Individual Worth

Aubrey recently had the opportunity to give her first talk as a youth speaker during Sacrament Meeting at church (Sacrament Meeting: the main congregational meeting before splitting into groups for other classes.)  She was asked to memorize a 5 minute talk.  Her topic: Individual Worth.

Although Aubrey stressed about this talk all week, when it came time to deliver, she did so brilliantly.  I learned a lot from it, there were some things in there that were good reminders for me.  Thought I would share it with you:

Individual Worth

I was asked to talk about Individual Worth. What does individual worth mean to you? In the Young Women's Personal Progress pamphlet it states that individual worth means that we are each of infinite worth and we each have our own unique mission, which we must strive to fulfill. In Doctrine and Covenants 18:10 it says: "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God."

My mom found a really cool true story told by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin.  I would like to share it with you:

Harry de Leyer was late to the horse auction on a snowy day in 1956, and all of the good horses had already been sold. The few that remained were old and spent and had been bought by a company that would be taking them to a slaughterhouse.

Harry, the riding master at a girls’ school in New York, was about to leave when one of these horses—an uncared-for, gray gelding with ugly-looking wounds on its legs—caught his eye. The animal still bore the marks that had been made by a heavy work harness, evidence to the hard life he had led. But something about him captured Harry’s attention, so he offered $80 for him.

It was snowing when Harry’s children saw the horse for the first time, and because of the coat of snow on the horse’s back, the children named him “Snowman.

Harry took good care of the horse, which turned out to be a gentle and reliable friend—a horse the girls liked to ride because he was steady and didn’t startle like some of the others. In fact, Snowman made such rapid improvement that a neighbor purchased him for twice what Harry had originally paid.

But Snowman kept disappearing from the neighbor’s pasture—sometimes ending up in adjoining potato fields, other times back at Harry’s. It appeared that the horse must have jumped over the fences between the properties, but that seemed impossible—Harry had never seen Snowman jump over anything much higher than a fallen log.

But eventually, the neighbor’s patience came to an end, and he insisted Harry take back the horse.

For years, Harry’s great dream had been to produce a champion jumping horse. He’d had moderate success in the past, but in order to compete at the highest levels, he knew he would have to buy a pedigreed horse that had been specifically bred to jump. And that kind of pedigree would cost far more than he could afford.

Snowman was already getting old—he was eight when Harry had purchased him—and he had been badly treated. But, apparently, Snowman wanted to jump, so Harry decided to see what the horse could do.

What Harry saw made him think that maybe his horse had a chance to compete.

In 1958, Harry entered Snowman in his first competition. Snowman stood among the beautifully bred, champion horses, looking very much out of place. Other horse breeders called Snowman a “flea-bitten gray.”

But a wonderful, unbelievable thing happened that day. Snowman won!  Harry continued to enter Snowman in other competitions, and Snowman continued to win.  Audiences cheered every time Snowman won an event. He became a symbol of how extraordinary an ordinary horse could be. He appeared on television. Stories and books were written about him.

(Snowman is the horse jumping over the other horse.)

As Snowman continued to win, one buyer offered $100,000 for the old plow horse, but Harry would not sell. In 1958 and 1959, Snowman was named “Horse of the Year.” Eventually, the gray gelding—who had once been marked for sale to a low bidder—was inducted into the show jumping Hall of Fame.

For many, Snowman was much more than a horse. He became an example of the hidden, untapped potential that lies within each of us.

I think there are a few things that we can learn from this story:
1. Just because everyone might think that we aren't able to do anything doesn't mean it's true.
2. We each have our own special talents.
3. We must believe that we can do anything.

Elder Worthlin also said the we each have potential that lies hidden within us. How is it ,then, that so many of us see ourselves as an old gray horse that isn't good for anything? There is a spark of greatness within each of us- a gift from our loving Heavenly Father. What we do with that gift is up to us. We must create a masterpiece out of our lives.

Satan attempts to overcome us. One way is by telling us lies about our worth and God's feelings towards us. These lies may be repeated so many times that they can harden into belief.

One lie may be: because of my weakness and failures, God is always disappointed in me.  The truth of that is: God loves me and rejoices in me because I am his child.

I used to think that I wasn't worth a whole lot because that's what some of the kids at school conveyed by the way they treated me. They always teased me and called me names. Then I heard a voice in my head that said that they might just be right.

But then I prayed to Heavenly Father. He gave me the confidence to believe that what the kids were saying wasn't true, then the sly voice inside my head vanished.

I know that our Heavenly Father loves and cares for us. He has given us beautiful gifts and it is up to us to unlock those gifts and use them to help others.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.


To read the whole talk by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, click here:
http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=be4ae2270ed6c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD