A Talk

Guess who got to speak in Church?  She did amazing! I am so blessed to be her mom and so thankful that Heavenly Father sent me such a wonderful daughter.  Here's her first Sacrament Meeting talk.

I am Alexandria Cesar and I've been asked to speak on the youth theme for this year which is service. 

I would like to share the theme with you:

Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.(D&C 4:2)

Our Savior, Jesus Christ wanted us to serve. I like this quote from Dallin H. Oaks in the April 2009 Conference. 

(Dallin H. Oaks April 2009) Our Savior gave Himself in unselfish service. He taught that each of us should follow Him by denying ourselves of selfish interests in order to serve others.

(Service: For the Strength of Youth)As you devote yourself to serving others, you will draw closer to Heavenly Father. Your heart will be filled with love. You will learn that service and sacrifice are ways to overcome selfishness. You will enjoy happiness that comes only from giving service to God and others. Your capacities will increase, and you will be an instrument in God’s hands to bless the lives of His children.

Service

I believe there is really no better example of service than our prophet Thomas S. Monson. I would like to share with you a story my family enjoys about Thomas S. Monson because it has to do with baseball. 

Baseballs and Service 

    When President Thomas S. Monson was a boy, people called him Tommy. Tommy loved to play baseball with his friends and his brother Bob. They didn’t have a grassy field for their games, so they used the dirt alley behind their homes as their ball diamond. The area worked as long as the hitter hit the ball straight to “centerfield.” But if he hit the ball to the right, it was headed for disaster.

    Mrs. Shinas lived in a little house near “first base” of the ball field. She would watch from her kitchen window as the boys played. Every time a ball landed near her porch, Mrs. Shinas would hurry out of her house, limping because of her stiff leg. She would grab the ball and take it inside.

 It finally came to a point where all the balls were gone. Mrs. Shinas had taken them and never returned them.  They eventually had to stop playing. But the conflict continued when some of the boys picked Mrs. Shinas’s home for their pranks.

   

   One day, Tommy decided to bring the conflict to a halt. As he did his daily chore of watering his family’s front lawn, he noticed that Mrs. Shinas’s lawn was dry and turning brown. He took a few more minutes and turned the hose on her lawn as well. He continued this all summer. When leaves started to fall, Tommy also raked Mrs. Shinas’s lawn.

    Not once that whole summer or fall did Tommy see Mrs. Shinas.  But he kept on going. 

     Then one evening Mrs. Shinas opened her front door and beckoned to him. She invited him into her living room and brought out a plate of cookies and a glass of milk. Then she left the room and came back with a large box filled with baseballs—several seasons’ worth.

     “Tommy,” she said, “I want to thank you for being kind to me.” For the first time, he saw Mrs. Shinas smile and heard in her voice both kindness and gratitude. The two became friends.

   When you serve you love the person more than you already did. When I take care of my brothers and sisters most of the time I'd rather be doing something with my friends. But, by serving my mom and taking care of my siblings she is able to get the things done she needs to do.  If I can lighten her burden it'll help her to be a better mom. 

 

  I'd like to share my testimony with you. I know this church is true and I know that Joseph Smith did translate the Book of Mormon. I know that families can be together forever even after death and I know service can help you become more like our savior, Jesus Christ. And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.