Syster Roxanna Boyer

For Sacrament Meeting August 25, 2013 Växjö Gren, Sweden

I was given Elder M. Russell Ballard’s October 2012 General Conference Talk, “Anxiously Engaged” for inspiration for my Sacrament Meeting Talk.  I read this talk and listened to it numerous times.  I found it to be the best talk, one of the most perfect talks I have ever known. When I tried to summarize it or take things away, I found myself frustrated and feeling like I was editing something that didn’t need to be edited.  But I  will tell you some sweet memories and some thoughts from my personal experiences that came to my mind upon reading this talk.

When I was about 11 years old, I met Karen who was to become my best friend. Karen was a Mormon.  I enjoyed arguing about religion and being very intellectual about God, the need for church, and where we can go for truth.   Karen just listened, answered question, present her view and loved me.   Eventually she invited me to go to a Young Woman´s activity to learn to do the “HULA”.  A Sister Missionary whose home was in Hawaii was the teacher.  What I found there amazed me.

I was enchanted by the open happy faces, good relationships between the leaders and youth, and genuine happiness I saw around me.  These people amid all the struggles and trials of life were joyously facing them and coming together in love and celebration.  Weekly, infact sometimes as many as three times a week, they spoke love and acceptance to each other during a time my home only reflected getting by, enduring one more day, living with depression and my father’s alcoholism.  The contrast between the world I had been brought up in and the world of church fellowship was so great that even though I didn’t think I couldn’t believe the way they did, I was impressed and attracted to their lifestyle and optimism.  Karen just listened, answered questions, presented her view and loved me.  

Now for a moment I want to tell you about Karen’s mother.  Sister Betty Mitchum was always in the background supporting Karen’s efforts to fellowship me.  She gave me rides to church and invited me into their own sacred and blessed sphere of home by having me come to Sunday Dinners.  Sunday Dinner at Karen’s house was always `´chicken and dumplings´´.   Karen and I would set the table, help with the salad and then watch her mother in the kitchen frying chicken and making the soft lumpy dumplings that would go over the chicken and mashed potatoes for our dinner.  You may think this is a little thing, to invite someone to dinner but they were inviting me into the peace of their home, the love of their family and I listened and watched for the secrets of their happiness.  

The secret was always the one they most wanted to share with me.  The secret to their happiness was the restored gospel and all that it entails to be an active participant in the gospel.  It was a little thing... but to me, it made all the difference in my life.

In Elder Ballard’s talk, he tells about the honey bees his father kept.  He explains:  Honeybees are driven to pollinate, gather nectar, and condense the nectar into honey. It is their magnificent obsession imprinted into their genetic makeup by our Creator. It is estimated that to produce just one pound (0.45 kg) of honey, the average hive of 20,000 to 60,000 bees must collectively visit millions of flowers and travel the equivalent of two times around the world. Over its short lifetime of just a few weeks to four months, a single honeybee’s contribution of honey to its hive is a mere one-twelfth of one teaspoon.

Have you noticed honey bees.  How busy they are.   President Ballard goes on to say:  All of this symbolism attests to one fact: great things are brought about and burdens are lightened through the efforts of many hands “anxiously engaged in a good cause” (D&C 58:27). Imagine what the millions of Latter-day Saints could accomplish in the world if we functioned like a beehive in our focused, concentrated commitment to the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.  

When Elder Ballard came to our missionary conference this past June, I was most impressed by his integrity.  He was very aware of how easily we are overwhelmed, prone to perfectionism and living the letter of the law instead of the spirit of the law.  It is human nature to look beyond the mark, think we must do something really grand for it to count.  One of my favorite scriptures that has helped me have patience with myself, children and husband is D&C 93: 11-14

11 And I, John, abear record that I beheld his bglory, as the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, even the Spirit of truth, which came and dwelt in the flesh, and dwelt among us.

12 And I, John, saw that he received not of the afulness at the first, but received bgrace for grace;

13 And he received not of the fulness at first, but continued fromagrace to grace, until he received a fulness;

14 And thus he was called the aSon of God, because he received not of the fulness at the first.

Continuing on verse 19-20

19 I give unto you these sayings that you may understand and know how to worship, and aknow what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fulness.

20 For if you keep my acommandments you shall receive of hisbfulness, and be cglorified in me as I am in the Father; therefore, I say unto you, you shall receive dgrace for grace.

We are expected to grow into our likeness to God and the Savior grace for grace, principle upon principle and precept by precept.  It is an accummulation of refinement of small acts, deeds and attidtudes.

Elder Ballard gave us a simple thing to do to achieve and accelerate this process of growing to be like the Savior.  Our elder brother whose example we are asked to follow.  It involves a daily practice.  One that starts our day.  How do you start your day? The morning I wrote this talk, I spent at least half an hour thinking about getting up.  Since then, I have renewed once again my daily practice of what I call my quiet time.  It is my time with God and sorting through my thoughts, busyness and schedule. First thanking Him for all my blessings because this puts my troubles in perspective and then taking my worries and listing them one at a time.  After I sift through them determining  which ones I can do something about and what I have to let go of and let God take care of.  Then I look at the things I can do something about and plan my attitude, what my response to the problem should/could be, and I check with God to see if I am on the right track. 

Elder Ballard asks that we add to our daily quiet time.   He says: 

“There is one simple daily practice that can make a difference for every member of the Church, including you boys and girls, you young men and you young women, you single adults, and you fathers and mothers.

That simple practice is: In your morning prayer each new day, ask Heavenly Father to guide you to recognize an opportunity to serve one of His precious children. Then go throughout the day with your heart full of faith and love, looking for someone to help. Stay focused, just like the honeybees focus on the flowers from which to gather nectar and pollen. If you do this, your spiritual sensitivities will be enlarged and you will discover opportunities to serve that you never before realized were possible.

He also said: “Remember, honey contains all of the substances necessary to sustain mortal life. And the doctrine and gospel of Christ is the only way to obtain eternal life. Only when our testimony transcends what is in our mind and burrows deep into our heart will our motivation to love and to serve become like unto the Savior’s. It is then, and only then, that we become deeply converted disciples of Christ empowered by the Spirit to reach the hearts of our fellowmen.”

I don't know if Sister Betty Mitchum used this formular as part of her morning routine.  She had a husband, 5 children, a full time job, and responsibilities in the ward.  As I have raised my children, I have often thought about how tired she must of been on those Sunday afternoons when she invited me to her chicken and dumpling dinners.  But she didn't act tired.  I never felt a burden to her.  I don’t remember her struggling to be present in conversations but I do remember her taking a rest after dinner while Karen and I scurried around acting out scenes from musicals or singing songs of the sixties. 

Because of my interest in the church, eventually both my brother and I were converted and baptized.  My brother went on to serve a mission to Canada.  He married in the temple and raised 5 children, three who went on missions. Six of our high school friends also joined the church, my cousin joined the church and raised her two daughters in the gospel, all of my children are members of the church, three of which went on missions and grandchildren are being raised in the church.  The temple work for over 200 members of my family has been completed by the combined efforts of family members and I am on a mission in Sweden today with Äldste Boyer, partly because of chicken and dumplings. 

President Brigham Young (1801–77) stated, “Our lives are made up of little, simple circumstances that amount to a great deal when they are brought together, and sum up the whole life of the man or woman; and yet in our passing from one to another our little acts and incidents seem to be very minute or simple, but we find that they amount to a great deal.”2

If we continue with Elder Ballard's analogy and compare my beloved Sister Mitchum to a busy honey bee, part of her contribution to this world, to the church, to building up Zion, to eternity is like the 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey the honey bees contribute to a pound of honey.  Because the gospel has all the essential covenants and ordinances for us to obtain eternal life like the honey that has all the substances necessary to sustain mortal life, her contribution is eternal, without end, and magnified by this great plan of salvation into a worthy gift to be given to her Heavenly Father when she returned to God. 

Such a simple thing-Chicken and Dumplings but I am so thankful for her gift to me.

Finally, I want to bear my testimony to the truth of the doctrines of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I remember learning about these truths gradually over time and that the information came to me as a constantly increasing light from my understanding of life. Giving me direction, hope and vision and most of all... the answers to the questions: Where did we come from, why we are here, and where are we going?

Where would I be now without that compass to guide me through my life? The gospel helped me change my attitude and behavior to reflect the wisdom and advice of latter-day prophets, and brought my behavior to being align with the covenants and ordinances of the Gospel.  These truth bearing doctrines that remind us how follow a path leading to becoming more refined and closer to our Heavenly Father.  I know as I work to refine myself, my righteous choices will give me more peace, spiritual security and happiness. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.