A few hours after John’s sisters left the Edwards came. I had time for a 20-minute nap, John attended a baptism, and we made a quick trip to the post office and the grocery store. When they arrived, Rick and Adam carried in three big boxes. They had been storing these for me since summer 2016 when we divided up the things from my parents house before they moved. It felt like Christmas as we unwrapped my mom’s gold China, a few other Christmas decorations and my mom’s wedding dress. They also brought me the marble table that had been a family heirloom. James, John, Rick and Adam went to see a late showing of the new Justice League movie. Tessa and Mia loved playing with more cousins! The next morning was Emma’s mission farewell. Eliza gave a great talk on how young women can play a role in building the kingdom. John sang with a quartet (the same number they did for our evening session of stake conference). Emma gave a powerful talk on light that I’ll include here. After homemade Cafe Rio and pie the Edwards were off. It was a quick trip and Aidan was asking us to set a date for the next time they could visit. We really appreciate them coming to support Emma and making it a special day. After they left we spent an hour rearranging furniture and carrying up all of our Christmas decorations so the next day Emma and I could set up the trees and get the house ready for Christmas!
Saying goodbye to the Edwards
Here is farewell Emma’s talk. When we were singing the sacrament hymn “I Stand All Amazed” I texted her that we sang this at my farewell. It was a little tender mercy.
Good morning/afternoon, Brothers and Sisters! I’m Emma Larsen—my family moved to Saline this past summer and I’ve been staying with them for the semester as I prepare to leave on my mission in December. I have been called to serve as a missionary in the Taiwan Taipei mission and I report to the Provo MTC December 20. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to speak with you today and I pray the spirit will be with me as I share just a few of the thoughts I’ve had over the past few weeks while pondering on what the Lord would have me share.
We read in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” As I’ve been preparing for my mission, I’ve viewed this scripture in a new light (no pun intended)—this scripture is kind of a commandment to bring others to the gospel and to their Savior Jesus Christ. We each have the light of Christ inside us and we have been commanded to share that light as a way to guide others home.
I would like to discuss three ways I’ve found in which we have the opportunity to let our light shine and bring others to Christ, and compare those ways to full-time missionary service.
1 - Example The first way we let our light shine is by our example.
The past few months I’ve had a job working at the mall, which unfortunately means I’ve had to work late a lot of nights. When I had to drive home at night, I was always nervous that it would be hard to find our house—especially because my family lives on a street that is not very well-lit and I am not very good at navigating at night. However, after a few nights of squinting to read the numbers on the mailboxes to make sure I hadn’t passed our house, I realized that our neighbor’s house right before us had these nice, bright lights on their front porch. Their porch lights became an anchor for me and helped me know that I was on the right path home. However, those neighbors have no idea that faithfully turning on their porch lights helped me return home.
Like my neighbors, we often have no idea what our example and our light (or lack thereof) could mean to those around us. As long as we continue in faith and do our best, no matter where we are or who might be watching, others will see and be drawn to our light.
This summer as I performed at a playhouse in Utah, several of my nonmember cast mates went to see the Book of Mormon musical. When they returned, they talked to the rest of us for a long time about the doctrine of the church—they had so many questions and said that the example we provided showed them what members of the Church are “really” like. I was grateful that our example made them curious about the Church and what we believe!
As you all know, missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints all wear a nametag. When I am on my mission, the biggest words on that nametag will say “Lei Jie Mei” (or “Sister Larsen), and the next biggest words will say “Ye Su Ji Du” (or “Jesus Christ”). I will literally be wearing the Savior’s name. Because of that, I will be a representative of the Savior. Those who are not of our faith will see my actions and my example, and associate them with our church. In fact, I have already started to notice the impact my choice to serve has had on some of my nonmember friends—I’ve had several missionary opportunities just from posting on social media about my mission. If I provide a good example of living the gospel and following the Savior, others notice.
2 – Kindness and Service The second way to let our light shine is through kindness and service.
On Thanksgiving, our family went to the movie theater to watch the movie “Wonder” about a little boy named Auggie Pullman with a severe facial deformity. Auggie was homeschooled, but when he reaches fifth grade his parents decide to send him to school. On the first day of school, Auggie’s teacher writes their class’s “September Precept” on the chalkboard: “When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind.” Throughout the movie you see how even simple acts of kindness and selflessness—like sitting at the lunch table with someone or being their science fair partner—can have an incredible impact. In fact, the kindness and diligence Auggie shows to others and the kindness his family and a few of his classmates show to him help everyone see past imperfections, whether physical or not, and instead see the light and goodness inside.
I’ve attended seminary with my siblings a few times since being here in Saline, and most mornings Brother Quinn asks the students how they have found ways to serve people in their day-to-day life. As they share the ways they serve at home or at school, it’s amazing to see how the Lord can work through these high schoolers to share light with their friends and families.
I love the “Light the World” initiative the church started last December. The Savior served every day and showed kindness to the outcasts and the lonely. To become like him, we should also strive to find opportunities to serve and be kind. It is how the Savior shared his light, so if members all around the world do their part, we truly will light the whole world.
Service plays a huge part in full-time missionary work. Missionaries should take the time to serve as they teach and bring others to the gospel. It’s called “serving” a mission for a reason! In fact, I have a cousin serving a mission in Texas, and after the devastating hurricane this summer, he spent a lot of time serving the people in his area—helping repair their homes or bring them supplies. I think one of the best ways—maybe even the best way—to open people’s hearts and prepare them for the gospel is to serve and love them. As they feel the Savior’s love, they will begin to recognize the light of the gospel and want to know more.
3 – Missionary Work The final way to let our light shine often seems like the hardest—missionary work.
This includes the more specific action of sharing the gospel—inviting people to attend church meetings and activities, bearing our testimony, handing out a Book of Mormon, etc.
When President and Sister Nelson visited a few weeks ago, Sister Nelson talked to the Relief Society women about how we can and should bring the gospel into our daily conversations. When I was in high school, I was blessed to have one of my cousins attend my same school for a year. She was so good at bringing the gospel into daily conversations—she wasn’t afraid to talk about church activities or to bring up gospel topics in religion class. We attended a Lutheran school, so conversations about God were not rare, and she provided a wonderful example to me of how to look for commonalities between our faith and other Christians and to use that as a missionary tool. In fact, her example gave me the courage to follow a prompting to give a Book of Mormon to one of my teachers.
I loved during the adult session of stake conference a few weeks ago when Brother Sangster spoke about being an instrument in God’s hands. Even if we are like an old, dented tuba that doesn’t look like much on the outside, we can be instruments in the Master Musician’s hands. We can put our trust in Him and let His light shine through us. I like to compare letting our light shine to a candle—we each have the light of Christ and the gospel, and by continuing in God, we will not only help other people receive that light, but we will also receive more light and become “brighter and brighter until the perfect day” as we are promised in Doctrine and Covenants 50:24. It’s quite amazing to me that God can so successfully use us—his imperfect children—as instruments to share his light. Just think—God puts a huge responsibility of bringing the gospel to the world in the hands of 18-year old boys! That’s my brother in less than a year! No matter our flaws and weaknesses, we can still be effective tools through which God completes his work.
It’s amazing and humbling for me to know that God trusts me and knows me enough to send me to the people of Taiwan and to use me as a tool in His hands to bring His children back home. However, I also need to remember that His plan and timing are perfect—the light of Christ will only shine through me if my life and my will are in line with His.
There is one final story I would like to share.
I started re-reading the Book of Mormon in September in hopes that I would be able to finish reading it before my mission. My mom had also started the Book of Mormon again a few weeks earlier, and she told me that she had been highlighting every reference to the Savior in yellow crayon. I decided to follow her example and do the same in hopes that it would help me better recognize the Savior’s role. As I was preparing for this talk, I flipped through the part of the Book of Mormon that I have completed reading so far. I realized that all the little yellow crayon marks almost seem to light up the pages and highlight the most important message in the Book of Mormon and the most important message of this gospel—that “Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God,” the Savior of mankind!
Similarly, I think we need to fill the pages of our lives with the Savior’s name. We need to remember Him and strive to keep His commandments, as we covenant at baptism and each week as we take the sacrament. Only then will He be able to use us as lighthouses—as examples, servants, and missionaries who chase away the darkness and let our light shine. Only then will we become instruments in His hands to help our fellow children of God return home.
I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve a mission. I know God has prepared me and has prepared the people I will serve. I pray for the patience, humility, and faith I will need to put my life in the Savior’s hands and be the missionary only He can help me become.
I know that this is the true Church as restored to the earth by Joseph Smith, a prophet of God. I know we have living prophets and apostles on the earth today to help guide us home. I know my Heavenly Father loves me and loves each of His children. He wants us to return home. I know my Savior suffered for me and for each of you and that He lives.
In the words of our sacrament hymn today:
I think of His hands pierced and bleeding to pay the debt;
Such mercy, such love and devotion, can I forget?
No, no. I will praise and adore at the mercy seat
Until at the glorified throne I kneel at His feet.
I know I have felt of His love, and I cannot deny it. I cannot wait to share this glorious message with the people of Taiwan.
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Here are a few pictures of some of my mom’s things that the Edwards brought me…makes me miss her!
Mom’s gold china
Dad bought this nativity at Lord and Taylor — it was made in 1959.
Mom’s Christmas pillows that she had on her window seat
During Emma’s farewell Mia had been complaining that her tooth hurt. I tried to ignore it since we have already taken her to the dentist four times since July. She fell asleep during Emma’s talk because of the pain. She also feel asleep on the bus ride home from school on Monday and cried telling me she wanted to go to the dentist. So I took her the next day. She had an infection in a tooth that they filled four weeks earlier. They ended up just pulling it right then and there. That night Mia was herself again. Since the tooth was so big she thought the tooth fairy would bring her three dollar bills, not just one — she was right.
Eliza started her driver’s ed classes after school on November 27th. The classes last for three weeks. She also needs to do six drives with an instructor. John drove with her up and down our street last week to prepare her for her first drive with the instructor. She was so nervous to go on that first drive, and so were we! We were praying and relieved when she sent us the text “no one died.”
Eliza and James just successfully finished their final exams for the first trimester. The night before James’ American History final I asked him if he had studied. He said no and told us that the day before in class the teacher handed out a note card to each student. They were allowed to write notes on one side to use during the test. Instead of writing notes James drew a detailed maze that he wanted to solve when he was done with the final. I told him when I was in high school I didn’t like kids like him — the ones that didn’t study and still aced the test! He finished 20 minutes before everyone, enjoyed solving his maze and got a 100%. What would that be like?
Friday night we were invited to a Christmas party for "Hands Across the Water” - the agency that will do our annual adoption follow-up visits. The party was held at a school and we didn’t really know what to expect. We were amazed that it was a nice catered meal and they gave every adopted child and their siblings new hat and gloves and a wrapped present. Our kids all got board games: Clue, Connect Four, Hedbanz… It was sweet to see so many families in our community that have adopted or are fostering. James left the party early to attend his first ultimate frisbee game. They won and he admitted that he was happy he signed up to be on the team.
BYU no longer does early applications but James wants to apply soon (or should I say I want him to apply soon). I think college apps are tough! BYU has the kids write six intense essays. I think this is a sweet picture of John proofreading one of James’ essays. Saturday Dec 2nd James finished his last essay and we rejoiced. He emailed them to Gayle and a man in ward (Brother Stacey) to proofread. Sunday he had his BYU interview with the Stake President. Looks like this is the week he will submit! Now the waiting begins.
On Saturday James had two double dates. For the first one they went to Five Guys for lunch, the Natural History Museum and made gingerbread houses. Then at 5:00 he met up with another group to attend the Saline Christmas parade and eat at Texas Roadhouse. While he was on dates we were raking leaves. Thanks to the help of John’s leaf blower we filled up 11 bags…but it still isn’t done.
That night, after having the missionaries over for dinner, John and Emma had their last weekend together before her mission and went to the Detroit Opera House to see “An American In Paris.” What a fun daddy/daughter date! We love all the musicals that come to Detroit.
The younger girls and I attended the Saline Christmas parade. We scored a ton of candy and saw a lot of tractors decorated with Christmas lights. I didn’t get very many pictures but everything in Saline was represented from the scouts to the hot air balloon company to the local grocery stores and churches to the HS marching band.
Sunday, Dec 3rd we had a ham Christmas dinner for Emma and invited the Johnsons. I’m sure she will have a great Christmas dinner in the MTC but ours will be a little lonely.
