Youth Talk - Faith and the Pioneer Trek

This talk was given at church on Sunday 11/22/15 by an awesome young man in my ward named Mitchell. He gave me permission to share it on my blog after I told him how much I enjoyed it.

Good morning brothers and sisters. I was asked by Brother Richins to share some experiences that I had personally on Trek. I’d like to start out by sharing a story from Brother Fielding, the resident cameraman that was taking video all throughout Trek. Throughout the weekend our family had become pretty well acquainted with him, and one night he decided to share a personal experience to us. When Brother Fielding was a teenager, he decided to go on a Joseph Smith-esque journey to figure out if his church (The LDS Church was true). Trying to believe in the Mormon faith was hard for him mainly because he couldn’t read. Brother Fielding had severe dyslexia, and couldn’t really read anything. He had only heard bits and pieces of The Book from stories told by others. But, he decided to make an effort to try to read The Book of Mormon. After much trial, Brother Fielding had finally been able to read the fullness of the gospel. At that time, the Book of Mormon was the only book he could read. He said to us that we may not have the same experiences and miracles that he experienced, but our Heavenly Father is watching us, and he will answer our prayers, and we will be able to be fully converted. He certainly touched the hearts of everyone in my family. This is a great example of how the impossible can be reached through the work of the lord. Prior to Trek, I (for a lack of a better term) was terrified. I’m not in that great of shape, and I don’t really do a lot of exercise.

The first day of trek when we all met at the Stake Center, I was worried out of my mind, and I didn’t eat a good lunch, which I now regret, considering we didn’t eat again that night til 1 am. Though Trek wasn’t nearly as bad as I was making it out to be, I still struggled. The first night was really tough for me, and at times I felt like quitting. While going over Rocky Ridge - a stretch of trail that was littered with boulders, rocks, and other obstacles - I felt like I couldn’t go on for much longer. But, through my faith in the lord and constant prayer in every moment that I could spare, I made it! I knew I was going to make it eventually, but I made it in one piece. This, for me, was overcoming the impossible. Trek was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and I did it! This trial was not nearly as great as Brother Fielding’s tremendous challenge, but for me, this was an amazing example of how the Lord touches our lives at all times. Russell M. Nelson said in the April 1988 General Conference this: “If any tasks ever deserved the label impossible, those would seem to qualify. But, in fact, our Lord had spoken: ‘With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible’”.

He continued on to say that Faith is the foremost requisite for overcoming the impossible. He quoted the New Testament in the book of Matthew which said “If ye have faith, nothing shall be impossible unto you.” President Nelson said “Faith is nurtured through knowledge of God. It comes from prayer and feasting upon the words of Christ through diligent study of the scriptures”. He continued to proclaim this to the congregation: “You who may be momentarily disheartened, remember, life is not meant to be easy. Trials must be borne and grief endured along the way. As you remember that ‘with God nothing shall be impossible’, know that He is your Father. You are a son or daughter created in His image, entitled through your worthiness to receive revelation to help with your righteous endeavors”.

As said in Ether 12:27, “And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them”.

This has played a huge part in my life, not just on Trek. I’ve gone through many experiences that I thought I wasn’t capable of doing, but I made it, and I know when we put our faith in the lord, that everyone can do the same. I’d like to thank everyone that worked on Trek, and a big thank you to all of the kids in my family, as well as my Ma, Pa, and Big Brother and Sister for helping me along the way. I know that Jesus Christ lives, and through the power of god, we can make it through all of our trials, and make the impossible possible. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.