October 29, 2017 - Farewell Talk

Tyler's farewell talk was held at 9am. We had friends and family over afterwards for a nacho bar.  The weather was awesome!  Thanks to all you came to support Tyler!  Scroll down for his talk:)

Carlee Coles

Bike & school friends - Jackson Chilcote, Dallin Miner, Courtney Custer, Brittney Gorman, Kelby Cook, Aspen Fox, Alex Chilcote, Cason Matthews, Carlee, Jerzy & Jayde Matthews, Tyler, Nathan, Jenna,  Tanner Kirkham, Camry Doyle, Hannah, Isabelle Hilner

Lehi 29th Ward Priests Matt Lemon, Aaron Love, Calvin Orozco, Hunter Smith, Tyler, Brock Bursach, Tyler Atwood

Bert Brother Co-workers

Grandma Faerber, David & Donna Wade, Lisa & Joe Wade

Cason Matthews

Tanner Kirkham

Tap Gorman

Good morning brothers and sisters.

I have been called to the Oregon Salem and report to the Provo MTC on November 15^th.  I will be speaking English. 

I have been asked to speak on:  What I have done to prepare to serve a mission and attend the temple and things I wish I would have done. 

When I first got this assignment I Googled “What have I done to prepare for a mission”.  Apparently Google doesn’t know me very well because none of the things it mentioned applied to me.  So I decided to ask Siri and she said something like “I don’t know the answer to this because I don’t know you that well.”  So after a few minutes of feeling completely alone, discouraged, and let down by the two smartest people on the internet, I decided to just speak from personal experience. 

REGULAR CHURCH ATTENDANCE   One of the first things that came to my mind while I was preparing this talk was regularly attending church.  Ever since I was little I have attended church regularly and learned about church history, our prophets, reading the scriptures, serving a mission, and going to the temple.  This regular church attendance is where it all starts.  As primary kids we sing “I hope they call me on a mission” and “I love to see the temple, I am going there one day”.   This laid the foundation very early on for my testimony of this true church. 

SEMINARY   The next thing that came to mind was seminary. When you start 9th grade you also start seminary.  Seminary is a great way to learn the scriptures in more detail and to begin to strengthen your testimony of the Book of Mormon.  Seminary was very helpful in this way but it is also one thing that I wish I would have done even better.  In High School, seminary is one of those classes that it is easy to say “I don't need to go to that today” or “I already know all of what we're going over today”.  I can see now that this really is one of the most important classes to attend during High School!  I realized near the end of high-school that when I did go to Seminary and paid attention that my day went better and how much happier of a person I was. I realize now that I missed out on so much knowledge that I could have used now and later on in life too. 

FRIENDS   Now lets talk about friends. My dad used to tell me that friends can either help you get to heaven or they can drag you to hell.  I may not have been the most popular kid or had the most friends but to me that didn't matter, I knew that a few good friends who have the same morals as I did and the same goals as mine would be better. One of my best friends is a person that I have hardly anything in common with, we come from totally different background, and have totally different interests.  But we get along so well with each other because of our goals, our values, and our ambitions and we both know where we want to go in life. We both have been preparing to serve a mission.  We both hope to get married in the temple someday to some hot temple worthy babe.  And we both hope to make it back to heaven someday. He has been a huge blessing in my life because we can both learn and grow together and not feel alone in this crazy life. Because of him I am a very strong believer in good friends and how much they can influence your life.

SCRIPTURE STUDY    Scripture study is something I wish I had done better on.  Scripture study has always been a hard one for me.  I know many of you kids/ teenagers and even adults also struggle with regular scripture study.  Life gets super busy with long days at school or work then you get home and you have to get more work done, then your day is pretty much over and you are so exhausted you just fall into bed without reading your scriptures.  I know I did this many times and still do on occasion.  I thought that after graduating high-school I would have so much time available to study the scriptures.  But then I got a full time job and sometimes worked 60 hour weeks and time just gets away from you really easily.   Now as I get closer I realize how little time I really have. I leave in 18 days and there is so much that I want to get done and not enough time to do it all.  So all you teenagers and kids plan ahead and do better than I did.

MISCELANIOUS THINGS    There are so many little things you need to do and learn how to do when preparing for a mission.  Things like laundry.  I mean my mom would not be impressed if I turned all my brand new white shirts pink!  I don’t want to send a picture home with the title #laundryfail.    You also need to learn how to shop for food, how to cook, how to iron your shirts, how to budget money, and how to sew on buttons. I feel like I have done a really good job on most of these.  But that budget thing is a hard one when you have a 30 year old, broken most of the time, gas guzzling truck. 

TEMPLE PREP  This would be a good time to mention the temple. Preparing to go to the temple is a big part of preparing to go on a mission.  But it could also be said that preparing for a mission is a big part of preparing to go to the temple.  They both help you prepare for the other one.  When preparing to enter the temple you have to meet with the bishop several times.  In those meetings he interrogates you to make sure you didn't do anything horribly wrong.  If you pass those interviews and you are all in the clear then he will give you a sucker and send you on your way to the Stake President.  He pretty much does the same things….but without the sucker.  I had the opportunity to go to the temple last night for the first time.  I took the temple prep classes from my G’pa who is a sealer at the Mount Timpanogos Temple.  It got me really excited to go to the temple.  I can tell you this…. It is amazing in there!  It is peaceful and you can feel the spirit so strong.  I honestly cannot wait to go back.

TESTIMONY   Brothers and Sisters I know that this church is true.  I have been called on a mission and I know that my assignment comes from Lord.  I am going to be his servant and do his work.  I know that Joseph Smith restored the church here on earth and that Thomas S. Monson is the living prophet here on earth today. My testimony may be small right now, but I know that it will grow while I am in Oregon.  I am thankful for my parents and all the rest of my family for helping me get to this point in my life.  I also could not have done this without awesome Young Mens and Scout leaders that have helped me along the way.  I am also thankful for my friends who have helped me get to this point as well.  I am excited to leave and do the lords work and teach the people in Oregon about Christ and his gospel.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen