Andrew is the YOUTH SPEAKER at church...

but first - Journal Jar Thought of the Day:  I love the prophet because....

....he has a gentle strength that can only come to those that serve the Lord with all of the might, mind and soul.  I thought that when we lost President Hinckley that it would be difficult to love a prophet as much as I did him.  The Lord must have felt that from more than just me and put in a man, Thomas S. Monson, that has every admirable quality that President Hinckley had but in his own sweet, refined way.  The prophet's love of the gospel and the children of God can been seen in his very countenance.  It is something that I have seen in all prophets and something that I would like to find in my own life.

Today Andrew gave his first real youth talk in sacrament meeting.  It was really sweet.  Yesterday as he was writing his talk he had written about half a page and announced that he was "done".  I looked at the page and regretfully told him that although he had taken 10 minutes to write - and I use that term loosely because he had actually copied it straight out of the Strength for Youth pamphlet - that what he had written would only take about 45 seconds to read.  All of the hope drained from his poor, sweet face. 
I laughed it off and told him I would help him.  I had him gather the "essentials" for writing a talk.  The scriptures, his For the Strength of Youth pamphlet and the most recent conference Ensign.  I helped him map out what would go where and typed it up for him.  I wish that the boy would enunciate his words! - but other than that he did brilliantly.  He is such a sweet boy and really starting to come into his own.  I am proud of him and hope that he will be able to continue on this path of righteousness. 

Here is his talk:

Good Morning Brothers and Sisters.  Today I’ve been asked to give a talk on Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  First let me start with the fourth Article of Faith.
^th Article of Faith>
This article of faith tells us that we must first have faith before we are able to repent, get baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.  This must be really, really important – because it is first!
How do we obtain faith?  Is it something that comes easily?  The Apostle Paul taught that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”  Alma made a similar statement: “If ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.” 
In the true to the faith pamphlet it says that Faith is a principle of action and power.  Whenever you work toward a worthy goal, you exercise faith.  You show your hope for something that you cannot see.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught: “Faith is a gift of God bestowed as a reward for personal righteousness.  It is always given when righteousness is present, and the greater the measure of obedience to God’s laws the greater will be the endowment of faith”.
That means that we must first act! – And by that I mean, we must first choose to be righteous – or as the primary says, “Choose the Right”.  As we do this, Heavenly Father will then turn around and “bestow upon us” or give us faith.
When I first heard this, I thought that it sounded backwards.  I thought that you had to have faith to choose the right but in preparing this talk, I realized that if you choose the right, the Lord will give you the faith that you are doing what you should and you will want to continue.
The true to the Faith pamphlet says that: “In order for your faith to lead you to salvation, it must be centered in the Lord Jesus Christ.”  It means believing that even though you do not understand all things – that our Heavenly brother, Jesus Christ does.  He is always ready to help you as you remember His plea, “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.”
The pamphlet also says that we need to be living by Faith.  I like to think that Faith is an ACTION word.  That means that you must be working, and praying and doing something in order for your faith to grow.   President Hinckley likened faith unto your arm.  If you put it in a sling and not use it, it will become weak – but if you exercise it, it becomes stronger.

Even when the future seems uncertain, your faith in the Savior can give you peace – Helaman 5:47 demonstrates this thought.
Satan will try at every corner to halt our growth of faith.  Elder Kevin W. Pearson spoke of the dangers that Satan will throw at us.  He called them the 6 Destructive D’s – they are: doubt, discouragement, distraction, lack of diligence, disobedience and disbelief.  We should be aware that these are tools of the devil and if we start to feel any of these things we will know that it is time for a course correction in our lives.
I know that if we strife to continually remember these things, and take action in our lives to gain faith, that the Lord will bless us beyond our understanding.