Five Minutes

I had five minutes to talk before Elder Scott tonight. I could not BELIEVE how many people were there, no one had adequately warned me...

I think I did manage to deliver it how I had hoped. The speakers tonight - ALL OF THEM were really really excellent. Lesson learned - I should have brought paper and pencil to take notes. I won't make that mistake again!

I have placed the text of the talk I gave below. The words on "paper" honestly do not deliver the message the same way as when I speak them. But this should give you the core of what I intended to communicate to people.

When I first received news of being given this amazing opportunity to be up here on the stand with an Apostle, my immediate thought was – “I have so much I want to say, what can I do in just five minutes?” Then, just a few days ago, it really dawned on me just how very precious five minutes can be.

Earlier this year I moved into a new house and hired Carlos to lay tile. I didn’t know Carlos – he was recommended to me by a friend. Carlos told me that he would be unavailable for a week before I needed him to put the tile in. Later, while he was working on my house, he explained that his daughter had been struggling and that his entire family had taken a week to work with her and to try to help her with some issues she was having. After talking to Carlos for less than five minutes, I realized just how lucky his daughter was that she had a Father and a family that cared that much for her. That was in January. I learned just a few days ago that Carlos is Mormon.
 
A decade ago, I formed a gaming group of about forty people, and we had fun playing computer games most weekends. Almost all of us were interested in gaming ANY TIME that we could get together, but two of them seemed to always be busy when I would try to schedule something on Sunday. Time and time again, they had other plans. Eventually I realized they were NEVER available to play games on Sundays. Then, one at a time, they both went on their missions – one to Mexico, the other to Spain. I learned that they were Mormon, and I realized that it took them only SECONDS to tell me that they had other plans on their Sundays, but in doing so, they had impressed upon me just how important the Sabbath day was to them. In March of this year, one of these two good friends Baptized me, and the other Confirmed me.

Twenty four years ago, I met a young LDS man named Scott Driggs at Poston Junior High; he was a jock, one of the most popular kids in the entire school, someone I had nothing in common with. I was new there, having just moved to Arizona from Missouri, but Scott would talk to me almost every day, for no reason at all other than to kindly inquire as to what was going on in my life that day. Earlier this year, after reading his message in my Junior High yearbook, I made contact again, and talked to him about the Mormon Church. After asking me if it was ok, he took five minutes to request some missionaries to come to my home, which ultimately lead to me being here today.
 
I beg of you – NEVER underestimate what you can do in five minutes. In my case, it took being around Mormon people for twenty four years before my heart softened enough to let the Holy Ghost in. But I can tell you in sincerity that I needed each and every one of those five minute interactions for me to be where I am today.

The missionaries that came to my house didn’t come there by just knocking on random doors – someone sent them to my home – someone that took the time to ask them to. If YOU know of someone that might be receptive to the Church, get your missionaries involved! Don’t just assume the missionaries will find people by randomly knocking on doors – they need our help.

Know in your heart with certainty that when you go about your daily life, when you hold the Sabbath day holy, when you talk to people about your beliefs, when you live as much like Jesus Christ as you are able, that you have an impact on other people’s lives. You may not see the result today, or tomorrow, or even in twenty four years. But in less than five minutes, YOU may just bring another soul to God.