Good afternoon everyone! For those who don’t know me my name is Sam
Gurksnis. My family moved here about 4
years ago for my sophomore year of high school.
I graduated from Prosper in 2013 and went to BYU Provo last year and
have now been called to serve in the Guatemala Guatemala City East mission and
I report to Guatemala on September 3.
Many of you may recall the series of
videos and lectures called “Why I Believe.” In them people talk about their conversion to
the Mormon Church and how their faith directs their lives.
But today, since I’m embarking on a
two year mission, I’d like to call my talk, “Why I Go.” My mission is not a vacation; it is not a job
opportunity and is not a study abroad.
Many people think it is strange that I would take time out from my
education, personal pursuits, and leave my family and friends behind to go live
in a foreign country and teach people about the gospel of Jesus Christ. But I’d like to share with you today some of
the reasons, “Why I Go.”
I’d like to begin telling you “Why I
Go” by telling you about some incredible people that have influenced my
life.
DANIEL: The first person who has been an influence to
me is the prophet Daniel.
Daniel was a faithful young man and
grew into man that was regarded as wise and full of integrity toward his faith
in God. King Darius was the King of the
Persian Empire at the time and was very pleased with Daniel. So much so that he planned to appoint Daniel
over the entire kingdom one day. The
other leaders of Daniel’s stature knew this and were jealous. They began to watch Daniel closely and hope
to find flaws that they could report to the King and use against Daniel. They
tried to muster up a plan that would surely get Daniel killed. They tricked King Darius into making a decree
unto all people in the kingdom that no man, woman or child could pray to any
god or deity other than King Darius for 30 days. Punishment for doing so would be certain
death by being thrown into a den of hungry lions.
Daniel, having faith in the Lord
God, continued praying to Him disregarding the risk. His despised fellow administrators caught
Daniel praying to The Lord and gave King Darius the news, forcing him to throw
Daniel into the pit of ‘almost’ certain death that awaited him. Daniel feared not. He knew that The Lord would protect him, and
to everyone’s astonishment, Daniel survived the night with the lions without
receiving even a scratch.
While I have not been thrown into a
lion’s den for praying, my faith has been tried and tested. But my faith has not been shaken. Growing up a Mormon isn’t always easy. It certainly comes with its fair share of
trials. In today’s world, our church is
often made fun of and laughed at. While
I don’t mind the harmless occasional jokes, growing up in the south I have not
been blind to the false accusations and hurtful untruths about the church that
float out there for the world to hear… hurtful untruths that lead to the next
South Park episode, award winning Broadway play, or strongly opinionated homemade
YouTube video.
Daniel had great faith and he did
not lead a life without challenges, adversity and persecution. As a matter of fact, I can’t think of any
prophet in the scriptures with great faith that lead a life free of
difficulties. Our faith can be
challenged and we can rise above it and our faith can even grow stronger when
we face our difficulties with the Lord by our side… praying to him for
strength, understanding, and courage to do the right thing. Although this discrimination surrounds the
church, my faith holds strong… along with 83,000 other Mormon missionaries
serving around the world today. My faith
in and love for my Savior and Heavenly Father is “Why I Go”.
PETER: Another
person who has influenced me and helped me determine “Why I Go” is the Lord’s
apostle Peter. Peter was a very loyal apostle
and friend to Jesus Christ. He loved him
very much. He served side by side with
the Son of God, listened to His sermons and saw Him perform miracles. But after the Lord was crucified and
resurrected, Peter didn’t know what came next.
So he went back to what he knew… being a fisherman.
Peter and a few other apostles went
out to go fishing one night. As they
began to return to the shore in the early morning hours with no fish, someone
standing on the shore called to them and asked if they had caught
anything. They called back, “No.” The shadowed figure on the shore replied, “cast
the net on the right side of the ship and ye shall find.” John,
another apostle during Christ’s life, immediately recognized Christ’s voice upon
recalling a similar command Jesus had given them three years earlier: a command
that led them to catching so many fish in one cast of the net that it began to
sink their boat. John called out, “It is
the Lord.”
Peter, unable to contain his
excitement to see The Lord, jumped over the side of the boat and swam to the
shore to greet him. Jesus pointed to the
fish and asked Peter, “Peter, lovest thou me more than these?” And Peter answers, “Yea, Lord; thou knowest
that I love thee.” Then the Lord
answers, “Feed my sheep.” With that,
Peter leaves fishing behind and seeks out to teach the gospel and serve God’s
children for the rest of his life.
Being a missionary I know will
require great sacrifice. Waking up
before the sunrise, walking miles and miles day after day, as well as leaving a
lot of things behind. I’m leaving my
family and friends that I love dearly for two years of my life. For two years I won’t be able to go hunting,
fishing, play golf, watch movies, or watch the best assembled Dallas Mavericks
team since the 2011 championship team.
But what I love about Peter is that
he loves the Lord more than he loves anything else. He is willing to put the Lord first in his
life. I’m not an apostle, but I love the
Lord more than any of these things. I
love Him most and that is “Why I go.”
AMMON: The third
person who has influenced me is a great man and missionary in the Book of
Mormon named Ammon. Ammon lived about
90 years before Christ was born and he was smart and obedient to God and had a
great desire to serve Him. He and his
friends were determined to be great missionaries and bring the gospel to even
their enemies, the Lamanites. The Lord
prepared them by telling them it won’t be easy.
In the Book of Mormon, the book of Alma 17:10-11 reads:
“And it came
to pass that the Lord did visit them with his spirit, and said unto them: Be
comforted. And they were comforted.
And the Lord
said unto them also: go forth among the Lamanites, and establish my word; yet
ye shall be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth
good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my
hands unto the salvation of many souls.”
So they took courage, knowing they
would face great challenges, and then separated and headed off to enemy
territory. When Ammon arrived in the
Lamanite land, he was captured right away and taken before the King. Most enemies captured and taken before the
king faced certain death. The King asked
Ammon what he was doing there and what he wanted. Ammon told him that he wanted to live among
his people as a servant for many years, maybe even his whole life. The king took a liking to Ammon and after
Ammon showed his loyalty to him, the king listened to Ammon. He
recognized that God was with Ammon and the King became converted to the
gospel.
I’m grateful for Ammon’s example because
what I take from his life is that before I can teach the people of Guatemala, I
need to love the people of Guatemala and be willing to serve them. I’ve been interested to learn things about
the country and people of Guatemala. For
instance, did you know that the average height of a Guatemalan man is
5’4”. I stand 6’2”. It will be a conversation starter for
sure. I’m anxious to meet the children
in Guatemala and families. And once I
get to know them, I can’t wait to teach them how their families can be together
forever. This is “Why I Go.”
JESUS
CHRIST:
The final and ultimate example for me is my Savior, Jesus Christ. He performed miracles. He loved people and taught them. He rose above temptations of every kind and
taught us to serve others. He could
control the sea and the wind. He raised
people from death, caused the lame to walk and the blind to see.
However, his perfect life was not
the essential reason why he came to Earth.
He came here to perform the most important event in the history of the
world. He came to take upon himself the
sins, illness, and sorrows of the world so that each and every one of us could
live again. When he knelt down in
Gethsemane, he suffered for you and me so we would have the chance to live with
Him again. He loves us that much!
Alma
7:11-12
speaking of Christ’s atonement says:
“And he shall go forth, suffering pains and
afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be
fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his
people.
And he
will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his
people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be
filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the
flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.”
He suffered every pain, sorrow and disappointment that we could
ever feel so that he could not only forgive us of our sins, but also to
know perfectly how to comfort us when we have nowhere else to turn. He didn’t do this just for me. But he did it for each of us.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the modern day Quorum of 12 Apostles
said, “However late you think you are,
however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel
you have made or talents you think you don’t have, or however far from home and
family and God you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have not traveled
beyond the reach of divine love. It is
not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light that Christ’s
atonement shines.”
God did not send us here to live through challenges and
difficulties alone. I know that Christ
walked a lonely path so that we don’t have to… at least we are only alone if we
choose to be. We don’t have to walk
through life drawing solely on our own strength. We have an all-powerful God who is waiting
for us to turn to him so he can help us and bless us. I believe there is power in the atonement of
Jesus Christ. I believe in the power of
the gift of the Holy Ghost to give us guidance and comfort. I believe there is power in baptismal and
temple ordinances. I believe in the
truth of the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The joy and happiness that my Savior
brings to me is unbelievable. I go
because I want everyone to be able to experience that happiness and love that
the gospel brings me. I want to help
families live together forever. I want
people to receive all the blessings that the gospel has brought into my life. These
are the reasons “Why I Go.”
I’d like to share my testimony that I
know that this gospel is true. I know
that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and because of Him we all can live
in heaven with Him again. I know that
Joseph Smith was a prophet of God who restored Jesus Christ’s church on the
earth. I know that Thomas Monson is a
prophet today who leads and guides us through modern day revelation.
I’d like to thank Bishop Scholl for
being a great example to me and being there to help my through all of my
trials. I’d like to thank Coach Stanton
for being a role model to me and keeping me somewhat in check through high
school. I’d like to thank my mom for
raising me right and teaching me about the important things in life and how to
handle difficult situations. I’d like to
thank my grandpa, Ron Brand, and my dad for being the greatest examples to me
of what a Godly man should be. And
lastly, my Heavenly Father for giving me this opportunity in my life.
I can’t wait to be in Guatemala and
serving the people there. If it were up
to me I’d leave tomorrow! Excited to see
what’s in store for me in my next two years.
_____________________________________________________________________
You did great, Sam... knocked it outta the park! After Sam's talk we had some friends over to eat and chat... the fun part.
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| The Crew |
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| The Broadbents |
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| The Hemas |
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| Waltons (and Tius) |
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| Great minds think alike! |
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| The Blasers |
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| Cousins:) |
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