Boa Sorte

Or in English: Good luck.

This is it for the blogging of David Bennion. I don't think I'm going to have a blog with updates, however I think I will have my sister update my facebook--at least the addresses--so that you guys can be kept in the loop. As promised I will be posting my farewell talk, or at least the scripted version of it. I'll also post my addresses on here as well.

First I just wanted to say thank you to all of you guys for being such awesome friends and I will miss you all. I hope the next two years treat of all you well.

Here are all my different mailing addresses. I would love to hear from you all while I'm out there!

MTC Mailing Address (they request packages only be sent to the mission field):

Elder David Jerald Bennion
Brazil Rio de Janeiro Mission
Brazil Missionary Training Center
Rua Padre Antonio D'Angelo 121
Casa Verde
02516-040 Sao Paulo SP
Brazil

Mission Address (address after about May 19th):

Elder David Jerald Bennion
Brazil Rio de Janeiro Mission
Av. das Americas, 1.155, Salas 502/503
Barra da Tijuca
22631-000 Rio de Janeiro - RJ
Brazil

Packages shipped through Private Courier:

Elder David Jerald Bennion
Brazil Rio de Janeiro Mission
Av. das Americas, 1.155, Salas 502/503
Barra da Tijuca
22631-000 Rio de Janeiro - RJ
Brazil
Phone: 55-21-2111-9243

And now for the talk:

On the 22nd day of September 1827, the prophet Joseph Smith would make his final visit the Hill Cumorah. On that day, “[the timeless] record hidden between the earth and stone” would be removed, “lifting the truth to the light.”

“From Cumorah’s Hill [would come] a witness and a warning.”

Engraven upon that timeless record, upon those plates of gold, were the words of “ancient voices crying from the dust,” speaking to us. “Each word [was] chosen prayerfully, laid down carefully in its place.”

“From so far away, [they] have seen [our] day.”

The record would be translated in a period of two and a half years by the Prophet Joseph, with the help of his wife, Emma, Martin Harris, and Oliver Cowdery, who would all act as scribes. The final engravings translated by Joseph are the words we now find on the title page, stating the primary purpose of this record to be for “the convincing of Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God.”

On March 26th, 1830, the printing and publication of the Book of Mormon would be completed, and in due time the subtitle “Another Testament of Jesus Christ” would be added.

The Book of Mormon is itself a compilation of testimonies witnessing the divinity and mission of Jesus Christ—that He would descend from Heaven to become the Only Begotten in the Flesh, Redeemer of the World, and the first fruits of them that slept. Many of the powerfully borne testimonies contained within the book’s pages center on the Atonement and the joy it can bring into our lives.

In chapter 10 of 2nd Nephi, Jacob learns the Redeemer’s name shall be Christ, or the anointed. Christ was the anointed because, as he told the brother of Jared in the Book of Ether, He is “He who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem [his] people.”

In the Grand Councils in Heaven, before the world was, our Heavenly Father laid a carefully constructed plan before us. Seeking the opportunity to gain power and glory for himself, Lucifer sought to institute his own plan; however, Jehovah volunteered himself to carry out the plan presented by our Heavenly Father and it is for this reason that he was chosen and for this reason that he became the anointed. It was never a choice between which of the two plans would be put into action, but a choice between which of the two leaders we would follow. To our Heavenly Father, there was only ever one plan; it was simply a matter of who would fulfill it and who would follow it.

Jesus then testifies of his role as creator to the brother of Jared, stating “All men were created in the beginning after [his] own image,” or “after the body of [his] spirit.” He also testified that “[he would] appear unto [his] people in the flesh” to fulfill his role as the anointed one.

One of the most powerful testimonies of the Savior’s Atonement is found in the Book of Mosiah, and is that of the prophet Abinadi. Of that testimony, Elder Holland said:

Surely the most sublime, the lengthiest and most lyrical declaration of the life, death, and atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ is that found in the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, quoted in its entirety in the Book of Mormon by Abinadi as he stood in chains before King Noah.”

Abinadi declared his message before King Noah and his court boldly and fearlessly, commanding those who would lay their hands on him: “Touch me not…for I have not delivered the message which the Lord sent me to deliver.” He then proceeded to “[speak] with power and authority from God,” quoting these words from Isaiah:

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb so he opened not his mouth.
When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed….
…He bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Now these are not all the words Abinadi quoted, but they are a few of my favorites, and there is much we can learn from them. We learn that the Savior was “wounded for our transgressions,” “bruised for our iniquities,” “oppressed and…afflicted,” “yet he opened not his mouth.” Christ suffered much as he was crucified. He was scourged, had a crown of thorns placed upon his head, and was smitten, spit upon, and mocked; and all this he suffered and subjected himself to willingly for our sakes; and never once did he utter a word of complaint or contempt against those who abused him or against his Father.

Christ also “has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.” “He bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors,” and as he made intercession “he…[saw] his seed”—or those who “[believe] that the Lord [will] redeem his people….” Elder Merrill J. Bateman explained:

In the garden and on the cross, Jesus saw each of us and not only bore our sins but also experienced our deepest feelings so he would know how to comfort and strengthen us.

Quite often when we think of the Atonement, we think of the scriptures teaching us that Christ “came into the world…to bear the sins of the world.” However, his suffering for the world is not what gives the Atonement its greatest importance to each of us. The Atonement was not performed for all of us collectively; it was experience and endured for each of us individually. He didn’t experience some kind of universal knee pain for everyone, he experienced the pain I feel in my knees. He didn’t satisfy the demands of justice for all of sin and transgression; He satisfied the demands of justice for the sins and transgressions of David Bennion, and the sins and transgressions of each and every one of you. “He [saw] his seed” and “he has experienced our deepest feelings.” As the prophet Alma taught:

He shall go forth suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind. …He will take upon him the pains and sicknesses of his people.
He will take upon him their infirmities…that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

That is where the Atonement’s greatest power lies—in that Christ knows each of us personally. He knows our struggles, our pains, afflictions, temptations, and infirmities. He knows how exquisite and bitter are our pains, and so he knows how exquisite and sweet may be our joys. Because of this, we may be confident that we will always be provided with what we are in need of during our times of trial.

One of the greatest ways in which the Atonement provides us with comfort is through the resurrection. The Savior laid down his life that he might take it up again. In so doing, he broke the bands of death; and in him the sting of death is swallowed up in hopes of glory. After his resurrection, Jesus would appear to the inhabitants of this continent—the crowning event in the Book of Mormon.

His coming was announced by a voice that, “notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear it to the center…there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn.”

He would then descend from Heaven and bear testimony that he is Jesus Christ, the light and life of the world. He invited those present to “thrust [their] hands into [his] side,” and all “went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet…and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.”

Next he would teach his people. He taught the proper way of baptizing, instituted the sacrament—as he had done amongst those in Jerusalem—“as a reminder of His great atoning sacrifice,” and delivered a discourse similar to the Sermon on the Mount.

As part of this sermon, the Savior said, “I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in Heaven is perfect.” This request is repeated by Moroni in his final words as he invites all to “Come unto Christ, and be perfected in Him.”

In our most recent conference, Pres. Eyering explained how we may do so: “We believe that through living the Gospel of Jesus Christ we become like the Savior, who is perfect. …He has prepared the way through his Atonement and his example.

As we live the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ we—as C. S. Lewis described it—try to pretend we are Christ. He said:

Now, the moment you realise 'Here I am, dressing up as Christ,' it is extremely likely that you will see at once some way in which at that very moment the pretence could be made less of a pretence and more of a reality.
There are lots of things which your conscience might not call definitely wrong (specially things in your mind) but which you will see at once you cannot go on doing if you are seriously trying to be like Christ.
The…Son of God is at your side. He is beginning to turn you into the same kind of thing as Himself. He is beginning, so to speak, to 'inject' His kind of life and thought…into you; beginning to turn the tin soldier into a live man. The part of you that does not like it is the part that is still tin.

Pres. Eyering taught that it is love that will aid us as we seek to change from being a tin soldier. He said, “Love is the motivating principle by which the Lord leads us along the way towards becoming like Him…. Our way of life, hour by hour, must be filled with the love of God and love for others. There is no surprise in that…. “

As we read in the Book of Mormon, we can learn of the example set by our Savior, both during his earthly ministry and before and after. We see his love for his people as he leads Lehi and his family to the promised land, protects the 2,000 stripling warriors, heals those who are afflicted, and through his preservation of this record to come forth in due time to the remnant of that people. His life, hour by hour, was, is, and always will be filled with a love for his people.

As we try to dress up like Christ, we try to live a life filled with the love of God and love for others as he did. We may do so by seeking to bring others to the promise land, by standing up for our beliefs and defending others s they do the same, by reaching out a hand of comfort to those who are struggling under the weight of the burdens they are carrying, and by bearing testimony to our friends and family.

As we strive to be led by this love in all we do and strive to be perfect, we must remember that we will make mistakes—we will mess up; but it is for this reason the Atonement was performed and intercession made. Pres. Faust offered this simple reminder: “Perfection is an eternal goal.”

None of us will be perfect here, but we all can do our best to follow our Savior’s perfect example knowing that one day we can be. As we do so by living his commandments and repenting when needed, we become, in the words of one of my favorite hymns, “More fit for the kingdom, more used would I be, More blessed and holy, More, Savior, like thee.” As we become more like our Lord and Savior, the Book of Mormon will serve to each of us not only as “Another Testament of Jesus Christ,” but also as Another Testament of who each of us may one day become.
At my first EFY a few years ago, my counselor told us all something her grandma had told her: “There’s no such thing as goodbye—only see-you-later; because whether in this life or the next, we will see each other again.”

Today is my see-you-later to all of you for the next two years—some of you maybe longer—but I would hope that each of you would remember of me—more than the shorts and the sarcasm which have become so synonymous with my name—that I took this opportunity today to bear testimony of the Book of Mormon. I know without a shadow of doubt that the Book of Mormon is true, that its origins are divine, and that is was translated by the gift of God.

I, as Elder Holland, “did not sail with the brother of Jared…. I did not proselyte with Alma and Amulek nor…did I weep with Mormon and Moroni over the destruction of an entire civilization,” but I testify these things did happen—that these events are as real as any of the current affairs in our world today.

These prophets saw our day, and they know the message we needed most to hear, which message is the message of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: To come unto Christ, for in him shall our souls find rest; for his yoke is easy, and his burden is light.

Now I did not “[see] him come, a man in white,” nor did I “feel the wounds in hands and side,” but “with saints of old in joyful cry, I too can testify: This is the Christ.”

This is the Christ, the Holy Son of God. He is the healer not just of our bodies, not just of our spirits, but He is the Healer of our souls. He is the healer of all pains and all afflictions, whether they be physical, emotional, or spiritual. Whether it be the stubbed toe in the middle of the night or the loneliness felt during a time of trial, he knows the pain, he knows how it feels, and he—as the master physician—knows the remedy.

The Book of Mormon IS Another Testament of Jesus Christ. From the book’s first page to its last, the Savior is always present; and if we cannot see him, it is not because we are not looking hard enough, it is because we are not looking.

Of these things I testify, and I would ask any of you who have questions or who have doubts—whether about The Book of Mormon’s teachings or about its origins—that you would place your trust in me and my testimony that it is true, until that day when you know of its truthfulness for yourself. I make you this promise, regardless of how many times you may have previously asked or been answered, that if you will ponder these things and then ask with a sincere heart, having faith in Christ, you will be answered. You will hear a voice, a voice so mild that it will pierce you through and cause your soul to quake—a voice that you will hear to the center and will cause your heart to burn. Now the way each of us feels those things will be different, but I promise that you will feel them. And you will know it is the Holy Ghost testifying that the Book of Mormon is true.


After I finished I bore my testimony to finish my talk, and I would like to do the same to finish this blog (or at least finish it for the next two years):

The Church is true. God lives. Jesus is the Christ. President Monson is a true prophet of God. The Book of Mormon is true. There is great power to be found in the Priesthood. Stand ye in Holy Places and visit the House of the Lord.

Many things have been constantly flooding my mind the past few days as I thought of what to say, but those few things are what come to mind now. As I was talking with my grandpa a few weeks ago, he called the most important decision we could make in this life faithfulness in the Gospel. I hope to return in two years and find you all have made that decision to be faithful and that we are brothers and sisters in the Gospel. Until that time, Boa Sorte, Godspeed, and God be with you 'til we meet again. You'll all be in my prayers.

With love,
Elder David J. Bennion