Heather's First Talk

It wasn't actually Heather's first talk at church today, but it was her first big talk.  Heather spoke in Sacrament Meeting today as the Youth Speaker.  The short version is...we were blown away.  It wasn't her topic as much as the poise and confidence she exhibited as a speaker.  I helped her with her talk so that she could learn how to put one together, but we didn't discuss anything about the presentation aside from how she could put her paper the podium so she could look up now and then if she wanted to.  The girl was awesome.  She read with confidence, used inflection as she read, and she looked up at the congregation several times.  We couldn't have been more proud of our sweet girl.

Heather chose her own topic and decided to talk about faith.  When I suggested to her that she could pair faith with deciding where you stand, she was energized.  Prior to putting her final talk on paper, we recalled how hard it has been for her to see all of the different choices kids around her are making.  She often tells me stories in the car of poor choices kids have made and how much it bothers her.  We've had some great discussions about letting go of judgement and sticking with deciding and taking action about the things she has power over.  I was also able to pull a few quotes for her from our former prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley, who said, "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."  That's just the kind of play on words that speaks to Heather, and it fit her feelings perfectly.  Her talk centered around deciding now, at this young age, who you want to be spiritually and where you want your life to go.  She gave an example of a friend who was unexpectedly rewarded after a few years of being a little lonely standing for what she believed in.  She also gave suggestions from her personal experience about how to gain a testimony of truth and strengthen your faith through prayer, scripture study and following the supports here for us such as church, leaders, parents, etc.

There are times when Heather and I consult on a project that I wonder if I have had too much influence on her final product, but today, there was no doubt that Heather was testifying of the things she knew to be true herself.  She was radiant, and we could not be more proud of this precious girl who is striving to do her best to be an example for our Savior.   What a joy and a blessing she is in our lives.