Aiden's Sacrament Talk . Given 9/22/24

 9/22/24

Good morning brothers and sisters, I hope I’ve gotten to know everyone here, but just in case I'll introduce myself briefly. I am Elder McMullan, I've been a missionary here in Finland for almost a year now, having came here in December of last year. I've served in two other cities, Hyvinkää and Turku; they, along with Kouvola, are all wonderful cities. Finland truly is a wonderful country, I'm from a city in the Arizonan valley called Surprise. Quite the opposite of Finland, Arizona is Brown and dusty, whereas Finland is green and full of life. Arizona is always hot rather than cold. I like to joke that the Arizona Valley only has two seasons, Summer, and the early warm fall. Every Finnish missionary gets told two things before they come to Finland, 1 that it’s a very difficult language, and 2 that it is very cold. I feel like the latter is especially warned to us from these hotter areas of the world. I didn’t know I was coming to Finland to not only learn the Finnish language, but also learn what it meant to live in negative degrees. It felt like I was learning another language, and the method for learning was complete immersion. Finland is a great place to live, I quickly found myself loving the Finnish winter, loving the snow, the rain, and even the slush. Can you believe that an Arizona boy like me actually looked forward to going out every morning into the winter wonderland? Even though the weather was sometimes harsh, and even though it was sometimes a bit colder than what I would have liked, I was able to find joy every single day. Joy is a topic that I want to speak on today, more specifically, I want to speak about the quote “be of good cheer” or as it’s said in english “be of good cheer”.

 This quote is stated all through Holy scripture reminding us of the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The book of John tells us "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." Our world is in constant chaos, we hear stories of wars, murders, robberies, deaths, sickness’, we see those who are hungry, we see prejudices, we see the hatred in people towards others. We see these many great tragedies occur throughout the world, and in our own lives we too have our own struggles, we may be struggling to find a job, we may struggle in finances, we may be struggling to feel welcome by those around us, we may struggle to find joy. Whatever it is, whether you’re young or you’re old you have challenges, and you have trials. There has never been a single human in this world who has not faced hardships, they are simply a part of life. Our savior Jesus Christ too faced many hardships in his life. He was rejected, stoned, ridiculed, beaten, bruised, and eventually killed. More so than any of these hardships that he suffered, he too suffered for all of our sins, and for all of our trials and pains we would endure in this world. His Atonement was his greatest gift to us, and because of it, we need not ever feel that we are alone in any circumstance. In Doctrine and Covenants 68: 6, it says "Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you." No matter the difficulty of the trial we endure, we can be sure that we have someone who understands the pain and struggle we feel perfectly. Christ loves us, and wants us to come unto him, so that we might be able to find sanction from the pains of life and rejoice in him. We can always have him with us, it is promised that he will walk with us through our tribulations, he can and will remain our constant companion as long as we let him be, and even when we stray off the path, and let go of him, he will be waiting for us, and pleading with us to come back to him, so that we can continue to help us. Our trials do not disappear in this church, I'm sure you’re all very aware of that, rather the knowledge of Christ and his atoning power gives us the ability to have a solid foundation whereupon to stand. The famous scripture of Helaman 5 12 reads “And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.” The last line reads “a foundation whereon if men build they will not fall”. As we build our lives on Jesus Christ we will receive his blessing and support throughout our lives. We will still face the exact same trials, the same mighty storms, and hails, and whirlwinds that we otherwise would have, only we would now have something to stand on, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall. In the Book of Matthew in the New Testament, we see the twelve apostles In the midst of a great storm, being tossed by the waves, most likely scared, and worried for their lives. This is when Jesus their master comes and immediately says “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid”. What follows is a remarkable demonstration of the power of Christ and his influence. As Peter comes down onto the water, he fixes his eyes on Jesus and is able to walk freely across to the Lord, however as his gaze left the savior, and as he became distracted by the storm around him, he began to panic and sink both literally and figuratively. This story is beautifully concluded as Peter calls out for his lord to save him, and in that very instance Jesus Catches him and takes him back to the ship. In our lives, we often find ourselves in these storms, it is in these moments when we must not panic, but as Christ said to his disciples, “be of good cheer”. Fixing our gaze upon the savior in times of trouble is of upmost importance.

 The mind is a very powerful thing, in fact it is so powerful that it is the primary difference between finding joy and finding sorrow in our lives. If we are able to control our mindset, rather than let our mindset control us, then we will have the ability to find joy in any condition. Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor and Philosopher once said "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way." We all have heard the saying that it's always so easy to see the negative in our lives, and this is true, however, what I haven’t heard nearly enough is that just as it is easy to look for the negative in a situation, it can also be just as easy to see the positive. The Key difference is mindset. Once we change our mindset to fit a positive outlook, we unlock the gateway to a life full of joy. Jesus Christ was the perfect example of this. During his Earthly ministry, he experienced many stressful situations, however he always kept a composed demeanor and positive outlook. I love the scripture Luke 22 42, it says “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine be done” this scripture to me both represents Christ’s humanity as he wishes not to endure the pains of the world, knowing the suffering will be great, and of his great love as he endures the pain so that we might be able to find salvation through him. He worked with imperfect people, where others saw flaws, Christ saw potential, he saw the good in others, and he saw what people were capable of becoming rather than condemning them for their shortcomings. Time after time we see the apostles fail to realize what Jesus’ true mission was, he even knew of the future betrayal of Judas, and the denial of Peter, and of his eventual death, but he still found joy. Christ endured the pains in his life, because he saw the positive impact they would have for all of humanity. Our current Prophet, President Nelson has shared with us his idea of “thinking celestial”. Thinking celestial means that we have Christ in the forefront of our lives, and we do not have any higher priority than following Christ and his Teachings. Christ is the ultimate example of positivity and optimism, Winston Churchill once said: "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." Many times in our lives it may be hard to see the good, sometimes we can get discouraged, even if all that positivity can be for you in the moment is the hope for a better tomorrow then that’s ok. Always hold your gaze on Christ, and believe in him, and his ability to bless you, and comfort you amongst your greatest trials. Make sure that your mindset is aligned with your belief, when we put our trust in God and put him first in our lives, and keep an eternal perspective, we will be able to focus on the positive and “be of good cheer”

 I’d like to share a personal story with you all that puts my main point into focus. About 4 years ago our family received some very bad news, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. It definitely wasn’t the news anyone wanted to hear, especially when her side of the family has a bad history with it. There was a lot of crying, and a lot of panic that you would expect from a young teenager. I received thoughts on a future without my mother, what that would be like, the pain that it would bring. In times of trouble our minds automatically like to look for the negative in every situation, unless you have something greater than your fear. It was only maybe 1 or 2 years prior that I started to believe in the church, and the Book of Mormon. I had grown up in the church, I knew the teachings, and I knew all of the right answers, I just didn’t care, I didn’t truly believe. I hadn’t gained any testimony yet. I was also a troublemaker growing up, and it all boiled down to a point where I was not happy, and I had nothing, nowhere to turn to, I felt utterly and entirely alone. I didn’t have joy, I was not happy, of course I wouldn’t let anyone know about how I truly felt, and part of that was because I had Mentally dissociated with everyone, even my family, and it came to this point where I found myself in misery. That’s when for the first time in my life I truly felt the savior speak to me. I remembered a scripture, or rather I knew somehow or someway to look to Alma 36 3, I was guided to it. The Scripture reads “And now, O my son Helaman, behold, thou art in thy youth, and therefore, I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day.” The spirit spoke to me in that moment, I was alone, I needed him then more than ever. I had grown up in the church and knew the doctrine, but I didn’t understand it. Over time I worked and worked on building that testimony, and time after time that scripture became so very prevalent in my life, I started to trust in him more, and over time I began to become converted, it wasn’t a one time event, but rather the beginning of a lifelong conversion. I did learn in that instance, that God was aware of me, and over the years I have learned much more, I have been changed because of Christ. Without this testimony that I had started to build 2 years prior I would not have been able to take it like I did. The thoughts of losing my mother were all that I could think about, until something stronger came. I remembered Alma 36 3, and just as it helped me prior, it helped me then, and it gave me that eternal perspective, and I remembered that Christ had overcome the world, and that I could “Be of Good Cheer”. My mother eventually became better, and I praised him for his mercy. 2 years later she was diagnosed with cancer again, and then again I remembered the words of Alma. If we trust in the Lord, he will help us in our trials, and he will bless us with the strength we need to endure the hardships of this world. She became better yet again, and has since then remained healthy. These two experiences have become a great lesson to me. When we have hardships in this life, and we will, when we focus on Christ, when we let his influence be stronger than the winds and the hails of the world around us, then we will be able to “be of good cheer” he has overcome all things, and with him we can endure all things, and find joy along the way. Brothers and sisters I invite you all to remember what the lord has done for you, and to realize what he can do for you, to keep your eyes on the savior always, and let his influence shine brighter than all others, and follow his council to “be of good cheer”.