A Talk in Church

Today I gave a talk in church and I was not very excited for it. Dad (since he is the 1st counciler in the bishopric) assigned the topic: where our heart is. I would just like to share the talk with you because I really felt the spirit writing and giving it.

Michaela’s Talk for Sacrament Meeting September 16, 2007

This summer I spent 2 ½ months in Great Britain. My time there was amazing. We did everything from horseback riding in Ireland, to sitting in libraries doing family history. One of my favorite parts was the Church History. We went to all of the Church History sites and at the tail end of the trip I had my first temple excursion. We traveled to Preston England where the prophet served his mission and went to the Preston, England Temple. The landscaping was beautiful as we walked up the sidewalk and into the automatic doors that led into this sacred place. Right when I entered I felt this calm, warm feeling and I felt as if I could burst out crying. Everything was so perfect. A woman led us down many flights of stairs paved with soft, cream colored carpet until we got to the baptismal font. I marveled at the light and glory of this place. The whole place was lit up and I counted the 12 oxen that held the font so sturdily. The ceiling was a dome shape with tiny lights that looked like stars and we viewed a man baptizing a girl for a person long gone. After receiving our temple clothes and changing into them we all met outside the changing rooms and decided to do confirmations first. Even though the clothes were a bit big, I felt pure and clean in them. My Dad blessed me 15 times for many people I had no idea who were, but I knew I was doing the right thing. Entering into the baptismal font area with my Mom and sister I felt like joy in what I was doing. First went Mariah and then me so my Mom could watch me do it for the first time. I carefully walked down the stairs into the warm, clear water and took my Dad’s hand. He baptized me so many times I couldn’t even count and I could just imagine each person I was being baptized for clap their hands for joy as I came up out of the water. The whole experience felt like a dream. After changing back into our normal clothes we met an older man who was a temple worker and he told us a story from when he was young. He was in the army and every year Queen Elizabeth would set a wreath on the memorial of soldiers who had lost their lives. At the time, he had thought that this was very significant, but when he thought about it, he realized that that didn’t do anything for the souls that had been lost. He told us that we had done something the Queen of England couldn’t have done, and that is be baptized for someone who didn’t get the chance in this life.
I thought this was a very special temple to be my first because this is where President Hinckley served his mission. We visited one of his residences where he lived in at the first of his mission. At that time he felt very discouraged and wrote home saying that he was wasting his time and his parent’s money. His father wrote a short note back saying, “Forget yourself and go to work”. After that, his heart was turned and he worked diligently on his mission work the rest of his time in England.
I am so glad for my membership in this church. The weekend before school started the youth in this ward went down to the Dougherty’s lake house. We all had so much fun swimming and skiing and playing games inside. On the Sunday we were there we had a full 3-hour meeting and I know that we all felt the spirit. Each and every person attending the meeting got up and bore their testimony and it really touched me to be there together in such a small group, but still feel the love of the savior.
I am so grateful that all of you are here today and that your hearts are where they are supposed to be. I am so thankful for the gospel and the prophets in these latter-days and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.