Ginny's talk

Ginny spoke in sacrament meeting today and as I watched, I realized that she is becoming a young women.  In a few short years, her wings will be clipped and I will watch as she begins to fly towards her destiny...I am not sure I am ready for that day nor am I certain that I ever will be.  Jake was holding Charlie and as I sat there, the thought crossed my mind that the next little one we hold in church could be our grandchild....not sure how I feel about that possibility either. Young women in excellence was after church today and in its simplicity it was exquisite.  The girls had each brought in items that represented them and we were able to walk and visit each one, getting a glimpse of who they are and whom they are becoming.  Last Wednesday, we took our youth to Memphis 1st ward for an activity and my heart was overjoyed as we pulled in, there three youth were waiting by the door with open arms and as we left there were at least a dozen adults to bid us farewell with beaming smiles. What a difference it must have made to all the youth that evening, building relationships and helping those whom are often in isolation know they are cared for, it was wonderful to be a part of it.
Ginny's talk delivered 100% with her charisma.
"Hi, I’m Ginny Farrell, I’m 16, I am a junior at Bartlett High School, I have three siblings and two parents. I don’t know I don’t lead a very interesting life. But into the actual talk now, our youth theme for this year has been peace in christ. When I heard it in January I had no idea how much it would affect me, but as the year has gone by it has had a really big impact. Being a teenager is hard, we have to make all of these really big decisions and its like really stressful. However, as I have made a real effort to grow closer to my Heavenly Father and become more Christ-like, I have this peace in Christ. I’ve made decisions over things that were really stressful at the time, but I knew they would be ok, because I had that peace. Peace IN Christ is not temporary and it is such a nice feeling. The other day I was listening to the Peace in Christ song and I realized that it has the most views of all the youth songs. I was pondering and thinking about it and then it clicked that people want to find this peace. There is very little peace in the world today, it’s hard to find. Seeing this, I was reminded how grateful I am for the gospel and I have a home I go to that is filled with that peace. That does not mean it is peaceful. As stated earlier, I have three okay siblings and four cousins whom think of me as their own personal assistant. There is hardly ever a peaceful moment. There is spiritual peace though and in the past month it has really increased. It’s because we’ve been working on serving each other.  My parents have always said if you see a need fill a need or if you’re my dad its see a need tell the child in closest proximity to you to fill it. Recently for family home evening we’ve been focused on charity and service. During one activity we wrote things that we as a family and an individual will do. These things included making sure the dishes were done, being more positive, having the boys in bed by seven.  At like 7:30 the peace seemed to increase dramatically. Then, if we are able to complete all the things, we get to go do something like camping, now some may call that bribery, we call it initiative. It’s been like three weeks and we have yet to go camping, but there are other rewards. I feel closer to my family and they’ve become one of my biggest strengths. As I have served my family, my spirituality has greatly increased and I have become closer to my Savior. It’s really hard to not grow closer to Him when we serve, because that is what he spent his whole life doing.  I drive now, so a lot of my service is going and picking up things and it great. These acts of service aren’t big things, like I clean around some, I bring home Sheridans for my mom, I drive my siblings around, I babysit, it doesn’t seem like much, but these are the things that have had a really big impact. Cheryl A. Esplin said “service doesn’t have to be big and grandiose to be meaningful and make a difference. That’s so true! There have been times where I’ve done something and it wasn’t noticed or acknowledged and I would get upset or salty, but I realized when I remembered that the point of service is not for attention I felt better. I felt happy with myself that I had took time out of my day and did that. I had one experience with my choice and accountability project. I decided to clean the house while my family was doing something and not tell them about it. I worked hard and I was proud of myself when I got it done. When my parents got home, they were less then pleased with my brothers room and some random stuff and I was kind of mad. I was thinking I worked hard to do this, I am not responsible for my brothers room. Then the spirit reminded me that the reward is in the service, not afterward. I decided to get over myself and start over and improve the things my parents were complaining about. I felt even better when my parents were happy with how the house looked and I don’t think I told them that I was working on my project at the time, I don’t know. What I do know is that it was worth it because that service made my home more peaceful and somewhere the Spirit could more fully dwell. I know that service is one of the best ways to make the best of a situation. I know that it helps you and the person receiving the service. I know that sometimes it isn’t easy to serve someone, but its one of the most rewarding things you could do. In the name of Jesus Christ amen. "