I'm off to Spain on June 12th! Here is where you can hear about all of my adventures in Spain. I am so excited to serve and to share this gospel with the people of Spain. I already have so much love for them. If you weren't able to come to my farewell here are a few parts that I loved from my talk.

Today, I have chosen to speak on charity. Before going further, I want to define what charity is. Charity is the pure love of Christ. It is the love that Christ has for the children of men, and that the children of men should have for one another. It is the highest, noblest, and strongest kind of love and the most joyous to the soul.

when I think of charity I think of it as overcoming the natural man, meaning turning outward to others and loving our fellow man for who they are, children of God

Moroni chapter 7:45…

• 45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

A story that helped me to better understand this scripture is described by Elder Bednar. In Elder Bednar’s talk, “Character Of Christ” he states, “Jesus, who suffered the most, has the most compassion for all of us who suffer so much less.” Elder Bednar uses the following example of the savior to explain our Savior's charity:Consider the scene as Jesus emerged from His awful suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane. Having just sweat great drops of blood from every pore as part of the infinite and eternal Atonement, the Redeemer encountered a multitude:

And while he yet spake, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew unto Jesus to kiss him.

But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?

When they which were about him saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword?

And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear.

Given the magnitude and intensity of Jesus' agony, it perhaps would have been understandable if He had not noticed and attended to the guard's severed ear. But the Savior's character activated a compassion that was perfect. Note His response to the guard as described

in Luke chapter 22:51: "And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him.”

-Christ suffered more than any of us have suffered and he was still looking outward. Showing the perfect example of charity.

President Monson teaches: “Charity is having patience with someone who has let us down. It is resisting the impulse to become offended easily. It is accepting weaknesses and shortcomings. It is accepting people as they truly are. It is looking beyond physical appearances to attributes that will not dim through time. It is resisting the impulse to categorize others.

As I serve my mission I will plead for a desire to be filled with the gift of charity, the pure love of christ. I know that as I do so I will be filled with love for all those around me and I will have a greater desire to share this gospel with others. I invite you all to pray and plead with for a desire to be filled with charity and to act on any promptings you have as you do so.