Farewell Talk

Hello brothers and sisters, my name is Noah Stewart and I have been called to serve in the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo East Mission. I was supposed to go to the Santo Domingo CCM in the DR but due to the hurricanes in the Caribbean, I am now going to the Provo MTC. The Dominican Republic is full of beautiful beaches and jungles filled with all kinds of wildlife. I am so excited to get out there and serve! I was asked to speak on why I believe in Christ and the missionaries called to represent him. 

My faith in Christ has been a lifelong journey. Through each time I prayed with a pure intent and put my whole heart into praying, I have felt closer and closer to him. Through prayerful scripture study and many many hours of reading the scriptures and feeling the spirit, I have come to know our Savior and Heavenly Father. If we truly believe in Christ, we should try to be like him, and have Christ-like attributes. Christ-like attributes are gifts from God. There’s no better time or place to strive to develop Christ-like attributes than as a missionary because as missionaries, we are called to represent him.

I’d would like to share a story from the scriptures of one of my favorite missionaries ever. The four sons of Mosiah were some of the greatest missionaries ever, but today I’d like to focus on Ammon.

Ammon went on his mission to the land of Ishmael, which was Lamanite territory. As soon as he neared the city, Lamanites tied him up and took him to their king. Ammon explained that he wanted to be the king’s servant and king Lamoni was pleased. King Lamoni sent him to watch his flocks. One day while Ammon and some other servants were taking the flocks to get water, Lamanite robbers scattered the animals and tried to steal them. The other servants that were with Ammon were scared because the last servants who had the sheep stolen were executed. Ammon told the servants to watch the flocks while he fought the robbers. The robbers thought they could easily kill Ammon. Geez were they wrong… The power of God was with Ammon and he was killing the robbers. Each robber that lifted a club to kill Ammon got their arm chopped off. The robbers were frightened by Ammon’s strength and ran away. The servants took the arms back to show King Lamoni and the king was amazed. The King wanted to see Ammon but was afraid because he thought Ammon was the great spirit. Ammon explained he was not the great spirit and that he was just a man. He asked the King if he believed in God and he replied he believed in the great spirit. Ammon said that the great spirit is God. 

Like Ammon, as a missionary today, I will have to make these kinds of connections with the people of the Dominican Republic. Ammon was a true representative of Christ because he had developed Christ-like attributes. As Ammon was called to serve in Ishmael and deal with the challenges of his area, missionaries today are challenged and represent Christ where ever they serve.

In Preach my Gospel, it talks about the Christ-like attribute of charity.  “Charity is the pure love of Christ. It includes God’s eternal love for all His children. We are to seek to develop that kind of love. When you are filled with charity, you obey God’s commandments and do all you can to serve others and help them receive the restored gospel.”

When I think of charity, I think of my days of scouting when I went on a 50-mile hike with my troop. The Rae Lakes Loop reaches heights of 12,000 ft and is a beautiful hike. It is just outside of Yosemite and is still the best hike I have ever been on. It didn’t start out that way. At 12:01 Monday morning we set on out on our 6 hour drive up to Northern California. I took a nap on the car ride there and when I woke up to get my bag together and start the hike, my stomach was feeling terrible. I was feeling dizzy, light headed, and could not stop throwing up. I got my tiny 4’ 11 body together, threw on my 45 pound pack and hobbled down the path with the rest of the troop. I was in the back of the troop and could hardly keep up with the rest of the guys. It was then when Christ-like service was applied. One of the older scouts walked back to me, grabbed my pack off my shoulders along with his pack and carried them both up the mountain 8 miles. Because of him, I could keep up with the rest of the troop and get through that day. I felt better the next day and eventually made it to the top of the mountain. It was one of the greatest feelings I have ever felt and it wouldn't have happened if that Christ-like service did not happen the first day. 

These kinds of experiences have been great examples to me and show me the kind of missionary I want to be. I want to bring happiness to everyone I meet as a representative of Christ. I will give people the chance to learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I hope to strengthen my testimony of our Savior. And maybe if I'm lucky learn a little Spanish. I’d like to share with you my mission scripture. (D&C 31:3-5)

I believe in the power and authority of the priesthood. I know the missionaries uphold their callings and try their best to fulfill them. The missionaries are great people that try their best in everything they do. Some of my best friends are missionaries right now and I hope to be just like them. And I know when all of us come back from our missions, we will be even better people than when we left and definitely be a lot more mature. (Alma 17:2-5)

I have learned so much here in the church from friends and leaders. I learned from Bro Bishop that hard work will bring lots of success in the mission field. I learned from Bro Anderson that mission prep rocks and that serving a mission will be the best things that can ever happen to you. I’d like to thank the Veirs and Rauch’s for being like second families to me and I know your boys are doing the Lord’s work on their missions. I’ve learned so much from all my friends and family and all of you here and I’m thankful for that.