New Calling

I got sustained and set apart today as the first counselor in the young women's presidency. I am really excited about it. I feel so good about it. I'm so happy to have the chance to be in there with my precious girls. That is a tender mercy. 

Bishop Perkins asked us each to prepare a five minute testimony to give in Sacrament Meeting today. It was a sweet meeting. I just thought I'd include what I wrote down and have been thinking of this week, so here you go. Love you. 

"I am so thankful to the outgoing young women leaders that have served and loved the young women, including my own girls, so faithfully. I want you to know that your efforts made all the difference. I have loved my time in the Relief Society and I'm so thankful to those sisters that have taken care of me there. And I'm so happy to put my shoulder to the wheel in this new calling. I want to say to the young women that I've watched and admired for a long time, that I already really like you. You don't need to be any particular thing for me. I'm just excited to get to know the real you. 

I love the Savior Jesus Christ. I really do, in my heart. All of my faith is in him. It's very personal to me. I know that he is Mighty to Save, because he saved me, when it felt like I was at the bottom of the ocean and didn't know if I would ever see the surface again. I know, because I have lived it, that he is a gentle healer and is incredibly patient with us as we work things out. The more I learn about him, the more I am convinced when he says that there is a place for all of us in the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is the shepherd that finds the one. Here and now, in our messy middle, he invites us to come. The prophet Nephi said that the Savior invited us “all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.”

His love is personal, and it is there for each of us. 

If you are wondering if there is a place for you in the gospel of Jesus Christ and in the church, there is. I promise there is. We will all scoot over and make a place for you, because we want you. We desperately need you and your unique gifts. We need your unique perspective. We need your unique ability to love that is such a gift in your generation. The Savior said “And ye see that I have commanded that none of you should go away, but rather have commanded that ye should come unto me, that ye might feel and see.” His love is big enough for all of us. For me, and for you. 

I love my Savior. And I will keep trying, every day, to love God with all my heart, soul, and mind. And I will keep trying, every day, to love you, my friends, as I love myself. I would really like to keep those commandments best of all."