The "Farewell Talk"

Today, I gave my “farewell talk” and it was a very special day for multiple reasons.

One, I had originally planned to do a luncheon at my house after, but I changed my mind after a very wise man reminded me that the meeting I would be speaking in and the day I would be speaking on, should not be centered on me, but on the Savior. How grateful I am he reminded me of that! Opting out of the tradition and trying my absolute best to treat the day like any other Sabbath day was one of the best decisions I made leading up to my “farewell” and I will never regret that decision one bit.

Two, I felt an outpouring of the Spirit throughout the entire meeting. Not just while partaking of the Sacrament. Not just while singing the Hymns. Not just while listening to the speakers speak. Throughout the entire meeting, I felt the Spirit and I had an experience I will never, ever forget.

Three, I had the opportunity to teach the exact people who have been teaching me for all these years. That was an incredibly humbling experience. As I looked around, I was surrounded by people I have known for years and people I have known for just a month, but nonetheless, they were all people I have learned something from. They were all people I have looked up to. They were all people who have influenced me. And they were all people I love dearly. I felt an enormous responsibility to teach my teachers something that would have a lasting effect and I knew there was only one-way to do that.

Which leads me to my last reason, I relied on the Spirit more than I can ever recall doing. I was given a talk from General Conference to speak on; “The Moral Force of Women” by Elder Christofferson. As great as that talk is, I never actually used it in my own talk. Upon reading, pondering and praying, I felt prompted to take my talk in another direction. I did, however, find what direction Heavenly Father wanted me take my talk by listening to the assigned talk. Amazing how that works! In the talk, he says,



And that is what sparked it. So naturally, I spoke on the Plan of Salvation, but mainly focusing on the Pre-Mortal Life. Now, I really struggled with this. I won’t lie. I am the only active member in my immediate family and I knew there would be other people in attendance who are not active or are not members, and I felt an important need to break down the Pre-Mortal Life as if I was teaching it to a little child because that is the exact way I learned about the Pre-Mortal Life. And again, I struggled with this. So, as I approached the stand with my scriptures, a Hymn book (because of a last minute addition), and the little notes that I had purposely prepared, I prayed to my Heavenly Father just one last time for the Spirit to be with me. Almost everything after that is a blur. I am unsure of what I said, but I am fully aware of what I felt and I have been told that if I am feeling the Spirit, than those I am teaching are feeling the Spirit as well. And I call that a success.


Until next time,