Remy - My address at Stake Conference

It was quite the experience addressing so many people last night. I was uncertain whether or not I'd manage to keep my head, but thanks to fervent prayer and the faith of those around me, I somehow managed it.
I only made two oopses.
First, I said "impatient' instead of "patient" and I said "vying for our destruction" instead of "success" Oh well .. at least the former made people laugh.
I was amazed at how well-recieved the address was. I'm not used to so much praise. In truth it was somewhat embarrassing, but I appreciated it all very much. I'm grateful there were people who found my talk uplifting. That's what I was going for. One of the members of the presidency kept teasing me about being called on to give more addresses...I sure hope he was only kidding.
To my Mom and Angie, and anyone else who asked me to post it, here is what I said (more or less)
Thanks to all of you who enjoyed it, and who read this.

Building a Better Me

Good evening brothers and sisters. I feel privileged to have been given the opportunity to speak to you this evening. My first talk, and it’s Stake Conference. The lord apparently has a lot of faith in me. There’s a humbling thought. So Of course I’m not nervous, nope, not in the least!

In 1961, David O McKay said that the purpose of the gospel is to make evil men good, and good men better. And Jesus said "be ye therefore perfect, even as your father in Heaven is perfect." That’s one tall order, isn’t it? Good, to better, to Perfect … Luckily, we imperfect humans have a few really spectacular things going for us.

First of all, God, the father, the creator of the universe has so much faith in our success that he granted us physical life on earth, knowing all the temptations we’d face. He wants us to succeed so much that he sent his own son to go through torment I for one can hardly grasp, all so we would have a chance to return to him.

Now … I don’t have children yet. I can only imagine what it might feel like to send my child away to a hostile land, even knowing all the terrible things that would – not could, but would – happen. But Heavenly Father knew, and he did it anyway. Jesus Christ knew, and he willingly submitted to all the trials the world had in store. That’s two extremely caring and powerful beings vying for our success, and that’s AWESOME.

Secondly, everyone present is already on the right track. We made the choice to come here. We’ve demonstrated our ability to choose Heavenly Father’s plan of trial and freedom over Lucifer’s restricted captivity.

Finally, there’s the atonement! Jesus Christ overcame the world, and experienced every pain, every emotion, every feeling we could feel. And he did it so he could truly understand and comfort us in our times of need. He overcame the world so he could catch us when we fall short of the glory of God. I find it rather comforting to understand that no matter how much I try, and how much I may fail, Jesus will always be there to intercede on my behalf, so long as I have faith in him and strive to do my best.

Yes, we have been asked to become perfect, and at the same time, we are told that only Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father are perfect. Are the scriptures a contradiction? Well, Jesus Christ doesn’t waste words. Everything he says has a profound meaning. So where does that leave us?

The journey of perfection is more than a life-long foray. It extends beyond mortality into the spirit world, and the eternities.

Each day we are given countless opportunities to better ourselves. For some of us, this task comes quite naturally. I’m sure there are a few of us who know that one person who is so saturated with goodness that it just oozes from their every action. But for others, the climb to perfection can seem very arduous indeed.

We fall victim to temptation, it’s true. Our own desires, and Satan work tirelessly against us. But often for many of us, Guilt, self-doubt, and despair when we feel we can never measure up are perhaps some of the most devastating emotions that hinder our betterment. I know for me, there’s no worse feeling than thinking "there’s no way I can ever measure up to this person or that person, let alone the Savior!"

Brothers and sisters, thanks for baring with me so far. I ask all of you now to please do me a favor. Think back a few years to a time when you were younger. Could be five years, or it could be fifty. I’m sure there are some of us here who feel like the older you get, the faster the years seem to go. I’m only 28, and it’s rather disturbing to realize the years are just going to keep getting shorter.

Think about how far you’ve come over the years. Are you where you thought you’d be? Are you what you thought you’d be? I’m not talking about your work, or your station in life, because those things are transient. I’m talking about your emotional and spiritual contentment.

If you’re happy where you are, if you have at least reasonable confidence that you’re on the right path, then that’s wonderful!

But what about those of us who feel overwhelmed by all of the things we’ve been asked to do?

Please don’t despair. Along with all the support and blessings from Heavenly Father, there’s a miraculous word we’ve been blessed with that can ease our burden in the darkest days of self-doubt. I’ve already mentioned it, and we’ve all heard it before. The word is strive.

Now, I’m going to go a little Bill Cosby on you for a moment. Let me tell you a story.

I started investigating the church in 2005. I began partly because I found it fascinating, but also because I was enamored by a lovely young lady who made me completely certain I loved her.

I was a lot different then (or so people have told me.) I was never a horrible person, but over the years I’ve done a lot of things I’m not proud of. For a long time after my baptism I disregarded a lot of doctrine and probably asked the wrong kind of questions for the wrong reasons. Many people were concerned when I first got the idea to marry that young lady I fell in love with, and for a long time that made me angry. I stopped coming to church for a time, and I was told my testimony was based too much on knowledge than faith. It was hard. I constantly felt like I was being judged, and I felt I’d never live up to the standards set forth by the people in the church, let alone the scriptures.

I’ll be honest, there are some days where I still feel like that man. My lack of confidence is something I’m still trying to work on. But I know that Jesus is there for me, despite all my faults. It’s a slow process, but I’m striving to improve. I’ve got a long way to go before I’ll reach my full potential. But thanks to the scriptures, to the faith of my family and friends, and the council of our wonderful bishop, I am on the verge of attaining the Melchizedek Priesthood, and finally taking my loving and patient wife to the temple.

Brothers and sisters we are all on the right path. We are all here tonight. There are times we will fall short. Sometimes we may end up taking a step back before we can take two steps forward. But the temptations of the world can be overcome, sometimes all at once, sometimes one at a time.

It doesn’t matter who gets there first. One of the greatest tools Lucifer possesses is the ability to goad us into comparing our lives to the lives of others. In the eyes of the Lord, we are all equal, and he loves us all. We have the scriptures to guide us, and a variety of wonderful ways to truly study them. And we have the words of the general authorities to grant us clarity if the scriptures overwhelm us.

But we must believe in ourselves. And if we can not do that, then we must have faith in those who believe in us. Chief among our support team is Jesus Christ himself, who loves us unconditionally and wants so badly for us to succeed. We must see the good in ourselves, and in one another. We must strive to always improve, even if our improvements are sometimes slow and small. But above all, we must have faith that, while we will inevitably fall short, Jesus will be there at the end to see us through. That is the glorious miracle of his redemption, and it is not exclusive.

Brothers and Sisters, we are all children of our Heavenly Father. We all made one of the greatest decisions of our existences by believing in Heavenly Father’s plan enough to come here and obtain a body. This plan is real. And I testify that Jesus is our hope, and our redeemer. In ourselves we can find the will, and in him, we can find the strength. In him, all things are possible – in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.