New Trainee Meeting December 18, 2012

Look at that new trainee!

Dinner Appointment - December 21, 2012

Got this email picture from a family Elder Higgins had dinner with!

And the work begins.......

December 3, 2012

It's been a really good 1st week in California! It's super different than I thought it would be though, and I don't really know why. I can't put a finger on it. It just is. Most the finding comes from members refferals down here so we don't do a whole lot of tracting. Maybe that's part of it. From what I hear the church in this area is growing pretty rapidly. My companion baptized someone this saturday. So I have already seen a baptism in my first week! It was a boy of a part member family. I think he was nine, and named Migul. He got baptized with 4 other kids! It was cool to see them all get baptized.

My second day here we did a service project for a non-member lady that some of the other Elders have been teaching. She was a horder. And she still is. She owns everything she has ever purchased. When you walk into her house there is a small pathway in between walls of stuff stacked, at some part, up to your shoulders. She had stacks of newspapers, and letters, and yarn, and flooring, and "turn of the century" ice cream parlor chairs, and I could go on for a while but I won't. Our service to her was assembling two big shelves that she had bought to stack more of her stuff on. It was fun! She was really sweet as well.

We taught this really cool guy named Carlos, and the lesson was in spanish so I don't know too much of what went on, but he asked how the Dinosaurs fit into the gospel. It was kind of funny to me because my last week in the MTC our district had a "Debate" about this same topic. We never really settled the debate. We just ended it, after it got kind of ridiculous, by saying it doesn't matter none of our investagators are going to ask a question like that. Wrong! Carlos was cool though, I'm excited to go see him again.

 The spanish ward was crazy this sunday. I don't really understand much yet! But they are all super friendly. The Bishop called me up to bear my testimony. So maybe they all understood what I was saying. I hope. We have dinner every night with a member, and their cooking is pretty awesome so far!

 

I live in a 3 room 2 bathroom apartment with another set of Elders. They are Chinese speaking, and have a super small area. They walk everywhere they go. I guess their main goal is to start a branch down here, and I guess a lot of chinese people go to a college around here. It sounds super crazy! It is a pretty good lil' apartment. I say lil' cause it's kind of ghetto, but it could be ghetto-er, so its good. The bigger room as you walk in has all four of our beds, and is next to the kitchen, and the other two are our study rooms, and have closets for our clothes and stuff.

We had kind of a cool experience last night. We had just got done watching the Christmas Devotional, and it was around 8:30, which is kind of an awkard time. We didn't want to go knock on doors, but it wasn't time to go in yet. We are not supposed to go back until 9, unless we are in a lesson then we can stay out until 9 thirty. We were faced with a choice to make. We could go in early, which would mean disobedience to some degree, or find something to do. So we ended up pulling into a parking lot and just talked to people there. I ended up setting up an appoinment with a girl named Vikki, who said she was looking for a church and was interested in hearing more, which was cool, but that wasn't the cool experience i'm talking about. My companion, Elder Littlewood, was called over by soomeone in a van while I was handing out cards and talking to people. He talked for quite some time before I joined the conversation, but apparently this man was a former member of our church. He had joined back when he lived in Ghana after being taught by some missionaries there. He has been inactive for a while now, at least since he moved to California 9 years ago. He said he has been super deppressed lately, and feels like something is missing. He called my companion over because he recognized us, the white shirts and ties, from the missionaries that had taught him in Africa. We talked with him, and asked if he needed anything. He wanted us to pray with him, and he wanted to see the missionaries. (We reffered him to the English speaking Elders) After we prayed he said he felt hope, and he felt calm. I'm just glad we didn't go back early.

 Tell everyone hello and happy holidays.

December 10, 2012

 

I've been doing good! We tracted a lot more this week. I guess I just spoke too soon. We try to pick out neighborhoods that looks like spanish people live there, but some days most of our tracting is done in English. We run into a lot people that speak Spanish and love talking with us. That's one thing I've found out. One of their favorite things is talking! They tell us all about their lives and problems. That's another thing I've found out. One problem they don't have problem is telling you about their problems. And most of the time I just sit there listening, and for the most part I have no idea what they are saying... So I just listen. They all speak so fast, and I get lost so easy! It's really frustrating at times. I feel pretty useless during some (most) of our lessons, because I have no idea what is going on, although I feel like I'm starting to catch more. A little bit more atleast. I can get the general idea of everything. I need to start talking more during lessons, but it's hard for two reasons. 1. Most of the people we teach do most of the talking. By the end of a lesson they've usually taught us more than we've taught them. 2. I can't understand a lot of it so I have no idea what to say. I'll just keep at it though :)

Everyone has pitbulls here. It's pretty cool.

But we did meet some pretty promising people last week, and we are planning to go see them this week. So I will let you know how everything goes with them. And I let you know when there is a breakthrough with our other investigators. One of our investigators Carlos likes the church and the Book of Mormon, but refuses to pray about it until he has finished it, and I guess he has set up a baptismal date before, but missed it because he is having some trouble quitting smoking. He is super cool though......

 

Love, Elder Higgins

First Day in the Mission Field: Riverside, California

President and Sister Smart with arriving Elders in California

Elder Higgins and trainer/companion Elder Littlewood

Welcome Dinner at Mission President's home Riverside, CA

California Here I Come!! New Address

Elder Higgins called home from the Salt Lake airport Tuesday morning, November 27th!!  He was happy and excited to be on his way, good to hear his voice!

Today, November 28th, his mission president's wife Sister Smart called to report that he made it to Riverside safe and sound with a smile on his face :)

Elder Higgins writes in a email today:  "It was good to talk to you guys yesterday!  I had a safe flight into California and met my president and my new companion.  It's been really good so far.  My new companion is Elder Littlewood from Idaho.  He seems really nice!  Yesterday we had orientation from all the mission staff, they are wonderful.  I had to pass a driving test with the presidents assistants and we stopped at a gas station and they had me talk to some people there, it was pretty crazy.  No one really wanted anything to do with religion, well, not yet.  I'm gonna find some though, if anything those people at the gas station made me more excited to actually find some people.  We are going to do some tracting later and Elder Littlewood set up some appointments for tonight.  It's warm in California and I love all the palm trees and I see orange trees everywhere.  Riverside is absolutely beautiful!! I'm serving in Riverside."


New Address (letters): Elder Jordan Higgins
                                      2700 Iowa Ave. #57
                                      Riverside, CA 92507


Packages to Mission Office: Elder Jordan Dale Higgins
                                               California Riverside Mission
                                               5900 Grand Avenue
                                               Riverside, CA 92504

Final MTC pictures Elder Higgins provided the captions!!

Name Tag and Scriptures (A powerful duo)

 

M.U.G.S.H.O.T.*Check out the tie knot*



Listo (translation "ready")




The New "Hang out Place"
 

 

Symmetry (A pattern of Heaven & Earth)

The wind chill factor (I'm glad California is warm, I could jump for joy)

(This is) My Jump for Joy!

Prancing in the fields is way better....I can't "prance" like I used to

This was supposed to be a cool picture, but it's not

More MTC Highlights/Thanksgiving

Some MTC Highlights......general conference here was amazing, playing a game called "travel agent", P-Days at the temple, eating breakfast at the temple, seeing friends from Riverton here, being a district and zone leader, letters from friends and family back home, being a new missionary host, testimony building experiences......

Thanksgiving at the MTC

We had a pretty crazy "black friday moment" except it happened thanksgiving morning.   Rumors started flying around the MTC that Elder Holland was coming to speak to us on Thanksgiving morning.  I don't know how it all got started but it seemed pretty legit because everyone was talking about it.  Well anyway, we got in line outside two hours before the doors opened, and we were not the first people there either.  It was pretty cold waiting there without a proper coat, but everyone was singing Christmas hymns, and I was talking to someone going to Massachusetts speaking Mong or something like that, really weird...But anyway there was a huge rush when the doors opened.  It was pretty crazy!  And sure enough Elder Holland came. He was so great!  He and his family did a whole devotional.  They were all really sweet.  Two of his grandkids bore their testimonies, and a grand-daughter sang, then he and his wife spoke.  He said he was adopting all 2,000 of us for the day as part of his "family".  He has the best perspectives on everything, I loved hearing from him!

This will probably be one of my most memorable thanksgivings ever, I might even say it has been my favorite as well, because I really celebrated all that I was grateful for and I have so much to be grateful for.... family, this gospel and the opportunity to be a missionary, prophets and specifically Joseph Smith and the amazing things he did as the Lord's servant.  I am thankful most for Jesus Christ and His love and sacrifice.  I have come to know Him in the MTC so much better and I love Him.

Pictures November 20, 2012

This is Elder Higgins in the MTC laundry room writing and email home today (November 20, 2012)!!

Week 8 Thanksgiving and Travel Plans

My understanding and my appreciation for this gospel has improved so much during my time here. It has been so good! I can't believe my time here at the MTC is almost over, and speaking of that I got my travel plans this week!  My travel plans weren't anything crazy like some of the missionaries here. Some of them have 3 or 4 connecting flights and it takes a day or so to get where they are serving. Nope, not me. I just have a 1 and half hour flight to Ontario, CA, but hey it was enough to get me excited! I report to the travel office at 5 in the morning on Tuesday, November 27th, and my flight leaves at 8:45.  I only have a week left here. It's crazy! We only have 3 more normal days with classes, which is wild because i feel like there is still a lot to learn about everything. Thursday is Thanksgiving, and then we have In Field Orientation on Friday, which is an all day thing. That should be exciting. The Thanksgiving day schedule is really nice. We have a service project, and a devotional from a general authority (most likely an apostle from what we hear) and then some more program type things. It should be really nice. I hope you guys have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I will miss the fried turkey legs.  Yeah I'll miss that, and the mashed potatoes! Oh, it all sounds so good! Oh, and I'll miss you guys as well. I already do! So just know that as you are eating and know that I'm thankful for all of you guys as well, and that I'm happy here, and I'm in good company,  2,000 or so missionaries is pretty good company don't you think? I think so too! But yeah tell everyone I love them, and to have a happy Thanksgiving!

Too Funny Not to Share!! MTC Stories....

November 6th Letter mailed home...

Elder Harris and I got locked out of our room this week right after we showered.  Neither of us took our keys into the showers with us and Elder Carpenter, a Elder in our district, shut our door.  It was pretty terrible!  It was in the middle of the day right after gym and we had to get ready for class, but we were stuck in the hallway with only our towels and couldn't get in.  So we had to call the front desk and they told us to come to the main office and get a spare key and we told them, "that's a problem!" and why it was a problem.  We ended up sending one of the kids from our district to go get the key for us, luckily they were still around.  We were late for class and it was pretty embarrassing!!
Anyway I thought it was kind of a funny story....

Another funny story....  One of the Elders received this Darth Vader bobble head that speaks when his head is tilted one way or the other.  Someone gave it to him in a box, but anyway Elder Harris taped it on the door frame in our classroom and when the door would close the Darth Vader toy would speak.  He thought it would be funny to see when the other Elders walked in after us.  Well, we forgot it was taped up there and later our teacher walked in and Darth Vader spoke.  That was all good, he kind of laughed but didn't take it down.  He started his lesson and then another teacher came in to observe, there goes Darth Vader again.  Every time the door would open we would all cringe, and we had so many visitors come to our class that day.  We all felt pretty immature, but it was funny afterwards.  At the time it was really terrible!!  Our teacher would be saying something spiritual, the door would open, then we'd hear "JOIN ME AND TOGETHER WE CAN RULE THE GALAXY!"  Just imagine that!! Finally one of our visitors took it down for us...oh it was crazy!  Usually we don't have that many people come and go.  I love it here!!

Week 7 MTC

Hey Everybody!

 

I'm doing awesome at the MTC still! It's getting pretty cold, which makes me want to leave for California even sooner. I'm doing the same old stuff. Learning about the Gospel, and how to teach it, and trying to speak Spanish. I feel like I understand most everything that is said in spanish now. Elder Harris and I had to teach our 1st 40 minute TRC last week. TRC is where we go and teach members a lesson. They have volunteers come and we teach them. (In Spanish of Course) This week we taught a Hermana from Ecuador, and her daughter. They moved here from Ecuador 5 years ago. So believe me when i say they spoke spanish pretty quickly, but we were able to understand her and teach her effectively for 40 minutes. She said we could understand her really well, and said that it was a miracle. That kind of hit me when she said that, because it really is! 6 weeks ago when i stepped foot into the MTC for the 1st time I knew nothing about this language, and I never thought I would be able to teach, and just have a conversation for 40 minutes, and do it in a manner where both parties understood one another. It is so cool! She was really funny. She talked about her garden for a while, and I thought about Jeremy and his garden. I even shared with her how our countertop would be overfilled with tomatoes from his garden. It was funny! We usually figure out how to say things using our Gospel vocabulary. So i think i ended up saying something about having a "mesa con la plentitud de tomatoes" which is like saying, "A table with the fulness of tomatoes" I only knew how to say that because our church contains the fulness of the Gospel. So thank goodness for that! Hope everyone is doing well!

 

Thanks for everything! Love, Elder Higgins

Missionary Bear......

This bear will represent Elder Higgins while he is gone.  He will attend all family functions, holidays...Thanksgiving, Christmas who knows he may even get a Valentine!  I am sure he will find his way into many family photos....

More MTC pictures!

"We got haircuts. We told them as short as they'll let us. Crazy!"

MTC Week 6 Letter

Well we had to say goodbye to one of the districts in our zone last night. It was really cool to get to know them, and see them off. It got me excited to go and start my real mission in California. They are going to Mexico. Our district is the oldest now, and I'm a Zone leader now. It will be fun! We get to give all the new districts in our zone a tour and teach them about companionships and train them on the computers and everything. We get a new district of 12 elders this week, and we'll see how it goes. Our district gets to be hosts (welcome new Elders as they get dropped off) this week as well since we are the oldest in our zone. I'm really excited! It will be something new for us to do.

I'm still learning a lot! We focus on conversion of course, and how to get people to experience it. It's really cool. Most of the conversion will come from the commitments we will extend, because that is how they exercise faith. It's our job to get them interested, and spark their desire to do the commitments, and to recognize the Holy Ghost, and the blessings that will come from it. I'm excited to teach real investigators and see how it all works out.

Well nothing too new here besides what I've already shared. I just got back from the temple. I love it there. It's one of the things I look forward to most each week. We get to hear another general authority tonight, and as always, I'm excited. I wonder who it will be?  This is the Lords mission, not mine. The more I accept that, the greater I feel as a missionary. On Sunday one of the mission leaders talked to us about our name tag, and the power it brings. I feel bold every time I put it on!

Love, Elder Higgins

MTC District 22C pictures

                                                          My Companion Elder Harris

 My District

MTC Week 5

Hey everybody!

Another week at the MTC has come and gone. Time is really starting to pick up. There is a saying that goes around here that says, ¨the days are long but the weeks are short´´ and it is totally true! I don't know how but it is exactly how it feels here. We do alot of the same things here each week, but I have moments in each week that i love! Each week we read, as a district from El Libro de Mormon. We start out with a question, and we look for the answer as we read. We still don't know much Spanish, but we are still able to find answers from El Libro de Mormon. It's really cool and I can always feel the spirit as we read it. I also love Tuesday nights! Each Tuesday we get to hear from a general authority! Last week we heard from Elder Echo Hawk who spoke at this last general conference, he was really cool to hear from. He is a convert and shared his story with us, it was really neat! I´ve also grown to love my personal study hour of each day. I look forward to it. There is so much to learn about this Gospel, and every time, without fail, i learn something new and personal during my one hour study time. I also love meeting together with the 2000 or so missionaries as we listen to the devotionals. You can feel every one's spirit, and when we sing it is the best. I love being here with all the other Elders. We sing To Bring the World His Truth on a regular basis, and every time we sing it the spirit is so strong! It is definitely all the Elders favorite song to sing. They changed the lyric ¨We will be the Lords missionaries¨ to ¨We are NOW the Lords missionaries¨ It gets me pumped every time! One of our first weeks here we were challenged to catch fire in the Gospel, and I feel like I am doing it, and I love it.  I love you all!

 

Love, Elder Higgins

Week 4

 

Hey Guys!

I'm still doing good at the MTC, still doing the same ol' stuff. Going to class, and attempting to speak spanish, and learning how to teach the Gospel. Last Tuesday Elder Bowen came and spoke to us. At one point in his talk he needed an Elder to come up so he could demonstrate something. He didn't ask for people to volunteer by raising their hands, he just chose someone. And that someone he chose was me! It was cool, our eyes met and he just called me up. He threw a book at me and i had to catch it, Then he did that a few more times. Then he said receive the book and handed it to me. He was trying to demonstrate how we need to teach, and approach people. I think.. I was just trying to catch the book, and i couldn't really pay attention. It was really funny though!

We have a really fun Branch presidency. They come around and visit us at nights sometimes. They are all really sweet old men. One of them loves to give all the Elders Embraso's, which is the spanish equivelant to a hug. It was kind of surprising the 1st time he did it. Brother Merril and His wife, another one of our branch presidency, are crazy into politics. They eat lunch with our district on Sundays, and tell us about the Election. Sister Merrill has some MITT bling that she wears all the time. I think it's super funny!

 I can't wait to get to California, it's getting cold here! We have two sisters in our District that are leaving to go to the Peru MTC tomorrow. It will be sad to say goodbye to them, because they are apart of the District 22C family. I've learned so much already, and I'm excited to keep learning. These 4 weeks have been awesome! My testimony has grown tremendously. Well I got to get off. My time is up..

Thanks for everthing,  Love Elder Higgins

Week Three

Hey guys!

I'm still doing good at the MTC, and still learning lots too! My Spanish is still getting better. We (my companion and I) don't have to bring notes when we teach lessons anymore, and we can answer their questions for the most part. We are getting the teaching fundamentals down as well. We are starting to act like actual teachers. It's pretty cool. All the days run together and it feels like I've been here for longer then I have, just because so much happens, and because I'm awake for the majority of the day, and learning stuff! I love P-days! We call them our holidays. Speaking of holidays, they are putting up Christmas lights around here. I'm excited to see them all lit up!

So, as if General Conference wasn't spiritual enough, they had Elder Bednar come and speak to us the Tuesday after. It was so cool to hear him talk to us. He just got up there and talked to us. Nothing was scripted so it felt more personal. He said some really cool stuff!  He mentioned the recent missionary announcement and said how he loved to hear people speculate about what was said during the apostles meetings. He liked to hear what all the members thought about the reasons for the change. He called it apostolic humor. It was pretty funny. Then he said there was only one reason for the change. The Lord will hasten his work when His work needs to be hastened. That was the only reason for the change. I thought that was really neat. Alot of things are going to change! He also taught us about taking notes and studying and stuff and he said a lot of other really awesome things. It was great! We had a guy come speak to us this Sunday and he was talking about all the changes taking place at the MTC. They are adding a lot of buildings, or redoing buildings to house more missionaries. They are shortening the weeks missionaries stay here by 1/3. That will be effective in January. So the missionaries that would originally stay here for 9 weeks are staying for 6 now, and the missionaries that would stay here for 3 will stay for 2. Our teachers say the curriculum won't change either. Missionaries will just learn quicker. The change that will affect me is this new training program. When we get to California, we will be trained by the same companion for 12 weeks, and then we are expected to be Senior companions and trainers for the new 18 yr old missionaries right after. It all sounds really exciting to me. God is hastening his work right in front of our eyes!

Con Amor,
Elder Higgins

Mission Scripture

A mission plaque will displayed in our church building. The scripture Elder Jordan Higgins chose to be on the plaque is:

2 Nephi 31:20

"Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and all men.  Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father; Ye shall have eternal life."

First letter from MTC

Hey guys, I only get to write on Pdays, and it's only for a thirty minute period. They have this little timer counting down at the top right corner. It't kind of intimadating. So anyway i have to hurry and write everything, because a lot has happened.

It's great here. I love it! It's pretty tough though. The very first day, after they let me drop off my stuff in my room, i had my very first class. Our teacher came in and she starting teaching us, but everything she said was in Espanol. It was nuts! I'm already starting to understand a lot of what she says, although finding the words to say, and speaking spanish is a lot harder. They had me and my campanion teach an investagator on friday, and as always we had to teach it in Spanish. We couldn't say much at all, but it was cool to see that we could communicate with these people just after three days here. It was kind of frustrating because i knew what i wanted to say, but i couldn't say because of the language barrier. It will come to me though... Eventually!

My companion, Elder Harris, is great. It already feels like we have been friends for years. He is from St. George, and he is going to Riverside with me! We are expected to leave on the 27th of November. That means we get to spend Thanksgiving in here! It's kind of funny my friend Brook Gledhill texted me earlier this summer and said she had met a kid that is going to Riverside and is reporting the same day as you. She was talking about Elder Harris. My district consists of 6 elders and 4 sisters, It's like our little family unit here. The days go by fast here. It's mainly because they don't even give you time to catch your breath, which is a good thing. We are constantely studying or in a class.

Sundays are really different here. They are held in a small room, and only our zone, which is made up of 4 districts, attends. It was kind of neat. however, i miss the feel of the 6th ward. It was fast and testimony meeting this week. It was cool because all of the district D elders that left this week, or are about to leave, shared their testimonies. As always it was in spanish. They seemed like they knew so much! It got me excited.

Well, my time is running low and i don't know what happens when the clock runs out so i better wrap things up. I really do love it here. My campanion is great! And the spirit here is tremendous. it's like a constant buzzing! it's amazing!

Love,    Elder Higgins

MTC

On the way to the MTC we stopped for lunch at Golden Corral. Did you know that if you are a Elder heading to the MTC you eat for free!! When we got to the MTC it was quick goodbyes....they sure have that system down!! Good Luck Elder Higgins!!!

 SEE YA IN TWO!!!

ELDER HIGGINS OFFICIALLY!!

Tuesday night Elder Higgins was set apart by his Dad, brother-in-law, stake presidency and bishopric to be a missionary in the Riverside, CA mission. It was a wonderful experience.

Goodbyes.....

       My Friends

      My Guitar

Justin and Kelsey

MTC Address

Elder Higgins enters the MTC on September 26, 2012. His mailing address while at the MTC is:

Elder Jordan Dale Higgins

MTC Mailbox #273

CA-RIV 1127

2005 N 900 E

Provo, UT 84604-1793

ELDER HIGGINS MISSION CALL....

Elder Jordan Higgins has been called to serve as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is assigned to labor in the California Riverside Mission. He will be preaching the gospel in the Spanish language.

He will report to the MTC on September 26, 2012.

Elder Higgins spoke in his ward on September 16, 2012. He gave a wonderful talk. For those who were not able to attend I posted his remarks below:

Mission Farewell Talk

            Good morning brothers and sisters. I’m really happy to be here, and to speak to you before I leave for a few years, and serve a mission. It’s really cool that I get to and speak with my friend since primary, Greg Hawkins. He is also leaving on a mission! I haven’t seen much of him lately because he’s up at college and touring the world with his band and stuff, but nevertheless, I want to thank him for his example and friendship. So, for those of you who came to hear Greg, and don’t know me, my name is Jordan Higgins. I have been called to serve in the Riverside, California, Spanish speaking mission. I am excited to meet all the wonderful people of Riverside, and share the gospel!

The topic I was given to speak on today is a talk that was given by Elder Donald L. Hallstrom. It’s titled Converted to His Gospel through His Church. He starts off by stating that the gospel of Jesus Christ and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are not the same. He makes that clear in his title. They are two different things. He clarifies by saying, “The gospel is the glorious plan of god in which we, as His children, are given the opportunity to receive all that the Father has,” Which we know is eternal life.

So what is His Church? Elder Hallstrom explains, “The Church was established by Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry, the lord restored what once was, specifically telling the Prophet Joseph Smith, “I will establish a church by your hand.” Jesus Christ was and is still the head of His Church, represented on earth by prophets holding apostolic authority.”

I love how Elder Hallstrom explains it. The more I think about it, the more it amazes me. We have, on this earth right now, the same church Jesus Christ himself set up during his earthly ministry. And to think He is still, to this day, the head of the Church, and that he speaks to us through our prophet Thomas S. Monson. Wow! That’s truly wonderful. However, I wouldn’t expect anything less. To think that Jesus Christ abandoned this day and age, and that he no longer speak to men, is nonsense. He spoke to the prophets of the Old Testament, giving them revelation for that day and age, and He still speaks to us today.

When I started writing this I remembered a lesson Bishop Radack gave when he was my priest quorum advisor a few years ago. He shared a speech that was given by Hugh B. Brown titled The Profile of a Prophet. It’s awesome and I thought I should share some of it. In this speech Hugh B. Brown relates a story. Here it is in short: He was in London, in 1939, and he met a man, according to Hugh B. Brown, “He was a very prominent English gentleman, a member of the House of commons, formerly one of the justices of the supreme court of England.” Anyway, he had many conversations with him, some of them about religion. One day this man called him on the phone and said that he wanted to talk with him one last time, before he had to return to America. Something he had said intrigued this man, and later when he met with him the man asked him to prepare a brief on Mormonism. (A brief is a statement of law and facts that lawyers prepare when they are going into court to argue a case)

This man said, “You have told me that you believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet. You have said to me that you believe that God the Father and Jesus of Nazareth appeared to Joseph Smith. I cannot understand how a barrister and solicitor from Canada, a man trained in logic and evidence, could accept such absurd statements. What you tell me about Joseph Smith seems fantastic, but I think you should take three days at least to prepare a brief and permit me to examine it and question you on it” Hugh B. Brown pretty much said I don’t need three days how about we start right now. He is such a champ! I totally wish I was there, because the argument that ensued is awesome. Like, I hope there is a highlight reel in heaven, because I so want to see it and this would be on there.

Hugh B. Brown said the conversation that took place was over three hours, and so in his talk he shortened it for the sake of time, and in my talk I will shorten it even more for the same sake. Hugh B. Brown is asking the questions, and the prominent, non-believing, English gentleman is answering. Here it is:

 “You say that my belief that God spoke to a man in this age is fantastic and absurd?”
“To me it is.”
“Do you believe that God ever did speak to anyone?”
“Certainly, all through the Bible we have evidence of that.”
“Did He speak to Adam?”
“Yes.”
“To Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jacob, Joseph, and on through the prophets?”
“I believe He spoke to each of them.”
“Do you believe that contact between God and man ceased when Jesus appeared on the earth?”
“No, such communication reached its climax, its apex, at that time.”
“Do you believe that Jesus was the Son of God?”
“He was.”
 “So you believe that it was standard procedure in Bible times for God to talk to man.”
“I think I will admit that, but it stopped shortly after the first century of the Christian era.”
“Why do you think it stopped?”
“I can’t say.”
“You think that God hasn’t spoken since then?”
“I am sure He hasn’t.”
“Well, there must be a reason. Can you give me a reason?”
“I do not know.”
“May I suggest some possible reasons? Perhaps God does not speak to man anymore because He cannot. He has lost the power.”
He said, “Of course that would be blasphemous.”
“Well, then, if you don’t accept that, perhaps He doesn’t speak to men because He doesn’t love us anymore and He is no longer interested in the affairs of men.”
“No,” he said, “God loves all men, and He is no respecter of persons.”
“Well, then, if He could speak, and if He loves us, then the only other possible answer, as I see it, is that we don’t need Him. We have made such rapid strides in science and we are so well educated that we don’t need God anymore.”
And then he said—and his voice trembled as he thought of impending war—“Mr. Brown, there never was a time in the history of the world when the voice of God was needed as it is needed now. Perhaps you can tell me why He doesn’t speak.”
Hugh B. Brown’s answer was: “He does speak, He has spoken; but men need faith to hear Him.”
I think that’s so great! And the rest of Hugh B. Brown’s speech is awesome too. I think everybody should read it. I remember coming home from church that day and telling my mom about this speech. It was such a testimony builder for me at the time. And it’s kind of funny, a short while later I found a copy of this speech in one of the many scrapbooks that my mom has made for me. She has always been an extreme scrap booker. I think I could take you day by day through my life if you had the time! I’m not even kidding. I know the first day of school picture is normal for most kids, but I experienced a 2^nd, and 3^rd… And a 4^th, and a- You get the picture! No, just kidding my mom’s not that crazy. But I seriously do have over 10, thick scrap books. And these scrapbooks are more than just pictures, there’s cute sayings, little keep sakes and a lot of bright colors. It seems to me like my mom doesn’t want me or my brother or sister to ever forget the fun times we’ve had, and she definitely doesn’t want us to forget the moments that touched our hearts or the times that made us stronger. I know she does that because she cares, and I just wanted to thank her for it. I also want to thank her for her undeniable testimony, and her sweet spirit. I take comfort in the words spoken by the 2,000 stripling warriors, and I do not doubt because my mother knows! Her unwavering faith has been a testimony to me.

The Gospel and Church, although different, are tightly woven together. We need both of them in our lives. One without the other is not enough. We can attend church all our lives and not fully be converted to the gospel. In his talk Elder Hallstrom says, “Some have come to think of activity in the church as the ultimate goal. Therein lies a danger. It is possible to be active in the Church and less active in the gospel. Activity in the Church is a highly desirable goal; however, it is insufficient. By contrast, the things of the gospel are usually less visible and more difficult to measure, but they are of greater eternal importance”

He continues by saying, “We need the gospel and the church in our lives. In fact, the purpose of the church is to help us live the gospel. We often wonder: How can someone be fully active in the church as a youth and then not be when they are older? How can an adult who has regularly attended and served stop coming? Perhaps the reason is they were not sufficiently converted to the gospel- the things of eternity.”

Now the question is: how do we become sufficiently converted to the gospel? Or how do we know if we’re sufficiently converted?

As I pondered that, I kept thinking that the gospel is a lifestyle as well as a belief. We need faith just as much as we need to act on it, and to be sufficiently converted to it is a reoccurring thing. Everyday we need to reconvert ourselves to the gospel. In my mind doing that is to form good habits such as: Reading the scriptures daily, praying often, keeping up with our church callings and attending church, and also sharing what we learn with others.

But let’s not stop there! Being sufficiently converted to the gospel sounds, to me, like we’re just getting by spiritually. True conversion should be the ultimate goal!

In Preach My Gospel there is a quote about true conversion that Elder M. Russell Ballard gives. It says: “True conversion comes through the power of the Spirit. When the Spirit touches the heart, hearts are changed. When individuals feel the Spirit working with them, or when they see the evidence of the Lord’s love and mercy in their lives, they are edified and strengthened spiritually and their faith in Him increases. These experiences with the Spirit follow naturally then a person is willing to experiment upon the word. This is how we come to feel the gospel is true.”

Doing the simple things I talked about earlier will allow the spirit to be more present in our lives, but the true conversion comes when we allow the spirit to completely take over, to change us and to guide us.

During his talk Elder Hallstrom recalls a story of when he was five, and experienced feeling the spirit so strongly for the first time. As I read this I tried to think of the first time I had the spirit overwhelm me. I knew immediately that it wasn’t when I was five. All I remembered from those days was ducking my teachers when they wanted me to give a talk in primary, and I only remember that because I didn’t know if it was ever going to stop! Now I know that it never stops, and that they will eventually get you up here! No, I’m sure I felt the spirit a lot when I was younger, but the time I remember feeling the spirit so strongly is when I got baptized, and received the Holy Ghost. I remember how pure I felt, and how much stronger I felt, and mostly I remember how I never wanted those feelings to leave. It is my prayer, that I might help the people in California open their minds and their hearts so that they too, can feel the Spirit so strongly, because if they do I know they won’t want it to leave either.

He closes his talk by saying, “The lord wants the members of his church to be fully converted to His gospel. This is the only sure way to have spiritual safety now and happiness forever.”

I would like to close my talk with my testimony, but not before I express my gratitude to my parents. I would like to thank them for raising me in the gospel, and most importantly showing me how to live it through their examples. I’m blessed with the most extraordinary parents, I love you both! I also want to thank my two siblings. Growing up is a lot easier when you have a brother like Justin and a sister like Jennifer leading the way. I look up to them both so much, and I always will. I love you guys! I also want to thank the rest of my family for supporting me so much and coming from Texas, and St. George to hear me speak! My friends also deserve my gratitude. You hear it said about marriage a lot, you know, they say, “Marry a person who encourages you to be the best possible you, you can be.” Well, it applies to friendship too, and my friends make me laugh, and they make me smile, and they’ve always encouraged me to be the best possible me, I can be. I owe them so much. I would also like to thank this ward, especially all the leaders and teachers that have had to deal with me. I love you all and will miss you.

Thanks to family and friends who came over to wish Elder Higgins well!!!!