6/12 mission farewell

Good morning, Brothers and Sisters! My name is Cassey Cha, and on Wednesday, I will have the pleasure of basically changing my first name to Sister for eighteen months as I serve the wonderful people of the California Sacramento mission. I am so so so very excited.

Before I begin my talk, I just want to thank my family, my friends, my seminary teachers, and my leaders for their patience and kindness with helping mold me into the person I am today. And thank you, Newton-Conover ward, for being constant examples of Christ and always so loving. Without you all, I would not be here at this pulpit today. I know that without a shadow of a doubt! For that reason, I’d like to invite anyone interested to the tiny lunch my wonderful wonderful mom and other Relief Society sisters have prepared for us after church today in the gym. Now, for the talk!

For me, this decision has been a long time coming. Ever since I was fourteen, I’ve known that I wanted to serve a mission. I was at EFY, and I just felt—I knew—that a mission was something Heavenly Father needed me to do. So ever since then, everything’s been fine and dandy because I was mission-bound. Just kidding—that’s a joke! All throughout high school, going on a mission was always on my list of plans, but it took me awhile to figure out the exact time to go. After more than a year’s worth of prayers and discussions with my family, I finally made the decision. I started my papers in January, and within three weeks, they were submitted and, eventually, I got my call. And now, here I am!

Today, I want to talk about why I am going on a mission. Sure, I just mentioned that I felt and knew that it was something Heavenly Father wanted me to do…but sometimes feelings can change. And they have, so I want to take a minute to talk about that change.

I don’t know about y’all, but I think going on a mission is a pretty big deal. Making that decision is a big deal. Spending a year and a half doing something entirely different from what most (if not all) of my peers are doing…that’s a big deal. You’re probably thinking I’m being really dramatic, like “Cassey…eighteen months isn’t a big deal at all.” But it is! It’s a big deal because I’m young. I’m sure that at the end of my life, these eighteen months will be a tiny dent in my life time-wise. They won’t be a big deal then, but for now, let’s do some calculations… So I’m currently 19, planning to spend 1.5 years of my life preaching the gospel… By the time I’m done serving, I’ll be 21. So up to that point of my life—divide 21 by 1.5—multiply by 100—14—that’s 14% of my life spent as a sister missionary. 14% of my life spent not dating and not getting married. 14% of my life not going to school and not being anywhere closer to med-school. Sounds pretty tragic, right? And like everything else in the world, it can be…but it depends how you look at it. I choose to look at it this way…By the time I’m 21, I would have spent 14% of my life as a missionary. If I do my job right, that’s 14% of my life spent serving others. 14% of my life loving others a lot more than loving myself. Most importantly, 14% of my life doing everything that my Heavenly Father not only wants me to do but needs me to do.

So, going back to my original point: feelings change. But these feelings have changed in a way that I could have never imagined. Almost four years later, the initial feeling of “Oh, I need to go on a mission” has evolved into a one-hundred-percent-sure decision that, to and for me, has both worldly and spiritual merit.

First, let’s talk about the worldly (and temporal) merit of going on a mission. Easy! I don’t have to go to school for a year a half, meaning no exams. That’s pretty awesome. Just kidding, I actually genuinely enjoy school, but moving on…

Let’s talk about the spiritual merit of going on a mission. Keep in mind that because missions are spiritual in nature, they have eternal value. One of my favorite scripture verses of all time is D&C 18:10: “Remember, the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.” Out of context, this verse is a powerful reminder that everyone, including myself, is important in God’s eyes and should, therefore, be important in my own. In context, however, this scripture (in addition to verses 11-16) speaks of the eternal blessing of doing missionary work: “Remember, the worth of souls is great in the sight of God; For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him. And he hath risen again from the dead that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance. And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth! Wherefore, you are called to cry repentance unto this people. And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father! And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought forth unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!” We are told that if we can turn just one person to repentance and Christ, we will be blessed immensely in the kingdom of heaven.

So, if you ever doubted it before (which hopefully you haven’t), going on a mission definitely has its merits. I will be blessed for my time spent as a missionary, and I think that’s really neat. But…that’s not why I’m going. I’m not going on a mission so that I can get the temporal and eternal blessings of going on a mission. Because if I was going on a mission just for the blessings I could receive, I might as well not be going on one at all. And why is that? Because it would mean that I had missed the entire point of going on a mission which is: to serve others and bring them unto Christ.

I am going on a mission not because I will be blessed for my efforts but because I love this gospel and I love people. And just like when I discover a new show that I love, I share it with those around me, I too want to share this gospel with anyone and everyone around me. I love this gospel more than anything in the world; it brings me the greatest peace and joy. And I think it’s only fair that I share it with others—to try my best to make sure everyone not only has a chance to hear about it but to also experience it for themselves and to reap its temporal and eternal blessings. And not only is it “fair” that I share it, but it is actually my duty. And, it’s yours, too! The Lord commands us in D&C 88:77, saying, “I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom.” In verse 81, He continues, saying that “it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor.” Because we are privileged enough to have knowledge of the true gospel, it is our duty to share it, especially with those who are less privileged.

And to each of us, the gospel means something different, and by that I mean that it’s important to all of us for different reasons. For the rest of my talk, I want to share with y’all what the gospel means to me and why I choose to be a member of this church. This is the message that I want to share with the world, especially the people of California, as I embark on my mission. And more importantly, it is what I want others to have in and for their own lives.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the greatest constant I have in my life. It is the greatest reminder that there is a God, one that loves us and is our Heavenly Father. His love is incomprehensible. Growing up, my mom always told me that despite all of my flaws and bad attitudes and tantrums, she would always love me. She taught me about the unconditional love that mothers can have for their children. I like to say that I have this same type of love for my dog Cocco, but I can only imagine what it really feels like until I have children of my own. And even then, I think I’ll find it quite unfathomable. Regardless, I have felt my mom’s unconditional love for me my entire life, and I am so grateful for it because I promise you all, I am a problem child. I can be rude and selfish and far from perfect, but my patient and kind mom has always forgiven me (I hope! You don’t have any grudges against me, do ya, Mama?). I know that our Father in Heaven feels the same way about us. He is perfect and all-powerful, and His love is only more so.

While away at college, I have come to realize that God’s love can be found in literally every single good thing on Earth. D&C 59:18-19 puts this very simply, reading, “Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart; yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul.” He loves us, so He gives us the Earth and everything on it for our benefit. Even on our bad days—I would argue especially on our bad days—as long as we take time to look around us, we can feel God’s love. After a long week of cramming for finals in the dead of winter, I have felt this love as I stepped outside and felt the miraculous sunshine on my face.

The gospel is a constant in my life for another reason: it reminds me that I am never alone. The same EFY summer I decided to serve a mission, my testimony was strengthened exponentially by my dad’s. Before this point, he never really bore his testimony to me, and boy, had I been missing out. My dad testified to me that “he knew that Jesus Christ and God love us because they’re the only people we’re ever able to talk to all the time” (7/20/12 journal entry). I remember crying and being so happy because of that sentence, and over the years, I have only found it to be more and more true. On the good days and on the bad days, we are never alone. Both Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are only a prayer away! But in actuality, because they are supreme and omniscient beings, they are always with us. Furthermore, Heavenly Father gives us a promise in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that “[He] will not suffer [us] to be tempted above that [which we] are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that [we] may be able to bear it.” Our Father in Heaven knows us personally. He knows our strengths and our weaknesses, and He gives us whatever we need to overcome our trials and accomplish whatever He wants us to accomplish. In addition, we have our brother Jesus Christ to always strengthen us. Matthew 11:28 teaches us that He gives rest to all those who come unto him and are heavy laden. Because of Him, we are not ever left comfortless.

Another reason why the gospel is the greatest constant in my life is because I am imperfect. I do not keep the commandments as diligently as I know I can. Sure, I try, but I am human, and I mess up. But because of the gospel, I know that I can one day become perfect like my Savior Jesus Christ. I can one day reach my fullest potential, but I can only accomplish this seemingly impossible goal through Christ’s Atonement. When Christ was on Earth, He was the greatest example to us. He bore the sins of the world in the garden of Gethsemane and died for us on the cross so that we, too, can return to live with our Father in Heaven. He did all of this so we can be redeemed and forgiven through repentance and faith in Him—so that we can ultimately have eternal life in exaltation. Because of Him, I can live forever in a state of never-ending happiness.

All of this knowledge of the gospel that I’ve talked about today (and so much more, really!!) brings me an immense amount of joy and peace. It fills me with so much love for the world and the people and things in it. Without the gospel, I would probably just be in bed all day crying about how awful the world can be. But, thankfully, because of this gospel and the truth that it brings, I am not. I know that, in the end, everything will be as Heavenly Father planned it to be and that good and light and happiness will win. And I think that’s really really really awesome.

So basically what I’m saying is that this gospel—this church—makes me the happy person that I am today. And nowadays, the world needs more happy people. And I know that this gospel, more than anything else in the world, can lead a person to eternal happiness.

In conclusion, I am serving a mission for this church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, because I want others to have the same joy and peace and love and knowledge that I have. I want others to know that everything will eventually be okay because they have a Heavenly Father and a savior, Jesus Christ, who loves them and cares for them more than anyone can imagine—that the Holy Ghost speaks to us in a still, small voice—that the Book of Mormon is true—that we have modern-day prophets guiding us today—that we can live with our families for ever and ever—that the Atonement is real and can help us become more perfect—and that our prayers will be answered even when we think they won’t be. Above all, I want others to know that this church, our church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is the only true church of God that we have on Earth today. I testify that through the Holy Ghost, I know all of this to be true.