Service talk - a scripture, a story, my testimony
Hi my name is April, I was asked a couple weeks ago to speak about service today. When I was asked to speak, it made me start thinking of a few questions, beginning with
What is service?
- when I think of the word service, I think of that scripture that is so often quoted
Mosiah 2:17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.
- while I was preparing this talk, that scripture led me to another that is probably quite familiar to most of the missionaries here.
D&C 4:2 Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.
- now since we are serving God anytime we are serving our spiritual brothers and sisters, we need to make sure that we are serving them with all our hearts, mights, minds, and strength. Now the dictionary defines service as an act of helpful activity, but I wanted a deeper definition so I looked in the Bible dictionary only to come up empty handed, so I went to the topical guide for service, and when I did, it really opened my eyes. It ties service to
Commitment ; Dedication ; Duty ; Good Works ; Priesthood, Magnifying Callings within ; Self-Sacrifice ; Servant ; Serve ; Work ; Worship
- That last one really caught my attention. Service is worship?! But then I thought about
Why we give service?
- the main reason is we are following the example of Christ. He was perpetually serving those around Him and He is the perfect example for all of us to follow. We read in
JST Matt. 4:11–12 And now Jesus knew that John was cast into prison, and he sent angels, and, behold, they came and ministered unto him [John]. And Jesus departed into Galilee …
I mean He had just finished being tempted by the devil and still thought of others…
- another example of Christ giving service when in the midst of His own trials is found in
John 13:5 After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.
- I’m not perfect, far from it, but I can testify that making someone else’s day better always makes mine better. When I am having a bad day, I look for opportunities to help or serve another because helping someone else lightens their load and distracts me from the weight of mine at the same time. Now physics says that picking up another’s burden will only increase the overall weight you are carrying, right? But that’s the cool thing about service, when you follow Christ’s example and help to bear another’s spiritual burden, He makes you stronger and lightens your load. And speaking of load bearing...
How do we give service?
- any way we can (lol). But in all seriousness.. there are so many different ways to give service. There are as many different ways to give service as there are people to give service to.
Something I have learned is that many of us are far more comfortable with giving service than we are with receiving it. I know I personally struggle with pride and do not like to ask others for help, but I’m learning that we all are meant to give and receive help in this life. We are all told to serve our brothers and sisters, so by not allowing others to serve us, we are denying them that opportunity to grow by showing Christlike love for those around them.
As I’ve worked with the Sister Missionaries over the last year, I have had lots of opportunities to serve and to be served in many different ways:
- Received a shoulder to cry on, when I was struggling to accept that my baptism would happen in the Lord’s time, not my own
- Given a strong arm and back to help a family that is working to build their own home
- Received some helping hands to rearrange my apartment
- Given comfort and encouragement to a mother who was disheartened that her children had strayed from the Gospel path
- Received more knowledge about His Gospel and in turn was able to share my testimony and give that light to others.
- we are surrounded by opportunities to serve. We just have to open our eyes and hearts to see them.
Who are we to give service to?
- There are so many people we can serve, family, friends or strangers.
- We can start by serving those closest to us (be it physically or emotionally). We can handle the dishes even though it isn’t our night, because our roommate has a major exam the next morning. We can offer a shoulder or a listening ear to a friend going through a hard time We can call on relatives we know may be feeling forgotten as the younger generation moves forward with their lives. Sometimes all a person needs is someone to talk to, everyone wants to feel loved and wanted
- We can serve those we don’t know. After all strangers are just friends we haven’t met yet. There is a beautiful story of an act of kindness from President Spencer W Kimball that I’d like to share with you.
“A young mother on an overnight flight with a two-year-old daughter was stranded by bad weather in Chicago airport without food or clean clothing for the child and without money. She was … pregnant and threatened with miscarriage, so she was under doctor’s instructions not to carry the child unless it was essential. Hour after hour she stood in one line after another, trying to get a flight to Michigan. The terminal was noisy, full of tired, frustrated, grumpy passengers, and she heard critical references to her crying child and to her sliding her child along the floor with her foot as the line moved forward. No one offered to help with the soaked, hungry, exhausted child.
“Then, the woman later reported, ‘someone came towards us and with a kindly smile said, “Is there something I could do to help you?” With a grateful sigh I accepted his offer. He lifted my sobbing little daughter from the cold floor and lovingly held her to him while he patted her gently on the back. When she was settled down, he carried her with him and said something kindly to the others in the line ahead of me, about how I needed their help. They seemed to agree and then he went up to the ticket counter [at the front of the line] and made arrangements with the clerk for me to be put on a flight leaving shortly. He walked with us to a bench, where we chatted a moment, until he was assured that I would be fine. He went on his way. About a week later I saw a picture of Apostle Spencer W. Kimball and recognized him as the stranger in the airport.’”2
Several years later, President Kimball received a letter that read, in part:
“Dear President Kimball:
“I am a student at Brigham Young University. I have just returned from my mission in Munich, West Germany. I had a lovely mission and learned much. …
“I was sitting in priesthood meeting last week, when a story was told of a loving service which you performed some twenty-one years ago in the Chicago airport. The story told of how you met a young pregnant mother with a screaming child, who was in distress, as she stood waiting in a long line for her tickets. She was threatening miscarriage and therefore couldn’t lift her child to comfort her. She had experienced four previous miscarriages, which gave added reason for the doctor’s orders not to bend or lift.
“You comforted the crying child and explained the dilemma to the other passengers in line. This act of love took the strain and tension off my mother. I was born a few months later in Flint, Michigan.
“I just want to thank you for your love. Thank you for your example!”
You can’t always tell what can happen from a simple act of kindness. God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs. President Kimball touched not only the lives of that young mother and her unborn child, but through that child he touched the lives of many others. Remember this when you help another, you never know when Heavenly Father is using you as a tool to meet the needs or answer the prayers of another one of His children.
And I bear you my testimony that I know that this is His church restored to the earth and that giving service to our brothers and sisters will help us to draw closer to our Heavenly Father as we strive to become the people He wants us to become. I would just like to close by challenging each of you to look for ways to serve those around you, especially when you are going through your own trials. I promise you that as you seek ways to serve His children, Heavenly Father will bless you and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen
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