Darren's Talk

It seems like all I have been blogging lately is seashells and talks. I hope your not sick of them- because I saved the best for last!  Here is Darren's talk on prayer.  If you know us well, you know we have had a rough past 9 years.  When he gave this talk it was very somber and sincere.  It was extremely touching.  We were both in tears- which isn't a big deal for me- but I don't see him cry very often.  I hope you can feel his sincerity as you read it.    

Prayer Talk

Brothers and sisters I am glad to see you all here on this beautiful Sunday morning. There is no better place we could be right now.  Although we all recognize the minor inconvenience a speaking assignment brings, I am grateful for the opportunity to share my thoughts and feelings with you today. Anesthesia school is a great challenge, and can easily take focus off the most important things in life.

           My assigned topic today is prayer.  I have been blessed to see the power of prayer many times in my life. Throughout my life I have wondered how a great and powerful being such as God could condescend to hear and yes, even respond to one such as I.  Yes, this life is a struggle, yes- hard times befall the good and the evil, but our merciful God has seen fit in his infinite wisdom and love to provide us with a life-line, a conduit to tap into the source of all goodness and light in the universe.  President Scott stated in a 2007 general conference address:

“Prayer is a supernal gift of our Father in Heaven to every soul. Think of it: the absolute Supreme Being, the most all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful personage, encourages you and me, as insignificant as we are, to converse with Him as our Father.”  

Indeed prayer is of the utmost importance in our lives.  It allows us to express the desires of our hearts to our father in heaven, opening the path for blessings and guidance. The great prophet Nephi, despite his own feelings of inadequacy, was one of the most eloquent writers in the Book of Mormon. In second Nephi Chapter 4 verse 35 he testifies:

  Yea, I know that God will give ^aliberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ^bask ^cnot amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the ^drockof my ^erighteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen.

Just think. There is an all powerful being, even the creator of the world, the universe, everything we know- who is willing to listen and even respond to our needs. There are likely many in our society who yearn to speak with famous leaders and innovators , I wonder how much someone would pay to speak with someone like Bill Gates? We have access to an immeasurably greater resource. 

During my mission in Nagoya, Japan I was blessed to be companions with a truly humble spiritual giant.  My friend Hans Zeller was an excellent missionary and even went on to serve as Bishop of a large ward even before he was 30.  I learned much from him during our time together.  One evening, as we embarked on yet another night of knocking doors in an unfamiliar land we stopped and he offered a sincere prayer of guidance.  I followed as he sped away at a fast clip turning left and right through the narrow streets- I could barely keep up! We had never been in this area before and just as suddenly as he started, he choose the apartment where we would work.  At the first door there was no response as so many we had knocked before.  At the second door however, a small Portuguese speaking man answered the door. He eagerly let us in and we shared a simple message with him and made a follow up appointment. Over the coming weeks we truly learned the meaning of a Golden investigator. Each principle we taught was accepted with a phrase similar to “Yes I feel like I knew that already”. On the second visit he let us know that less than a week before he had asked God in prayer if there was a true church, and if there was, could He please let him know which of the many in the world it is.  I testify to you brothers and sisters, that night as we rode through the dark of night, two prayers were answered.  Two of the weak things of the world were guided to the home of a spiritual giant.  This unassuming, man of small stature from Brazil is a walking testament to the power of prayer.  Indeed, like Joseph Smith, my brother Valter followed the admonition of James, which states:

^aIf any of you lack ^bwisdom, let him ask of God, that ^cgiveth to all men liberally, and ^dupbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 

Valter soon became branch president of a Portuguese speaking branch in Japan, and currently serves in the stake presidency in his native country of Brazil.  He is truly an example to me.

Prayer is also a tool we can use to ask for blessings when we are in need of help in our lives.  Make no mistake, this life is a challenge.  We all know thanks to Lehi -that without the bitter we would be unable to know the sweet. So we all must face hardship and trials.  

 I returned home from my mission with great ambition. I earned a degree in Japanese and perused a career as an entrepreneur with a local franchise.  Despite a promising start, due to factors outside of my control, I was left in a difficult position.  One location was breaking even and the other was greatly in the red.  I was intimately aware of the desperation of my situation and saw no possibility of any type of positive outcome.  In the depths of this hopeless situation, my wife and I fell to our knees and asked Heavenly Father for a way to salvage our situation to some degree.  We asked for the prayers of family members and continued to do our best.  Then, the impossible happened.  A buyer, with a vision for the future appeared and purchased our businesses.  Although the experience was still severely painful, this miracle allowed us to salvage what was left of our financial lives.  It is difficult to convey the magnitude of this occurrence.  Brothers and sisters, this was literally a miracle, I assure nobody in their right mind would have purchased those stores- and I whole heartedly attribute it to the power of prayer.

After selling our stores I was left to decide what to make of my life.  My wife in her brilliant mind gave me the idea to become a nurse with the goal to obtain an advanced degree in the future.  I began the prerequisites at Brigham Young University Idaho with great hope, but as time passed and I found out more about the Nursing program there, my hope dwindled.  I discovered the average GPA for accepted students was nearly 4.0. I thought I was smart, but only made it through my previous degree with a meager 3.3 GPA.  To my dismay, BYU Idaho was filled to the brim with intelligent young ladies who appeared to have a work ethic that would put me to shame on my best day. And they all wanted to be nurses. I did my best at the required chemistry and biology classes and reluctantly signed the Nursing school application my wife filled out for me. I was more than certain I would be at the bottom of the list.  True to my instincts I soon received a letter of rejection.  My wife however, continued in prayer and requested her entire family to do the same in the hopes that by some miracle a spot would open up.  I thought to myself- What a waste of time. I am hardly qualified. There is no way I will ever get in.

My beautiful wife would look at me with a twinkle in her eye and exhort me to keep my faith that I would be accepted.  One fateful day a number of weeks later, just two weeks before the semester was to start I received a phone call offering me a spot in the program.  I literally fell to the floor in disbelief.  I could hardly speak.  How could this be?  I ran upstairs to tell my wife and we embraced in tears and she told me she knew the Lord would provide a way for us.  – I have to mention here that her family is made up of the most faithful and diligent people I know.  I could never claim any level of spiritual greatness or power, but I know for a fact they spent much time on their knees and in the temple on my behalf.  Brothers and sisters, through the power of prayer I have seen miracles. And that is how I am here today.

Yes God has instructed us to pray and to ask and to be blessed.  But I submit to you today that there is an even higher purpose for prayer.  The great teacher Amulek taught us about prayer when he said:

 Yea, cry unto him for mercy; for he is ^amighty to save.

 19 Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in ^aprayer unto him.

 20 Cry unto him when ye are in your ^afields, yea, over all your flocks.

 21 ^aCry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening.

 22 Yea, cry unto him against the power of your ^aenemies.

 23 Yea, ^acry unto him against the ^bdevil, who is an enemy to all^crighteousness.

 24 Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them.

 25 Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase.

 26 But this is not all; ye must ^apour out your souls in your^bclosets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness.

27 Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your ^aheartsbe ^bfull, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your^cwelfare, and also for the welfare of ^dthose who are around you.

Yes we should pray for ourselves, yes we should pray for prosperity, but at the top of the list, our prayers should be for those around us. As we look around in life we may see strong, hardworking people. But I assure you, a closer more personal examination will demonstrate that each and every one of us is dealing with some struggle. We may all not be going through the refiners’ fire at the moment, but there are many around us that need to feel Gods love. Did Jesus not teach in John 13 34-35?

 34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye ^alove one another; as I have loved you, that ye also ^blove one another.

 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have^alove one to another.

Did Jesus not clearly tell us the importance of love in Matthew when he was asked to name the greatest commandment when he replied:

Thou shalt ^alove the Lord thy God with all thy ^bheart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy ^cmind.

 38 This is the first and great ^acommandment.

 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt ^alove thy neighbour as thyself.

 40 On these two commandments hang all the ^alaw and the prophets.

Brothers and sisters, through prayer the Lord will guide us in how to best show his love to those who stand in need. It may be a ward member, or a stranger in the market that needs a kind word. A heart continually drawn out in prayer to the Lord will be able to see others with spiritual eyes and will do great works of service and love for their fellow man.

When I was 18 years old I lived by myself in a small apartment as a turbulent adolescence. After breaking my leg in a skateboarding accident I was without a vehicle and forced to use crutches to get around. When the food in my house ran out I crutched the ½ mile to the nearest store and purchased some goods. By the time I stared home my arms were raw and my injured body was exhausted -  I was not sure if I would even make it. As I made it to the street and began my journey, seeing my obvious struggle,3-4 young men pulled to the side of the road and offered me a ride- to this day I still cannot describe my relief.  I am not sure if they were the three nephites or not, but as I collapsed on the couch after they left, I wept at the love and kindness they had shown me. Their faces were bright, their smiles were real. I knew that these young men, although not of our faith, were followers of Jesus Christ. 

 Brothers and sisters, I pray that we can all turn our hearts to the Lord in prayer to better not only ourselves, but to enrich the lives of those around us so the Love of God may be made manifest to those here on earth.

-Testimony-

-Amen-

I can not read this with out crying.  I so distinctly remember the moment Darren came running upstairs sobbing to tell he he had gotten into the program.  It was a moment I will never forget.  Although life hasn't been easy- things have been better since then.  It has been a long 7 years of schooling, but Darren has worked so hard.   I cannot believe that soon he will graduate and we will get a job.   The thought of getting a steady paycheck just seems unbelievable.  It seems as if it will never come.  I wish I had a fast-forward button, wait, but then I would miss the last 3 months of 85 degree weather- Life is such a double edged sword!