In September Anna turned 12, which means that now she gets to give talks in sacrament meeting from time to time. Last month she had her first opportunity! The topic was kindness and she wrote her talk completely by herself. The only advice I gave her was, "Make sure you talk about Jesus Christ, quote a scripture, and share a personal example."
She was so so nervous! But she did a beautiful job! You would have never known she was "shaking inside", as she reports the experience.
Here is a video of her presenting her talk, followed by the text.
Hello, my name is Anna Brown and I have been asked to give a talk on kindness.
The dictionary definition of kindness is the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate. We have all been kind or witnessed someone being kind at many times. One great example of kindness is Jesus. He healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, let the dumb speak, gave the deaf hearing, and on top of that He atoned for us so we could repent and return to him someday. He bled from every pore, felt all our pains, afflictions, and heartache, and died for us on the cross. Jesus is the definition of kindness.
In Moroni 7:47 it says, "But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him." I love this quote because of the part that says, "Whoso is found possessed of it." This is interesting because if we are possessed of it we will be with him -- not have used charity once or twice, but possessed of it.
Charity is a synonym for kindness meaning that we need to be possessed of kindness in other words.
One scripture that immediately popped into my head at the topic of kindness was "love one another as I have loved you." John 13:34. Christ loves us and often he asks us to share love with others who feel lost or alone.
My grandma Teresa was an example to me to share kindness with others. She would send care packages that would make someone happy even though she was suffering through a trial of cancer that should have brought her down. While she was doing the packages she told me her process of assembling them. She said she would pray to Heavenly Father asking for names of someone who needed uplifting and she would send packages to who she was prompted to send them to. My grandma showed the verse love one another, as I have loved you by loving others to bless their lives.
We can be kind and show love to others by simply being there for them. Recently I had a friend who was suffering because her parents were going through a divorce. Everyday when she had problems she would come to me. At first I didn't know what to do or how I could even help her, but soon I decided to leave her notes and scriptures to uplift her when she was sad. I also began to just listen to her and I comforted her through her trial.
We can also show kindness by helping those who are different from us. Many times when around others who seem or look different we neglect them. We can show kindness through accepting and befriending those who are different from us.
To close my talk I would like to end with a final story that Jesus told to give an example of loving your neighbor. He told the story of a Jew who was walking on the road to Jericho. Thieves stopped him, took his clothes, they beat him, and left him on the road almost dead. Soon, a Jewish priest came down the same road and saw the man, but instead of helping he walked on the other side of the road. Then, a Jewish man who worked in the temple went by, and then again he did not help and walked on the other side of the road. Last, a Samaritan came along the path and saw the man. The Jews and Samaritans did not like each other, but this time the Samaritan stopped and helped the man. He took care of the man's wounds and clothed him. Next the Samaritan took the man to the inn and cared for him till the next day. When the Samaritan had to leave he gave money to the innkeeper and told him to take care of the man. The Samaritan shows kindnesses by loving our neighbors like we should too.
Testimony.
This topic was perfect for Anna because she is one kind and thoughtful girl.
