to flourish, we have witnessed the  power of “love compounded.”
• For the Anderson family, the gospel of Jesus Christ is the greatest love story not yet fully understood by mankind.  It is the love story of Heavenly Parents for their eternal offspring.  
• Our goal as parents is to give all of our family members the means to achieve their full potential.  So it is with our Heavenly Parents.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is the means by which they “bring to pass the immortality & eternal life” of all mankind.
• Just as Marilyn and I can’t achieve our goal without the skills, talents and gifts of each of family member, nor can our Heavenly Parents achieve their goal without the gifts, talents and skills of their family members.

2. Bell Canyon Ward & Granite Community have played a big part in growing the Anderson Family Garden:

• We’ve been planted in Granite for 26 years.
• When we first moved to Granite in 1991, people assumed we were  we were related to the other Andersons in the ward (i.e. Stella, Terry, Cindy and Judy [Maynes] Anderson.  We joked that Stella was an aunt and Terry, Cyndi and Judy were cousins.  This made it easy to be accepted by the other “old timers” in the ward (e.g. Lucille Schow; the Archibalds; June & Elvis Evans; Tex & Faye Parker, just to name a few).
• Now we are the “old timers!”  (Along with Bishop Pingree and other descendants of the original Bell Canyon Ward pioneers.)

3. Express Appreciation to “Senior Young Married Couples:

Another group has played a big role in our personal development.  These are the “senior” Young Married Couples we first met in college, as well as “senior” Young Married Couples we served with in the Caribbean Area.  

• The bottom-line is that “friends & family” are forever.  

“Obrigado por criar nossa família.”  (Thanks to all of you for growing our family into what it is today.)

4. We are excited about serving in Brazil:

It is like going home!  I served in Northern Brazil from 1969-71, while Marilyn remained at BYU. From 1976-1980, we returned to Brazil as a young married couple on a professional assignment.  Two of our four children were born in Brazil.  

Many of the youth that used to babysit for our children are now church leaders in Brazil.  Thanks to Facebook, they know we are returning and a joyous reunion is fast approaching.  (We depart on August 21st, after another week of Welfare Training at Church HQ and the MTC.)

5. The hardest part of serving a Senior Mission is leaving our children and grandchildren.  

Our 8-year old granddaughter in Sherwood, OR called me last Thursday evening.  She said:  “Papa, you need to shorten your mission to 8 weeks instead of 18 months.”  

She finally agreed that 18 months was “OK,” as long as we played Mine Craft via Skype and iPhone at least an hour each week on our P-Day.   

Two big differences between “senior missions” and “young adult missions.”

1st:  There is only one rule – “Live the gospel.”

2nd:  Instead of being a “tithe” of the first 20 years of our life, it is more like a monthly fast offering donation.  

6. Like Marilyn, I was impressed with the magic of faith in primary.  

I knew what the scriptures said about the mustard seed and moving mountains.  (I used to wish I had more faith so I could move Mount Shasta 40 miles closer to my home in Redding, CA.)  

• In April, 1964, I visited Utah for the first time.  I was a somewhat rebellious HS freshman and avid skier.  Our ward had travelled to SLC for an “All-Church Dance Festival.”    

• The family I stayed with in Holladay had two sons that shared my ski passion.  One of them was 16 and had a car.

 

• On a beautiful, bluebird spring day, we skipped dance practice at the UofU and drove to Alta.

• As we travelled along the narrow two-lane road that led from Holladay to Alta, they pointed out landmarks to me. I was impressed with the “Old Mill” and then two large granite boulders at the mouth of LCC.  

• My hosts explained that the stones for the SL Temple where taken from this canyon.  The large boulders with chisel marks on them dated back to the 1860’s!  That was ancient history to me!  

• I asked them to stop the car so I could take a closer look.  
• As I ran my hand over those chisel marks, the thought went through my mind:  “So this is how faith moves mountains…. one chisel mark at a time.”

• That memory never faded from my mind.  (The history of LCC, plus Alta, are the reasons we chose to live in the Granite Community.)

• In Sunday school, I learned that faith was “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things that are true, but not seen.”  (Heb. 11:1; Alma 32:21).  It was a noun that meant to have confidence in something (like the atonement) or someone (like our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ), that I couldn’t see, touch, hear or smell.   

• In the spring of 1964 I learned that faith is also a verb.  It is hard work, combined with blood, sweat and tears, to literally move a mountain one granite stone at a time.  The result of the faith exercised by the pioneer quarrymen and teamsters that chiseled, shaped and transported the granite from LCC is a very tangible, beautiful, sacred House of the Lord.  

7. What I’ve Learned About Matt. 17:20 (as well as Mark 4:30-32) over the last 46 years since my Senior Companion & I formed our branch of God’s family tree:

1. It is not faith the “size” of a mustard seed that moves mountains.  It is the faith “as” a mustard seed.  Mustard seeds are very small (1-2 mm; about the size of the end of a very fine ball point pen).  It is their durability that makes them different. They are virtually indestructible.

  

2. Despite their small size, each seed carries within itself the DNA, or blueprint of the parent plant.  Mustard bushes reach an average height of between 6 and 20 feet with a 30 foot spread.  These largest of all herbs carry a prolific number seeds that cause mustard fields to multiply exponentially.

 

3. Lastly, there is no mention in the scripture of how long it takes “faith” to move a mountain.  (In the case of the SL Temple, it took 40 years.)  

8. How are we like Mustard Seeds?  (“Liken the scriptures unto ourselves.” (1 Nephi 19:23)

Two scriptures come to mind:

Romans 8:16-17

“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”

Acts 17: 26-29

“And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.”

Like the mustard seed, each of us have the blueprint of our divine heritage in our spiritual DNA.  Despite our race, religion, gender, or political orientation, we also have virtually the same physical DNA.

What does that mean?  To me it means that If we take even the smallest of steps to cultivate our confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ, the impact will be exponential.  Not only for us individually, as literal spiritual sons and daughters of God, but for our posterity  going forward, and our ancestors, all the way back to Adam & Eve.  

Having the desire to plant a seed is the first step to cultivating our spiritual gardens.  The seed of our divine heritage is durable, just like that of a mustard bush.  It is not going to die no matter how long we wait to plant it.  By the same token, it will not expand, or result in a harvest, unless we plant it, nurture it, feed it and protect it.

Sister Anderson taught us that faith is a choice.  It requires action on our part to awake, arouse, experiment, desire, work and plant. (See Bishop Edgley Conference Talk, “Faith-The Choice is Ours,” October 2010.)

The gospel of Mark 4:30–32, compares a mustard seed to the kingdom of God.   

30 And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it?

31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth:

32 But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches;

Bishop Pingree gets excited when he talks about faith.  Sure, we have to plant the seed, but the real miracle is the seed itself!  How does it know what to become?  This heritage is imprinted in its unique nature and DNA.  

Each of us carries the seed of deity in our divine nature.  Like the mustard seed, it is durable and virtually indestructible.  

The choice is ours.  We can chose to let the seed of our divine nature lie dormant; or we can take action to allow this seed to germinate and expand within our hearts and minds.   What is required on our part?  Faith:  Confidence in Jesus Christ, that if we take action to plant, cultivate, nurture and protect the seed of our divine nature, it will expand, grow and multiply exponentially.  Not just for us, but for all of God’s children.  

The image that comes to my mind is the stone cut out of the mountain without hands that will eventually roll forth and fill the earth.  (Daniel 2:31-45)

Read:  Gordon B. Hinckley, “Stone Cut Out of the Mountain” (Oct. 2007 general conference);

“The Church has become one large family scattered across the earth. There are now more than 13 million of us in 176 nations and territories. A marvelous and wonderful thing is coming to pass. The Lord is fulfilling His promise that His gospel shall be as the stone cut out of the mountain without hands which would roll forth and fill the whole earth, as Daniel saw in vision (see Daniel 2:31–45; D&C 65:2). A great miracle is taking place right before our eyes.

“This work of the Lord is indeed great and marvelous, but it moves forward essentially unnoticed by many of mankind’s political, cultural, and academic leaders. It progresses one heart and one family at a time, silently and unobtrusively, its sacred message blessing people everywhere.”2

The stone prophesied of so long ago truly is rolling forth, and as we do our part, the gospel will continue to spread and fill the whole earth.”

(See also D&C 65; L. Whitney Clayton, “The Time Shall Come” (Oct. 2011 general conference).

9. What motivated the quarrymen of our community to chisel, shape and ship the granite stones to SLC?

It was their faith in Jesus Christ.  

• It was the same faith that motivated Joseph Smith to kneel in a grove in upstate NY and ask God which church he should join.  (James 1:5,6).  He knocked and the heavens were opened. (Matt. 7:7,8)

• It was the same faith that motivated the Brother of Jared to come up with bioluminescent rocks to light their barges to cross the “great water.” (Ether 2:22, 23).  
• 22. And he cried again unto the Lord saying: O Lord, behold I have [built these 8 barges] even as thou hast commanded me; … but behold there is no light in them. Behold, O Lord, wilt thou suffer that we shall cross this great water in darkness?

• 23 And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared:  What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels? For behold, ye cannot have windows, for they will be dashed in pieces; neither shall ye take fire with you, for ye shall not go by the light of fire.   

• So what did the Brother of Jared do?  He smelted 16 luminescent stones and asked the Lord to touch them.  (Ether 3:1-4; 5-16) (Did he have confidence in the Lord?  Yes.  Did he take initiative to find a way to solve the challenge he faced?  He moved a mountain to light the Jadeite barges.)

• This last week we found ourselves standing in front of a bigger than life mural depicting this seen as we asked ourselves:  How are we acting in faith to fulfill our stewardships and overcome challenges that come our way?

• It was the same faith that caused Moses to ask Jehovah,  “who am I, (a guy that is slow of speech and has an aversion to speaking to large groups – Moses 6:31; Ex. 4:10) that I should go unto Pharoah, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?  (Exodus 3:11).  And what did Moses do when he literally found himself between a rock and a wet place?  He exercised his confidence in the God of Israel to bring up a great wind that parted the Red Sea into two mountains of water so the Israelites could continue their flight to the Promised Land on solid ground.  (Exodus 3:11; 14:13-31; Psalms 136:13, 14; Helaman 8:11; )

• It was the same faith that permitted to Brigham Young to lead forbearers of our community from Nauvoo to the Salt Lake Valley, even though he wasn’t even an Eagle Scout.

10. FIVE VERBS OF FAITH:

D&C 90:24 names 5 action steps that I consider the “five verbs of faith:”

“Search diligently, pray always, and be believing [act], and all things shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly and remember the covenant wherewith ye have covenanted one with another.”  

The last one is a little tricky.  What covenant have we covenanted one with another?  (See Mosiah 18:8, 9)

8 And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;

9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places— [serve]

There are a lot of things that I don’t know, but I do know that as we implement the 5 verbs of faith in our lives, the Holy Ghost will bear witness that we are sons and daughters of God and each of us has a work to do (premortal stewardship) to serve one another, bring the Church out of obscurity (D&C 1:30) and help the Lord “hasten His work.” (D&C 88:73).

11. CONCLUSION:

As parents, families, students, church leaders, breadwinners, and sons & daughters of God, we are all on missions.  

We are all witnesses to how the faith of a 14-year old boy in upstate New York has grown to a global mustard tree of over 15,000,000 members.  That’s a lot of mustard seeds.

When I was a young missionary in the city of Fortaleza in 1970, there were 5 members, 3 chickens and a “papagaio” (parrot) attending our small branch.  Now there are 18 stakes, 116 wards and 17 branches in this city.  That’s a lot of mustard seeds.

Marilyn and I have witnessed our family garden grow from just the two of us to a mustard tree of 26 branches and counting.  That is a lot of mustard seeds.

It is my prayer that we will exercise the blood, sweat and tears necessary to cultivate our respective mustard seeds over the next 18 months.  As we do so, mountains of doubt, mountains of discouragement, mountains of illness, marital problems, addiction, or other seemingly insurmountable challenges will be overcome.   

12. TESTIMONY:

• Divine heritage;
• One race…human race; one family…God’s family; one savior of mankind….Jesus Christ; one plan for all of God’s children to achieve a fullness of joy….universal principles, covenants and ordinances known as the gospel of Jesus Christ.
• Church being brought out of obscurity (D&C 1:30; 1 Ne. 22:12; 2 Ne. 1:23; 2 Ne. 27:29);
• Lord is hastening His work.  (D&C 88:73; Isaiah 5:19)
• Keys, fullness, prophet.