18 Months of Preachin' Down the Bayou

When I told my mom I wanted to go on a mission, I also told her that if I was gonna go, she had to write my farewell talk. I guess it’s a good thing I was joking, because she did not write this talk, and I am still going on a mission. The fact that I wrote this talk and my mom didn’t means it probably won’t be the quality talk you guys are used to me giving, but, luckily for me, I won’t around for the next 18 months for you to remind me of how awkward it was. I was asked to speak on the first vision, which is fantastic, because I’ve been taking mission prep classes with the YSA stake institute and we have spent a lot of time talking about this. The first vision is the foundation of this gospel. Elder Parella from the seventy said it best; “The truth we learn because of the First Vision and the Prophet Joseph Smith is the true nature of God.” We also learn that we can have personal revelation, that God, His Son, and the holy ghost are three separate beings, and that God and His S