This talk was written in 2019 at my parent's ward. I wanted Puppy Lover to present her talk, but she was a bit shy to do so.
I’ve been asked to speak about a talk from last general conference when Elder Uchtdorf told us what it’s like to have an adventure. He explained with an analogy, based on a fantasy novel called The Hobbit. Now I don’t know much about The Hobbit, but in one part it explains that a lot of people are given the opportunity for adventure, but they would usually take it for granted. Many people would rather have a chance to just slothfully relax their lives away by eating so much of the same food they enjoy, sleeping in as much as they want, avoiding hard work (just to avoid the pain that comes with it), and believing they’ve already learned enough and think they don’t need to learn anymore. So a lot of people would think that having an adventure is overrated. But one character was asked to go on an adventure and he takes the chance. He knows that it won’t be an easy adventure and that he would have to face the dangers and challenges that are yet to come when he embarks. But once the adventure is over, he would be able to come back again. The story of the Hobbit is like all of us who have been sent on this Earth to learn, grow, and gain experience in our surroundings. Heavenly Father has sent us all on an “adventure” just so we can experience good and evil and learn to choose good for ourselves. He knows that we are all going to make mistakes on our mortal adventure as well as have trials to help us gain happiness along the way. Elder Uchtdorf said, “We learned how much God loves us. He gave us life, and He wants us to succeed. Therefore, He prepared a Savior for us. ‘Nevertheless’ our Father in Heaven said ‘thou mayest choose for thyself for it is given unto thee.’”
Whenever we hear that Heavenly Father said “Thou mayest choose for thyself for it is given unto thee,” He means that we want to make good choices and be careful about the choices we make. But, there are a lot of us, who may take that eternal advice for granted. For example, many of us might like to have a life that’s easy, and we might believe that it’s part of Heavenly Father’s Plan of Happiness. On the contrary, all my life, I’ve been told that a simple and easy life is actually not following Heavenly Father’s plan, but it’s following Satan’s plan. Satan wants us to think having an easy life brings pleasure, joy, and happiness when it actually brings remorse, regret, and even arrogance. Living the life of the “natural man” only leads to unhappiness.
We all don’t want to be like Satan when it comes to realizing that trying to seek for an easier life would usually end up being way harder than it should be. For example, when I was a kid, there were times when my parents assigned me and my siblings chores to do and a lot of us would complain about how hard the chores were. So without the parents noticing, we would usually try to make a very quick straighten up and then we would tell our parents that our chores have been finished up. They would inspect the progress that had been done, but then they would notice that things are stuffed under furniture or even put into the corner of the room. They would tell us that it’s unacceptable to be shortcutting, because that just makes the house a lot messier and it would eventually get harder and more time-consuming to clean up decently. It’s been going on for a very long time, ever since I remember. It’s like shortcutting on housework tasks just became a family tradition!
I had to learn about the importance of hard work in other ways in my life. I’m pretty sure that when we were in Heaven with our Father, He asked us about the challenges we might want to face during our Earthly Adventure. I don’t remember choosing to be Autistic, but I believe it is something our Heavenly Father knew would help me learn and grow in this life. At first the challenges were difficult. Not being able to communicate with my family or understand the things they were trying to tell me was probably the hardest part. But eventually, by the time I was about 9 years old, I stopped quoting movies and I learned to have actual conversations although even now sometimes I share a movie quote or two without noticing. My adventure took an interesting turn when I was introduced to scouting. At first, I was afraid and I didn’t want people to look at me or make a fuss about me. I hid under the table while they presented my awards at pack meeting, but I was always so excited to have them. After a while, I was able to stand near the cubmaster with my back to the crowd of parents and scouting families, but I was learning to deal with my fears and by the time I was old enough to receive merit badges, scouting was my life! I chose the adventure this time even though some people didn’t think I could do it. I wanted to earn ALL of the merit badges! I started working really hard and around all of my other school, sporting, and church activities, I worked on merit badges. I would bring the merit badge books to church and copy passages and draw pictures to help me remember what they meant. I was determined to complete my adventure! When I was finished with all of the traditional badges and my Eagle Scout was complete, many people thought I might abandon my adventure, but I didn’t. I knew that my parents would be disappointed in me if I gave up before I completed my goals. I knew I would be disappointed in myself if I gave up. On that very last day, at my final Court of Honor, when I received my 132nd Merit Badge, I was so proud and happy. My family, my scoutmaster, my friends, and mostly my parents, were all happy too because my scouting adventure was over and I had completed what I had promised to myself and to my parents that I would do.
Completing a hard goal always helps us feel happy about what we have accomplished; we learn how to be more productive, and we also feel blessed for the things that we do in everyday situations. We have been told, according to Elder Uchtdorf, that “The Savior invites us, each day, to set aside our comforts and securities and join Him on the journey of discipleship.” He means to say that we shouldn’t let laziness and distractions fill our lives, but that we should dwell on spreading the gospel and thinking about the Savior, Jesus Christ, who died for all of us and was resurrected so that we can return to Heavenly Father again. Even when we die, that doesn’t mean we’ll be comfortable and relaxed in Heaven, but that we’ll likely have happiness and joy while we still help spread the gospel in Heaven. Learning and growing never stops, but it continues on, even after death.
After I finished my scouting adventure, I was discouraged and I didn’t know what to do because it felt like my adventure might be over, but my parents reminded me that I just had to find a new adventure that would also require hard work and effort. So I served as a Church Service Missionary and I went to college. I learned to create and follow other new adventures, each of them requiring hard work and effort on my part. I’m still learning how to work hard and be happy and grateful for all the many things I’ve been blessed with. Another adventure would be getting married to my beautiful and amazing wife. She and I have been married for almost two years now. I’m still trying to finish school and the semester is almost over. Finally, after 7 long years, I will earn my Bachelor’s Degree. But like I said before, that adventure might end, but I’m sure a new one will begin. Maybe Allie and I will have a kid or two and (according to my parents) that will be a real adventure for both of us!
I would like to bear my testimony that having an adventure is part of life and that we should be happy with the blessings and obligations that Heavenly Father has given us. If life were always easy, we would never be truly happy. Joy comes from following Jesus Christ, and when I see Him again and my loving Heavenly Parents in my true final Court of Honor, I want Them to be proud of me, to know that I did my best with all that I have been given. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
