This post is the text from a talk I gave to my local congregation in October 2023. This is how I wrote the talk, but not exactly how the talk was given in the meeting as things were adjusted and I said things in slightly different ways. Due to limited time, the paragraphs justified to the right were not included in the spoken talk. That said, I was the second of two speakers, and the first used almost the whole meeting for her talk. The bishop asked if I wanted to postpone, but he also said I didn’t need to and could take as much time as I needed. I felt that my thoughts perfectly fit into the other speaker’s message and that both were very timely for the special Sunday school discussion on the topic of suicide awareness and prevention. I did address the time issue when I stood to talk, and then I delivered most of my prepared remarks as written here.
When the bishop invited me to speak this week, he said my topic would be “How do I invite Christ into my life?” He emphasized, “This is “how do YOU invite Christ into your life,” make it personal.” I immediately began pondering this question and wondered whether I actually do actively invite Christ to be a part of my life.
Many things have raced through my mind since then, but one of the first things that came to my mind and stuck there since is that Christ has already made the invitation. He wants to be a part of my life, in my life. What am I doing to respond to His invitation and make room for Him, His influence, and His atonement?
I pray that the few thoughts I share will inspire you to ponder on how you respond to His invitation and allow Christ to be a part of your life.
Foundationally, how we can do this is summed up by King Benjamin. After sharing a beautiful synopsis of the life of Jesus and His mission, King Benjamin offered counsel for how we can accept Christ into our lives: We must become as children being submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, and willing to submit to the Lord as children submit to their parents.
We can only achieve this if Christ is at the focus of our lives. For me and probably many of you, this is more difficult to put into practice than it probably should be.
A big way I accept His invitation and actively focus on Him is through music. I enjoy a good country or pop song, but by listening to music that helps me think about Him I am better able to heed his invitation. The same goes for any media I consume—TV, movies, books, memes and other online content—I have noticed that the media I let in can greatly change my thoughts and feelings and therefore my actions. Music especially helps me pivot from negative feelings and thoughts to positive and celestial thinking.
Two summers ago, on the last full day of a two-week Utah tour with the Bhattaram family from Virginia, we visited Temple Square and watched a film about temples at the Conference Center. I was touched and felt the Spirit, but I also felt despair as the film emphasized the sealing of families. This is something I desire. I want an eternal companion who is also a companion in this life. I want children and to be a father, but these don’t fit into my current reality as a gay member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And, for some reason that August day in 2021, this hit me very hard, so hard that after I dropped my guests off at their hotel, I was overwhelmed and began to cry in my car. But then, I turned on the radio and heard these words:
Todo va a estar bien , Everything will be alright
Father, You say everything is gonna be alright, But my circumstances say I won’t last through the night, I need Your word to hold me now, need You to pull me through, I need a miracle, a breakthrough, I need You
They say You hold the whole universe in Your hand, But my world’s falling apart like it is made of sand, Am I small enough to slip through the cracks? Can You take my broken pieces and put them back?
… Todo va a estar bien, Everything will be alright
“Be Alright” by Danny Gokey, Evan Craft, and Redimi2
My tears quickly changed from despair to immense gratitude as a strong feeling of love rushed over me, and I knew that everything will be alright.
Another song has helped me time and time again when things have felt hopeless, when I felt completely alone, when I cried in my room or car, when I thought it may be better for me to not be here. As I prepared for this talk, I felt that I should sing it for you. With permission from the bishop and the help of Rena at the piano, this is “My Little Prayer” by David Archuleta.
Note: I sang this song as part of my talk, but here is a YouTube video of David Archuleta singing it.
Another way that I accept Christ’s invitation and let Him into my life is by making it a priority to listen to his servants.
While living in Beijing, Elder Gong visited in May of 2018. When I found out there would be a devotional for the international district members, I began making arrangements to attend.
I was in a bad place emotionally and mentally. Just a few months before, I had ended my last dating relationship after an extremely awkward trip to Spain. I had been really low since then and struggling with what life would hold for me and how to move forward. I needed to be there at Elder Gong’s devotional. I cancelled my classes and told my boss I would going to a church meeting on that date.
As the day approached, I prayed earnestly for some kind of interaction with Elder Gong, to have a chance to speak with him before or after the meeting. I was desperate.
The evening came. I left work early, arrived at the branch house, and was asked to sit on the stand since I would be saying the opening prayer. No, I didn’t have a one-to-one with Elder Gong, but during his talk he spoke of the recent changes to Melchizedek priesthood quorums. He then unexpectedly turned to me and asked me to join him at the podium.
At the time, I was serving as the Elders Quorum president in the Beijing 1st Branch, and he wanted me to share my thoughts on the recent changes. As I did, he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and all of my worries and concerns washed away. I felt the power of Christ and the healing of the atonement come over me. It was just what I needed.
By making the effort to attend this meeting where one of Christ’s chosen servants would be speaking, even if it was selfishly doing so on my part, Christ accepted my efforts and consecrated them to my good answering my prayers.
There are many other ways I heed Christ’s invitation and let him be a part of my life, but I’ll only share one more. A big way I’ve focused on Him and put Him first is making time for the temple.
Living in Beijing, the nearest temples were in a plane trip away. So, as I planned my travels, I tried to build temple time into my itinerary, often spending one or two full days in the House of the Lord.
While tracing the missionary footsteps of my great grandfather in South Africa, I spent a couple of days in the Johannesburg Temple. I wrote the following the first evening I was there:
Today, was another special experience in the temple. Of course, the temple wasn’t here when he was, being built in 1985, but he was there with me tonight. I could feel his presence in the chapel while waiting and then at the veil and in the celestial room. The words at the veil never rang more profound than this evening as I spoke about my posterity being blessed throughout all time. I thought about how Stephen Roy Boswell’s posterity has been blessed by his faithfulness and how he is being blessed by ours. God loves all of his children so, so much! I am so grateful for his mercy and love toward me. I am a flawed person. I am a weak person. I struggle and succumb to temptation. No matter what, he still loves me. He encourages me and forgives me. I wish more people could feel this love as strongly as I do today.
I know that the holy temple is the House of the Lord, a place where the veil is thin and where heaven and earth mingle. I encourage each of you to make the temple a priority in your lives.
If we focus on Him, if we seek to humble ourselves and become as children—meek, patient, full of love, and willing to submit to God—we are doing the best we can to accept Christ’s invitation and in turn invite him into our lives. I am far from perfect, and my story and journey are my own. Please don’t compare anyone you know to me. We are all on a personal journey.
I end with my testimony that Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh. He is our brother, our savior, our redeemer. Through Him, we will find hope, joy, and peace. Because of His atonement, the Holy Spirit can provide comfort and direction. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the church of Jesus Christ with his power and authority to bind on earth and in heaven. God is our loving Father who in his infinite wisdom and love has provide this path for us to make it through this mortal journey full of trials and pain. He loves us. He loves us. This, I testify, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.