Farewell

For Elder Jardine's farewell he asked his bishop to have me (his sister) speak with him and then my Mom had a lady from our ward sing a song called, In the Hollow of the Hand by Janice Kapp Perry. So I've included a copy of my talk, and then Kyle's was more of an outline so I've paraphrased his talk, and the lyrics to the song.

Emily's Talk:
My name is Emily Jardine, and today is my brother’s farewell. And I’m not sure that very many of you know us, but anyone that does, knows that Kyle is my best friend. And the only reason I’m giving this talk today is because Kyle told bishop Astwood, that he wanted me to speak with him. And since I love him, I’m giving this talk.

I was asked to speak on a talk given by Elder Richard G. Scott called, Make the Exercise of Your Faith Your First Priority. In his talk he highlights four habits that “provide the easiest way to find peace in the challenges of mortality.”

In this life we are going “to be tested, tried, and stretched.” We knew and accepted this in the pre-mortal world. However at times we are overwhelmed by the negative and struggle to see the positive in this life. But as Elder Scott taught, “Despite all of the negative challenges in life we must take time to exercise our faith. Such exercise invites the positive, faith-filled power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ into our lives.”  The four tools Elder Scott talks about, to help us endure our trials, challenges, heart ache, and temptations is consistent everyday prayer, and scripture study, weekly family home evening, and regular temple attendance.

The first tool Elder Scott talks about is prayer. Our Heavenly Father loves to hear from his children. I love talking to my father in heaven, because I know that He is listening, and that He cares about everything that I tell him. He cares about the big things, like making decisions or trials I’ve been going through and he also cares about the little things too; like crazy adventures I have with my best friend, or that a cute boy smiled at me in the hallway that day. He cares about it, because it’s something that is important to me.  

In Doctrine and Covenants, 10:5, it says, “Pray always that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work.” Praying safeguards us from every evil influence of Satan.

In my family we have family prayer every morning, and I have found that when we miss a day that it’s not a very good day, and things just all seem to be going wrong. Elder Scott says addressing parents, “Protect your children from daily worldly influences by fortifying them with the powerful blessings that result from family prayer. Family prayer should be a nonnegotiable priority in your daily life.”  I have found that as I pray, not only do I come to know who my Father in heaven is, but he provides a peace in my heart that I don’t find anywhere else.

          The second tool we have, to help us endure everyday life, is studying the scriptures. One of the ways we are able to hear God’s voice and receive direction from him, is to read His words. In 2005, President Gordon B. Hinckley gave a talk in conference and he made a promise to the saints, a promise that my parents decided to put into action. He said, “I promise you that if each of you will observe this simple program… there will come into your lives and into your home an added measure of the spirit of the Lord, a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to His commandments, and a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God.” When we first started reading I would purposely fall asleep because I didn’t understand the hard words and found that at the time it was really boring. But over the years, I have grown to love that time with my family.

          I love in the talk Elder Scott gave when he says, “Don’t yield to Satan’s lie that you don’t have time to study the scriptures. Choose to take time to study them. Feasting on the word of God each day is more important than sleep, school, work, television shows, video games, or social media. You may need to reorganize your priorities to provide time for the study of the word of God. If so, do it!” I know that as I have dedicated time to studying the scriptures that I have come so much closer to my heavenly father, and that through his words I have had prayers answers and verses where it is exactly what I needed to hear. I know that God really does speak to us through the words in the scriptures.

The third tool we have is family home evening. In my family, family home evening doesn’t necessarily happen on Monday nights. It’s always been about spending time with each other during the week, whether it was doing the dishes, playing video games, or talking about our day. Elder Richard G. Scott says, “The structure of your evening is not as important as the time invested… It is a precious time to… strengthen family bonds; develop family traditions; talk to each other; and more important, to have a marvelous time together!”

          I am really close to all of my siblings, but since its Kyle’s farewell I’m gonna talk about him. Me and Kyle gained a relationship by doing the dishes at night. Every night that we would do the dishes we would spend the whole time talking to each other about everything that was going on in our lives. He would listen to my friend drama, and I would listen to stories about martial arts. As we got older, he worked more or went on dates, but when he got home he would always come in and talk to me. Now we still talk a lot and spend a lot of time together, but it’s not always at night because one of us would always be working late, or spending time with friends. But without fail every night that Kyle comes home late, he comes and makes sure that my light is turned off, and that I have a blanket over me. I would do anything for my brothers. I’m so grateful that when I was younger my parents taught us that it was important to communicate with each other, and to work hard, but play hard also. Spending time with my brothers will always be some of my most favorite memories. By spending time as a family you will gain relationships that will bring overwhelming joy into your life, and find peace, and refuge from the chaos of the world, within the walls of your own home.

          The final tool Elder Richard G. Scott talks about is temple attendance. There is no place on earth more peaceful then in the house of the Lord. Sister Elaine S. Dalton wrote, “No wonder Satan has increased the intensity of his attacks. If you can be distracted, delayed or disqualified from entering his temples and doing the very work you have been prepared and reserved to do… he wins.” I love being in the temple. Elder Scott says, “The temple is one of the best places to come to understand the power of the atonement of Jesus Christ. Seek Him there.” When you take time to spend in the temple, I have found that a peace and happiness has come into my life.

          These four tools will help us in our lives to find more peace, and will bring greater happiness and joy in this life. As we consistently communicate with our father in heaven, read his words in the scriptures daily, spend time with our family, and attend the temple regularly, “we are actively responding to His invitation to ‘come unto him.’” Richard G. Scott said “The more we develop these habits, the more anxious is Satan to harm us but the less is his ability to do so.” Shortly after Kyle received his mission call wrote me a letter, and in that letter he said, “Life will get harder as time gets closer for me leave. Satan is strong, but you are stronger. I believe in you, all you need is to do is believe in yourself…. Lift your head. Then you will do great things.”

          I know that in life we will experience hard times, but that through Christ we are able to endure them. I know that when we follow his commandments we are able to endure every temptation, every heart ache, every challenge we face.

~Testimony~

In the Hollow of the Hand By Janice Kapp Perry

Dear Lord who blesses us with love
Please send this day thy spirit from above
As this thy son, accepts a call from thee
Help him we pray to learn humility

Direct his footsteps everyday
And keep him ever walking in thy ways
Inspire him as he spreads the gospel plan
Lord, hold him in the hollow of thy hand

Chorus:
In the hollow of thy hand as he grows from boy to man
Help his understanding deepen and increase
In the hollow of thy hand as he grows from boy to man
Let him know the special blessing of thy peace

Dear Lord, who hears and answers prayers
Please keep thy servant always in thy care
As he prepares to teach his fellow men
Oh keep him safe and bring him home again

Protect him from all worldly ways
And always send thy spirit when he prays 
Give him the courage of a righteous man
Just hold him in the hollow of thy hand

Chorus:
In the hollow of thy hand as he grows from boy to man
Help his understanding deepen and increase
In the hollow of thy hand as he grows from boy to man
Let him know the special blessing of thy peace

As he faces life's demands
May he take a valiant stand
Give him shelter in the hollow of thy hand

Kyle's Talk:
Kyle didn't have much of a complete written out talk, but the main thing he talked about was he said, "This is the last time many of you will hear from me for two years. And so while preparing for my talk, I had the question of what's the last thing I can tell everyone?" And his answer was this, that he knew why he was going on a mission. That he had went through a rough time when he was a junior where he didn't know how to find happiness, but that he learned how to find it. He learned how to find joy, and how those two things are very different. He challenged everyone to find that joy, and to hold on to it. He talked about his musical for martial arts and how when he begun his musical it meant something different then when he actually preformed it. And he talks about in his musical that he was able to preform with his instructor and he starts out kind of always one step behind, and a little bit off, but then ends when him and his instructor completely in sync, and then his instructor bows out and Kyle is on his own. He related this to how we learn as children of God and that as we work hard to put our lives in sync with Heavenly Fathers we are blessed and feel confident to take on other challenges and teach others the same.

This is about all we can remember but are excited to hear of his experiences and blessing while he serves the Lord in the Netherlands.

We Love and will miss Kyle, yet we are excited for him to be a Missionary.