Each of Us is Given a Gift - Talk by Emily Wagner 8-17-14
Riverside Ward, Columbus Ohio
I'd like to begin my remarks by
telling you a little bit about one of my brothers, Jacob. I am the second
oldest of seven children. Jacob is number 5. As we all do, he had his
struggles. We all knew that he had great potential. He was one of those
geniuses who was too smart for homework and had a hard time expressing himself,
and he struggled through high school. He spent a lot of time in his room, or lair,
in the basement that was piled high with dirty clothes and who knows what else.
Then he finished out his last teenage year by mostly playing video games until
he finally left home to serve a mission.
For those of you who might not be
familiar with our religion, young men and many young women dedicate 18 months
to 2 years of volunteer service to others all around the world. They do
community service and teach people about Jesus Christ and our faith. Jacob was
called to serve in Teresina, in Northeast Brazil. He has been serving now for
21 months, and the transformation he has been through is remarkable! His many
gifts are becoming very evident.
Here is
an excerpt of a letter he wrote recently:
"Dear Dad,
Remembering
all the time I´ve had with you and the rest of the family, I realize now how
blessed my life has been. I realize how much I cherish you all. For me, most of
the time I've had to work through blood, sweat and tears to help those we
taught... But at the moments when everything fell through and no one we were
helping was progressing, God always sent that Elect child of God to brighten
our day. I always feel that no effort we make is wasted, because the Lord will
reward what we have done, through ways we sometimes don´t recognize."
and from another letter he wrote about the blessings of
missionary work:
"I [chose to serve] a mission because
when we are in the service of our fellowmen we are in the service of our God.
We are helping bring souls unto Christ and salvation, and great is our worth in
the eyes of God. If we bring someone to the light our joy will be great, more
than we can comprehend on earth. As we help others be saved from sin, our own
sins are forgiven. Here in the mission field we are perfected in the refiners
forge, even as unto Gold.
As youth, we
are not the best public speakers, or the most knowledgeable in the beginning,
but we are [the ones that] God will use to change the world. Even as Enoch was
simple and slow of tongue in the beginning, the Lord gave him the spirit so
strongly that people could not deny the truth. So it shall be [with us] if we
dedicate ourselves to this work ...
[Serving
a] mission is the best choice I have made in my life. I now know that my
Redeemer lives. He is the Holy One of Israel that died for us and [rose up] on
the third day. And it is only through the gospel of Jesus Christ that we can
receive exaltation. [As we] serve [God, we] help our brothers and sisters
receive the same blessings. And I testify that these things are true in
the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Love, Elder
Shepard
P.S. As a [mission] perk/bonus, You could be sent to an exotic
country, learn a new language, eat exotic food and get a tan and lose weight.
:) "
(Jacob is
so tan and speaks Portuguese so well now that he could pass for a native Brazilian,
and he's lost over 40 pounds, probably through sweating it off walking through
the jungle).
I tell you about my brother because
I am sure that you, like I, can see that serving the Lord is increasing and
multiplying the gifts of the Spirit that God has blessed Jacob with. I know
without a doubt that God wants to bless each of us in the same way. As we rely
on the Lord and do our best to serve Him, we will become more than we ever
could on our own. We will develop our gifts, spiritual and temporal because, "Every good gift
comes from Christ:" {Book of Mormon - Moroni
10:8–18}
One of the Gifts of the Spirit that
I prize most highly is my testimony of my Savior Jesus Christ and His Gospel.
That gift is available to anyone who will seek it and use it. {Chapter
23: Receiving a Testimony of Jesus Christ Teachings
of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith, (2011), 201–209}
I see this gift in Jacob, and it is
the one that I most hope for the rest of my family and for all of us.
"To some it is given
by the Holy Ghost
to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that he was crucified for the
sins of the world. To others it is given to believe
on their words, that they also might have eternal life if they continue
faithful. {Doctrine
and Covenants, D&C 46:8-33}
Look for and Recognize Gifts in Others
As I have seen this transformation
in my brother, I have realized the importance of looking for and recognizing
the gifts of those around us. One of the Wagner
traditions I love most, which the Shepard family has now adopted, is the
tradition of going around the dinner table and sharing what we each love about
the birthday girl or boy. Now that we are so spread out, we use skype, texting
and email which is just about as good. This brings us so much closer together,
grows our love and helps us recognize one another's gifts. Each family can find
ways to express appreciation for each other's gifts and talents, and as we do
our love will grow.
Parents, and any relative,
leader or friend of children and youth can especially have a profound impact as
they seek to recognize gifts in the young people they love. Every child, as
well as every lair-dwelling teenager :) has a gift. (For those of you teenagers
out there, I was one once too. Don't worry. It gets better!)
President Henry B. Eyring
said, "As a young father I prayed to know what
contributions my children might make in the Lord’s kingdom. ... I can promise
you that you will bless them to help them recognize the spiritual gifts with
which they were born. Every person is different and has a different
contribution to make. No one is destined to fail. As you seek revelation to see
gifts God sees in those you lead... —particularly the young—you will be blessed
to lift their sights to the service they can perform. With your guidance, those
you lead will be able to see, want, and believe they can achieve their full
potential for service in God’s kingdom. God knows our gifts. My challenge to
you and to me is to pray to know the gifts we have been given, to know how to
develop them, and to recognize the opportunities to serve others that God
provides us. But most of all, I pray that you will be inspired to help others
discover their special gifts from God to serve. I promise you that if you ask,
you will be blessed to help and lift others to their full potential in the
service of those they lead and love." {"Help Them
Aim High" Henry B.
Eyring, October 2012 General Conference}
Perhaps some of the
people around us, acquaintances, strangers, our neighbors, colleagues, perhaps
even family members may seem rough around the edges, but "each is a beloved spirit
son or daughter of Heavenly parents, and as such, each has a divine nature and
destiny." {The Family: A Proclamation
to the World} If we will see others not as they are, but as they may
become, see them for their potential, for the inherently divine gifts they have
inside of them, the world will be a much better place.
President Thomas S.
Monson, our prophet, recounted a story that pertains to this. "During the 1940s and 1950s, an American prison warden,
Clinton Duffy, was well known for his efforts to rehabilitate the men in his
prison. Said one critic, “You should know that leopards don’t change their
spots!” ...Warden Duffy [replied], “You should know I don’t work with leopards.
I work with men, and men change every day.”1 {"See Others
as They May Become" Thomas S.
Monson, October 2012 General Conference}
People can change and improve, let us see them for their potential.
Use it or Lose it!
Now,
we all have gifts and talents, and God has given them to us. We learn in the
New Testament in Matthew 25, of the Parable of the Talents. {New Testament, Matthew 25:14-30
See also Luke 19:12–27
for the Parable of the Pounds to compare} The Master, who symbolizes Christ, needs to go far away for
a long time. He entrusts His servants, which represent us, with His goods or
His business in the hopes that they will take care of and grow His business as
if He were there. He hoped that they would develop their abilities so that He
could entrust them with more responsibility and blessings.
After about a life-time, when He
returns, the Master asks His servants for an account. The servant who received five talents and returned ten, as well as the
one who took two talents and returned four, were declared good and faithful
servants. They received different amounts according to their abilities, but
they were rewarded the same blessings for their diligent efforts. This teaches
me that God knows us, and He doesn't expect more of us than we can accomplish
with His help. "To whom much is given, much is
required." {Doctrine
and Covenants 82:3} and to whom little is given, little is required. The servant who
received one talent wasn't expected to increase it by 5 talents like the other.
But the Master could not accept burying the talent in the ground and not using
it at all. It's like the servant had been given a candle and put it under a
bushel, but the Lord had given him the candle specifically to light it and put
it on a candlestick, so that it could give light to all those in the house. {See
New
Testament Matthew 5:15 and Book of
Mormon 3 Nephi 12:15} The Master only wanted this servant to try, to have a little faith and
use what he'd been given. But he didn't, so it was taken away. The Master
needed all of the talents He had distributed to be put to good use. This is the
principle of "Use it or Lose it!"
Elder
Stanley G. Ellis spoke on this matter. He said, "what caught my
attention was the servant who received one [talent], took care of it, and
returned it safely back to his lord. I was surprised by the response of the
master:
“Thou
wicked and slothful servant,"
"This
seemed to be a harsh reaction to one who seemed to be trying to take care of
what he was given. But the Spirit taught me this truth—the Lord expects a
difference! I knew in that moment that each of us will one day stand before God
and give an accounting of our ... service and stewardships, [our gifts and
talents]. Did we make a difference?"
"Thankfully,
the Lord teaches us how to be fruitful, how to make a difference. “He that
abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit” {John 15:5}. If we follow...the direction that we receive
from His servants and His Spirit, we will be good and faithful servants!" {"He Trusts Us!" Stanley G. Ellis,
October 2006 General Conference}
Develop Your Gifts to Bless Others and to
Learn and Grow
Now
my husband would be the first to tell you that he wouldn't want to be signed up
for a talent show. Sometimes I am successful in dragging him to ward choir
practice if I say, "Do it for your mother!" but that's about it. I
often have to use my skills of persuasion to convince him that beautiful
flowers and decorations are worthwhile, and that he really does want to pay for
tickets to listen to the orchestra and go to the art gallery. However, although
Seth is not exactly what you'd call "the fine arts type," he has
taught me so much with his many wonderful spiritual gifts. To name just a few,
he can get along with just about anybody, and he is not one to have a negative
comment about anyone. He gives people the benefit of the doubt. He accepts them
as they are. Those are spiritual gifts I truly admire in him.
Quoting
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf: "You may think you don’t have talents, but that is a false assumption,
for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us. 5 The bounds of
creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do
not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing
into existence something that did not exist before—colorful gardens, harmonious
homes, family memories,
flowing laughter.
What you
create doesn’t have to be perfect. Don’t let fear of failure discourage you.
Don’t let the voice of critics paralyze you—whether that voice comes from the
outside or the inside.
If you still
feel incapable of creating, start small. Try to see how many smiles you can
create, write a letter of appreciation, learn a new skill, identify a space and
beautify it.
The more you
trust and rely upon the Spirit, the greater your capacity to create. That is
your opportunity in this life and your destiny in the life to come. ...Trust
and rely on the Spirit. As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life
and create something of beauty and helpfulness, you improve not only the world
around you but also the world within you."
{"Happiness, Your Heritage" DIETER
F. UCHTDORF October 2008
General Conference}
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Our son John truly has the talent of creating smiles. He is
so adorable and friendly. Once, while we were waiting for our stroller on the
Jetway, John said bye-bye to every person that got off the plane. I must have
seen 100 people smile who weren't smiling before.
I love President
Uchdorf's counsel to start small. Remember that "You must first become an amateur before you can become a
professional." "You must first become a novice before you can become
an expert."
God wants to give us gifts. He wants
us to ask for them. He is willing to give us the ones we need in the way and
time that we need them. He can turn our weaknesses into great strengths. A patriarchal blessing is a sacred
and special blessing given to each worthy member of the church to give them
direction and counsel for their life and to tell them more about who they are.
In my blessing I am told, "You have been blessed with certain attributes
of love and kindness and gentleness and a sense of humor. All of these
attributes are necessary as you raise your children here on this earth."
The part about me having a sense of humor surprised me. I thought I was that
last person who would be told specifically that I had a sense of humor.
Organized, a planner, driven to the point of maybe being a little too uptight -
those wouldn't have phased me much, but a sense of humor didn't seem to
fit. Now that I am finally a mother, and
that of a tornado terrific 2 year old, I am finding that I have to have
a sense of humor just to survive. That sense of humor has got to be deep down
there somewhere, and when I really ask God to help me find it, He always does.
I am truly learning this scripture firsthand: "And if men come unto me I
will show unto them their aweakness. I bgive unto men
weakness that they may be humble; and my cgrace is sufficient
for all men that dhumble themselves
before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then
will I make eweak things become
strong unto them." {Book of
Mormon, Ether 12:27; also see Ether 12:23-28}
We
can learn a lot from children about developing and increasing our gifts. My son
John is like my little sponge! He wants to learn everything! He watches and
listens and often imitates my every move and word. He doesn't mind if he
doesn't do it perfectly. He just tries his best and makes it fun. For my Master's
Degree I studied Teaching English as a Second Language and subsequently taught
English at Cleveland State University to college-bound adults from all over the
world. Some had their Phd's in their native languages and/or 20 years
experience in their professions, and it was very humbling for them to struggle
with basic communication in English. They often felt embarrassed. I wish they
could have been as willing to try to speak and make mistakes as John. They
would have learned much faster! But I can empathize with them because I decided
to learn Spanish in college. I am still learning. I am trying now to teach my son
Spanish, and the more I learn, the more I find out that I don't know. But I do
know that everything I've learned so far is because God is helping me. I'm sure
He knows Spanish perfectly and He doesn't mind if I make mistakes or sound
silly.
Like
learning a new language, another example of a gift of the Spirit that can be a
bit overwhelming is family history or genealogy. Family history is very
important to us as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
We want to learn about our roots, to get to know our ancestors, about their
lives, where and when they came from. It can be a daunting task for anyone,
those who might not know much about even their grandparents, or possibly even
more daunting for those who might feel like "their family history has
already been done all the way back to Adam and Eve." If you are one of
those people, I can assure you that it hasn't. It just means that someone in
your family has already become and expert, so you feel overwhelmed at becoming
a novice. But don't give up before you start, begin small, and keep at it. Soon
enough you'll look back and realize that you have learned so much from the
experts that you are now one yourself.
Our
Heavenly Father is the one who decides what gifts of the spirit each of us
need. He is perfect. He is all-knowing. I am glad He is the one in charge. He
is the best one to decide which gifts will help us the most, which will bless
those around us the most. They aren't always the gifts we would chose first,
but they are custom fit for us. Like
many of you, I have dealt with some very challenging health problems that have
lasted a very long time. Experiencing chronic pain and illness isn't my
favorite activity, and one of the spiritual gifts available to us is "to
have faith to be healed." {Doctrine
and Covenants, D&C 46:19} God also promises "He that aasketh in the bSpirit asketh
according to the cwill of God;
wherefore it is done even as he asketh. {Doctrine
and Covenants, D&C 46:30}
At
the beginning of my journey towards health, I couldn't understand why the Lord
wouldn't want to heal me right then and there. I was trying so hard to follow
Christ, to be good, to have faith. But the longer this journey continues, the
more I am coming to understand God's will for me. I have developed faith to be healed, but I am learning that often, faith not
to be healed is a gift as valuable, if not moreso, than the faith to be healed. Sometimes I still forget, but
I better understand now that God has given me a gift to keep trying to do what
He wants me to do, to be what He wants me to be, to keep loving Him no matter
what happens. I will admit that I'd still like to be healed instantly from all
my infirmities, and I know that the Lord could do it if that were His will for
me, but if not, I will still follow Him and keep trying my best to learn what
He wants me to learn. {See New Testament - Daniel 3:18}
"And
ye must give thanks
unto God in the Spirit for whatsoever blessing ye are blessed with." {Doctrine
and Covenants, D&C 46:32} As we give thanks, we are able to recognize blessings
and talents and gifts that we couldn't see before. We need to submit to the Lord's will for us. He will always
lead us down the path that will help us most to grow and progress, and though
it may not always feel like it, He is helping our talents, our gifts, our
understanding to increase as we struggle and learn. Whatever gifts the Lord has
given us, as we give thanks for them, they will increase and multiply.
It
is my prayer that we may all see those around us for their potential and their
spiritual gifts, and that we may recognize, develop and share our own gifts to
become who we need to be and bless those around us. In the
name of Jesus Christ, Amen
Beautiful and well said Emily.
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