Set Apart

I was ordained a Missionary on June 30, 2020, by 1st Councilor Joel Johnson in the Stake Presidency (Stake President call into to help with new Covid-19 patients)

My Farewell

My Missionary Farewell on June 29, 2020, at American Fork Amphitheater, all churches were closed during the Covid-19 Pandemic, all guests had to sit 6ft apart and wear face masks.
-Pictures and my farewell talk.

The Beauty of North Dakota’s WinterMonday, 29.04.2020─ Farewell AddressThree Major Points:AGD: The North Dakota Winter➔    Sun Dogs Phenomenon and the danger of looking directly at them
➔    The need for Consistency in life unlike the Weather Range
➔    The Salvation of Winter and how it protects sunflowers.


Actual Talk:
Introduction:●      Good Evening Brother and Sisters, Friends, and Family! Before I begin I would just like to thank you for all the support I have felt both with my graduation and my mission call. As you know I will be serving a full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in North Dakota.
●      Whenever I told someone where I was going on my mission they would follow this exact same pattern
○      Stare into space for a second, then remember that North Dakota was indeed one of the fifty states
○      Look directly at me with deep sorrow in their eyes and simply tell me
○      “You’re going to freeze”
●      My favorite comment of all though was from super sweet congratulations graduation and mission card from my Sunday school teachers in which my teacher simply wrote, “I will pray for you each day because that burning in your bosom will be the only thing that will keep you warm.
●      Based on all of these comments I decided that it would be both appropriate and entertaining that I base my farewell address on the beauty of winter and its blessings.
 

Sun Dogs Phenomenon:
The first aspect of winter that I would like to address is a phenomenon called sun dogs.  As mentioned earlier a sun dog is a light phenomenon in which the air is so cold, usually negative 4-10 degrees Fahrenheit, that particles in the air become frozen and become floating crystals that refract light from the sun creating a 360-degree halo around the sun. The most sun dogs ever seen at the same time were in Fargo, North Dakota where a shocking eight sundogs floated together for an entire hour. Granted Sun dogs are breathtaking, they are also quite dangerous in the fact that they are concentrated beams of light that if directly looked at can cause retina sunburns and possible blindness. I would like to relate sun dogs to our daily personal conversion as well as personal worthiness. Every day we as latter-day saints try to be the best disciple that we can possibly be, however, we are human and prone to making mistakes. Rather than becoming absorbed by beauty of the sinful sun dog and burning or blinding ourselves, we must turn away and look to the true son. The Son of God. Bother and Sisters it can be very hard turning away from a sung dog, I have had to turn away from many in my own life and will continue to do so until the end of my life. But if we try our hardest to turn away and correct our course to the chosen path and exercise Christ’s blessed and sacred atonement we may be saved and eventually be able to live again in the symbolistic sun of the celestial kingdom.


Consistency in our lives from the Storm:
            My second point that I would like to address is the range of North Dakotas seasons. In 1933 it was recorded by North Dakota Weather and Storm research center that the low of the winter months reached a shocking -60 degrees Fahrenheit, yet in the summer reached an all-time high of 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Brothers and Sisters was a 180-degree swing. I would like to compare this dramatic shift of the seasons to the virtue of steadiness. In the Book of Mormon specifically in Alma 37:2-3 Alma states that READ DIRECTLY FROM THE BOOK OF MORMON. In my family, we have analyzed this chapter and found twelve points to expound the art of leadership. Steadiness and Consistency is number one. In a world that moves at an alarming rate with its styles and trends, political views, and of course international pandemics it may feel very hard to feel steady or a state of consistency. Brothers and Sisters let us be like Shiblom and in verse 5 “put your trust in God even so much ye shall be delivered out of your trials”. Let us not be the wild North Dakota climate that sometimes feels like summer or sub-zero winter, but instead, anchors ourselves in the lord and steadily follow Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. 

The Salvation of Winter to Sunflowers:
            My Final Point that I would like to address is the sunflower. North Dakota is home to over 480,000 acres of Sunflowers and is the number one producer of sunflower seeds that do the exceedingly high grade of the seeds. How do they get this high grade? Simple, the harsh Dakota winter. One of the most detrimental things to sunflowers are pests like Weevils, Moths, and Maggots, however, pesticides are rarely used on the flower both for consumer health and the stunted growth of a sunflower providing 50% fewer seeds. However, North Dakota does not need to worry about such things because due to the extreme winter climate all insect eggs, as well as pests themselves, are killed by the severe cold, thereby allowing the sunflower to bloom naturally and most profusely. Brothers and Sisters winter can be so very hard and unpleasant, just like trials and tribulation in our own lives is also very difficult. But let us remember that the storm always ends and if we work through the storm and repent and pray as needed when our testimonies pivot towards the son of God we may be blameless of pests and infections and stand in our full beauty. Brothers and Sisters Embrace the storm.


My Dear Friends and Family it has been such a pleasure getting to know all of you, and I hope that even after my mission that we can all remain in touch. I also hope that we all may turn away from attractive yet detrimental sun dogs as well as remain consistent with the lord and let the trails of this life season us for when the second coming arrives we may all turn towards the Son and stand blameless of pests and impurities.  Testimony-- Also you Rocked it!!!!!