Elder Rife's message to his home ward

Michael was asked to share a five-minute message about missionary work with his homeward, the Heatheridge 9th Ward. Dad read his message to the ward.

Hello, everyone!

I’m so thankful for the opportunity to speak to you today, even though I’m not
actually there. But then again I smell pretty strongly of kimchee all the time, so
you're probably glad that I’m not there.

I’m always thankful for an opportunity to share my testimony, so my mission
has been so amazing for me because I have countless opportunities to bear my
testimony each day. One of my favorite quotes about bearing our testimonies is
found on p. 198 of Preach My Gospel. It is by President Monson, and it reads:

Regarding one’s testimony, remember, that which one willingly shares he
keeps, while that which he selfishly keeps he loses. . . . Teach and testify.
There is no better combination.

One of the ways we gain our testimonies is by showing our faith and asking God
to make things known unto us through the Holy Ghost. After we have received our
testimony, it is our job to share it! And in so doing, we can gain an even stronger
testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Regarding sharing the gospel, President George Albert Smith once said… “that
is your mission, my brethren and sisters of the church, that is your responsibility.
Freely have you received and our Heavenly Father will expect you freely to share
with His other sons and daughters these glorious truths.” The Lord blesses us with
so much and he expects us to share. There is a place for each one of us in this
work, and whether it is full time or not, we can all share the gospel with others.
The Lord needs each one of us to step up so that he can use our talents and abilities
in bringing his other children to the gospel.

Our mission (and I’m sure all the others) have been so blessed with amazing
senior couples who help us slightly younger missionaries learn and grow. Through
hearing their experiences and testimonies, we learn so much. The Lord needs all
of us to be bold and to share the gospel in any situation we are in. So my challenge
for everyone today is to pray to Heavenly Father and ask Him for opportunities
to share the gospel. If you do, I promise He will bless you with a chance to share

your testimony. We all have a place in the work, and the Lord needs our individual
efforts to bring His other children to the truth.

Whom the Lord calls he qualifies, and when He asks us to do something hard, He
provides us with a way to do it. Like it says in 1 Nephi 3:7: “I will go and do.” I
know that, as we seek opportunities to share the gospel and bear our testimonies,
we will find so much more happiness, and we will each progress in the gospel.

This week, my companion and I have been praying and working to find people
to teach and opportunities to bear our testimonies. Through doing this, we have
found so many people to teach, and I am happier than I have ever been. (Note
from dad: when Michael was transferred to the Ilsan area, the missionaries
had no investigators and no contacts. Now, about 2 months later, they have 11
investigators.) The gospel is so amazing! It has helped me and my investigators
to become so much happier. Making the decision to come on a mission wasn’t
a really hard decision for me because I have seen so many good missionary
examples in my life and how much they loved their missions. I have felt of that
same joy and have seen the changes that being a missionary has made in my life,
and I’m so thankful for it. I wouldn’t give up this experience for anything in the
world. So if there are any of you, young or not so young, who are wondering if a
mission is right for you, I promise you that if you pray about it with the intention to
act that God will tell you if it’s right for you.

It’s not always easy being a missionary, but it is worth it. I’m so thankful that I
have this privilege to serve the people of Korea, like my dad. It’s not always easy
being away from my family especially at this time but I know the Lord is blessing
my family and especially my mom. I am so comforted when I think about all of the
ward members who care so much about my family and take such good care of my
mom. Thank you so much.

I want to close by letting you know that I know this Church is true with all of my
heart. Living the gospel is the only way that we can be truly happy. I’m so thankful
that through the gospel I can live with my family forever. I know that the Book
of Mormon is the word of God and was translated through the latter day prophet
Joseph Smith. Real quickly, I want to share one of my favorite scriptures, Mosiah
28:3:

Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature,
for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the
very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to
quake and tremble.

We have such a special commission to share the gospel and help save the souls of
God’s other children—and in so doing, we will experience so much joy. I know
this gospel is true and I’m so thankful for it.

In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Elder Rife's Baptism Talk

[Papa Rich, Nanajan, and Connor on his confirmation day.]

Here's a message from me, Laura, the big sister who keeps the blog:

When Elder Rife left on his mission, I told him that I thought it would be cool for one of his converts to be his nephew, my son, Connor. I asked him to write in his letters to Connor basic gospel truths and his testimony so that together we could teach Connor and prepare him for baptism. Michael and Connor have exchanged letters over the past 7 months and Michael always shares his testimony. He sent him a letter a few weeks before his eighth birthday with a perfect explanation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As a mom it means so much to me that my baby brother on his mission is corresponding with and teaching and testifying to my oldest son who is baptism-age.

When we planned Connor's baptism (which took place during our Disney Cruise with the Rife family) we decided that Nana would give a talk on the Holy Ghost and I would give a talk on baptism. I decided to delegate most of my talk writing to Elder Rife. I asked him to share his testimony and share what he would share with an investigator.

Elder Rife sent back the perfect message for a baptism talk. I want to share it here on his mission blog so that you can see how Michael has had a part in the conversion and baptism of his oldest nephew, even from far across the earth.

Here it is:


Congratulations, Connor!

This is such a special day for you. I remember so clearly the day when I was baptized. Your mom asked me to read something in front of everyone and I was too scared to do it so I started crying in front of everyone. Pretty embarrassing, huh?

More importantly than that I remember the feeling I had right as I came up out of the water. I felt so clean!

Baptism is very important, Connor. I'm sure you have learned all about it. But in order to be with our families forever we must be baptized. In the gospel of Jesus Christ there are 5 main parts.

#1 Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ—which means that we believe that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. Faith in Christ leads us to act.

#2 Repentance—which means we say sorry for the wrong things we do. If we are rude to our sisters or brothers we say sorry to them and we say sorry to God in prayer. We also try to not repeat the wrong we did.

#3 is Baptism—Baptism shows our Faith in Jesus Christ. When we are baptized we make a covenant with God. A covenant is a promise with God. We promise that we will follow Jesus Christ's example and God promises to bless us. Because Jesus Christ was perfect and we are not, it's important that we repent when we make mistakes.

Connor I want you to picture a big, HUGE door that is locked. And on the other side of that door are tons and tons and tons and tons of blessings! Baptism is the key that unlocks that huge door and helps us to get all of those amazing blessings.

#4 is the biggest one of those blessings—the Gift of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is such a precious gift, Connor! The Holy Ghost helps us to feel of God's love for us. Through the Holy Ghost we can know what things are right and what things are wrong. The Holy Ghost comforts us when we are sad and warns us when we are in danger. The Holy Ghost helps us to learn more about Jesus Christ and His gospel.

The last part of the Gospel, #5, is Enduring to the End. Or as I like to say Enjoying to the End. This means that we follow Jesus Christ for the rest of our lives. We continue to go to church, read the scriptures, and pray. As we do that Heavenly Father keeps blessing us.

Connor I am so proud of you for making the decision to be baptized. I promise that God will bless you in many ways because of your decision to be baptized. Remember that Heavenly Father is only a prayer away. You can talk to Him whenever you want and I promise that He listens to your prayers. He loves you, Connor.

Thank you for setting such a good example for Abby, Andrew, Hannah, and all your cousins. You're the man, Connor. Congratulations again. Always remember the day you got baptized! I love you Connor!

-Uncle Mike

Michael's Farewell Talk

So as many of you know, my dad is the bishop and when I asked him what my topic was for today he told me that I was supposed to speak on “life lessons that I have learned from my father.” So I came up with three life lessons I’ve learned that I will share with you today.

1. Just because you are conducting sacrament meeting doesn’t mean you can’t quote Jerry Seinfeld.

2. Screaming at the TV when your team is doing badly always helps.

3. And 3, the outdoors is for wusses. Real men stay inside.

I chose two topics that I would like to speak on today. I wanted to speak about sacrifice and family, because I feel like they both tie in well to what I’ll be doing for the next two years.

When we think of sacrifice we usually think of offering sacrifices. Originally, the Old Testament people were asked to offer animal sacrifices. These were to symbolize the future sacrifice of the Messiah, who would offer his life (his body and blood) as a sacrifice. His atoning sacrifice includes suffering for our sins in the Garden and Gethsemene and being crucified on the cross.

But after his atoning sacrifice, we are no longer asked to offer up the blood of animals. Instead, here is what we are asked to do, from 3 Nephi 9: 19-20:

19And ye shall offer up unto me ^ano more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings.

20And ye shall offer for a ^asacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I ^bbaptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not.

So now, each Sunday, when we partake of the sacrament, the sacrifice we are asked to give is a broken heart and a contrite spirit. A broken heart is a softened, submissive, and willing heart. A contrite spirit is a humble, repentant spirit. Therefore, in essence, the sacrifice we are asked to give in our time is humility, which can be very hard.

We’ve all made sacrifices in our lives, big or small. And no matter what it is we are sacrificing, it is always hard to give something up. The Lord asks us to be willing to give up whatever He requires of us, which can be extremely hard.

The word sacrifice is defined as: the surrender of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim.

Sounds just like a mission. The surrender of something prized; family, 2 years of time, friends, education. For something considered as having higher or more pressing claim: teaching people the restored gospel, changing people’s lives, bringing families together forever. When you think about what you are giving up, and what you are giving other people, why wouldn’t you want to serve a mission?

In a talk by Elder D. Todd Christofferson he describes what it is to be true man. He says, “A true man makes sacrifices in order to honor his commitments. Even though he will give much, the blessings he receives outweigh the sacrifice.” Many of the kids that are my age are preparing to serve missions and many already have their mission calls. We have made commitments to go out and serve the Lord and teach people the restored gospel. As we honor these commitments, we are going to have to make many sacrifices.

At the end of the quote, where it says “the blessings he receives outweigh the sacrifice,” reminds me of a quote that I love from President Hinckley: “It is not a sacrifice to live the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is never a sacrifice when you get back more than you give. It is an investment, . . . a greater investment than any. Its dividends are eternal and everlasting.” It seems to me that any time we ever sacrifice anything, we always get back so much more than we gave up. So if what President Hinckley said is true, which I’m betting that it is, then we shouldn’t even consider things we sacrifice as sacrifices. We should consider them as investments. The Lord has so many blessings that he wants to give us but we need to make the first step and prove that we are willing to sacrifice things that we have to receive the countless blessings he has in store for us.

A quote from President Hinckley in the Ensign: “I wish to remind everyone within my hearing that the comforts we have, the peace we have, and, most important, the faith and knowledge of the things of God that we have, were bought with a terrible price by those who have gone before us. Sacrifice has always been a part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The crowning element of our faith is our conviction of our living God, the Father of us all, and of His Beloved Son, the Redeemer of the world. It is because of our Redeemer's life and sacrifice that we are here. It is because of His sacrificial atonement that we and all of the sons and daughters of God will partake of the salvation of the Lord. ‘For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.’ (1 Cor. 15:22.) It is because of the sacrificial redemption wrought by the Savior of the world that the great plan of the eternal gospel is made available to us under which those who die in the Lord shall not taste of death but shall have the opportunity of going on to a celestial and eternal glory. In our own helplessness, He becomes our rescuer, saving us from damnation and bringing us to eternal life.” ("Our Mission of Saving," Ensign, November 1991, p. 54.)

I love the part of this quote that talks about the terrible price that was paid by those who have gone before us because it puts into perspective how much worse the trials were that those who went before us had to bear. When I think about how hard it must have been for the pioneers to walk across the plains, it makes what I’m going to do seem so easy. They packed all of their belongings across the plains, walked hundreds of miles, went hungry, and often saw members of their families die. I’m moving to another country for two years and am giving up my iPhone and car.

Another part of the quote says that sacrifice has always been a part of this gospel. And while the pioneers’ sacrifice was so much harder than mine, the least I can do is give up two years of full-time service to the Lord.

Another really good quote from president Hinckley says: “This work requires sacrifice, it requires effort, it means courage to speak out and faith to try. This cause does not need critics; it does not need doubters. It needs men and women of solemn purpose. As Paul wrote to Timothy: ‘. . . God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. . . .’" (2 Tim. 1:7-8.) Gordon B. Hinckley, Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1997], 145.)

I love this quote. The Lord needs missionaries who will go out and serve and not hold back, who will go out and speak to people without being afraid of being rejected; we cannot be ashamed of our testimonies of the Lord.

No matter what we sacrifice and no matter how hard it is for us, none of our sacrifices compare to Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. It was the supreme sacrifice. He gave is life so that we can return home to live with Him again and be resurrected. He suffered for all of our sins so that we can have the atonement and repent when we make mistakes. We’ve all made mistakes and without the atonement we wouldn’t be able to return home and live with Heavenly Father again. I am so thankful for Christ’s sacrifice. It makes my sacrifice of two years seem so insignificant.

I also wanted to speak about family today. I feel like family is the most important thing we have in life and the purpose for missionaries is to go out and bring families together in the gospel so that they can be sealed together forever. I know that the main source of happiness in my life has come from having such an amazing family and I hope that I can bring that same happiness to the people of the Seoul.

Many of you that have been to my house have probably noticed that there are few spaces on the walls where there isn’t a picture or quote or some form of decoration. I have noticed that throughout the house there a little quotes or things that talk about family, and the one that stands out to me the most simply says, “Families are Forever.” Most people in this world don’t know this simple truth, and most people in South Korea definitely don’t know this. When I think about my family and how close we are, it brings me so much comfort to know that I can be with them forever. And the fact that families in Korea don’t know that they can be together forever fills me with so much motivation to go out and work hard to teach as many people as I can.

An excellent quote on family from Elder Russell M. Nelson says… "Brethren and sisters, material possessions and honors of the world do not endure. But your union as wife, husband, and family can. The only duration of family life that satisfies the loftiest longings of the human soul is forever. No sacrifice is too great to have the blessings of an eternal marriage. To qualify, one needs only to deny oneself of ungodliness and honor the ordinances of the temple. By making and keeping sacred temple covenants, we evidence our love for God, for our companion, and our real regard for our posterity—even those yet unborn. Our family is the focus of our greatest work and joy in this life."

I feel like this quote puts everything into perspective. We often worry more about material things than we do about our families. Family is the most important thing and families are forever, unlike material things.

The last thing I wanted to share about family is a poem that I found. It’s called A Tribute to Family.

I don't know when it started,

Or how it all began.

But God created families,

As only our Lord can.

He was teaching what it means,

To love, honor, and obey.

He wanted a strong bond,

That we don't see too much today.

He wanted someone to hold us,

And show respect for others.

He wanted someone who'd be gentle,

And so he created mothers.

He wanted someone strong,

A support filled with love.

And so he created fathers,

Sent from heaven up above.

Brothers and sisters came next,

With that, an instant friend.

Someone to look up to,

Someone on whom to depend.

When he put them all together,

He was amazed at what he'd done.

He had created a family,

Mother, father, daughter, son.

But look at the family,

Created by only two.

How many we've become,

And all because of you.

We have a lot to be thankful for,

The memories through the years.

The many times together,

Full of laughter, full of tears.

I don't know where we'd be today,

If it weren't for the two of you.

To show us strength, support, and love,

Like only the two of you can do.

Brothers and sisters, families are an amazing thing. I don’t know where I would be right now if I didn’t have the amazing family that I have.

I really have the best family in the world. I'm thankful for my mom, and she's crying and it's making me cry. I'm thankful for my dad. They're two amazing people and examples and I'm thankful that they had six kids so I have a bunch of brothers and sisters. I love them so very much.

I also just wanted to mention how grateful I am for my parents’ willingness and worthiness to sacrifice three years to move to South Korea and be mission president. Most kids don’t decide that they want to go on a mission until their teen years, but I knew I wanted to go as a fat little nine-year-old boy hanging out with missionaries every day.

I’m so thankful for the call to serve a mission. It was four and a half months ago that I was sitting under a palm tree at the Hawaii temple and opened my call. I have been waiting for this for so long and feel like I’m prepared to go out and serve. It’s not often that a father and a son get called to serve in the same place and I am so grateful that I can share that special bond with my dad.

I'm thankful for my brothers and sisters. My life would not be the same without them. My sisters are probably the three most perfect people I know; one of them isn't here. But I'm thankful for them and their good examples to me. I'm thankful for my brothers; they've always had my back. I love them. I think what I'm going to miss the most though is those cute little kids; they'll be grown up in two years.

I’m thankful for my friends. Many of them are out on missions and many of my friends are home from missions. They have given me so much support and have always helped me to make good decisions and not do anything too stupid. I’ve been writing one of my best friends, Drew Harris, every week and I wanted to share something that he wrote to me in one of the letters. It has helped me and I hope it will help other people who are preparing to serve missions. He wrote…

A mission is a unique opportunity because it’s the one time in life where you know exactly what you’ll be doing and for how long you’ll be doing it. You understand the purpose of everything you do. You invite others to come unto Christ by helping them to receive the restored gospel, through faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. That’s what the gospel is and it’s our purpose to help others to know that. For 730 days you bring others closer to Christ, so there can never be room for regrets.

While two years may seem like a long time right now, I know it will fly by, and I am thankful for Drew’s advice. We can’t look back and have regrets.

Before I close I wanted to do something that most missionaries don’t do in their farewell talk and especially not in Korean. My dad helped me write my testimony down in Korean and I want to share it with you today. For those of you who understand it, it's not going to be that good.

SHARE TESTIMONY IN KOREAN

I'm so thankful that I got to speak to you guys today. I'm grateful for my call. I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve the Lord. I can't wait to start. Even though I'll be just down the street for eleven weeks.

I do have a testimony. I know that Joseph Smith is a true prophet. I know it. None of this "I think" or "I kinda know." I know it. I've read the book of Mormon. I know the way it makes me feel when I'm having a bad day and I flip open to a page and read a couple of verses, all of a sudden my day is switched around. I'm thankful for the B of M. I know it wasn't easy for us to have it.

I'm thankful again for my family. I don't even know where to start. They've done so much for me. I'm the baby of the family; everyone's always looking after me and buying me stuff. I want you guys to know how much I love you and how much I'm going to miss you. It's going to be hard to be away from you but I'm thankful for the support that I'll have.

I'm thankful for Jesus. His sacrifice is the ultimate sacrifice. Two years is nothing compared to what Jesus did. It's the least I can do. I'm so thankful for the Atonement. I've used it many times. It seriously is amazing.

I'm thankful for everyone who came here to support me today. I love you guys all very much and I'm thankful for you. You've influenced me for good.

I say this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.