Elder Hansen's farewell talk

Before Elder Taylor Hansen entered the Misssionary Training Center (MTC) on Wednesday, March 16, 2016, he gave a talk on the Atonement at his farewell the previous Sunday.

Here is his talk:

Farewell talk

"Uhhh. Hi.

Yes. Okay. This is happening. Good morning! Honestly I don't actually think it's a good morning, but I feel obligated to say that. Anyways, before I begin my talk I want to draw attention to something which I believe to be of the utmost importance. Yes, I am leaving on a mission, but no, that is not why we are here today. Today is the Sabbath, and it belongs to the Lord. So, in the words of Ammon, “...let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.” [Alma 26:16]

With that in mind, I can now get on with the rest of my talk. Today I have been asked to speak on the Atonement and the role it plays in our lives – and more specifically how all of it applies to missionary work. Throughout my life, and these last few years especially, I've come to understand the atonement more than I ever have. Though I know that there's a lot left that I have to learn about this and a billion other things, I have a few things that I've found to be helpful in my process of drawing closer to Christ and making his sacrifice a more relevant part of my life.

The Sacrament

One of the first things I learned is that in order for his atonement to really mean something to me, I must give the sacrament the weight necessary for it to be a consequential part in our life. And I know that there's a lot that goes into what we're supposed to do after we take the sacrament and how we are supposed to act and the covenants that we made, but I'm going to be focusing more on what I believe we are to understand before and during the ordinance of the sacrament. I truly believe that when we understand what we are doing, it becomes so much more meaningful to us. Most of us have been taking the sacrament all of our lives, and while that's great, I wonder whether we've forgotten the impact that it can have in our day-to-day experiences. Making Christ a fundamental part of my life requires much more than simply saying “amen” at the end of the sacrament prayer and then partaking of the bread and water. I really believe that the sacrament is a faith-building, revelatory experience for those who come with the proper spirit. During a general conference a few years ago, Elder Robert D. Hales rightly said that “the sacrament gives us an opportunity to come to ourselves and experience a change of heart—to remember who we are and what we most desire.”

Highlights from Elder Robert D. Hales' talk. If you would like to read his full talk, you are welcome to read it here.

Now you may be wondering: how is this pertinent to missionary work? I wondered the same thing until a few months ago when I was sitting up over there with the priests waiting to break the bread that I realized...the sacrament is every reason I am going on a mission. It is the way, the why, the how, the reason and the means. But too often I have forgotten that it was the Son of God, who was a king in his own right, that descended far below us all in part just to make this ordinance possible. It is the ordinance of the sacrament that allows me to repent and receive Heavenly Father's grace. It is the ordinance of the sacrament that makes the atonement accessible to all of us on a personal level. It is the ordinance of the sacrament that allows us to renew our covenants with the creator of the universe, to begin again, and to recommit ourselves to being more like the people he would have us be. In this manner, sacrament meeting becomes to us, as Elder Oaks said, “the most sacred and important meeting in the church.”

Elder Dallin H. Oaks

With that perspective, the sacrament, in essence, encompasses everything I will be teaching on my mission. The atonement, the love of God, the plan of salvation, the creation, the fall, and all other things, so how could it not be pertinent to missionary work? I'm paraphrasing Elder Groberg when I say this, but in one sense, the institution of the sacrament was the last supper. In another sense, it was the first supper because it was the beginning of many spiritual feasts – but only for those who come prepared for it to be so. It is my hope and prayer that we may all come prepared for the divine revelation that is offered to us through the ordinance of the sacrament.

Repenting with purpose

Another thing I've learned about is repenting with purpose. This one applies to missionary work in nearly every way possible. For one, I am not a perfect person, and I am most definitely going to make hundreds and probably thousands of mistakes over the course of the next two years. And in order to serve selflessly, I will need repentance to be able to forget myself work diligently. It is through my repentance and his atonement that I am able to love those around me. His Christlike love is what allows me to care about others so much. It is only because of him that I am able to love those who I haven't even met yet, because when I repent and come unto him, he makes me more than what I could ever be on my own. I can try all I want to be a good missionary, to serve selflessly and to be charitable, but without him it amounts to nothing because I of myself will never be good enough. But I have seen him take ordinary acts of kindness and transform them into extraordinary acts of love, and I have faith that he will do the same for me and that he will carry my love and my testimony to the hearts of those I will be teaching.

Someone that I admire greatly once sent this to me in an email: Remember that Heavenly Father loves the people you will be serving just as much as he loves you. And truly, he does love you and all people. If he didn't, he wouldn't have sent his son to die for all of us. But he did. So don't waste this opportunity. The atonement is real, use it. If you make a mistake, repent and move along. If you feel inadequate, ask for his help, then get over yourself and do his work. Remember, in thoroughness is satisfaction. Work hard. Pray hard. Love deeply, and serve passionately. However, without repentance, none of that is possible.

The process of repenting is so much more than just asking for forgiveness and moving forward. We repent not only to be forgiven, but to change what makes us who we are. As we repent, we show forth both humility and faith. And it's that humility and faith, according to Alma, which allows us to experience a “mighty change wrought in [our] hearts.” But not because of who we are. We are not the ones that do the changing. We can work hard and try to be the best we can be, but like I said, we will never be good enough on our own. Yes, we can experiment upon the words of Christ, but all we can really do is present the Savior with “fruits meet for repentance,” and then ask that he changes who we are. It is the Savior's atonement and Heavenly Father's grace that not only allows, but causes us to change. And to me, that's one of the greatest miracles of the atonement. We not only have the opportunity to change and live again after we die, but we can change now, and be happy now, and live more abundantly now. It not only provides us with an infinite amount of opportunities to begin again, but an infinite amount of opportunities to change...even until we become the type of people who no longer need to change. Which isn't actually something that'll happen in this life. But I refer to the day when we are perfected in Christ. “For this is the way, and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God.” [2 Nephi 31:21]

  

The burden of Christ

I could talk about a million other ways the atonement applies to missionary work, but I'll only share one more thought with you.

Ever the Savior pleads with all who will listen: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30] Moreover, Christ has said: “He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life, for my sake, shall find it.” [Matthew 10:39] What is the significance of these scriptures, and how do they apply to missionary work and the atonement?

At first glance, these passages seem confusing. But I believe that by doing what They ask us to do, we can find peace and happiness not just in this world but also in the world to come. Here we are trudging through life, each of us with our own set of problems and burdens. What Christ asks us to do in that first passage is not to shrug off the weight we are currently carrying, but to add an additional load. I believe that what the Savior is trying to tell us is that our own burdens are lifted only when we take upon ourselves more burdens – but not just any burden. CHRIST'S burden. And Christ's burden was to “succor the weak, [to] lift up the hands which hang down, and [to] strengthen the feeble knees.” [D&C 81:5] And He does this through the atonement. Though we cannot help Him carry the weight of the atonement, we can help by serving those around us and by preaching His gospel and being more kind and charitable, because that was also His burden. When we do this, something changes because that additional weight is different from all others. It is not a weight that weighs down, but a weight that lifts. And yes, you are right, that makes absolutely no sense, but I'll do my best to explain it anyways.

These past few months, I've been carrying burdens that have weighed me down and made the world seem like a cruel and awful place. How do I leave the people I love most to serve people I've never met in a land that I am unfamiliar with? Will I be able to learn the language so that I can convey my thoughts and testimony in a way that will be meaningful to them? Is my faith strong enough to carry me throughout my mission? These thoughts have weighed on my heart heavily since the day I received my call. But I have found relief, and I've found it in place I never expected to – by taking on an additional burden. As I've worked hard and given myself to the idea of serving with all that I have, I've been able to be at peace because I know that everything is in the Lord's hands. Not only this, but I've learned that he cares not only for me, but he loves and cares about those whom I love and care about, and He takes upon Himself the burden of watching over them. As I take His burdens, He takes mine so that I can more fully serve Him. This is where the second scripture comes in. It's only through forgetting yourself that you find who you truly are. It's only through forgetting our own cares and our own worries and our own doubts and fears that we are able to discover who we are. And the only way to really forget ourselves is to take the burden of Christ. When we do this, we find who we are. We are children of Heavenly Father, and that is the essence of his gospel. He loves us, and I dare to say that He especially loves those who are not yet members of this church, and THAT is why I am going on a mission.

In closing, I want to leave you with my testimony and the basic things I know to be true. Families are forever. This gospel is true. The atonement is real. It is powerful enough to change lives AND hearts. The Son of God has overcome death for one and for all, and he LIVES this very day. Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and he brought back to earth the fullness of the gospel which I now have the opportunity to share with his children in Italy, and what a joy that is. I love you all, and I leave these things with you in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, amen."