CYFSN Josh Vavla

[00:00:00] Welcome everybody to the Can You Feel So Now? podcast, I'm Justin Barton and I am spoiled. Rotten once again to be able to sit down with somebody that I actually know and met while he served his mission here in Spokane and served in a couple of places where I live and attended church. And just excited to dive deeper into this relationship with Josh Vavla.

So Josh, why don't you take just a minute, talk to us a little bit about yourself, your family, where you're from, some hobbies that you enjoy doing.

Yeah, . So I grew up in Colorado. I have a family of eight and I'm number four of those eight. I have a younger sister and then a younger brother, and then I have three older sisters.

And so I grew up with lots of girly stuff, so it was fun. We lived in Colorado for pretty much my entire life. When I was 18, after I'd graduated, we moved out to Rexburg, Idaho. That's where I started doing schooling and really where I started to come back to the church. It was one of the biggest [00:01:00] points in my life where I decided that I wanted to go on a mission and it was really the only thing that I wanted to do.

Cool. So as I mentioned, you served in the Washington Spokane mission. Tell me the , approximate dates that you were here.

Yeah, so I was in the MTC on March 13th was the start date. And then I got out into the field in Washington Spokane.

April 5th. And I started my mission in Washington Spokane on April 5th, and then I ended it on March 19th.

All right. So I do wanna dive into the story of when you moved to Rexburg. You kinda came back to the church, but I wanna first go to you opening your mission call and seeing Spokane, Washington.

What were your thoughts when you opened your call to, to serve in Spokane?

Yeah, so that's actually a crazy story. So I always wanted to go foreign and I wanted to speak a different language. And there were a lot of mixed feelings because I wanted to do that and I got called Spokane, [00:02:00] Washington, English speaking.

But the crazy part about that call is that. My uncle and aunt were the mission president at the time, . We grew up with his family my entire life. They're not blood related, but we call them uncle and aunt our entire lives.

And so it was a really just personal experience. It helped me to know that my heavenly father really, truly does know me, and , there's no way that. An apostle of the Lord who has no idea who I am, could know that my uncle was the mission president for the Washington Spokane mission. And so it was a testimony to me that God really, truly does know us.

He knows us very personally. I needed my uncle for the first year of my mission. I really needed him. There were things that I needed to change in my life, and my uncle helped me to do that.

Now, you said they weren't, really blood uncle and aunt.

But you grew up with them your whole life, calling them uncle and aunt. So tell me a little bit about that relationship?

Yeah, so my parents met them when they were all in college and then we all lived in Colorado. We lived like [00:03:00] five, 10 minutes from each other. It wasn't too far.

We were in the same ward as them and we always hung out with them and I have some pretty fond memories of spending time with them. In fifth grade, the boy who was my age, they ended up all moving to Utah. So we didn't really connect as much, but there was always just that, that close family relationship.

Oh, that's really cool. Let's dive into a little bit about this. You came back to the church when you moved to Rexburg. Talk to me a little bit about this wandering . What did that look like as a teenager for you?

No, honestly, you could even call it wandering. There was a period of time I, and I feel like a lot of people we all have that period of time, where it has to be something that we want.

And growing up, it was always forced on me. It was always something that my parents wanted for me it always felt forced down our throat. And it was a very negative thing when I got into high school and I didn't have that firm foundation 'cause it wasn't something I wanted.

So I decided to just go do my own thing for a little bit. But what I [00:04:00] realized from doing that was I didn't feel joy. My life went downhill. And I wanted to feel that joy and I knew something needed to change. And it really started when I was 16. I was really struggling and I'd just gotten out of a relationship that girl was the only one I truly felt really loved me.

And so it was really tough on me. I didn't have really good friends at school or in church. So it was tough on me. But as I was sitting in my bed one night trying to just figure everything out, I remember my mom's voice coming to my mind and telling me that I've always known somebody who's there for me and that is my heavenly father.

And so for the first time in probably six, seven years I got down on my knees and I said a prayer. And I asked my heavenly father to take that feeling away from me. And the moment that I said that before saying that I was crying. I was just bawling my eyes out. But in the moment that I said those words I had this weight lifted off of [00:05:00] me and I felt this just like warm, embrace this love and this comfort.

And I hadn't felt that for really, probably ever. And in that moment I knew that my heavenly father loved me and there was still a process to get. To my mission, but when I came to Rexburg, I had so many experiences that helped me to come to want a mission more than anything.

Did you, at the age of 16, recognize that I'm just not feeling joy in my life? How did you make that connection of something's not right, too?

I'm not feeling joy in my life.

Yeah. Like we all have the gift of the Holy Ghost, and so we all know when we're doing something wrong. But it's really easy to hide it. It's really easy to tuck it away and to make it seem not like it's a big deal. And so when I had a girlfriend, I just went to her for everything.

I didn't have to rely on anybody else. I always went to her. And so when that was taken outta my life, [00:06:00] I no longer had anybody to rely on. And so I was hopeless at that point. I didn't feel like there was anybody, I didn't feel like I had that love, that everybody needs.

And so I realized that I was miserable and I was able to connect it back to my actions, back to the things that I was doing.

Yeah. , I think that's a really powerful thing that you just came across. It sounds like to me you had all of your self worth, all of your value, all of everything wrapped up in the validation of one person and how that person thought of you.

, How they treated you was everything in the world. And that validation was focused on. The arm of the flesh. So talk to me a little bit about how the transition from the trust in the arm of the flesh to, I'm assuming now your trust today is in the Lord. Tell me about a little bit of that growth and transition there.

So I guess we'll just go back to that point. Where I finally knew that heavenly Father loved me, where I finally felt [00:07:00] that. Obviously after that point it wasn't all just sunshine and rainbows, right? I didn't just immediately come back full fledged.

I'm all for this. There were a lot of steps and, that was a huge step. And another big step in my life was after doing a service project, I had felt a ton of joy from this project. And I remember one day sitting and just thinking about this project and just thinking about the joy that it brought me.

And, I made this statement in my mind. And the statement was, I wish I could feel this all the time. And it was interesting. It was just like this light bulb went off in my head. And it was like, you can do that.

You can feel that all the time on a mission. And it was crazy because before that point going on, a mission , it was not in the cards. That was not, I. Something that I wanted to do. But it opened, that opened up that in my mind, it made it a possibility.

But there was obviously this foundation now that I really needed. And then I moved out to Rexburg and [00:08:00] I met , another girl, and she invited me to come to church one Sunday. Later I found out that she thought I was a goodie. Two shoes. Mormon is what she said. And so she's the only way I'm gonna be able to hang out with him is to go to church.

But what she didn't realize is I hadn't truly been to church for years. It had been so long I couldn't even remember, but she invited me to church and I had felt something that Sunday that I had not felt in a really long time. I knew that was where my heavenly Father needed me to be. And so I continued to go back.

And then there were weeks where she would ask me if we should go to church, and I'd be like, yeah, we need to go to church. And so it finally became something that I wanted to do. In our relationship, there were a lot of things that were keeping me from a mission.

But I think one of the most important lessons that I've probably ever learned is that through repentance, our thoughts and our desires and our actions can change to be in line with the Lord's [00:09:00] will. And as I was preparing for a mission, it was something I finally wanted to do, but I had these other things in my life that were clashing and they were keeping me from a mission.

And so every single night I was on my knees and I was asking my heavenly father to change my desires, to change the things that I want and to the things that he wants. And it was definitely not a overnight process. It took me about a year and a half and there were lots of times where I wanted to give up, where I didn't feel like I was really changing and like I could change, but I finally got to the point where it was the only thing that I wanted.

And it was so important to me that I was willing to break up with this girl who we had seriously considered getting married. And I decided that the mission was more important at that time in my life. And I know that is because of repentance and the atonement of Jesus Christ.

Yeah. So let me ask you this. As somebody who didn't attend a lot of church [00:10:00] as a youth, as a teenager, until you were about 18, did you even have a concept of the word repentance and what that meant at that time up until you were 18?

My mom did such a good job of ingraining these things into our mind that even though I didn't want to be there at church or do scripture study with the family, it was ingrained into my head.

And so I just knew what these things were. I knew what repentance was. I knew what the atonement of Jesus Christ was. I knew these things because my mom had taught me them so well, and I'm so grateful for her

and because of that, there were so many things that I needed to know in those parts of my life that were able to help me change my life.

What did repentance mean to you then, before you were like, okay, I gotta make some changes. Was it a scary thing? Was it a, ugh, stop talking to me thing?

What was it?

I don't know if I was ever like, afraid of repentance. , The way that I saw it was like that very basic, you ask for forgiveness, right? [00:11:00] You go to God when you make a mistake and you ask for forgiveness and somehow your sins are washed clean. That was pretty much my basic understanding of it at the time, but it was enough.

Yeah. So what does repentance mean to you today?

It means so much more to me , and we teach this on the mission a lot, but it's not just asking for forgiveness. It's truly changing. It's turning away from your sins and turning towards God.

And it takes a lot of humility. You have to be willing to accept that you're wrong. And that's not an easy thing. 'cause we're so prideful. I'm so prideful. And I can't tell you how hard it was sometimes to just bite the bullet and be like, I was wrong. I messed up and I need to change.

But it's such a relieving feeling. And if you're okay, I'd love to share a quick experience.

Please do.

Okay. So when I was about a year out on my mission, I was in Libby, Montana and for some reason I remember sitting in the car with my [00:12:00] companion and feeling super guilty about something,

I remember saying a prayer in my heart and asking my heavenly Father to forgive me. But it wasn't just that what I did was I made a plan with him of how I was going to be better next time. I made a plan with my Heavenly Father of what I was gonna do to change. And I feel it right now.

I feel the spirit right now as I share this. But it was just like the feeling that I got when I had said that prayer. Back when I was 16, it was in the snap of a finger. I went from feeling this guilt and , this sorrow to feeling joy and relief. And it was in that moment that I realized that repentance is not just asking for forgiveness, but it's truly a change of heart.

It's a desire to not do those things, and for me, I showed that desire through making a plan with my heavenly father of how I was going to not do that again.

Thank you for sharing that experience. I love it. You had that really cool experience at [00:13:00] 16 where you felt God putting his arms around you and saying, I love you, man.

How has your relationship with or conception of God evolved over the years?

I would just say that it became more personal. It's like any relationship. The more effort you put into it, the more personal it becomes and the closer that you feel to that person. Like with any relationship, we have to put in effort as we put in that effort, as we get to know the person, and in this case, God, by reading his words, or by serving his children, then you feel closer.

And I think that's something that I have realized is that, I don't see God as just this person out there who's watching over us anymore. When I talk to him, I truly know that he's listening and I've had so many experiences that I know that he loves me very personally and very intimately.

And I definitely couldn't share all those [00:14:00] experiences. But I would just say to answer your question. It's just a much more personal relationship. I just feel closer to him.

Yeah. So you said you know that when you speak to God, he hears you.

How do you hear him and what does that look like when you hear back from him?

I would say that the way that I hear my Heavenly Father is, there's multiple ways that you can hear him. I would say the ways that I hear him is really just through spirit, is when I'm reading the scriptures or I am praying and I feel that sense of comfort or peace or when I'm just sitting there thinking, pondering on things on my life.

I don't know if there's any one way to hear him, but for me it's mainly been through those conversations that I have with him throughout the day where I just sit there in the car or sit there in my room and I say a quick prayer in my mind I receive direction, or I feel peace, or I feel comfort.

So let's go [00:15:00] back to your call to Spokane. Your aunt and uncle are the mission leadership there. How was your relationship different with them as them serving as mission president and wife?

Compared to what it was like as you were a child?

I was pretty young when it happened, so I don't remember it super well. But there was definitely a different relationship. I will say that when President LeBaron was my mission president, there was more of a, business type of relationship. I could feel his love, but what I needed from my mission president at the time was I needed somebody to show me tough love. I need somebody to shape me up because I was not the missionary that I wanted to be and nobody is at the beginning of their mission.

But because of that, he also was probably harder on me. But I needed that.

Yeah I was gonna ask about that. So I coached my son in baseball for years growing up.

And I look back at it. And I was definitely harder on [00:16:00] my son than I was on the other kids on the team. , There was no nepotism here, but I think it was something that my son needed because he knew that I loved him and that I wanted what's best for him.

As you're getting this tough love from your uncle. Let's say that somebody else was your mission president, somebody you had zero connection with, and they were thumping on your heart. How would you have responded to that compared to how you responded to President LeBaron thumping on you?

Honestly, it goes back to the whole, you gotta be humble to take correction and it's not easy and sometimes it hurts. And I'd say that coming from President LeBaron, it probably hurt more because we had that closer relationship.

If it was somebody else, I don't know if it would've changed because I'm not changing for my mission president. I'm changing for my Heavenly Father, my savior. It helped me to learn to be humble. It helped me to bite the bullet more.

All right, so did President LeBaron have a theme for the mission [00:17:00] that you really embraced, that you recognized as something and you thought, Hey, this is going to drive me as a theme for the mission.

Absolutely. It was diligence. He cranked that into our minds diligence was such a huge thing that he focused on and talked about.

Which is why I needed it because I was a very slothful missionary when I got on the mission. I just expected things to come to me and I expected results without putting in too much effort. But he helped me to realize that. , You reap what you sow. , You don't get a reward if you don't put in the effort to receive that reward.

And so diligence was a huge thing that he taught me.

All right. So how can you carry that forward into the next steps of your life what have you learned that will say, okay, I'm gonna be diligent. There's gonna be hard things ahead, but I'm gonna push through them.

Yeah. I love the definition of diligence.

I wouldn't be able to quote it exactly from preach my gospel, but it [00:18:00] talks about it's a consistent effort, right? And maybe sometimes you don't get a result.

And sometimes you don't get a result, and so you don't feel like you're doing anything or you don't feel like you're growing or you're going anywhere, but you just have to trust that you are growing. And that you are going somewhere. And so tying that to being off the mission. It's just putting in a consistent effort with everything consistently going to the gym, consistently, working hard , like right now I want to start up a cleaning business, and so it's every single day consistently putting in effort to get one step closer to starting up that business.

Consistently reading my scriptures and saying my prayers, that is probably some of the most important things that I can do. But it's just that consistent effort.

Gimme an example from your mission where you were busting your hump, you were being really diligent and doing everything.

You knew what to do, but the result wasn't seen at the time. And maybe a few months later in a different area [00:19:00] you realized why you were working so hard towards something that you didn't see the fruits of immediately.

. Really, something that comes to my mind is in my last couple of transfers I did not baptize in probably my last four transfers and so at first it was a struggle, but what I learned to do was I learned to just love, I.

Giving the effort, I learned to love being with the members and growing my relationship with them. And really there's no key indicator for that. There's no like fruit from working with the members, except for if they give you referrals and those people get baptized, right? But oftentimes there's not a fruit from it.

You don't see the result of it, but. There's a relationship that comes out of it. Something that my second mission president talked about, even if you go out and work your butt off every single day and you get nothing out of it, there is still one person [00:20:00] that you are helping fulfill your purpose by doing that, and that's yourself.

You're showing God that you wanna follow him and that you want to obey him. And that's really enough. And so that really helped. But I would say that there's so much joy that comes from just working with members and helping members come back to church. Even if you don't see a result right away, you're building a relationship and that brings a ton of joy.

That's really cool. So you were just talking about sometimes all that diligent effort comes back and really the person that. The visible fruits or the tangible fruits that it's affecting is yourself. How has that change in yourself looked over the last few years as you prepared for your mission and everything?

Oh it's pure joy. I don't know how else to explain that. There is so much joy looking back and . Seeing that you've become a different person. There's, I don't really know any other way to explain [00:21:00] it.

At the end of my mission, looking back to the beginning of my mission going through journal entries or just really just sitting there and thinking. And having the spirit bring back experiences to my mind, there is just so much joy seeing the way that I, the person that I used to be and the person that I am now,

do you look back at that person that you used to be with disgust or do you look back at them with compassion?

I wouldn't say disgusted because we're all at that point, right? We all have to start somewhere and we're all gonna end up somewhere. So I wouldn't really say disgusted. I would just say compassion would probably be the closest word that I could use to describe it.

Almost like I feel bad, but not at the same time because that's the same person and I'm here now and I'm not that person. So I just look back with gratitude that I'm not that person anymore.

Yeah, there's a principle or a phrase in 12 step recovery that says, .

My past is my greatest asset. And then there's a talk that's given by [00:22:00] Elder Udo a long time ago that quotes a play. And the phrase that hits me every time is the person , did some really stupid things in the past. The person's changed and he says, 'twas I. 'Tis not I, that used to be me, but that's not who I am anymore.

How do those phrases hit you when I say them to you?

I just think it's so true. That was the person that I was, and honestly, the person that I was before the mission as I was preparing for the mission. Wasn't a bad person. I'm honestly, I look back with a lot of just proud because I was able to change so much of my life before my mission.

I'm, I still have changed so much. I know that I'm a completely different person from when I went on the mission. For me, that just shows that we're never done changing, right? I got on the mission, I was like, I'm doing pretty good, right?

There's a lot of pride there. And at the end of my mission, there was not a single thing that I look back where I'm like, [00:23:00] I was the same. I'm a completely different person. And so it just goes to show that we have so much to change in our lives and the Lord will help us do that.

I love that. And that's part of the reason why I do this project is so that you can see that change that has happened over the last few years. And then the next question I'm gonna ask you here, what are you continuing to do? So that two years from now, you're not the same person you were today.

Yeah I think the cool thing about repentance is that we, it's inevitable that we'll change as we seek to change every single day as we repent every single day, as we truly sincerely repent. There's no possible way that we could stay the same person and.

Some of the things that I do to show that now is I continue to read my scriptures even though there is a lot of opposition. I didn't really get it when missionaries said that. It's hard to read your scriptures when you get back, but now I understand that there's a lot of temptation, there's a lot of things that are pulling you in different directions and you really have to be like, no, I'm not gonna do that.

, [00:24:00] I need to take at least 30 minutes. To read my scriptures. It's really not that hard, but we just have to do it. We just have to make that conscious effort to say I'm going to sit down for 30 minutes and I'm not gonna do anything else.

But it is really just the basic things to answer your question, it's the basic things like reading and praying and going to church. Making effort to go to the temple and just repenting every single day. And you don't have to wait until nighttime and you're kneeling for prayer at night.

It can just be throughout the entire day. You recognize you do something wrong and you say, dang, father, I'm sorry I did that. What can I do to change? What can I do to be better next time?

And that's something that I'm applying in my own life , is practicing recognizing.

When I'm being selfish or dishonest or I have any resentment towards somebody or there's some fear and I start off because of these things. As I try, I'm trying to practice to recognize that as quickly as possible, [00:25:00] identify it. Ask God to remove it and move forward in my day.

How do you continue to practice that with all of these distractions, pulling all these different ways?

Something that I've noticed even from my mission is that if you pray for it, the Lord will give it to you if the air is good intention behind it. So, for me, something that I did for example with pride, I really struggled to recognize when I was being prideful, and I had a missionary who I went on exchanges with, and he said, elder Vavla.

If you will pray and ask Heaven and Father to help you recognize your pride, then he'll help you recognize it. And so I did that. I prayed to recognize my pride and it was like a night and day difference when I would do something that was selfish or just prideful in general.

. I don't know if it was the prayer that came to my mind or if it was just that word pride, but that would come to my mind of that was prideful and it helped me to [00:26:00] recognize it. And I'd say it's the same with recognizing anything whether it's recognizing you're getting distracted or recognizing that you need to do something different.

As we pray to recognize those things, the Lord will help us to recognize it.

Love that. Is there like a person in scripture.

That you most identify with in looking back at your own life and looking at where you are today, that you'd like to share with me a little bit about that and why you identify most with them?

Without hesitation, Alma, the younger, without hesitation. Because I was that person when I was growing up.

I wouldn't say I was the vilest of sinners, but I think in some way we all are the est of sinners because really any sin is vile. And I did so many of those things when I think about what AMO the younger did . Before he converted. And I love that you asked this question because I love thinking about how when [00:27:00] Alma or even Enos, when they were struggling, it was their parents' words that came back to them, that it was the teachings of their parents that came back to them and reminded them of these things. It reminded them of the source that they could turn to, and that is exactly what happened with me was I was struggling and I didn't know what to do.

But my mother's teachings, they were put into my mind when I needed them, and it gave me light, it showed me a direction that I needed to go. And for Alma, , as soon as he came back and converted, wanted to go on a mission, he wanted to go out and share the gospel.

And that was exactly what I wanted to do. It became the only thing that I wanted to do. And, I would love to be like, Alma, I wish that I was like, Alma, I wish I was that faithful and I wish I was that bold and that diligent and that converted to the savior. And I hope that someday I can be like that, but I [00:28:00] know that I'm moving in that direction and so I definitely am with the younger.

I love that. And Josh I wanna share something with you. You are like Alma, the younger. I think if we didn't have the cleansed, scriptures where we just get to see Alma's a stud, we'd see that he had these same thoughts of, man, I wish I was more like my dad. I wish I was more like Enos, like nephi, these people that I read these stories of and hear about through when I go to church.

Finally, but , I think you're just like him and keep at it. 'cause that's awesome. All right. Any other passages of scripture that come to mind that were thematic during your mission that you'd like to share with us?

I think , an example that I love is Nephi.

He's like the go-to. Everybody goes to Nephi. It's the first book in the Book of Mormon. But I love that Nephi and it goes back to what you were saying, we only see like the cinematic parts of his life. But I love that Nephi [00:29:00] just trusted the Lord. He was willing to do things even though he had no idea what the outcome would be.

And even though I'm not that person, I, even though I, I. Maybe don't do it in the way that Nephi does it. It's an example to me of something to try to be more like he's somebody that I look up to as I want to have faith like Nephi. I want to be able to trust the Lord so much that I can.

Build a ship, right? When the Lord asked him to build a ship, Nephi didn't, wonder how he was gonna do it. He asked the Lord, what do I need to do? He asked the Lord where he needs to go to get tools, right? And oftentimes I feel like we, at least me I hesitate and I think about, why do I need to do this instead of, what do you need me to do so that I can do this?

I also love that example. Thank you so much for sharing it. All right. Before we start wrapping up with the final few questions that I ask at the end of each of these episodes, is there anything else that's [00:30:00] weighing on your heart that you're like, man, I really hope he asks me about this, but he hasn't yet,

I wouldn't say it's anything new, but it's something that I'd love to just reemphasize. And it's the idea of repentance. That is something that I have come to love so much and something that brings me so much hope and so much joy because I know that I don't have to be the same person.

I know that the things that I struggle with, I don't have to be that same person forever because I know that those things can and will change through my savior. As natural beings, we don't want what the Lord wants. And so I think as humans sometimes we beat ourselves up, right?

We say, Hey, why do I want these things? I'm a horrible person because I want these bad things, right? But it's, you're not a bad person for that. You're just a person, you're a human. And naturally, like we learned in Mosiah three 19. Naturally, we are an enemy to God we [00:31:00] want what is against God, and that's what's so hopeful about the atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance is that our desires can change.

And that was something huge for me when I was preparing for a mission. There was a prayer that I would pray all the time, and that prayer was help me or bless me that. I can want what you want or it went the other way. Help me to want what you want. That was pretty much the gist of the prayer is I wanted to want what God wants.

It's like the scripture. The flesh is weak, but the spirit is willing. My spirit was very willing. I wanted what God wanted, but my flesh did not. But over time as I continued to turn to the Lord, as it continued to pray, to want what he wants, my desires changed.

And I know that's through the atonement of Jesus Christ.

I love this. This is so great. Thank you so much Josh. So as we wrap things up I'm gonna read a [00:32:00] verse of scripture that this whole project is based on. It's Alma chapter five verse 26, which reads, and now behold, I say to you, if you have experienced a change of heart, and if you have felt the sing, the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can you feel so now?

So you've just spent the better part of an hour sharing about this change of heart. But I'd like you to just. Sit on it for just another minute, and talk to me a little bit about the change of heart that you've experienced over the last handful of years.

I would say that it should more of an in-depth. Change of heart, right? When at the beginning of my mission and even before the mission, it was kinda like the baby steps, right? And with everything in life, we get a little bit better as we continue to do it. I would say that my change of heart has just increased my desire to, to follow Jesus Christ has increased.

, Not that I didn't have that desire before the mission, but it's just, it's become [00:33:00] more in second Nephi 28 30, we learned that it's line upon line, precept upon precept. And as we are willing to receive, the Lord will give us more. But when we decide that we're good and we've had enough, the Lord takes away, we lose what we've been given.

And so it's just it's built up at this point. There's more desire.

Next phrase in that verse is, if you have felt the sing, the song of Redeeming love, what does that mean and how do you practice that in your life?

I would just say it's the same thing that Alma experienced.

When Alma finally felt that forgiveness and he received that redemption, he was filled with so much joy. And he explains that. He says that he was filled with joy as great as his sorrow was. And I feel like that is the redeeming love. That is the song of redeeming love is the joy that we experience.

Through as we change, as we [00:34:00] experience the atonement of Jesus Christ in our lives.

Okay. This is our wrap up question

can you feel? So now before you answer, what I want to do is I'm gonna jump in a time machine with you. We're gonna jump ahead 10 years from now, you and I, and we're gonna get outta that time machine . And you're gonna see yourself 10 years from now, whatever your life looks like, married, kids, school, work, whatever it looks like .

But for whatever reason, you're really struggling, man. You've forgotten a lot of these things that brought you through the mission and the growth that's happened. I want you to sit down across from yourself and coach yourself up. Remind yourself how you feel today so that he can feel so now,

I think the biggest thing that I would tell myself is just keep doing the little things. I think that is the biggest thing . That I've learned on the mission, but also the biggest thing that I've learned in the week that I've been home from the mission is just keep doing the little things and the Lord will guide you.

One of my favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon is in Third Nephi chapter 13, verse [00:35:00] 31 through 33. And it says, take no thought saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink? Or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For your heavenly Father know it that you have need of all these things, but seek he first.

The kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you, and it's so true. As we put the Lord first, we don't need to worry about the future. We don't need to worry about how we're gonna provide for our family or what job we're gonna have, or even, at the point that I'm at right now, is the person I'm gonna marry.

We don't need to worry about those things. We just need to focus on God. And as we do that, the Lord will give us experiences as we act. It's not like we can just sit back and be like, Hey, take the wheel. . Take me where I'm supposed to, right?

That's not gonna happen. We have to act. But as we do that and as we act while we're keeping the Lord first, then the Lord provides the rest. It's a promise given in the Book of Mormon, and it's a promise given from our Heavenly Father through a profit, and [00:36:00] I know it's true. And I would just say, what are you doing to myself in 10 years?

I'd say, what are you doing? What have you stopped doing that you were doing before that helps you to feel that joy that helped you to sing the song Redeeming Love? And I'd say start doing it again. That's the missing, that's the missing variable.

Yeah. And I love this story and I'm not gonna anticipate you that you're gonna have any issues like that, but you've already experienced a massive change from the time you were 16 until , over several years made the decision

to make that change in action , so you know that it works, you know how to do it and you've experienced that. And I want you to remember that always Josh. 'cause it's a powerful lesson to learn and it's hard to remember. So before we close out, you mind bearing testimony as if you were standing at the pulpit at church?

I would love to. I know that Jesus Christ lives. And I know that the atonement of Jesus [00:37:00] Christ is real. And the only way to know that and experience that for yourself is by trying it. And that is probably one of the most important things that I could testify of. But alongside that, I know that the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the Lord's Church on the Earth today.

That there is a living prophet that the Lord speaks through to lead and to guide his people. And really that is so important to know because we live in a crazy world. And the reason that we stop seeing the song of redeeming love is because we stop looking to the Lord.

And I know that we have a prophet who helps us to remember that who points us to our savior. I know that the Book of Mormon is true, and it's not through these massive experiences. I've never had Moroni come to me and tell me that this is the Book of Mormon.

He's never showed it to me. I've never had Jesus Christ come to me and tell [00:38:00] me that the Book of Mormon is real and that it's his words. But what I do know is when I read it, I. Am so much happier and I have direction and I have hope, and I don't have to wonder. I don't feel like I'm in the dark.

I'm in the light when I read the Book of Mormon and it's been a while since I've experienced. Like really a dark situation. I've had lots of experiences where I go into a dark place. But I've never had, it's been a while since I've experienced that. Just you're in the midst of darkness.

And but I don't wanna go back to that. , I know where that was before. And I know that a variable of that was the Book of Mormon. The variable of why I'm here today is part of that is the Book of Mormon. I know that it's true, and I know that as we take the little step to read every day that we can receive that direction that we need and the strength that we need to get through the day.

I know that because the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that [00:39:00] he was called to be a prophet, and that the priesthood and the Lord's Church was restored through him. And really, those are the fundamental truths of the gospel. Is those are the main testimonies that I grew up learning about.

But just like we're told by Joseph Smith, the most important of it all is that Jesus Christ died, was buried and rose again on the third day. And everything else is an appendage to that. And I know that's true, and I share that testimony in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Thank you so much, Josh, man.

I really appreciate your willingness to spend this time to share your experience, to share your testimony with me and with anybody who ever listens now or in the future. It's been really meaningful for me. I hope it's been meaningful for you.

It has. Thanks for letting me be a part of it.