Homecoming Talk

Good morning everyone, I can't tell you what an honor it is to see so many of you here. I feel surrounded by friends and family, which is exactly what one wants to feel on this occasion, so thank you all very much. Your prayers have been felt, whether I knew you in the beginning of this all or whether I met you somewhere over those marvelous 2 years. Now Some of you know me as Josh, some know me as Elder Larson, and a few of you know me as 藍長老. For those who don't know me, I am Joshua D Larson.

 

 

About 2 years ago I spoke from this pulpit with the expectation of serving for 2 years in the wonderful country of Taiwan. But the Lord had a different plan for me and I ended up serving my best two years in the Great California Ventura Mission.

 

 

Now for those of you who don't know where that is don't worry, most people don't, I didn't either. So here are some facts about the great CVM that will help set a good backdrop for today. The mission spans a total of 187 miles of the most beautiful coast you have ever seen. Starting with Agoura Hills in the South and stretching up to Paso Robles in the North. Now here are some fun facts: Morro Bay is one of the few places in the United States that you can find wild Zebras. Simi Valley is home to the President Ronald Reagan presidential library. Which also houses his decommissioned air force one. Solvang is the only place in the mission where you can buy aebleskivers (a traditional Danish pastry). Camarillo is home to Rolling Pin Donuts (the best in the world) . That's more opinion than fact but just so you know. Now let's dive in

Now sometimes in these talks the young man or woman who served a mission will give essentially a travel log, a list of stories and experiences. But I am not here to give such a boring and dull talk. And I hope you didn't come here expecting to receive such a talk. I didn't go on a mission for those things, I  went on a mission to learn and I hope you came here today to learn as well. Now don't worry I don't intend to bore you to death either. Today I wish to share stories that taught me truths. I hope they will teach you as well

 

 

On a mission and in the world in general you see a lot, but today I will address one thing that has haunted me and concerned me my whole mission. And that is the issue of inactivity in the church. Sure big dogs can be scary, talking to random people can be scary, Bible bashers can be scary. But nothing has been more terrifying than watching faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ throw in the towel. Turn away. Give up, and quit. Somehow that has frightened and concerned me more than anything. I would like to share with you today 5 principles that will help you avoid such a fate.

 

 

Principle number 1: Ask honest Questions.

It will not be a surprise to you when I tell you that we live in a day in which truth is hard to find. As Elder Lawrence E Corbridge has said: "This is a day of deception. Truth enables us to see clearly because it is the “knowledge of things as they [really] are, and as they were, and as they are to come.” is crucial to avoid deception, to discern between truth and error, and to see clearly and chart a course through the hazards of our day."

Truth and answers come to us through questions. All questions, big or small, have answers. The difference between sincere and insincere questions comes down to how we approach them. Whether we choose to question with doubt or to question with faith. We are taught by Moroni that if we are to ask with a sincere heart, real intent, and faith in Christ. The truth will be made known to us through the power of the Holy Ghost. Now I can tell you personally that those who question with the intent to doubt or argue or dissuade usually don't accept the answer they are given anyway. And instead decide that the church is the one trying to deceive, not vice versa. Let me illustrate with a story.

 

 

In the October November transfer I was serving with Elder Davin Nickle when we went to a lesson with a Less active sister in the ward. We shared our brief message when she claimed she disagreed with what we had taught. We asked her why. What happened next was interesting, instructive, but also very sad. We sat there with her for about 45 minutes as she desperately tried every accusation one could think of to convince us that the church was false. Everything from The process of translating the Book of Mormon to The Mark Hoffman forgeries and all that lies between. This woman had chosen to doubt the church rather than believe it. She had chosen to let small historical motes become "Faith crisis" level beams. After about 45 minutes I asked her when the last time she had prayed or read the scriptures had been. She replied it had been many years. It was after that I realized we were wasting our time. This common phenomenon ties into my next principle.

 

 

Principle number two: CPR

Hard questions and claims have answers. True answers. But we must have the testimony and spiritual strength to shoulder the answers. We will not be able to handle the answers to our questions about polygamy if we do not have a testimony of the Book of Mormon, or Joseph Smiths role as prophet seer and revelator. We must be spiritually in shape to handle what Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge calls "the secondary questions' '. We must know the answers to the Big questions in order to faithfully answer the little questions. We must learn that two plus two equals four king before we can memorize the Pythagorean theorem

 

 

So how do we build a foundation on which we can stand forever? It starts with the small things. In the Great CVM we often used the acronym CPR to teach about 3 Important habits of spiritual survival. Sacrament attendance, scripture study, and personal prayer. These three things are the building blocks of a testimony. These three things if consistently done will be your greatest resource in keeping your spirit in condition to deal with the trials of life. Nephi teaches us that we must "...Feast upon the words of Christ, for behold the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do." I find it interesting that Nephi didn't just say eat, he said feast. We have to glut ourselves on the scriptures because they will teach us all things that we should do. Not just some things, not just church things, but all things. When we stop reading, and praying. And going to church our spiritual muscles, our testimony, start to weaken. And then when trials come we have no muscle. We find that our testimony has atrophied to a point that it cannot bear the weight of the trials.

 

 

Every less active member I have ever met has stopped doing one of those three things. But people don't go from fully active to inactive overnight. It will always start with the small things. Scripture study, Prayer, or sacrament attendance goes out the window first followed by the other two. and then the big things come. Then promises made in the temple and the baptismal font are broken, the chains that anchored these members to activity in the church begin to break, and they slowly but surely drift away. So do the little things, read your scriptures, pray with real intent, and take of the sacrament meaningfully, these things form the chain that connects us to the anchors that are covenants.

 

 

In November / December of 2021 me and my companion were concerned about the productivity of one of the Elders in the Zone. He seemed generally unmotivated, and had little desire to go out and work. We did an exchange with the Elder. (It's when you switch companions for the day) and it was discovered that he spent most of his personal study time asleep in his study chair. We realized that his lack of study in the scriptures was greatly affecting his desire and motivation to work. After we encouraged him to study more seriously we noticed a drastic change in the way he and his companion spent their time. They were out on the streets and knocking doors far more often than they had been. And the biggest thing I noticed is that he was happier. Genuinely happier because he had studied the scriptures and received an influence of the spirit.

 

 

Principle 3: endure the Refiners fire.

This journey along mortality is not without its pains and trials however, and our faith and our testimony will be refined. It will be put under white hot flame until the Impurities have been burned out. The key is learning to endure such painful moments. As Elder Holland once said: "when you are being hammered on the anvil of adversity, when your soul is being refined with severe lessons that perhaps cannot be learned in any other way, don’t cut and run. Don’t jump ship. Don’t shake your fist at your bishop or your mission president or God. Please stay with the only help and strength that can aid you in that painful time. When you stumble in the race of life, don’t crawl away from the very Physician who is unfailingly there to treat your injuries, lift you to your feet, and help you finish the course."

 

 

The refining process is not fun, it hurts. Naturally it does. A muscle that is never sore never grows. Metal that only meets lukewarm temperatures does not become purified. The person that does not endure to the end by definition never makes it to the end. So buckle your boots down, dig deep and dig in.

 

 

One night in January of 2021 me and my companion were driving around our area and I had nothing but pain on my mind, I was really struggling. My feelings of doubt, betrayal, and anger had completely overtaken my conscience. We were approaching a railroad crossing, I had made this particular drive many times before but had never actually seen the train cross. Which was something I would have liked to see. As we stopped at the light I said in my head "Okay God, if you're even listening right now, send a train". The very moment I finished that thought the cross arms went down and the train flew by.

 

 

This was a reminder to me that God is in our trials with us, he is not somewhere at the end of the path. But he is right here with us through the flames. Showing us that it really will be for our best in the end. Some individuals mistakenly believe that their trials are there because God hates them. And they push away from him instead of moving closer. Again, all that I have seen who have chosen the later option typically end up much less happy than those who endure.

 

 

Principle 4: Rely on Grace.

Quite frankly I feel that too many of us are trying to do this all on our own. Too often we feel that we can handle our problems on our own, that if we could just dig a little deeper or be a little more holy it would all be fine, then life would be butterflies and rainbows, if only we could be like sister so and so who has it all together and is always perfect. I can promise you when I say that sister so and so definitely does not have it all together. She needs grace just as much as you do, she needs the atonement just as much as you do. And if you don’t think so, you are wrong. It’s that simple. We need to learn to set aside our selfish pride and let the Savior heal us. He can’t when we want to try a little longer without him, when we want to prove our own grit. It will never work. You cannot get there on your own. Relying on grace requires humility and patience.

Sadly sometimes it is the missionaries I met who didn't understand grace. I served around a few missionaries who were so worried about doing things perfectly and being perfect that they never applied themselves or tried to be better. They were scared of messing up. Truthfully though that is part of the process, that is why we are here. The child who is learning how to ride a bike must of necessity fall off of the bike a few times, but he gets back on and keeps trying until he can ride. Much like our life the savior provides a way for us to get back on our bikes and keep trying. Life is about progress not perfection. Don’t wait to be great, but don’t expect to be perfect.

 

 

Principle 5: Enjoy the ride

Now with all this going on and all the tempests blowing around us it can be easy to feel overwhelmed, and that this life is nothing but trial after trial, pain after pain. But this life is meant to be enjoyed, not just endured. Yes there will be hard times. That is guaranteed. But there are also times of deep joy and satisfaction, take time to enjoy the small things in life. Be thankful rather than jealous. Choose to find joy in the small things in life. Remember, if the glass is always half full, you will always have something to drink.

 

 

Now I can’t recall exactly when I remembered it or experienced it, but you will often hear and probably have heard that a mission is the hardest thing ever. When I got my mission call it seemed that everyone felt some obligation to remind me how hard and painful it was going to be, quite frankly it scared me. I did not know if I wanted to or even could do something that everyone said was going to be oh so hard. I quickly found though that a mission is also a lot of fun, you find the deepest joy and satisfaction you have ever felt in your labor.

 

 

Looking back I truthfully don’t remember many of the hard or scary things. I remember a few. But I also remember exponentially more good than I do bad, more happy memories than negative. Please keep in mind that while life may be crazy and things may be going terribly wrong there are always things to find that make us happy, always ways and things that can bring us joy.

 

 

Summary and conclusion:

I hope this made some sense, I pray that you will take these things seriously in your lives, they will make a huge difference in your life. Ask your questions, seek your scriptures, participate in the church, pray regularly, endure the fires of life, lean on the Savior, and enjoy your life while you have it.

 

 

Testimony: 中文

Testimony: English