Christian's Farewell Talk

Thoughts on Christ 

You may have heard about a recent tiktok trend that was very popular for a long time. The trend started with girls asking their boyfriends how often they thought about the Roman Empire. More often than not the answer was “everyday”. After this people began asking each other what their “Roman Empire” was. The phrase Roman Empire became synonymous with something you think about all the time.

As you can imagine answers are as varied as people are. Some people can’t help but always think about school or work, for others it is some form of entertainment. Other people would say things like “helping people” or “being a good person”.

We as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, should have a pretty straightforward answer to this question.

In Doctrine and Covenants we are taught:

For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul; And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work.

The work that is talked about in this section is Missionary Work. I am about to leave to start my mission and join this work, so this verse is very important for me. This verse lists multiple things that are required to be qualified to do the work. One of those things is “an eye single to the glory of God”. A missionary must have focus and attention placed solely upon Christ so that Christ can direct the work. To put it in modern terms, Christ must be our Roman Empire.

In the Sacrament Prayers we covenant to “always Remember Him”. This requires a level of devotion to Jesus Christ far higher than any Roman Empire. This is not some simple “oh yeah I think of him everyday”, it’s an “I think of him always!” This is impossible for us mortals, but there are things that we can do to help us have Christ as our focus.

Children are given CTR rings to wear when they go to Primary, so that whenever they look at it, or get poked by the little bent end, it reminds them to remember Christ and the things he would want them to do.

When young men and young women enter the youth program they are given an emblem of belonging. This is a ring with symbols on it that serves a similar purpose to a CTR ring. I wear mine all the time and it serves as a daily reminder to follow Jesus Christ.

A growing number of youth are taking this further with WWJD or “What Would Jesus Do?” Wristbands. These have returned to popularity and are a larger and more Christ centered reminder that you can wear. Throughout FSY and throughout the rest of the summer I have seen countless youth wearing these WWJD bands everywhere they go.

Following this pattern, adults also have their own special way of remembering Christ through something they wear. Anyone who has gone through the temple and stayed true to the covenants made there is authorized to wear the holy garments. This is another constant reminder of Jesus Christ, and the love and protection He provides.

With the introduction of Come Follow Me we are encouraged to read our scriptures often at home, and share our readings with family. The home centered, church supported model for learning is a great way to help us think of Christ more often. By including study practices throughout the week, we are given opportunities to think about Christ every day of the week and not just Sunday.

We also have the words of the prophets to remind us to keep Christ in our minds. Prophets are specifically authorized and called to teach us, so when they say something it is probably good to take that to heart.

Thousands of years ago when Moses and the Israelites were stuck in the wilderness, a plague of flaming serpents came upon their camp. Moses prayed to the lord and was commanded to build a brass serpent and put it on a pole. Anyone who looked to the serpent would be saved from the venom of these serpents.

Despite there being an easy way to be saved many of the Israelites refused to look and succumbed to their injuries. The Brass Serpent was a type of Jesus Christ, anyone who looked was saved. Just like the ancient Israelites we need to look and focus on Christ to be saved.

Just like many of you, I recently watched the Olympics. My mom loves to watch Gymnastics, so I ended up watching a lot of Gymnastics with my family. There was one thing that was repeatedly said by the commentators during the balance beam event. They pointed out how great gymnasts will always keep their eyes on the end of the beam. It is crucial to do this in order to land hard, dangerous skills. After the performance, the experts would stop the playback mid-flip and draw lines on the screen to show how focused the athletes were on the beam. Their ability to find and focus on the beam was very literally the difference between landing successfully or falling off and risking injury. Even a small lapse in concentrations could cost them valuable points and a chance to compete for the medals

Just like these Olympic gymnasts, we need to have this extreme focus. Whenever we make decisions, we need to strive to keep our eyes on the end of the beam, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Without looking to Him, we may well get distracted, fall off the covenant path, and risk dangers that may impact our spiritual survival. .

Nephi was a great prophet who exemplifies keeping Christ in His mind. In second Nephi chapter two, Nephi says:

“And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.”

This famous verse and the verses surrounding it use the name of Christ almost 20 times, and make reference to him even more frequently. If we are talking of Christ, rejoicing in Christ, and preaching of Christ, he will always be in our minds and the minds of others.

Talking constantly of Christ can be hard to do in our modern society. So many people don’t want to have “church” in their personal lives, so bringing it up during conversation can be looked down upon. We don’t have to force it though. Simply discussing our daily lives is a way we can be good examples without seeming overly preachy. Letting our friends and co-workers know about the important things in our lives during casual conversations can be uplifting and help others to see the light of Christ and feel his Spirit.

The next thing Nephi talks about is rejoicing in Christ. We can rejoice in Christ when we repent and when we keep his commandments. The atonement of Jesus Christ is the greatest cause for rejoicing we can ever have. The atonement of Jesus Christ has three main parts: we can all live again because of His resurrection, we can repent because he suffered for our sins in Gethsemane, and we can be strengthened and comforted because he experienced every pain and struggle of mortality. He is our only hope for salvation. Without him nothing is possible and advancement would stop here in mortality. I think we can all agree that mortality is not the way we want to spend all of eternity. We can and should rejoice in this great gift!

Lastly, Nephi says we should “Preach of Christ.” As a missionary I will be asked to Preach of Christ to many people on a daily basis. I have been called to serve and teach the people in Juiz de Fora, Brazil. I have had the

privilege to meet and interact with many Brazilian people, and I am grateful to have the chance to spend the next two years among them.

As I attempt to preach the gospel, having Christ as my focus will be so important. I do not have the ability to convert people to the gospel by myself. I must rely on the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. By teaching and preaching of Christ, not only am I keeping Christ in my mind, but I can also help keep Christ in the minds of those around me.

It is impossible to truly keep our focus on Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ 100% of the time, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. I would like to share some more ideas that we can do TODAY to help return our focus to Jesus Christ.

One thing that many of us already do is Christ-centered decor. My family has many pictures of Christ in our house, in almost every room. We have a picture in the front room, a picture of the Christ the Redeemer statue in the Living Room, I have a copy of the young men’s theme on my wall, and my brother has a little statue in his bedroom.

By filling our home with symbols and pictures of Christ, we are constantly prompted to think of him. Every time we see a picture of Christ we are focusing our thoughts on him. Something you could do right now is go online and find your favorite scripture, or your favorite artwork of Christ., Screenshot or save that and set it as your phone background. I did this a while ago, and every time I open my phone I see one of my favorite scriptures, and that helps me to remember Christ often.

Another thing that you may not have considered is service. How could service help you focus on God when you are literally focusing on something earthly. It has been taught that “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God.”

When we do service we are serving God and thus showing that we are keeping him in our thoughts. Service can be anything from ripping up tree

roots in the Williams’ yard, to going through the temple and doing proxy ordinances. All forms of service are still service and still help us to focus on our Heavenly Father.

Another good way to make sure we keep our thoughts on Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is to avoid distractions. Something doesn’t have to be bad to be a distraction. Many things are good when taken in moderation, but if taken in excess will keep your mind off of heavenly things.

We have many ways to remind us of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. We have many more ways we could probably be better. The prophets have taught that it is necessary to keep our minds focused on them and that many blessings will come from that. We must give them our all.

President Nelson’s latest catchphrase, “Think Celestial” is a modern commandment to keep Christ in our thoughts always. In the talk where this phrase was first coined President Nelson said:

“As you think celestial, you will find yourself avoiding anything that robs you of your agency. Any addiction offends God. Why? Because your obsession becomes your god. You look to it rather than to Him for solace.”

Our current prophet is telling us that our minds should be on God and Christ, and them alone. Now we have all these teachings about WHAT we need to do, and HOW we can do it, but I haven’t really talked about WHY we need to keep our thoughts on Christ.

One reason we need to keep our thoughts on Christ is listed in the Nephi scripture I shared before. He says, “that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.” This life is our chance to prepare to meet God, and we must put off the natural man through repentance. As we strive for this in our lives, we can also help those around us to look to Christ.

This aspect is really important for me, being the oldest sibling, and oldest of all my cousins. They are all looking up to me and watching the things I do. As I keep my focus and thoughts on Christ, I am helping them to also keep their thoughts on Christ.

In the Think Celestial talk, President Nelson goes through many reasons why Thinking Celestial helps us right now. Helping us avoid addiction, overcome pain, communicate with Heavenly Father, and grow our testimonies. These are all great things that will help mortality become a little more bearable and help us to achieve Celestial glory.

Nephi’s brother Jacob taught that, “To be spiritually-minded is life eternal” Life Eternal is the ultimate goal. I wish I could stand up here and honestly tell you that Christ is always on my mind. He is frequently the subject of my thoughts, but I am nowhere near being at the level of constant remembrance. With the distractions and obligations that come with living, it is impossible to reach that level.

The beauty of the situation is that we do not need to be perfect, we can be as good as possible, and, Christ will cover the rest.

Recently while I was working at BYU in the Cougar Eat, a mother and her adult son came to the cash register. The mother reached for her credit card to pay for her meal, but the son stopped her. He pulled his card out and said “Mom, you gave me life, I can give you rice.” I have thought about this statement many times since then. The price of that rice was insignificant compared to the amount of effort it takes to raise a child.I think that interaction is very representative of our relationship with Jesus Christ. No matter how much we give him, it will be insignificant compared to what he has given us. He loves effort and will reward us richly for every effort we make.

With tithing we give 10% of our money, when we fast we give 1 day out of a month. NowI am about to give 2 years out of my life to sharing the gospel,

but Jesus Christ gave everything and continues to give everything forever and always. No matter how I try to repay Him, I will still be in His debt.

Not only does Christ love us, but our Heavenly Father loves us also. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. He gave his only begotten son for us, and continues to give us everything we need. This is a love that only a parent can understand.

Anybody who knows my mother knows that she’s a cautious person. Sending her oldest son to Brazil for two years has been quite stressful for her I’m sure, and she has done her best to exemplify the Boy Scout Motto of “Be Prepared”. I make fun of her for all the random stuff she has bought to pack in my suitcase, but I am grateful to have someone who worries and cares about me.

In Matthew 7 Christ teaches:

What man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Now I’m not calling my mom evil by any means, but she is mortal and incapable of the same things that Heavenly Father is capable of. If my Mom worries this much and prepares this much for me, how much more does Heavenly Father worry for me, and prepare for me and my happiness.

Heavenly Father’s Love is infinite and all powerful, while the amount we can give back to him is insignificant. In a way we are his Roman Empire, but on a level above anything we can even comprehend.

Just as we love God and give anything we can to him, he loves us and gives everything to us. As we strive to keep our minds always on Heavenly

Father and Jesus Christ, we can be assured that their minds are always on us.

I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love me, and I am always on their mind. As I go out to serve the people of Brazil and teach them of this love, they will always be with me.

The scripture I chose for my missionary plaque is Jacob 5:72. It says, “And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them.” I hope that as I go out and serve I can more fully devote myself to Jesus Christ, the Lord of the vineyard, so that I will be worthy to have Him labor with me to bless His children in Brazil.

I know that our church is true, all of it. The Book of Mormon is the truest and most accurate book that has ever been written, and it was translated by Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God and through him the keys of the priesthood were restored. Thanks to the priesthood we are given access to saving ordinances which are necessary to achieve exaltation. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.