Urban Poly Princess

This is the talk I decided on after skimming over a bunch of them. It hasn't been long enough for me to be super familiar with all of the general conference speeches but this one to me has the most promise. I wanted something with enough general principles for my friend Katie who isn't LDS to feel uplifted. Deb is LDS so I'm not super concerned with her. I didn't want to speak about anything heavy on chastity or marriage in case my friend Adam comes. I hope he does but I think he lives in Smithfield or Richmond which is a little farther than he might want to commute for a friend he doesn't really know and I don't know how comfortable he is attending church anyway. I don't doubt he was probably raised in the church. I want him to feel the spirit again. That should hit him pretty easily if he hasn't been there in awhile. AGAIN, there is no way to reconcile his life choices but I want all my friends to feel the spirit and know how much their father in heaven loves them whatever they choose to do or not.

Jesus Christ is real and this is his church. A fullness of joy can only be received through its ordinances and through his atonement. I want to use this talk to illustrate and outline the principles he shares BUT I want to focus on CHOOSING to improve, to learn, to grow. NOT just reacting in appropriate ways. While we must continually hold fast to the iron rod, God doesn't want us to just withstand circumstances, he wants us to create these. A small seemingly insignificant choice can result in countless eternal blessings or lost opportunities.

One of my classmates posted a picture from high school. It made me think of that time. I felt out of place in everything. In Tonga where we just left I was the top of my class EVERY quarter. My friends were also from the U.S., New Zealand and Australia. It was weird to be in Hawaii again. My parents didn't have money to spend on us, I was placed in all these GT classes with mostly the white BYU-Hawaii faculty kids who treated me like I was stupid. I hung out with the Tongan crowd BUT they were VERY unlike the Tongan crowd in Tonga. Strange. I think I just had identity issues. Dancing at PCC was something I loved but even then I never really enjoyed the many friends I made then until I went to BYU where although I hung out exclusively with Polynesian people I could relate well to them AND I had fun with them.

None of them however was really strong in the church. I had a blast and ward-hopped, went dancing and had Poly guys paying for EVERYTHING for me ALL the time. It was sweet!!! While I had fun I did not care about school and my grades reflected it. My parents wanted me to go home since I was failing out of school. Instead I thought about how much fun it would be to move to Washington with my friend Christie who is full Tongan from Salt Lake City. She was a model there and loving life in Seattle. She was always a great friend although she didn't have a problem with sleeping with men. As I thought about how much fun I'd have with her in Washington I read my patriarchal blessing. One line instructs me to listen to my parents and not to venture in areas that would cause them great displeasure.

When I returned to Hawaii I was HAAATING life. I met nice good LDS boys who were students at BYU-Hawaii BUT didn't have cars OR money. I hung out with my cousin and we hit up Waikiki but SHE or I drove because they were poor BYU-Hawaii students with no vehicle OR money. Memories of men paying for EVERYTHING were sooo a thing of the past. Local men were so NOOOT an option for me. Local boys didn't take kindly to my love of decking out and most couldn't relate to anything I was interested in anyway. BYU students were my best social option BUUUT AGAIN, I lived at home and had my own car. They didn't have ANYTHING.

I think I've done more than enough reminiscing.

Continually Holding Fast - Elder Kevin S. Hamilton
His father left the church when he was 13 by missing sacrament meeting with his parents who decided to go on a country drive instead. That decision led to many of his family members losing their membership and blessings in the church. Later Elder Hamilton's father met and married his mother who  helped him return to and raise his family in the church.

Because his father left the church first by missing sacrament meeting, Elder Hamilton is especially sensitive to the importance of attending all our meetings.

Regularly attending our church meetings is one way we can hold fast. Continually holding fast is a reference to the prophet Lehi's vision of the tree of life. He saw groups of people trying to get to a tree. Some people let go of the rod and were lost, they did not make it to the tree of life. Other people made it and even ate the fruit. Despite this people mocked them and they were ashamed so they left the tree. FINALLY there were people who we "Continually Holding Fast" who ate the fruit and ignored people who criticized them. They continued to move forward as they continued to hold on.