So I recently returned from youth conference. It was tons of fun and I had a great time with my friends. I came to realize though that while I was up there, people have come to expect a lot from me. I know of at least 5 or 6 people who were surprised when I didn’t get up and bear my testimony at our testimony meeting. Friends and leaders were both shocked because I guess they know me as this really spiritual guy and expect me to jump at things like that. I didn’t and I guess I let them all down. I was prompted several times to get up, but I didn’t, so I guess I let myself down and my Heavenly Father down as well. So I thought in order to make up for that a little, I would share some thoughts I had during testimony meeting and some things I wanted to share.
First off, I learn during testimony meeting, that different people can have the same experience together and yet all learn something completely different. We all have our own strengths and ways to look at things, so we all learn different things. And it is when we share our different insights that we all grow more and learn a whole lot more than we ever could have on our own.
Second is teamwork and cooperation! While we were at camp, we had the opportunity to participate in some “challenge courses”. Most of the activities weren’t all that challenging, but they were still fun and enjoyable. And after each one we talked about how that relates to our lives and the gospel. On all of them we had to work as a group and team and get through it together. And we accomplished so much more when we did this. We couldn’t do it on our own. We needed others there to help lift us up and help us along. One of the experiences that stand out the most is where we were around this (about) 10x10 area and there was a tree in the middle. Next to the tree was a container that had water in it, and without touching the ground (since it was “hot lava”) in the area we had to retrieve this water using only a 50 foot rope. We ended up wrapping the rope around the middle tree a couple of times and then tied the other two ends off on another tree on the outside of the area. I then went out on the rope (imagine one of the Pirates movies) to get the water. Except I wasn’t thinking it through and went out feet first. When I got to it, I ended up having to turn myself around so I could reach the container with my hands. While doing this though, my feet slipped and I ended up hanging there, a few inches off the ground, holding onto the rope. I didn’t have the strength to swing my legs up, so I called out saying I wasn’t going to make it. Out of nowhere, Galen reaches out and grabs my foot and lifts it up and I managed to get back on the rope and then successfully retrieve the water. I couldn’t have done it along though. It my moment of need, I had a friend reach out and lift me up just when I needed it the most. So we cannot do this alone. We need others there to help and support us.
Lastly, and the one I like the most, is when one of our leaders got up and bore his testimony. He talked about a question one of the youth asked which was about why we would come down here when we knew not all of us would make it back to God. Why would we risk that chance of failing and losing. He related it to why people run a race. They know there will only be one winner, but people run anyways, because they have that chance of winning. I think though that with life, it’s not about be the winner, per say, but about finishing the race. We don’t need to finish first, but we just need to finish. My cousin, at his homecoming, share a story about an Olympic runner who was sent to the games to participate. During this race though (think cross country I assume) he ended up getting dehydrated and just really worn out. He didn’t stop though, even when he knew that everyone else had finished. He kept going. Finally he made it back in, dehydrated and sick, but he finished. When questioned later about why he would finish a race he already knew he had lost and had no chance to win, he said that his country didn’t send him to the Olympics to start the race, they sent him to finish the race. And so it is with us. God didn’t send us here to just start a race, he sent us to finish it. We don’t have to come in first or be the best, we just need to do our best and finish. Do our best and leave the rest up to him. Do our best, and when our best isn’t good enough, that’s where God steps in. Just like the Olympic runner probably found some inner strength to keep going in his moment of need, and just as Galen gave me the leg up just when I needed it, when we stumble and fall in this race of life, Christ is there reaching our his hand to catch us and steady us just when we need him most. When we think we can’t keep going and think we’ve lost, he proves us wrong again and shows us some strength hidden within us that we didn’t know we had. He helps to get us going again and will always be there holding out his hand for whenever we need him.
So those are just a few of the insights I had and thought someone might enjoy them. I hope they make some kind of sense. :) Also, since I didn’t do it there, I will do it here….
I know with ever fiber of my being and with all my heart and soul that God lives and loves me. There is not a shadow of doubt in my mind that he lives. He loves me with so much more love than I deserve and so much more than I will ever understand. He sent me here with a purpose and not just to start a race, but to finish, and with his help I will finish strong. I know that I have a Heavenly Mother who loves me and watches over me. I know that she hopes and wishes that I will make it back to her, and I hope and pray that I will as well, so that I may hug her and tell her that her boy is home again and I wish to make her proud of me. I know that Christ came down to this earth. I know that he walked it and work so many miracles, some of which we may never really fully comprehend what he really did. I know that he taught us a higher law and the only true way to live with God again. I know that he was persecuted and hated of men. I know that he bled from every single pore in his body and suffered for my sins. That he knows me and know exactly what I am going through and doing. I know that he was hung upon a cross and died, for me, so that one day I might die and live again with him. I am sorry for the pain I caused him, and I am eternally grateful that he chose to go through with it because of his unending love for me. I know that one day I will get the chance to bow before him and bathe his feet in my tears in thank him personally. I also know that I already have the chance to do this with the way I live. I know of his love for me and for each and everyone of us, no matter what we do. He will ALWAYS be there for me and you. Always.
