FAREWELL TALK

I am so grateful for all my friends and family who have supported me in everything, especially within these last few months. It was so amazing to be surrounded by so many of them this Sunday. The amount of love I have for them and constantly feel from them is unreal. 

I've had several requests to share my farewell talk, so here it is!

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Good afternoon brothers and sisters!

Since I’ve been away at college it seems like our ward has grown quite a bit and many of you may not recognize me. So… let me introduce myself a little bit. My name is Kaylee Gale. I just finished up my first semester at BYU and as of right now, I am majoring in Exercise Science. I am the oldest of 4 girls, and yes… we do drive our dad crazy sometimes. In exactly 16 days, I’ll be known as αδελφή Gale, or sister Gale in Greek.

3 LONG months ago I received a mission call to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. And then about 2 months ago, I finally got around to opening that call. And let me tell you, those few weeks waiting to open that call were probably the longest weeks of my life. During this time however, I had lots of time to reflect on everything and I am so grateful for that.

I still remember the day I got my call.

It was the morning of Tuesday, November 6th. My roommate, Kaytee and I were getting ready for the day because, luckily, our classes didn’t start till 12 that morning. She was also waiting for her mission call to arrive because somehow, we ended up submitting our papers on the same day. Each day since we had submitted our papers, we would always watch a ton of those mission call opening videos on YouTube and continued to get ourselves super excited since we knew that would be us soon! We loved to talk about where we might get assigned to but ultimately knew that wherever it was, we were both going to be so happy because we were finally going to be missionaries!

I kind of knew I would be getting my call that day because my bishop had told me a few days before that my call had been assigned and everyone at BYU getting mission calls had been getting their email on Tuesday mornings. We both even found out what automated number would be texting us and set it to a contact for President Russell M. Nelson so when we got the text and email it would be like we were getting a message from him. At exactly 9:07 am, my email notification went off and Kaytee and I both ran to my phone. Sure enough there it was! A text from the “prophet” saying I could log into my missionary account to view my call! We both screamed when we saw it and could not have been more excited as the wait was finally over!

Now under normal circumstances, the first thing I would have done would have been to call my parents. But the thing was, they didn’t even know I had decided to serve a mission. And I thought, mostly for my mom’s sake, that I should probably wait until I got home for Thanksgiving to open it when I could be with her. In waiting to open my call, not only was my patience tested, but my faith was absolutely tried as well. Although I was so excited to be going on a mission, I also had days of doubt. I questioned whether or not this is really what I was supposed to be doing. I wondered if my testimony was strong enough to be able to walk up to complete strangers and try to help them understand that they were a child of God and share with them the beautiful gospel I had grown up in.

Looking back, I realize how much I needed those weeks to reflect and process everything that was going to be happening soon. I needed that time to strengthen my faith, strengthen my testimony, and to be reassured that I was doing the right thing. And that this was part of the Lord's plan for me.

I will be spending the next 18 months of my life inviting others to come unto Christ and standing as a representative of Him, serving my brothers and sisters in the beautiful countries of Greece and Cyprus. The time has finally come, but surprisingly way quicker than I ever thought, and I am so excited and thrilled for this next adventure in my life.

Ask me maybe two years ago, I don’t think I would have imagined myself standing up here today, giving my farewell talk, actually planning on going out to serve as a missionary for the next year and a half. And really, I probably surprised myself with this decision as much as I did with the rest of my family and friends who didn’t even know I was considering a mission. However, it has been quite the journey to get to this point and I have learned that the Lord definitely works in mysterious ways. Throughout my entire life, I have never felt a strong desire to serve. It was always in the very back of my mind and my family has always openly talked about and encouraged me to serve, but I knew for myself that I wasn’t just going to serve to please my family, and that I needed to personally find that answer out for myself to see if that was part of Heavenly Father’s plan for me.

For many of you who do know me, you know that I can be quite stubborn sometimes and like to do things my way and in my own time. Yet, within the past year I have been able to recognize so much more how important it is to rely on our Savior and do everything in His way and in His time. Because His ways are perfect. And ultimately, in choosing to follow Him, and put our complete trust in the plan He has for us, we can find pure joy and happiness.

In high school, I can’t say I had the strongest testimony of this. I really wasn’t doing the best I could in strengthening my relationship with my Heavenly Father. I rarely gave my full attention in seminary class. Yeah, I showed up for all my church meetings, but my mind was usually elsewhere, and I was basically just doing the minimum in the things that I was supposed to do. Though I would never deny of the truthfulness of the gospel, my testimony was small, and I didn’t feel the importance of building my own personal relationship with Heavenly Father.

Looking back, I realize how much I have depended on the testimonies of my family and friends, because really, my faith wasn’t that strong. In between my Freshman year of high school to now, I have gone from simply believing I had a Heavenly Father and knowing He was there, to wanting to give myself completely to Him. There are so many little things that I can see now that have really helped me become closer to Him. I am so grateful for the experiences and people Heavenly Father has put into my life that have helped me be able to stand before you today.

One of the simplest things I began regularly doing was studying my scriptures daily. And doing that was one of the biggest game changers for me. There was one night I was studying and my sister Kassi was snap chatting me and I had sent her a picture of my marked-up scriptures and journal I had been writing in. Her reply was simple but also had an impact on me. She replied, with a very shocked face captioned “what?! Since when do you study your scriptures.” I definitely laughed about it and replied with “well, when you go at a church school your kind of forced to because now your graded on it.” But, in all realness, I wasn’t ever the best example of doing this for my sisters before I attended BYU, and I really wish I would have been. When I first started trying to study my scriptures, I’m not going to lie… it was so boring for me and I wasn’t a huge fan of it. But there was another day I had been reading a general conference talk where there was a promise that if we started our scripture study with a prayer, it will change everything. And as crazy as it may sound, it absolutely does, and I am a personal witness of that.

The smallest change of having daily scripture study in my life strengthened my testimony and faith so much more, and I know that the same can go for all of us. No matter what point you are in your life, or how strong or not strong your testimony is right now, it is never too late for you to start make scripture study a priority in your lives. I can promise that as you prayerfully study the Book of Mormon, you can gain a testimony and strengthen your faith of its truthfulness.

The apostle Paul tells us that “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen.” Generally, we may think that faith and belief can mean the same thing. However, there is a difference between the two. we cannot have faith without belief, but we can believe without having faith. So, belief is the foundation of Faith. And Faith is trusting in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The scriptures contain many promises to those who exercise faith and obey the commandments. In Mark 16:16 it says,

“He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”

So, in other words, we must do more than simply believe, we must act. Faith is the motivating force that impels action.

I’m sure many of you are familiar with the simple phrase from James 2:26.

“Faith without works is dead”.

Do we all realize how important this phrase is?

Many people can believe that God will always provide, but we can’t just sit there and wait for things to happen. The Lord requires us to work for that which we seek. When we do our part, exercise our faith in Him, He promises us that He will help us in all our righteous undertakings. But, on the other hand, if we don’t do our part, how can we expect His help? We have to be willing to put in effort in order for Heavenly Father to help us.

So, how can we strengthen our Faith?

Joseph Smith teaches us that faith comes by hearing the word of God, through the testimony of the servants of God. Simply being here today and partaking of the sacrament helps us to increase our faith because we come here with the intentions to learn, worship, and be spiritually uplifted. I know in my experiences that hearing the testimonies of familiar faces has helped to increase my faith and helped to strengthen my testimony.

Living righteously is one of the greatest faith builders. Sin is the greatest faith destroyers. Even the smallest of sins destroy faith.  In order to keep the faith we already have, we must continually live in accordance with the principle and ordinances of the gospel.

Our faith is continually getting stronger or weaker. The future of our faith isn’t by chance but instead by choice. We must choose to be willing to put ourselves in situations to be able to receive guidance from the Lord. There is nothing more the adversary wants than to take us off the path leading back to the presence of our Heavenly Father, and he is going to try everything in his power to destroy our faith. We must always protect and guard it. It won’t always be easy, but I can promise you it will always, always be worth it. Acting in faith will not answer every question, doubt, or worry, and we must always strive to have the courage to move forward, have faith, and trust in Him, and His plan for us, even when we think we know ourselves better.

In our lives we have many opportunities to exercise our faith.

One experience of mine that stands out to me where I had the opportunity to exercise my faith was when I was trying to decide what college to attend.

For years, all I have really talked about was going to BYU- Hawaii. I constantly was telling my parents if I was accepted there that’s where I’d be attending, even though I knew how much they wanted me to go to Provo. As I began my BYU application process, I continued to have that mindset. Finishing up my applications, my mom encouraged me to apply to all 3 BYU schools, so I could have options just in case, even though I knew I already had my mind made up. Soon enough acceptance letters started getting sent out and I found out I was accepted to Provo, and honestly, I’m pretty sure my mom was more excited than me. A few weeks later, I got an email from Hawaii. Once I saw I got accepted I didn’t think I could have been any happier. For me, the choice was, “Do I want to  live in Hawaii or live in Utah?” And really, it was the easiest choice ever. But, as any good parent would tell you, my mom said I should wait a few weeks and pray about it and see if that’s really where I should go.

I remember one night, a few days after getting the acceptance letters, I went into my parent’s bedroom and told them I had my answer and that I was still going to stick with Hawaii. Again, they asked me if I had prayed about it. So, I gave them the answer they wanted and said I did, even though I really hadn’t. My parents probably knew I was lying, or they just didn’t agree with my answer, so they said I needed to pray about it again. And then, once I was sure of it and thought it all through, then they would support me in my decision.  

This time I actually did start seriously considering both schools. I prayed to know what the best option for me at that time would be, and as much as I hated the answer I kept getting, I knew I wasn’t supposed to go to Hawaii right away and that I needed to try Provo for at least one semester. Now, hopefully I won’t get that same answer after I finish my mission, but, I guess we’ll see.

Even during my first semester in Provo, I continued to question if I made the right choice… especially when it started to get cold. But, after attending a semester there, I can see exactly why I needed to go to Provo. And I can honestly say that if I didn’t go there first, I don’t know that I would be standing up here today, preparing to go on a mission.

At BYU, one of my randomly assigned roommates, Kaytee, had been working on her mission papers and all she talked about was how excited she was to go on a mission. Every. Single. day. She quickly became one of my best friends and having her to talk to 24/7 about missions was one of the best blessings ever. I know Heavenly Father places certain people in our lives to help us to learn and grow.

What if I still chose to Hawaii? I probably would have still met amazing people and experienced different things. But perhaps those people and experiences wouldn’t have led me to where I am today. Heavenly Father wanted me to have that mission prep teacher that got me so excited to serve, and He was able to direct me to a place where I could tour the MTC across the street and feel the unique spirit there, and all the other things at BYU that has attributed to my decision to serve. Having the faith to not go to my dream school right away was hard. I didn’t want to accept that answer at all. But, I know Heavenly Father sees the bigger picture, even when I don’t. He always knows best and knew exactly what He was doing sending me promptings I didn’t want to feel. And I am so grateful I was able to recognize those and have enough faith to act on those promptings.

As a future missionary, I know that I am going to have to move forward with faith on countless occasions. I know that my mission won’t be easy, in fact, it is going to be one of the hardest things I do in my life. I’ll be talking to people daily, some of which won’t want anything to do with the church. I’ll have to deal with a lot of rejection. And it will be exhausting; mentally, spiritually, and physically.

But, when we look in our scriptures, we can find in D&C 18 it says,

“15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!”

Really, it only takes finding that one person, that one heart to be touched by the Spirit, to feel that all that hard work is worth it.  Right now, I still have no idea why Heavenly Father decided that I need to learn Greek and go to the other side of the world to serve. And even though it kind of scares me, I have Faith and a knowledge that He will be on my side, and through Him I will be able to accomplish whatever it is He needs to do.

I would challenge you to continue doing the simple, primary answers of reading your scriptures and praying daily, attending church meetings and actually participating. In doing this, we are showing our Heavenly Father that we are willing to move our feet, that we are trying to receive His guidance and trying to do what He wants us to do. I think it is a good reminder to us that testimonies don’t just develop overnight, but instead over time. And once we have a stronger foundation, we must continually strengthen and nourish it, or we will slowly lose it.

In closing, I would like to share with you the same invitation as one of my good friends shared with me before he left on his mission almost 2 years ago.

Brothers and Sisters, if you don’t have a full testimony of your own, you can lean on mine. You can’t have it, but you can rely on it until you develop your own testimony and faith in Heavenly Father’s plan for us.

I testify to you that this is the work of the Lord, that this is His kingdom, restored to the Earth today to bless us, and each and every one of God’s children. I know that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon through his unwavering faith and through the power God. I know Jesus is the Christ, and that He died for us and was resurrected so we can be clean, and worthy to enter in His presence when we return to live with Him someday. President Russell M. Nelson is a prophet, called of God, to lead and guide our church today.

It is an absolute blessing to be called to serve my Savior and be an instrument in His hands and to help invite our Heavenly Father’s children to come unto Christ, so that they may feel the pure happiness, peace, and comfort that only this gospel brings. I am so grateful for this great opportunity and can’t tell you how happy and absolutely excited I am to accept this call to serve my brothers and sisters. I understand that to fulfill this calling, it will require everything that I have and everything that I am.

Although I know how hard it will be for me to leave the comforts and safety of home, my friends, all my family, and especially my little sisters, I know the Lord needs me more than anyone else right now and that I have a great work to do. I know that I could not do this without the power and guidance of the Lord. Without Him I am nothing, but through His power, I have faith that I will be able to fulfill this calling in a way that is pleasing unto Him. I know that the Lord knows my heart and has a plan for me. I know He loves me unconditionally. My Savior has blessed my life more than I could have ever imagined. The very least I can do is to dedicate a few months of my life to Him.

I am so grateful for this gospel and I cannot wait for all the wonderful experiences the Lord has in store for me.

I share these things with you and testify that they are true, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.