Merrill Osmond - Fireside Transcript

Merrill Osmond - Fireside - Independence, Missouri - September 17, 2000

Before we get started could we do something? Would you mind looking to your right and to the left and shake the hand of the person next to you, just say hello (there you go). Now turn right around behind you and say "hi." Now - we've made new friends.

What a wonderful occasion it is to be here brothers and sisters. When Brother North called us months ago to consider doing this, we of course were very excited for the obvious reasons. We love this part of the vineyard, we love missionary work and we love speaking about the Gospel. Now, there are a few of us here so we're going to keep out talks down to a minimum so we don't get too long. We're going to talk to you about some things that mean a lot to us.

Brothers and sisters, many years ago President Kimball brought me into his office at church headquarters as he had done on occasion. I'll never forget what he said to me that day. He looked me right in the eye and said, "Merrill you need to go to Missouri and make friends." That was the most profound thing that I have ever heard from a Prophet directly to me. My brothers and I have been in Missouri for a little over ten years, and we're making friends. The more we get to know people that are coming into this wonderful state, the more humble we become, because we know in our hearts that this place is being prepared.

President Kimball told me that the people who would come here would be the pure hearted people. He said you'll be seeing the Samoans and you'll be seeing the Lamanites, you'll be seeing Native American people. When I walked in the chapel today, and I looked around and I saw the Lamanites, the Samoans, I about fell on the ground with tears. The impact for me, this day has been overwhelming. I'm honored to be in your presence.

You know if you would have told the brothers ten years ago that there was a law in the books in the State of Missouri, stating that it was ok to shoot a Mormon on site, we wouldn't have believed that. But we found out that it was true (laughter). I guess we've come a long way since those days.

I'll never forget the day, when during one of our performances in Branson, Missouri, right in the middle of our gospel song, a bus load of religious groups got up and walked out on us. In the lobby, they said, "How dare a cult sing about Jesus? How could they do such a thing when they do not believe in Jesus Christ?" That hurt us, because Jesus Christ is everything to us. To see how far we've come in this state has truly been a humbling experience.

I've got a letter I would like to read, that states how far we've
truly come. I have to put my glasses on, I'm getting a
little old (laughter).

September 13, 1994

The Board of Directors of the Council of Churches of the Ozark unanimously voted to welcome the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints into full membership of the Council of Churches.

I realized that your church has been victim to discrimination and anger in the past. However, we are proud and eager to welcome you to be a part of the ecumenical outreach ministry of the Council of Churches.

We would like to take a photograph of your church to display with the other churches on the "member church wall" in the Ministry Center. Also, I would like to formally present a copy of this photograph to your church family, in any way which is appropriate to you.

I found your video "A Profile of Faith," to be both informative and enjoyable. I would like to have a copy of the video to share with anyone who may be critical of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Of course, I will be happy to purchase it.

I welcome and value your involvement with the Council of Churches.

Sincerely,

Rev. (Dr.) Dorsey E. Levell
Executive Director

Those of you who are members of the Church understand the adversity and persecution that has gone on. I like to read letters like this and see people who truly see the Mormons as they are.

Anyway folks, I'm also humbled this day to be able to tell you, that I was able to Baptize a wonderful person, the great-great-granddaughter of Joseph Smith, Kim Davis. Since then, others have come into the Church that are a part of her bloodline, and in this audience today there are those who are direct descendants of that wonderful man waiting to hear the truth. There's going to be a lot of descendants of Joseph Smith coming to Branson, Missouri in the next few days to be a part of a wonderful reunion. I have been honored to be invited to this wonderful event.

I've got to tell you one last quick story. When I was about 19 years old, my brothers and
I got a phone call to come into the church office building to meet with the General Authorities. We didn't know if we were going to be exalted or excommunicated (laugher), we were a little bit uptight, we didn't know what was going to happen. We walked into the building, the doors opened and there stood the twelve Apostles and the First Presidency. We were asked to take their seats and we did. They stood behind us, some of the most incredible things were told to the family that day. Some things of course we can't talk about, but I will tell you this, something was said in that meeting that changed my whole life, and I'd like to share it with you. It's getting tougher and tougher out there, President Lee spoke. He stood up and said, whatever decision you make in your life, choose that decision that will bring you closest to the Celestial Kingdom. Whether it's the people you associate with, businesses that you get involved with, or the places that you live to raise your families. If you do, and you think hard about these issues, you'll make the right decisions every time, you'll not stray because you'll always be thinking about what you could do to enter the Heavenly Father's Kingdom. That's truly what has kept our family on track, my dear brothers and sisters. We've made a lot of mistakes but we're trying, we're really trying hard to live up to those kinds of concepts.

Brothers and sisters, I know without a shadow of a doubt, that God loves His kids. I know the Church is true, I have a personal testimony of our dear Prophet, President Hinkley. We have become friends over time, and we've worked together on many projects. It is wonderful to know we have an individual like this man heading up our Church today.

Folks, this is the time for us to truly prepare to meet our Heavenly Father. We need to know that our weaknesses can become our strengths in the end. It's so important to forgive and forget. We need to be more loving, and more Christ-like in our actions.

I love this Church, I love being here this day, and I pray that we'll have
a good time this evening and the Spirit will be with us. I say these
things in the name of Jesus Christ - Amen. ~ Merrill Osmond

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