Farewell June 30, 2024

Good morning brothers and sisters, I would just like to start off by saying thank you to everyone who has come to support me today. I've had friends and family that have traveled to be here and that means a lot to me! Thank you! I would like to thank Hallie Hoopes for that beautiful song. When I read the words of that song, I knew that's the message I wanted to share today.

Thank you, Aunt Lisha, on the piano. I would like to thank this ward, you have become a family to me and I have loved growing up surrounded by all of you. I'm thankful for each and every one of you! You have loved me and my family and carried us through many good and hard times,

I'm so thankful for our amazing bishopric. I love each of you and consider each of you my friend! And shout out to B-wents I love you! You have all played an important part in my life.

Fun fact I haven't spoken in church since I was a beehive, so bear with me this could get wild!

I'm excited and very nervous to speak to all of you today, bishop assigned me the topic of “ Putting Jesus first during your trials”. Now this topic has been something I have thought about constantly and have the opportunity to live most of my life! It is super personal to me, and the first time I am publicly sharing some of my closest feelings about such a tender topic. Most of you know my dad has brain cancer. He was diagnosed with brain cancer when I was just 5 years old. Doctors told my mom he would have at best 3-5 years to live and that anything more would be a miracle. In a couple of days, it will mark 14 years!! It truly has been a miracle! Growing up and having such a trauma at a young age really can alter the way you see the world. I am a daddy's girl through and through! My dad is one of my greatest friends, and one of the most important people in my life. I have watched my dad walk through hard things that I don't think most people could really comprehend. At every new bump and challenge was always that little voice wondering if this was the beginning of the end. My dad currently has a brain tumor in his brain, our family's future hangs between each upcoming scan. As hard as this has been, my parents have done such a wonderful job on teaching us to put our faith and our trust in Christ! Their love and faith and humor and examples of being brave and turning it over to the lord have given me so much peace and strength in my life. I have learned so many things through this trial and it has shaped me to be where I am today. Throughout the span of my life this experience has taught me and continues to teach me that God's hands are in the workings of everything.

    Elder Orson F. Whitney taught: “No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education. ... All ... that we [patiently] endure ... builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable. ... It is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our [heavenly parents].” Understanding this and I mean TRULY understanding this concept has been very hard for me and a long time in the making.

For a long time, I was bitter about my dad’s cancer, I felt it was unfair and couldn’t find the purpose of why God would want my family to experience this terrible thing. Why did it have to be so hard! Why did I watch my dad suffer for so long!!  I distinctly remember however the day I fully understood Elder Whitney's counsel. I was hanging out with a group of friends when the topic got brought up “why do bad things happen to good people '‘. The conversation then leads to lots of uncertainty and negative feelings about how they don't understand why God would allow that to happen to his children. I just sat quietly, which is something I don't normally do. My one friend then looked up and asked me “Hallee if you could change your dad having cancer, would you?”. My response was quick and simple “no, I wouldn’t” shocking my friends and also myself a little. I then followed the response by saying “ my dad’s cancer has taught me more than I ever thought it would, I genuinely would not be the person I am today without it. It has taught me to be more loving, forgiving, and understanding. It has brought me and my family closer together. It has taught me the important things of life and for that I wouldn’t trade it for anything”. We as a family have needed the constant and close relationship of the lord that can only come from hard trials in life. I am grateful for that! We have always needed the lord!!

    Elder Brian K Taylor of the seventy shares “Life’s trials prove us. Even the Savior ``learned obedience by” and was made “perfect through sufferings." I'm going to repeat that last part...Perfect through sufferings. Just like anything in life we learn from failure. That is how I like to understand trials. God gives his children hardships to make us perfected. 1 Nephi 20 verse 30 says “

 "For, behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction "Looking through God at the center of my trials is a big reason why I am here today getting ready to be one of his missionaries in Brazil!

    Softball has always been such a big part of my life. I love the game! I always had dreams of playing college softball. My parents instilled in us hard work that we could do anything and be anything and this is what I had decided I wanted for myself. I had a really important coach come into my life at the end of my Junior year. He had a lot of connections and most of his players went on to play college softball. He took me under his wing and took me down to Las Vegas with him and his daughter and we practiced several times a week with his travel team. He invited me to go to a big tournament in Colorado with the team. The whole point of this 10-day tournament was college exposure. I had played some great games and had the opportunity to have some teams talk to my coach about me. My dreams were becoming a reality. Now the thing about these opportunities is they were far far away. None were close to home. In talking with my parents about this my dad and mom told me I needed to think about what that would do to my Eternal future. They were all for me going after my dreams, but they were worried about me signing to a school thousands of miles away for 4 years. I was really wrestling with this, and kept praying about what I should do. My parents told me the lord will show you the next step, and boy did he!!!!!!

    I was practicing down at UNLV with the team and I was having the batting practice of my life! My coach was so excited for me, and I felt like everything was coming together. I could taste my dreams!! Well last rep up at the plate, and I swung the bat and my spikes caught the turf under the plate. Leaving my body moving with the rotation and my back leg stationary and stuck in the turf. My knee cap was in the back of my leg.....The ambulance was called and many doctors’ appointments later, my senior year and my sports looked much different then what I had thought. I continued to have lots of trials with my knee and wasn't able to have the seasons of the abilities I once had. I knew that there would be no college. It was devastating!!! I was barely able to get through my senior year. I missed many games with the continually injury, all the travel tournaments, and eventually my spot on his team.

    During this time the spirit began to work on me. My cute dad slept on the floor and put me in the bed with my mom. He was getting up every two hours putting ice on my leg and making sure I wasn't in pain. One of the times he came to wake me up I was crying, he asked me what was wrong and that I shouldn’t be in pain because he was managing me so well. At this time I sat up and told him and my mom that I just had a dream and I was wearing missionary tags and I was walking the streets of Brazil with the cutest little girl. This was a year and 3 months before I submitted my mission papers. My parents’ kind of laughed and said oh Hal you're on lots of good meds. Nobody would've believed that I wanted to go on a mission at that time in my life. It was just never something I had ever considered, I had laser focus on my other goal. I continued to have this recurring dream every few months, along with other special experiences including getting my patriarchal blessing with Bro Traveler. I love that man! These experiences have led me to my desire to serve a mission. Looking back, through this awful trial the lord was preparing me to serve a mission. Had I not experienced that injury my life would look very different today. When I opened my mission call and read that I would be serving the people of Brazil, I collapsed!! I was filled so deeply with the reassurance that Heavenly Father knows us. He has been preparing me to love and serve these people. This has been such a strength to my testimony! I Know that this is the next step and where the lord is assigning me to be. Having it come full circle has given me so much strength, purpose, and peace! I can't wait to find that cute little girl that has come to me many times in my dreams.

    I am standing before you with a grateful heart for the relationships I have made with me Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ through all of my trials. I really like this quote, and challenge each of you the next time you're going through it to try to change the way you're looking at it.

Pray for strength and think of these words by sister Linda Reeves “I do not know why we have the many trials that we have, but it is my personal feeling that the reward is so great, ... so joyful and beyond our understanding that in that day of reward, we may feel to say to our merciful, loving Father, ‘Was that all that was required?”. I love this!

Our Heavenly Father loves us more than we could ever understand. He would never want us to be in pain or suffer, but we promised it would be for our good. There are a lot of things I don't know the whys of or can't even begin to understand; this life is so full of challenges. But i do believe it will all be worth it. Our prophet in the October 2023 conference challenged all of us to think Celestial. When we truly are thinking celestial, so many of our earthly challenges can melt away. It keeps our focus heavenward, and on the things that truly matter. We can feel peace and be happy during the worst this world can offer us. I can testify to that.

    I have been blessed with the greatest examples in my life. My grandparents are some of my best friends, they have loved me and supported me in ways I didn't even think were possible. They have shown up and have given me such great strength and security throughout my life. They have become a second set of parents to me. I always knew whatever happened in life they would be there. I have taken some of my hardest questions, and they helped me work through and always come out better on the other side. All of my grandparents have been amazing examples to me of temple service, and putting the gospel first in their lives. Grandma Lori I really appreciate you coming all this way to hear from me! You have always been so excited to hear about what is going on in my life, and that means a lot to me! Thanks for all your love and support!! I am so grateful to have the best aunts and uncles, who have showed up, loved me throughout my life. I want to thank all of my friends that are here and even those that are not here, I love you so much and I'm so thankful for all my friends that are out serving missions right now, they have been the best examples to me and have made me so excited to do god's work.

    It's gonna be so hard to leave my family! I love them so much!! We are so close and each one of them is my best friend! Dad, thank you for teaching me to work hard. You have been the best example to me of chasing your dreams and making it happen. Whenever I come to you with a crazy idea you're always the first person to support me and help me come up with a plan on how to achieve it. You are the definition of selfless, you have given all that you have to me and our family and words can't express how thankful I am for that. I admire your strength, I have never once heard you complain or be mad for the cards that you have been dealt. I Could not be more thankful to call you, my dad!! And mom I don't even know where to start. You have been my ride and die my whole life. Whenever there is a need or problem you are the first one to resolve it. I have never met someone more invested in their kids than you. You have dropped everything and given up everything supporting us in our dreams. Whenever I think I can’t do something I think of you and everything that you have gone through. Your spirit gives me strength to overcome what I think is impossible. You have prepared me and taught me how to do hard my whole life. You have been a perfect example to me of a loving mother and I'm so grateful god sent me to you!!! Ashlee, I have always wanted a sister, when you came into my life, my dreams came true!! I'm thankful for everything you've taught me. You have always been the best helper for me when I babysit and I really appreciate that! Ryder, to this day I tell everyone that you are my best friend. I love how we can look at each other and know exactly what the other person is thinking and then laugh about it for what feels like days. I love your sweetness personally, please never change. You're a good example to me of keeping bringing it to the Lord, I look up to your faith. I'm gonna miss our late-night sleepovers and pranking mom and dad, and listening to the new best song, and talking about quite literally everything. I love you so much, please don’t wreck Rhonda while I'm gone. And RJ, you're the coolest 8-year-old I know. Your hugs and smile brighten my day. You really are a miracle child. You always keep me and the family laughing with your jokes, and comebacks. I love your tender heart and willingness to be everybody's friend is my favorite thing about you. The world is so much better with you in it!

I'll end with my simple testimony