I was doing pretty good until listening to that beautiful rendition of "Slow Down." I'm reminded of,

and I'm paraphrasing here, but Peter, James, and John, on the Mount of Transfiguration, and asked the Lord, "Is it good that we should be here?

Is it good for us to be here?"

I've often thought about

how many out there started since I became the endorser20 years ago.

Do we have anyone that's been chaplain longer than 20 years?

We have a few.

But most of you have started your service under my responsibilities to endorse you, and hopefully to provide some guidance in your ministry.

And it's been an honor. Now, Mindy, I think that rendition of "Slow Down" rivals any I've

heard, and thank you so much.

You've always been...

everything you've ever done for us here has uplifted and inspired us with your angelic voice.

I have much to admit, I've asked you year after year, and I count you a dear friend, and I really appreciate all that you've done, and thank you for that

rendition today.

I thought that what I would like to do is maybe revisit just for a few moments, the lyrics of that beautiful song.

"In the midst of my confusion, in the time of desperate need, when I am thinking not too clearly, a gentle voice does intercede.

Slow down, slow down, be still, be still and wait on the spirit of the Lord.

Slow down and hear His voice and know that He is God." I think we've all had times of confusion.

Maybe it's just me, but sometimes I'm not thinking too clear.

And I'm so grateful for the opportunity to listen to the Lord's voice and provide invite and comfort.

"In the time of tribulation when I'm feeling so unsure, when things are pressing in about me, comes a gentle voice so still, so pure.

Slow down, slow down, be still, my child.

Be still, and wait on the spirit of the Lord.

Slow down and hear His voice and know that He is God." You know, the inspiration of that song came from Psalms 46:10, "Be still, and know that I am God." When the Saints were driven out of Jackson County, Missouri, many had lost their personal property, livestock, and the mobs had destroyed their crops.

As a time of great persecution, Joseph Smith received the following revelation from the Lord: "Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion, for all flesh is in my hands.

Be still, and know that I am God." We're all reminded of the story of Elijah standing upon the mount before the Lord, and he beheld a great storm.

I mean I'm sorry, a great wind, and a strong wind that rent the mountain.

And then the earthquake followed by a fire.

But the Lord was not in any of them.

Then came a still, small voice.

Nephi and Lehi described it this way, as a still voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper.

And it did pierce even to the very soul.

Perhaps those prophets struggled to find the right words to describe their experience in hearing His voice.

Words like "inviting, impactful, moving, tender,

pure, inspiring, divine, calming, peaceful, gentle,

soothing, comforting, and heavenly" are often used by others to describe their experience.

How do you hear Him, and how do you tune out the tumultuous worldly noise?

How do you recognize the hand of the Lord in your lives?

As many of you know, we have held military devotionals nearly every year since 2009.

Those talks are published on our website.

However, this year, we decided to produce a Hear Him type video featuring a few military members and families.

I'd like to provide a sneak preview of that video.

It isn't quite ready for prime time, but hopefully we'll be able to release it soon so you can use it in your ministering.

We'll just now show that now.

[Video starts] I am Robin (inaudible), I am a Major in the United States Army.

Being away from my family, it's very hard as a woman.

It's taken some getting used to.

My eldest son was only 15 months old when I left for that first deployment, and I came back and he was three years old.

My name is Matt Checketts, I'm a dentist in the Airforce.

One of our biggest concerns was the fact that we were going to have to move a lot. That was also one of my concerns as well, is the constant moving around, leaving my safe, security family bubble. Hi, I'm Seth, I'm a rifleman with the United States Marine Corps, and I recently returned home from my mission.

In life sometimes you have moments where you feel the spirit prompting you towards

a specific path.

And I felt very prompted one day to join the United States Marine Corps, that's what I needed to do.

I've been in the military for six years ago.

I am a combat medic, and currently I am studying to be a physician assistant

for the Army.

The challenges that I face being feeling the spirit is when I'm far away from home.

Being told where to go, and where to live, sometimes not with very much notice, it gets pretty lonely.

I feel like I hear the voice of my Savior through the needs of my children.

Life gets hectic, you know, my husband has crazy hours and a lot of the times I am on my own.

And when my kids come to me and ask me for a kiss or a hug and not

fighting, it reminds me of who they are, and who I am.

I'm Jim Tripp, I'm a soldier and served for 22 years in the Army as a lawyer, and I'm retired.

The military can be challenging. Probably the biggest challenge is you are, whether you like it or not, removed from your support network.

A real stabilizing force for our family the whole time was the Church, I really want to underscore that.

Literally every place we moved to we immediately were with our ward family.

When I hear Him, it usually comes in sort of a spark of an idea.

And then as I act on that idea, little by little, He shows me exactly what I need to be doing.

And I usually don't know, you know, beforehand if it's from the Lord or if it's from me.

Frankly, that doesn't really matter because if it's good, you know, the Lord will approve, if I'm trying to do the Lord's will.

And as I go forward trying to do what the Lord wants me to do, I will see, and I always see after the fact, later, that it was the Lord who guided me throughout all of that.

I was personally away eating dinner at the time when the incoming round came in.

And so coming back from that, and seeing my workplace destroyed and like the brand-new computer that we had just gotten to stay in touch was broken. It was just like very shocking.

And so overwhelmed, got a little emotional. And then once we got things settled enough, broke contact and went and kind of just hit my knees in prayer. And that peace comes from beyond my own circumstances. When I'm in my bunk and I can hear mortars exploding in the distance, that was time to get down on my knees and say to Heavenly

Father, "Please help me." And He would.

I was able to sleep.

I'm able to continue on with my duty.

And I attribute that to the Lord.

I think that there definitely have been times that I've felt the spirit impress upon me certain courses of action to take.

During flying and actually during our crew rest portion as well.

I felt not necessarily always a specific direction of what to do, but just kind of a sense of calm that comes over and essentially calms my troubled heart in the moment, and just lets me know that everything's going to be okay.

Everything will work out.

One of the best ways I feel like that I've been able to hear Him is actually through the service of others.

As I've been trying to immerse myself in the scriptures, and study, and follow God's words, I feel His assurance, and I feel His love.

I hear Him speaking to me His love through the service of others.

We had a family tragedy, our sweet baby girl passed away two days after she was born.

Our family members were...

in agony because they were so far away from us, and ready to fly out.

But when they realized how well our church family was taking care of us, and how well our military family was taking care of us, they realized they didn't need to be right out here with us at that time.

And I really attribute that to our Savior, and our knowledge of Him and His

gospel, and his ability to help us hear Him and feel His love through the actions of others.

Through people, God has blessed me, and I feel like that's Him showing me

even more that He loves me.

If I was able to just offer some advice to another military wife,

mother, just to help them know where the source of my peace comes from, would just be to able to bear pure testimony that it's real.

Jesus Christ is real.

And the peace that He can offer is real and it's tangible. [Video ends]

Well, although that's about military families, I think it has application in all of our lives.

There are many who struggle and strive to figure out how do they hear the voice of the Lord, and then be able to act on those feelings.

In April, 2018 conference address, President Russell M. Nelson shared the following: "My dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to increase your spiritual capacity to receive revelation.

Choose to do the spiritual work required to enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost and hear the voice of the spirit more frequently and more clearly." The revelatory process is not always instantaneous.

We sometimes want it to be, we want the answer now.

But we must be patient, and we must do our part to hear His voice.

Amos was a prophet of the Old Testament who foresaw a time when there would be a famine in the land.

Not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but of hearing the word of the Lord.

Like Newell, from Music and the Spoken Word, provided additional insights on how to end the famine.

A famine is defined as a scarcity of food, but the famine Amos spoke of is different.

There is no scarcity of the word of the Lord.

Anyone who wants it can find it.

What is scarce at times is our willingness to seek Him and hear Him.

This kind of famine can end as we pray with sincerity.

It will end if we open holy scriptures and feast upon the timeless words of eternal life, and it will end as we humbly listen for the Lord's still, small voice.

Now for the rest of the time I'd like to share a few lessons that I'd learned

as I prepare to retire, and been with you these last 20 years.

I realize I'm standing between you and lunch, and so my list of lessons learned is quite long.

And so, I am not going to attempt to cover all of them.

And lots of them I've relearned multiple times, probably you have done similar things in your life.

But I'd like to pick out four, and maybe just share with you some insights that I've learned from these four things.

The prayer of the righteous availeth much.

James taught that we should pray one for another, that ye may be healed.

The affectional fervent prayer of a righteous man and woman availeth much.

Nearly three years ago, my wife, Ruth was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

The prognosis wasn't very encouraging.

But she had a remarkable oncologist, and received excellent care at the Huntsman Cancer Institute.

After 13 months and 27 chemotherapy treatments, the treatments ended and she enjoyed 19 months of near normal life.

I say "near normal" because the COVID-19 pandemic impacted everyone’s life at that time.

During this time we received hundreds of emails, and texts saying they would remember Ruth in their prayers.

Many of those came from you.

Thank you for your heartfelt prayers on her behalf.

Two years ago, Reverend Doctor Andrew Teal, who spoke this Monday morning, he spoke at our chaplain's seminar. And when he learned about Ruth's health concerns, he told me that he would pray for her.

About four months ago he sent me an email with a picture taken of his

daily planner.

On it was a note to "pray for Ruth Clawson." For two years, he had been praying for my sweet wife.

I know God heard his prayers and yours,

and we've felt the sustaining power from Him.

(Gets emotional) I'm sorry.

Many years ago, we were stationed at Langley Airforce Base in Virginia and we became good friends with another family in the ward whose children were about the same age as hours.

The father was a JAG officer in the Airforce, and while stationed there, their oldest son was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Our ward family fasted and prayed for David that he would recover from his surgery.

His recovery was slow and fraught with some setbacks.

Although both of our families moved to new assignments across the country, our family continued to pray for David for several years.

One night after our family prayer, our youngest daughter asked, "Who is David?

Please tell me about him."

She was just a baby at the time of his surgery, so she had no memory of him.

But she was fully invested in praying for his wellbeing and wanted to know how he was doing.

No matter what our trials may be,

we can take comfort in Christ's promise to each of us, "these things I have spoken unto you, that in me, ye might have peace.

In the world ye shall have tribulations, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Life can be very hard at times, but it is a lot harder if we exclude God and we try to do it on our own.

Look unto Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith, he is the source of strength to endure each trial we encounter.

He will lighten our burdens so we can bear them.

Number two:

Listen more, and counsel together.

As some of you know, Ruth is passionate for family history

and has submitted over 9,000 temple ordinances for our ancestors.

Ten days ago, we were able to get an appointment at the Jordan River Temple

to do sealings for some of our ancestors.

If you haven’t done a sealing session because of COVID, I encourage you to do so.

The changes in the wording clearly emphasize the importance of counseling together

as husband and wife, and the virtues we should always apply in our relationship.

We are reminded in Ecclesiastes that two are better than one, and a threefold cord is not easily broken, there is safety in counseling together.

We are also admonished to counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and He will direct us for good.

I've always valued my wife's counsel.

She is prudent and wise, and knows how to discuss important issues.

Likewise, I've enjoyed the wise counsel from those I've served with these past 20 years in military relations and chaplain services.

I've also learned that when you prepare a response to a difficult situation, it’s always best to wait until the next day before pressing the “send” button.

In nearly all situations, I've received additional impressions from the spirit.

When I am seeking inspiration, I find that I'm often wakened in the middle of the night as the spirit opens my mind to increased understanding and insights.

When we counsel with the Lord, and with trusted associates we achieve unity and assurance that our decisions are in harmony with God.

Number three: Forgiveness frees us from the tormentors.

We learn in Matthew 18, "then came Peter to him and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him?

Till seven times?" It's interesting that the Jewish law at the time indicated

a person should forgive three times.

But Peter increased the number to seven when he questioned Christ.

Was Peter upping his game to use the sport's analogy or phrase we often hear today from sportscasters?

"Jesus said unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven." Is it okay to withhold forgiveness after 490 times?

I don't think the number is what He wants us to focus on, but the intent of our heart in here in forgiveness.

"Therefore, is the kingdom of heaven like unto a certain king, which would take an account of his servants.

And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him which owed him 10,000 talents." Now some have estimated that 10,000 talents would be worth between 10 and 300 million dollars today, so this was no insignificant debt

that he owed.

It was a major indebtedness to the Lord.

Carrying on in the scriptures, it says, "But for as much as he had not to pay, his Lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife and children, and all that he had in payment to be made. The

servant therefore fell down, and worshiped him saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.

Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion and loosed him,

and forgave him the debt.

But the same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants which owed him

100 pence, and he did lay hands on him and took him by the throat

saying, pay me that which thou owest." One hundred pence is about $16 today.

"And this fellow servant fell down at his feet and besot him saying, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.

And he would not, but went and cast him into prison until he should pay the debt.

So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry and came and told unto their lord all that was done.

Then his lord, after that, he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt because thou desirest me.

Shouldest not thou also have compassion on the fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee?

And his lord was wroth and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him." So what are the tormentors that we have to live with

when we fail to forgive someone who has sinned against us?

Perhaps the tormentors are feelings of anger, resentment, bitterness, and contempt.

They become our companions that spread hatred, disdain, and scorn.

They harden our hearts, they drive away kindness, patience, and compassion.

They rob us of the companionship of the Holy Ghost.

We all know someone who feels wronged and seems incapable of forgiving.

Each morning anger, resentment, and bitterness and contempt come to visit.

They rehash the situation over and over, only to deepen one's feelings of

hatred and scorn.

Thankfully we can break that cycle and expel the tormentors and the poison they bring by extending forgiveness and mercy.

In his address titled, "The Ministry of Reconciliation," Elder Holland reminded those who experience pain and sorrow from shattered experience at the hand of another, "You do not have to reenter a toxic relationship or return to an abusive, destructive circumstances to forgive fully.

I have found that kindness, patience, and compassion can win the battle over anger, bitterness, and resentment.

It is indeed the healing balm of Gilead, and opens the door to forgiveness and reconciliation."

My daughter, Julie, wrote the following in her book called, "Come, Sweet Day."

"I saw their broken hearts and cried for justice, envisioned a legion of avenging angels, fire and brimstone, lightning bolts, and the earth gaping open her mouth to swallow our enemies.

Give me justice, I roared to the god of justice, who sees all, and tolerates no evil.

I was answered by the God of mercy.

He parted heaven's veil,

and reigned gentleness, peace, and love upon me and mine. A legion of ministering angels,

and an abundance of goodness.

I closed my eyes, lifted my face to heaven, and I opened my mouth to thank Him.

The merciful rain washed away the fire and brimstone of my heart, and I forgot for a moment why I cried for justice."

Number four:

The goal in life is to die with a soft heart.

How can we have a soft heart in a hard-hearted world?

When we strive to live the commandments of God as Jesus did, when we extend forgiveness and mercy as He did, and when we begin to submit our will to God as He did, then our prideful and hard-hearted hearts begin to soften, and we begin to be like Him.

It is interesting as you get older, you start to attend more funerals for friends and associates.

Some lived a full life and succumb to the natural aging process.

Others died prematurely before their life's dreams were fulfilled.

I remember attending the funeral services of Steve Lineback, one of our Navy chaplains.

Steve served as a Navy chaplain for 29 years, left a lasting impression on those he served.

Several years ago I attended a conference for endorsers of military chaplains.

A retired Navy chaplain approached me and asked if I knew Steve Lineback.

I told him I did, and shared with him that Steve was battling cancer.

He said he knew of no finer person than Steve Lineback.

He then shared with me the story of how he and other chaplains at the base had tried to ostracize him and set him up for failure.

He said, "I'm embarrassed to admit how poorly we treated him because of our prejudice against the Mormons.

Steve never blinked an eye, he just treated each of us with love and respect." He said, "Steve is the most Christlike person I've ever worked for.

I love Steve Lineback for the way he mentored me, never showed any resentment or malice towards me or the other chaplains for the way we treated him.

I wish I was half the chaplain Steve was, and could minister as he ministered. I have the deepest love and respect for him, and I'm honored that he would

call me his friend.” Steve never sought the praise of men, only the approval of God.

His love for God and those he served was evidence in the way he ministers.

He was truly a humble follower of Christ, and treated others with love and respect.

Steve indeed fought a good fight.

He finished his course.

He kept the faith.

Those who knew Steve are familiar with the phrase he would always say before departing, "Go slow, and stay great." Perhaps it is his way of saying, slow down, so you can hear the voice of the Lord.

Simplify your life from distractions that prevent you from receiving personal revelation.

Stand in holy places and be not moved.

What a formula for someone to stay great.

Steve was a man without guile, he lived great, and died with a soft heart.

So in closing, may we strive a little harder to slow down and hear His

voice, to pray for those who are struggling with life's challenges, to be intentional in seeking counsel from trusted friends,

and especially from the Lord, to be merciful and practice forgiveness, while seeking opportunities for reconciliation, to show kindness and patience and mercy, and to develop a softer heart in a hard-hearted world.

"Let us simplify our life a little," Elder Uchtdorf admonished, "let us make the changes necessary to refocus our lives on

the sublime beauty of the simple, humble path of Christian discipleship - the path that leads always towards a life of meaning,

gladness, and peace." Now, I have attended a few retirement ceremonies

for chaplains and other military members over the many years.

And some of them sound like funerals.

I guess it's because our lives will never quite be the same.

But there is life behind it, I recognize that, beyond a retirement.

I remember hearing the story of a man at the airport talking to his daughter, and they were saying good-bye at the airport.

And the observer overheard their conversation, and later asked the man a question.

"When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, 'I wish you enough.' May I ask what that means?" "It is a saying that we handed down for several generations.

When we say 'I wish you enough,' we are wanting the other person to have a life filled with enough good things to sustain them." Then he recited from memory the following: I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirits alive.

I wish you enough pain that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.

I

wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.

To each of you within the sound of my voice, I simply say, "I wish you enough."

God bless you, my dear friends.

Now, it's been an honor to serve with you for the past 20 years.

I love you, I will miss our association.

I bear testimony that this is the Lord's work and He has called you to labor in His vineyard in preparation for His second coming.

He knows you, and will bless you in your righteous desires. To this I bear witness, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.