farewell talk July, 31

** 15 second pause
So I just stood here for fifteen seconds. I thought about thirty seconds, but that’s a long time and I want to share my message with you and I didn’t want to wait any longer. And I’ll get back to why I did that in a few minutes
Right now I’ll introduce myself HI! I’m Corie Randall- I’m going on a mission to Arcadia California speaking Spanish.- Estoy muy animado a aprender espanol! (For those of you who don’t know Spanish or for those of you that do and I just butchered that- what I’m trying to say is that I’m very excited to learn Spanish!)  If you were curious Arcadia is in Southern California. It covers from East LA to Chino Hills. Pasadena is part of my mission too, so when you come to the Rose bowl you can definitely come visit me. 
 So you only waited for me for 15 seconds. In reality it’s not so long. I’m going on a mission where I hope to find some people that have been waiting 21 years for me to share with them the gospel. I have a question I want you to think about while I’m speaking- How long have people in your life- friends, family, co workers, whomever- been waiting for YOU to share the gospel with them?
 Preach my gospel says “You are surrounded by people. You pass them on the street, visit them in their homes, and travel among them. All of them are children of God, your brothers and sisters. God loves them just as he loves you. Many of these people are searching for purpose in life. They need the sense of belonging that comes from the knowledge that they are children of God, members of his eternal family. They want to feel secure in a world of changing values. They want “peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come” But they are kept from the truth because they know not where to find it. 
Missionary work is a huge part of the church, but member missionary work is just as important if not more. Often times we think it is hard work or scary to share with our friends the happiness the gospel can bring to our lives. Sometimes we think it’s handing our friend a book of mormon and telling them to read or making a friend come to church, but that’s not all missionary work is.
I love Elder Ballards conference talk from the April 2003 conference. It’s titled “The essential role of member missionary work”
He says: “…we should exercise our faith and pray individually and as families, asking for help in finding ways to share the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Ask the Lord to open the way… Remember, brothers and sisters, this is the Lord’s Church. Let Him guide you through constant prayer. With a prayer in your heart, talk to everyone you can. Don’t prejudge. Don’t withhold the good news from anyone. Talk to everyone, and trust in the promised power of the Spirit to give you the words you should say. Let them make the decision to accept or reject your invitation. Over time, the Lord will put into your path those who are seeking the truth. He is the Good Shepherd. He knows His sheep, and they will know His voice, spoken through you, and they will follow Him (see John 10).”
I’ve realized this summer, doing just this, actually isn’t that hard. I got the opportunity to work at an Italian ice stand this summer at the gateway. I’ve found so many ways I can relate that to missionary work.  You are probably thinking what the?! how does this relate? well don’t worry! i'll tell you.
Like Elder Ballard said, we must talk to everyone we can! I may find this easy because I love talking to people. And I love making new friends and all different types of people pass the Italian ice cart on a daily basis.  Not many people know what Italian ice is who pass by. Some think its ice cream, some think it’s a snow cone, but it’s neither. It’s basically a dairy free gelato. Now you know…  Every day I stand there, people are always passing by.  I say "Hey! How are you doing today?" some ignore me and pass on by. Some give a response back and I say Hey! Would you like to try some italian ice? some say Yes! I’ve been here before I love this stuff. Give me a large! And sometimes people say No and walk on by, I tell them to have a nice day and let them go. I know they'll come back when they are ready to partake of the deliciousness Italian ice is.  Some people are a little bit hesitant to try Italian ice.- they've never had it before. They’re not sure if they’ll like it. so I give them a free sample. A rare few don’t like it, but there are many who absolutely love it! Some end up wanting to taste more, and eventually some love it so much they buy it.
I think sometimes as members we think if we ask our friends about the gospel that they’ll be so offended, You ask them to try some they can either say yes or say no. and if they say no they can always change their mind. It really isn’t that big of a deal.
I Love the part where Elder Ballard says Don’t prejudge… that is one of the things that I’ve found most interesting working at the stand was the people I saw walking by for some reason or another I think to myself  ehh,  they don’t look like they want any, they’re probably not interested, but it doesn’t hurt to ask, and I’m always surprised by these people. Because I find that those are the ones that usually love it the most! So I've learned to “talk to everyone.” And sometimes I have to shout, I still often times find myself thinking this way, but I have learned to ask everyone, Even if they do say no, my asking them was definitely worth it. I wouldn’t want anyone to miss out on this deliciousness.
I know sometimes for me being a member missionary is hard because I think my friends have already heard about the gospel from someone else. Sometimes though, some people haven’t. They may think it’s more like ice cream than Italian ice, and it never hurts to give them a free sample so they can know what it really is about. If they haven’t tried it already.
Elder Ballard goes on to say, “member missionary work does not require the development of strategies or gimmicks. It does require faith—real faith and trust in the Lord. It also requires genuine love.
*Matthew 22:37-39 says…
(Thou shalt love the lord God with all they heart, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.)
I have a few examples of how genuine love brought some friend of mine s to the truth and happiness of the gospel.  The first is about a friend I met a few weeks ago at the temple. She told me her conversion story and I thought I would share it. This friend is from Missouri. Growing up she was a devout Baptist. During college she was going through a rough time in her life, and she had kind of kept in touch with her friends from high school and she thought about one high school friend who was Mormon. Out of all of her friends she remembered that he never ever judged her, no matter the decisions she had made. He even stayed her friend when she wouldn’t let him or his member friends join her bible club because she thought Mormons weren’t Christians.
But during college She studied up on the Mormon church a little bit and during the rough time in her life she decided sample the Mormon church. She thought if she tried it out just for a day her friend would never find out. She felt something that day, and after church she found the missionaries and asked them to teach her (I hope this happens to me) She got baptized a few months later. All Because of the love her friend showed to her all through her high school years  helped her eventually find true happiness in the gospel.
 This next example is one of my own. The last two summers I had the opportunity to work at Brighton LDS Girls camp, it’s a camp for beehives. Last summer I was a counselor. I had the great privilege of watching girls grow in the gospel on a weekly basis. It was my first week as a counselor. I had a great group of girls. I remember one girl who was super shy. She didn’t seem like she wanted to participate in any of the activities so she would just sit back and watch most of the time. At the end of the week she left and I wondered if she had gained anything from her experiences that week or if she even had fun.
A month or two went by and I got a card from her- I opened it and it said “Thanks for making me feel so loved!” She then wrote me a note that said thank you for showing me the gospel at brighton camp. That meant so much to me. So because of it I decided to get baptized.  I was so surprised to get that letter- I had no idea she wasn’t a member when I spent my time with her at Brighton, but I was so happy that she was able to experience a little bit of our Heavenly Fathers perfect love for her, and decide to get baptized.
I love the song the maxfields are about to sing to us- “Brightly Beams Our Fathers Mercy” It’s such a beautiful song. I encourage you to really listen to the words, but I love the chorus- “Let your lower lights be buring; Send a gleam across the wave. Some poor fainting struggling seaman you may rescue, you may save.
I also have a favorite quote- I’m not sure who said it, but it goes something like this— If you see your friend about to fall off the edge of a cliff, don’t just stand there and pray, do something!
I know there have been times when I have seen a friend or loved one struggle and I wanted to help, but I just decided to pray that someone else would help them. It’s easy to think about this way-  Your friend is unconscious and you’re an EMT. You know how to save their life, but instead you pray to have someone come rescue them. Sure praying helps, but faith requires action. It’s definitely our own responsibility to pray and to act, to find and rescue those that are falling off the edge or those that have that have fallen away for some reason or another.
I want to share another part of my Brighton experiences with you. It’s an activity the girls do called the lifeline. We take the girls on a little walk to a kind of secluded area of camp. They put on helmets and blindfolds. We take them to a rope and tell them “This is the lifeline, never let go” The rope is basically a maze held up by trees. Sometimes the rope wraps around the tree and the campers have to go around it somehow. Sometimes there are rocks or large stumps in the way, but the campers can’t see because they are blindfolded.
  What they also don’t know is that there is more than one rope, there are other ropes with that will take them to a dead end and they have to go back to the right rope and find their way. When they reach the end their counselor greets them with an embrace whispering in their ear, welcome home!
This activity is hard as a counselor to watch. I am so close to the girls, I’m there to help them up if they fall or if they are really struggling to go the right direction.  I know a little bit of how our Heavenly Father feels- I want to share with you part of my favorite Brighton songs- “Walk Tall You’re a daughter of God” It’s so perfect for the lifeline! The second verse says- “Long before the time you can remember Our father held you in his arms so tender. Those loving arms released you as he sent you down to earth. He said, My Child, I love you don’t forget your great worth.”
So he put us on the lifeline. We’re basically in the dark- we don’t know whats coming and we have to take each moment as it comes. I see my campers go down the wrong path and I just want to take their hand and lead them safely to the end of the line.  I can’t do that though because that’s not how Gods plan works- we are put on the lifeline. We have our agency to make our own choices- sometimes we go down the wrong path, but the right path is always a few steps away. Sometimes I would have a camper who would really struggle with the lifeline. So I would give a gentle tug on the rope in the right direction or call them by name and say Hey You! Come this way. And with a little help they along with every single camper make it back safely.
The third verse of Walk tall sums it up perfectly! “This life on earth we knew would not be easy. At times we lose our way, His path we may not see. But please remember always, please, that you are not alone. He’ll take your hand he loves you! He will guide you home.
Sometimes all our struggling friends need are a little tug on the rope or for someone to call them by name to get them back on the right track. Sometimes we easily forget how simple that is.
Sometimes our friends don’t want our help though when we are there for them. A few weeks ago I actually went back to Brighton to help out a little and I was working with a group of campers on the lifeline. There was a camper named Brianne she was struggling a little bit. She kept going down the wrong path so at one point I grabbed her hand to put it on the right rope and she pushed me away and continued on in the wrong direction. She did it a few times. It made me kind of angry, because I wanted to help her, but she wouldn’t take it.
That’s how life is though! Sometimes we want to help, but our help isn’t wanted in return.
A little while later though, still struggling, I wanted to help her to make it to the end so I whispered, “Brianne! Come this way” She was a little apprehensive at first, but she came and eventually made it to the end of the line.  So don’t ever give up on those struggling on the lifeline! Sometimes those who need help will realize it eventually, just be a friend so that when they need that help they have someone to turn to. Sometimes Heavenly Father puts certain people in our lives to guide us on the journey back to him. Because some poor fainting stuggling seaman you may rescue, you may save.
I realize that not every day is going to be easy in the field. Most days will be hard. I’m jumping back to how selling Italian ice is like missionary work.  I was working at the stand one Monday night (which for some reason is the slowest business day ever!) I was doing what I usually do, asking everyone who passes by if they wanted a free sample. On this particular Monday though it seemed like nearly all of them ignored me or would say "Sorry, I just ate I'm so full" or “I cant eat another bite” It was super frustrating to me! I know how good Italian ice tastes but no one wanted to try any.  It's exactly how missionary work is. There will be a few days easier than others, but there are definitely going to be those days where it feels like everyone's ignoring me and it will feel like I got absolutely nothing accomplished, but hey! it's not the end of the world. Not every day will be a lets ignore Corie day, And I will always remember that tomorrow will be a new day. So I will enjoy every moment of it, because it's only 18 months. Not that long. and I don’t want to waste one second being unhappy becuase there are other people out there who will need me, the ones ignoring me just need more time until they realize how delicious the gospel is too.
Remember! The Gospel is good news! And as D&C 68:6 says…( Be of good cheer and do not fear, for I The lord am with you and will stand by you and ye shall bear record of me, even jesus chrust that I am the son of the living God. That I was, that I am, and that I am to come)
The last quote I want to share with you is from Joseph Smith- he said “After all that has been said, [our] greatest and most important duty is to Preach the Gospel.
So I have a challenge for all of you! You have those friends/neighbors or whomever! You think they've heard that message before and they dont want to know more, but they might! it never hurts to ask if they want a sample. Are they going to not be your friend anymore if you ask and they say no? Probably not! I know that as I go out to Arcadia you all will be praying for me to find those in need of the gospel, but I will be praying for you all to do the same. –It is you’re greatest and most important duty, remember
Thanks so much for coming to support me! It means a lot that you are all here- You all have had some impact in my life and have all changed me for the better.