Mission:Riverside, California: September 2012

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!!!!