Discursos

"He wants us to give talks in Sacrament meeting," Jade said to me. I had looked directly at him even though we were in the middle of a conversation with the Branch President at our church in Las Varas a few Sundays ago. I gave him my Translation, please? face.

I honestly had no idea what the man had said. I often pick up pieces of the conversations or even most of the them, getting hung up on just one or two difficult words. But this time I hadn't caught anything. But now that I knew, my mind was drowning in the idea of standing in front of everybody (all 6 of them) and having enough of anything to say in Spanish that I could take up fifteen minutes of time.

"In Spanish?" I joked.

"Sí, claro," Yes, of course.

Dang! So close...

We continued to joke about just baring my testimony and leaving almost all the time for Jade, or Jade giving my entire talk for me. We told him we might be "sick" that day.

Luckily he was giving us two weeks notice and letting us choose our own topic so I thought I was up for the challenge. I told him I would do the best I could.

So naturally, in holy Latter Day Saint tradition, we waited until the last Saturday night to write our talks.

No--not really... Well, --yes, really, but not intentionally.

Coincidentally, Jade and I did get sick just a few days later. It even kept us from Church that next week. Maybe He just wanted us to be freshly recovered with plenty of antibodies so we wouldn't have any excuse when "Talk Sunday" rolled around.

So on Wednesday, after we recovered, I started searching past General Conference talks to get some ideas. I actually felt really good about the fact that I was getting started 5 days before Sunday. Score for being on the ball! Yes!!

And that's when our laptop died. Well, actually the laptop charger died, usually a much easier problem to fix but until then carried the same death sentence.

I hadn't lost a lot of finished work. But without a computer I would have had to resort to writing my talk on the notepad on my iphone--not impossible but far from ideal, or on an actual paper notepad--oh the horror! The actual "horror" part would have been doing all the research and translating on the iphone and then hand writing in. Sounds very time consuming.

If only Amazon.com deliveries were as simple here in Mexico!!

Jade and I knew that our best bet was to drive down to Puerto Vallarta and find some kind of computer store. But this whole debacle happened just a week after my birthday and if you remember from my past post our car was in the mechanic's shop.

It was supposed to be finished that day, in fact, but that doesn't always mean a lot here in Mexico. Our mechanic seemed to be doing a great job and was awesome at keeping us updated but there was no way to know if our part would come on schedule or if anything else could go wrong.

So instead of trying to work out the bus schedule, we waited to see if our car would come to the rescue in time, which it did. It was finished on Wednesday and we picked it up so first thing Thursday morning we hit the road for Puerto, almost a 2 hour drive.

We had no luck finding a computer store and knew that even if we did it would have been slim chances they would have had the right charger for us. We actually found a universal charger at Wal-Mart for about 200 Pesos that had different size attachments. The biggest one looked like it would fit so we bought it feeling hopeful.

We brought our laptop into the mall and tried plugging it in to see if it would work so we would know before we made it all the way home in case we had to turn around and come right back for a different solution. But a security guard kicked us out! Apparently we are not allowed to steal their electricity for our personal devices.

It did work! But the computer won't hold a charge. I'm not sure if it's the battery's problem or the charger. We just leave it plugged in.

So that was a huge victory. We got home late on Thursday and were able to both write our talks on the laptop on Friday. Once we made some headway in that direction we realized we had another dilemma. No printer. Hmmm, not very prepared are we?

Luckily the Edmunds Family came to the rescue once again and let us come over and print off our talks on Saturday night.

When Sunday morning rolled around I didn't feel as nervous as I had expected. I didn't feel a lot of pressure to be funny or exciting. Really I just wanted to pronounce everything correctly.

When I wrote my talk I really only wrote the beginning and the end. Most of the middle was quoted from a talk by Elder Neil Andersen, copied directly in Spanish from the church website. Thank you LDS.org!!

But that meant there were some big words that I wasn't very familiar with. I knew that if I talked slow and paid close attention to the accented letters I would be fine. I also wrote the English translation below each paragraph in case I got lost.

I spoke first. My talk was about love and following Christ. Another sister spoke after me which we didn't expect. Her talk was about hope and it was beautiful. Jade spoke on happiness.

Normally if I was asked to give a talk in a new ward in English, my first thought would have been to take up half the time just introducing Jade and myself, telling how who we are, how we met, and why we were in the ward. It hadn't even crossed my mind! Luckily Jade picked up the slack and said all of that for us. He was funny and charming and his talk was mostly original compared to my mostly copied one. So he made us look good.

He even trimmed his beard for church so he looked sharper which will make y'all laugh if you've see him lately via FaceTime or photos.

All in all it was an awesome and crazy experience. I have posted my talk below if you care to check it out.





Hola Hermanos y Hermanas. Estoy agradecida por estar aquí. No puedo creer que Hermano Anaya me pidió a discursar con mi español terrible.

Pero a mí me gustó preparar mi discurso y sentí el espíritu en la preparación.


Hello brothers and sister. I am grateful to be here. I can't believe Brother Anaya asked me to speak with my terrible Spanish. But I enjoyed preparing my talk and I felt the Spirit in my preparation.

Hoy quiero hablar de mi Salvador.

Es un don especial de Dios, saber tanto de Jesucristo, y  su vida, y lo que el requiere de nosotros para que seamos sus discípulos.


Today I want to talk about my Savior.

It is a special gift from God to know so much about Jesus Christ and his life, and what he requires from us to be his disciples.

Eldér Dallin H. Oaks dijo “Seguir a Cristo no supone un ejercicio ocasional o casual, sino una dedicación continua y una manera de vivir que se aplica en todo tiempo y en todo lugar.”

Elder Dallin H. Oaks said, "Following Christ is not a casual or occasional practice but a continuous commitment and way of life that applies at all times and in all places."

Yo pienso que la cosa maravillosa es que lo mas que aprendemos de Cristo, podemos sentir cuanto nos ama.

I think that the wonderful thing is that the more we learn of Christ, we can feel how much he loves us.

Quiero usar un discurso de Conferencia General por el Eldér Neil L. Andersen. En su discurso “¿Qué piensa el Cristo de mí?” dijo,

“En la medida en que lo amen, confíen en Él, le crean y lo sigan, sentirán el amor y la aprobación de Él.”

I want to use a talk from General Conference by Elder Neil L. Andersen. In his talk, "What thinks Christ of me?" He said, "As you love Him, trust Him, believe Him, and follow Him, you will feel His love and approval."

"El presidente Monson dijo 'Es una época en la que aumenta la incredulidad y la indiferencia hacia Cristo y Sus enseñanzas."

President Monson said, “It is a time of growing disbelief in and disregard for Christ and His teachings."

En este ambiente turbulento, nos regocijamos de ser discípulos de Jesucristo; vemos la mano del Señor en todos lados. Nuestro destino se presenta hermoso ante nosotros. “Y ésta es la vida eterna”, oró Jesús, “que te conozcan a ti, el único Dios verdadero, y a Jesucristo, a quien has enviado”19. Ser discípulo en estos días de destino será un mérito de honor por todas las eternidades"
In this turbulent environment, we rejoice in being disciples of Jesus Christ. We see the Lord’s hand all around us. Our destination is beautifully set before us. “This is life eternal,” Jesus prayed, “that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”19 Being a disciple in these days of destiny will be a badge of honor throughout the eternities."
"El llamado de Jesús, “Ven, sígueme”21, no es sólo para quienes estén preparados para competir en unas olimpíadas espirituales. De hecho, el discipulado no es una competición en absoluto, sino una invitación para todos. Nuestra jornada del discipulado no es una rápida vuelta a la pista ni se compara del todo a un largo maratón. En verdad es una migración de toda la vida hacia un mundo más celestial."
"Jesus’s call “Come, follow me”21 is not only for those prepared to compete in a spiritual Olympics. In fact, discipleship is not a competition at all but an invitation to all. Our journey of discipleship is not a dash around the track, nor is it fully comparable to a lengthy marathon. In truth, it is a lifelong migration toward a more celestial world."
"Donde sea que se encuentren en el camino del discipulado, están en el sendero correcto, el camino hacia la vida eterna. Juntos podemos levantarnos y fortalecernos unos a otros en los grandes e importantes días que están por delante. Sean cuales sean las dificultades que enfrentemos, las flaquezas que nos limiten o las imposibilidades que nos rodeen, tengamos fe en el Hijo de Dios, quien declaró: “…al que cree todo le es posible.
"Wherever you now find yourself on the road of discipleship, you are on the right road, the road toward eternal life. Together we can lift and strengthen one another in the great and important days ahead. Whatever the difficulties confronting us, the weaknesses confining us, or the impossibilities surrounding us, let us have faith in the Son of God, who declared, “All things are possible to him that believeth.

Eldér Andersen cuenta una historia de una familia después el gran terremoto de Haití. Ellos fueron un buen ejemplo del discipulado.


Elder Andersen told a story about a family, after the huge earthquake in Haiti. They were a good example of discipleship.

Los padres, Olgan y Soline corrieron lo más rápido posible hacia su apartamento en busca de sus hijos; el edificio de tres pisos donde vivía la familia Saintelus se había derrumbado. Sus tres hijos fueron adentro.
[The parents], Olgan and Soline ran as fast as they could to their apartment to find the children. The three-story apartment building where the Saintelus family lived had collapsed. Their three children were inside.
La enorme destrucción estaba en todos lados. Los niños no habían escapado, y ningún esfuerzo de rescate se desplegaría en un edificio que estaba completamente destruido.
Massive devastation was everywhere. The children had not escaped. No rescue efforts would be devoted to a building that was so completely destroyed.
Olgan y Soline Saintelus habían servido en misiones de tiempo completo, se habían casado en el templo; creían en el Salvador y en las promesas que Él les había hecho. Sin embargo, tenían el corazón destrozado; lloraban de modo incontrolable.
Olgan and Soline Saintelus had both served full-time missions and had been married in the temple. They believed in the Savior and in His promises to them. Yet their hearts were broken. They wept uncontrollably.
Olgan me dijo que comenzó a orar en su hora más oscura. “Padre Celestial, si es Tu voluntad, si fuese posible que tan sólo uno de mis hijos estuviera vivo, por favor, por favor, ayúdanos”. Una y otra vez caminó alrededor del edificio, orando en busca de inspiración. Los vecinos trataron de consolarlo y ayudarlo a aceptar la pérdida de sus hijos, pero Olgan seguía caminando entre los escombros del edificio derrumbado con esperanza y oración. Entonces sucedió algo bastante milagroso. Olgan escuchó el llanto casi imperceptible de un bebé. Era el llanto de su bebé.
Olgan told me that in his darkest hour he began to pray. “Heavenly Father, if it be thy will, if there could be just one of my children alive, please, please help us.” Over and over he walked around the building, praying for inspiration. The neighbors tried to comfort him and help him accept the loss of his children. Olgan continued to walk around the rubble of the collapsed building, hoping, praying. Then something quite miraculous happened. Olgan heard the almost inaudible cry of a baby. It was the cry of his baby.
Durante horas, los vecinos desesperadamente excavaron entre los escombros arriesgando sus propias vidas. En lo oscuro de la noche, entre los aturdidores ruidos de martillos y cinceles, los socorristas oyeron otro sonido. Dejaron de golpear y escucharon. No podían creer lo que oían. Era el sonido de un niño, un niño que cantaba. Gancci, de cinco años, dijo más tarde que sabía que si cantaba, su padre le escucharía. Apretado bajo un pedazo de cemento que resultaría en la amputación del brazo, Gancci estaba cantando su himno favorito: “Soy un hijo de Dios”29.
For hours the neighbors frantically dug into the rubble, risking their own lives. In the dark of the night, through the piercing sounds of hammers and chisels, the rescue workers heard another sound. They stopped their pounding and listened. They couldn’t believe what they were hearing. It was the sound of a little child—and he was singing. Five-year-old Gancci later said that he knew his father would hear him if he sang. Under the weight of crushing concrete that would later result in the amputation of his arm, Gancci was singing his favorite song, “I Am a Child of God.”29
Con el pasar de las horas, en medio de la oscuridad, la muerte y la desesperación de tantos otros preciados hijos e hijas de Dios en Haití, la familia Saintelus fue partícipe de un milagro: Gancci, Angie y Gansly fueron hallados vivos bajo el edificio colapsado30.
As the hours passed amid the darkness, death, and despair of so many other precious sons and daughters of God in Haiti, the Saintelus family had a miracle. Gancci, Angie, and Gansly were discovered alive under the flattened building.30
Los milagros no suceden siempre de forma tan inmediata. A veces nos preguntamos con contemplación por qué el milagro que hemos solicitado tan fervientemente en oración no sucede aquí y ahora. Pero, al confiar en el Salvador, sucederán los milagros prometidos. Ya sea en esta vida o en la venidera, todo se pondrá en su lugar correcto.
Miracles are not always so immediate. At times we thoughtfully wonder why the miracle we have so earnestly prayed for does not happen here and now. But as we trust in the Savior, promised miracles will occur. Whether in this life or the next, all will be made right.

Eldér Andersen dijo, “Testifico que en la medida en que lo amen, confíen en Él, le crean y lo sigan, sentirán el amor y la aprobación de Él. Cuando usted se pregunte: “¿Qué piensa el Cristo de mí?”, sabrá que es Su discípulo, que es Su amigo. Mediante Su gracia, Él hará por usted lo que usted no puede hacer por sí mismo.”

Elder Andersen said, "I testify that as you love Him, trust Him, believe Him, and follow Him, you will feel His love and approval. As you ask, “What thinks Christ of me?” you will know that you are His disciple; you are His friend. By His grace He will do for you what you cannot do for yourself."

Yo también quiero testificar de la importancia de seguir a Cristo. Yo he sentido el amor de Cristo y sé que si tratamos de vivir rectamente, Cristo será feliz con nosotros.

Amo mi Salvador y amo este evangelio con todo mi corazón. Estoy tan agradecida por compartir mi testimonio y conocerles más a ustedes.

Gracias por su amistad y amor. Y Gracias por el espíritu aquí. Me encanta estar aquí con ustedes para adorar a Dios. Testifico del poder de amor.

Espero que amemos a nuestros vecinos y ayudarles encontrar el amor de Cristo.

 I also want to testify of the importance of following Christ. I have felt the love of Christ and I know that if we are trying to live righteously Christ will be happy with us. I love my Savior and I love this gospel with all my heart. I am so grateful to share my testimony with you and to get to know you. Thank you for your kindness and love. And thank you for your spirit here. I love being here with you, worshiping the Lord. I testify of the power of love. I hope that we may all love our neighbors and help them find the love of Christ. 


En el nombre de Jesucristo, Amen.