(This post mission talk was given in the Pleasant Grove Battle Creek 9th ward on November 8, 2026)
One of my ancestors was a man named Halvor Halvorsen. He was a ship captain who sailed the western coast of Norway through the beautiful fjords. He loved the sea, but he loved his wife and eight children even more. Hoping to spend more time with them, he left the sea and accepted work operating a telegraph station so his family could be together.
Not long afterward, he became seriously ill. Before he died, he wrote a letter to his family. It touches my heart. He wrote: “And now, I am leaving you all to God. May He put His protecting hand around us, and guide us to the place that He has set aside for us… Be kind and helpful to each other and to your mother… Let the bigger ones help the smaller ones… Do not forget that you are all your father’s children… Protect the memory of your father.”
When I read his words, I don’t just hear a father saying goodbye. I hear a man whose faith had quietly grown over many years. His trust in the Lord didn’t begin during his final illness. It had become part of who he was long before then. His letter became part of the legacy he left to his children.
That reminds me of Esther. Esther didn’t know as a young orphan girl what the Lord was preparing her for. She simply kept choosing what was right. She listened to Mordecai. She showed humility. She exercised wisdom and patience. She found favor because of the kind of person she was becoming.
Then one day everything changed. When Mordecai asked her to risk her life to save her people, she answered with one of the greatest expressions of faith in scripture: “If I perish, I perish.” She couldn’t see the end of the story. She simply trusted the Lord enough to take the next faithful step. I have often wondered if that’s how the Lord prepares all of us. Most of the time we don’t know why we’re experiencing certain things. We simply keep trying to follow Him. Then later, we begin to see His hand. That has happened over and over in my own family.
Halvor’s daughter, my great-grandmother, later faced poverty and heartbreak when her husband, Ole, was called to serve a mission back to Norway. She encouraged him to go.
I think of my own mother, Dona, Halvor’s 2nd great-grand-daughter. As a young woman in California, she thought she knew what her future would look like. She married, was expecting her first baby, and looked forward to raising a family. Then her world suddenly fell apart. Her husband left her. She later said, “I didn’t think anyone would want to marry a divorced woman with a little son.”
I can’t imagine how lonely that must have felt. But she did what she had learned from her own parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. She prayed. She stayed close to her Heavenly Father and to her Savior.
Later she received a proposal of marriage from a good man who was not yet a member of the Church. Wanting to know the Lord’s will, she (traveled to Salt Lake City and) sought direction in the temple. When she returned home, she knew she could not accept the proposal.
Then something unexpected happened. The very man she had turned down said, “I’ve just met someone at church. He’s exactly the kind of man you’re looking for.” Not long afterward, my mother stood in sacrament meeting and bore her testimony. Among those listening was a young man named Ferril Losee.
As he listened, he thought, “She is wonderful… but she’s too good for me.” A little later he noticed she was no longer wearing an engagement ring, gathered his courage, and asked her on a date. They drove to the beach. As the sun was setting over the Pacific Ocean, Ferril asked if she would marry him. He said, “I would be the happiest man on earth if you would consent to marry me.” She did.
Looking back now, it is easy to see the Lord’s hand. But my mother (and my ancestors) couldn’t see the whole picture while living it. They simply trusted Him one step at a time. Because they did, our family has been blessed in ways she could never have imagined. That same legacy has been passed from grandparents to parents, and eventually to me. Like Mordecai asked Esther, I sometimes feel as though my ancestors are asking me, “Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
A year and a half ago, Elder Hardman and I didn’t know what we would be called to do; we just felt prompted to move to Maui and serve. Now, looking back, I think we understand a little better. Our assignment has been to work with people who are seeking healing from addictions and other afflictions through the Savior, Jesus Christ.
One scripture has become especially meaningful to us. Isaiah wrote of the Savior: “He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives… to comfort all that mourn… to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.”
We have watched that scripture come alive. We have sat in small circles with people whose hearts were hurting. Some came carrying shame. Some came discouraged. Some wondered if they would ever change.
Every meeting began simply—with love, a prayer, scriptures, and words from others who had found hope in Jesus Christ. Then people began to talk. Someone would quietly tell their story. Someone else would nod, saying, “I’ve felt that too.” A scripture would bring comfort. A testimony would strengthen faith. Little by little, the room would feel different. It wasn’t dramatic. It was quiet. But it was real.
We watched people begin to believe that the Savior had not forgotten them. We saw tears replaced with hope. We saw discouraged hearts begin to heal. We saw people encouraging each other, praying for each other, and celebrating each other’s victories. Again and again we felt that the Savior truly is the One who binds up broken hearts. We ourselves became more acquainted with him as we walked with him.
Many times we left those meetings asking, “Why us?” Why were we invited to witness such sacred moments? When President Hanks, our Maui stake president extended our service mission call, he gave us a promise which we posted in our home. He said, “Take your offering to the Lord, and He will make something beautiful.” That is exactly what happened. That is what the Savior does. He takes willing hearts and makes something beautiful.
We also came to love the youth of our Maui ward. Teaching Sunday School and participating in Trek became unexpected blessings for us. Our bishop wanted his youth to have a trek experience. In June of this year we brought 24 youth and their leaders here to Utah to join the Lehi Stake for trek. We watched these young people encourage one another, strengthen each other’s faith, bear testimony, dance, laugh together, and become more devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. They have given us great hope. We love them. We loved our ward. Their genuine kindness and love has changed us. We love the people of Hawaii.
As we reflect on our mission, our hearts are full of gratitude. Like Esther, we rarely know beforehand why the Lord places us where He does. Like our ancestors, we move forward one faith-filled step at a time. Then one day we look back and realize that the Lord was preparing us all along…for such a time as this.
I know that Jesus Christ lives. I know He heals broken hearts. I know He knows each one of us personally. I know He is preparing each of us for purposes we cannot yet see. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
(related stories: https://ancestorclips.com/?s=Halvor)
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