Prepare Ye the Way

 Prepare ye the way...

Good morning, brothers and sisters.  I am grateful to a living prophet and his apostles for calling my husband and me to work in Crows Landing, and to President Anderson, President Melendez for an invitation to speak today and to each one of you for the association we have here.  As it is the Holy Ghost who teaches, I invite His Spirit to teach us and confirm in our hearts the truths we learn this morning. 

Last June, President Russell M. Nelson and his wife, Wendy W. Nelson, invited the youth to “enlist in the youth battalion of the Lord” and take part in “the greatest challenge, the greatest cause, and the greatest work on earth.”   The gathering of Israel. 

The prophet said, “You…were sent to earth at this precise time, this most crucial time in the history of the earth to help gather Israel,” “There is nothing happening on this earth right now that is more important than that.  There is nothing of greater consequence.  Absolutely nothing. This gathering should mean everything to you.  This is the mission for which you were sent to earth.”

What did he invite the youth to do?  Do you remember?  We watched it, and decided maybe we can be young enough to join!  What can we do? 

Give up something important to determine what is important.  Stay on the path.  Pray daily to receive blessings of gospel.  Stand out. Be a light. Share!

Shortly thereafter, what did he invite the sisters to do?

Have we read the Book of Mormon?  

Are we looking for God?

Are we sacrificing something that matters to us?  

Are we learning who we are? 

I love that our prophet is asking us to invite the Lord’s love and follow His suggestions.  What if we consider President Nelson request that we use the true name of the Church?  What is it?   Are we becoming His Church?   Are we ready to greet Him?  What will prepare us? 

I learned this week that:  … “the phrase Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord [comes] from…the Romans… constructing [a] massive road system… for the emperor. They removed rocks, brambles, smoothed out bumps and …hills… [today done] … for freeways.  When do this when we remove sin and obstacles that hinder our blessings. 

 What are we doing to prepare our hearts and the hearts of our neighbors?

Let me tell you about my friend Cindy:

When I was 17, the missionaries invited me to come with them to teach a young woman my age.  Cindy was not a member of the church.  But her sister was a member.  (Did you ever have a family member or loved one who was not a member of the church who wanted to invite?)  

Cindy’s sister invited the missionaries.  The missionaries invited me.  I really had no experience.  I went.  I listened.  I learned to love Cindy.  Cindy was baptized.  We went to institute together.  She served a mission before I did in Salt Lake City helping Cambodian families.  Her example helped me choose to serve a mission as a youth.  When Cindy returned from her mission, she married in the temple, raised children, sent off a missionary who came home and married in the temple.  Generations have changed, because one sister shared the gospel.  

Cindy played a part in my becoming acquainted with Elder Starkey—she cared for my daughters which allowed me to attend a singles’ conference where I met him.

My life was changed because I was invited to help and accepted the invitation.   I love Cindy.  I love her missionaries.  I love her sister for sharing the gospel, and I love every member of our branch as they share and support. 

Sometimes all we have to do is show up and love, and Heavenly Father will help change our lives and others. 

Other times, we are invited to be brave.

Shelly.  When I was 13, my family moved to North Dakota.  The young women of our branch giggled, wrote notes and had no room in their circle.  But one of them lived on a farm with two buffalo.  Early morning seminary came extra early when your home was miles out of town.  Sometimes after Young Women church activities, my friend Shelly would stay over and drive with us to study the Old Testament in the wee morning hours in our little chapel on the hill by the radio tower.  We braved below zero temperatures with windchill factor. We wished on stars and traded novels and ran junior high track.  Forty years later we talked as I washed dishes in a mission apartment near the Tegucigalpa Honduras temple. 

“Shelly, how are you?” I asked.

Her answer, “I’ve had some trouble sleeping lately.”

“I’m sorry.  Tell me about it.”

Shelly told of a Fast and Testimony meeting.  She wondered if she ought to share about the overwhelming love she felt for her neighbors.  As she inched toward the front, another idea came, “Perhaps someone else needs to stand.  What if I wait until another day?”

A distinct impression came to Shelly.  It was her choice.  She could choose to stand, or not stand.  But if she chose to hold back, to not share, something inside her would shrink.  When I heard this, I remembered the words of the Savior in Doctrine and Covenants Section 19 verse 18:

18 “and would that I might ^bnot drink the bitter cup, and shrink—  19 Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and ^afinished my preparations unto the children of men.”

Jesus was also asked to do things he did not want to do. He did them anyway.  (See Matthew 26:39,42,44) He stood.  He opened his mouth.  (Luke 4:8)

Shelly stood.  She shared her testimony.  Soon after this, she wandered through her neighborhood and experienced an overwhelming outpouring of interest and appreciation for each of her neighbors.  The she shared her testimony her bishop had been praying for guidance in choosing a Relief Society president.  Shelly was called.  She accepted the call, watching over a congregation with handfuls of widows, many over 90 years old.  Shelly planned funerals and loved her sisters.  

I am inviting us, like my friend Shelly, to pray for Heavenly Father to fill us with love for our neighbors. To not shrink in expressing our love.  To invite Him to strengthen our weakness to help us help Him. The Lord does accept our efforts. But, often, however, our reward comes in the second and third mile.

Aziza.  In Guatemala, we said hello to our neighbors, gave play dough four-year-old Captain America next door, taught English to teens and invited the missionaries to teach a grandpa across the street.  No one was expressly interested in embracing the gospel message.  
We loved them regardless.  

Toward the end of our time there, on an evening walk we found a huge plant in front of the home of a nurse in the nearby hospital. Elder Starkey had heard that Aloe Vera helps itchy skin, so we knocked on the door.  We reintroduced ourselves, grateful to be friends. 

Aziza liked Elder Starkey.  He brought her homemade bread and listened to her.  As we prepared our suitcases to return home, I looked at the plants in the window.  Who would care for the plants? 

We gave one set to a lady who lived on the corner whose husband was a sailor and certain missionaries were spies.  Cookies, bread, and interested questions softened this family, who since has written us notes from Cobán.  

Who else would love our plants? 

Our Aloe Vera neighbor--Aziza!   

A plant would be nice, but a Book of Mormon might make the gift sweeter.  “Will you accept a gift as we leave?”

“Yes, but I wish you could have practiced English with our daughter.

The day we shared our basil and peppermint, a sister missionary from China visited. “Do you have any neighbors ready to learn from us?”

“Not really…but Aziza’s daughter wants to practice English.” 

The sister missionaries visited Aziza. 

Fast forward four months.  We were home.  Our Utah stake was having a 365 day fast.  Elder Starkey and I fasted on the 21 of September.  That night I could not sleep.  I had received a note from our friend Aziza explaining that her daughter was not learning English very well, but she was strongly considering being baptized into our church. Aziza was concerned.    I sat at my computer and prayed.  Then, with all the love in my heart, I encouraged Aziza.  “We will love you whether or not you read the Book of Mormon.  But you need to hear from us that your daughter is all right. 

 "We have a daughter too.  She was baptized, and continues to participate.  


"She has good friends who avoid alcohol and tobacco.  

"They are saving themselves to marry for eternity in the house of the Lord.  They plan wholesome activities, which help me sleep at night. 
"You can put your worries to rest about your college daughter.  She is in good hands." 

The missionaries were ready to stop visiting Aziza.  Sister Scruggs told us later that they had knocked on Aziza’s door before, but they were not ready to speak to the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.   It was a neighbor, pleading for aloe, sharing basil, thyme, and cookies that opened the door to their hearts.  At their baptism, they rejoiced in white, “Now WE are a family of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints..”

This past month Crows Landing Spanish branch united together family by family, person by person, to show the Lord with prayers and giving up food for two meals day by day for forty days, that we hope to align ourselves with His will.  We are inviting Him to help our families and our branch to grow and become stronger.  What have we seen in its wake? 

• We heard about a family that for many months were looking for a house to rent. The afternoon of their fast, the mother and the daughter found a house enough for their family, beautiful and reasonable in price.

• A sister who has waited since before last June for an appointment to receive surgery for her hearing, received the operation this past week, is patiently working on recovery.

• Another family in our branch had a son living on the streets of a large city for many years who returned home for nearly a month.  We continue to pray hoping he returns again.

• One sister who fasted for the first time in her life, shortly afterward watched a son,  who struggled with employment, encounter two significant jobs in one day, providing funds to cover expenses for a month.

• Several of our friends who had previously encountered difficulties fasting, told of receiving peace and strength to complete their desire to offer this sacrifice.

•We cannot mention or count every blessing, but we testify with certainty that Heavenly Father has heard our prayers and continues to respond.

What happens in your life when you make a sacrifice to put the Lord first, to fast, or to do something difficult?

Doctrine and Covenants Section 29: 5 reads

 “Lift up your hearts and be glad, for I am in your midst, and am your advocate with the Father; and it is his good will to give you the kingdom.  And, as it is written—Whatsoever ye shall ask in faith, being united in prayer according to my command, ye shall receive.”  For what shall we continue to invite heaven’s help?

Elder Starkey suggests: “Be one” and “Share the load.” 

Jesus did not baptize everyone, he invited his disciples to help.

When I was very small, my mom tells me of a time when my friend Kellie who came to play.  I asked her if she would like to watch me do a puzzle.  Since then, I have learned it is not as fun to do to puzzles alone. 

 In October 2016, Elder Neal Anderson explained that gathering Israel is like doing a big puzzle.  We might not see the whole picture, but each of us can do something. Just as we covenanted this morning as we partook of emblems reminding us about our promises, we can “stand as a witness.”  

 “Please don’t see your efforts to share the love of the Savior with another as a pass/fail test with your grade determined by how positively your friends respond to your feelings or invitation to meet the missionaries. With our mortal eyes, we cannot judge the effect of our efforts, nor can we establish the timetable. When you share the love of the Savior with another, your grade is always an A+.”   

“We succeed when we invite.” 

And Heavenly Father and his Only Begotten Son are inviting us!

What are you learning about what you and I need to do? What gifts has Heavenly Father has given us that He wants us to develop?  How will these gifts bless others?

What are we doing to lose ourselves in order to find ourselves?

President Mackay teaches that when Jesus chose his apostles, he did not look in Russia or China.  Where did he look?  God had prepared people right around His Son, ready to hear, ready to receive, ready to follow.  He is preparing people around us.  We do the shining.  The loving.  The warming.  The asking. 

What if I’m nervous, uncomfortable, worried?  What If someone misjudges me?

What if I offend someone?  What if I do something wrong?  

Our piano students are learning that practice and perfect love casteth out fear

How do I practice?  (…ask the missionaries, they can help you!)

In Isaiah 60:21 we find:

“Thy people also shall be all ^arighteous: they shall inherit the ^bland for ^cever, the ^dbranch of my planting, the ^ework of my hands, that I may be glorified.”

The Lord has planted our branch. 

 As Sister Mackay tells us, like a Grandma in her kitchen, Heavenly Father invites, longs for, hopes for, anxiously awaits as many of His children as choose to come.  He loves every one.  He invites us to remove mud from their shoes and our lives and our hearts and promises a supper better than oatmeal cookies.   

He comes with healing in His wings.

In Doctrine and Covenants Section 62:3
we learn that when we share our light and faith the angels rejoice and our sins are forgiven.     (3 Nevertheless, ye are ^ablessed, for the ^btestimony which ye have borne is ^crecorded in heaven for the angels to look upon; and they rejoice over you, and your ^dsins are forgiven you.) 

To share my testimony, perhaps I will share what I wrote to Aziza:   (What I said to her, I extend to you.)

"No matter what, I want you to understand that you are in our prayers.

I hope to also to share with you--that I know that God lives.  I know that He answers our prayers.  I know that Jesus is the Christ. My most precious asset and treasure is to belong to a church with living prophets, with the restored power to act for God to bring heaven to earth and to unite families for eternity. I have read most of the Bible in Spanish, but the Book of Mormon, many times not just because I want to understand Spanish, but because the words and the stories are inside it give me the wisdom and the ability to feel closer to my Heavenly Father every day with ideas and answers to my prayers like no other book.

"We appreciate your friendship, and we want you to know, please, that whether you read the book of Mormon or not, whether you come to church or not, we treasure the good things you do and have done. Thank you for the example you give to us. Thank you for your friendship.  We love you."

As Jesus said, we are striving as Elder Holland writes to do our part in a beautiful, marvelous work, that each of you will improve upon with great success after we are not here.  

The planting of the Lord 

will continue to grow until it fills the earth.  

 With love,

your Starkey

 "watering friends"