Opening:
Jake: Hello everyone thank you for joining us tonight live
from Salt Lake City, my name is Jake,
Cami: and I’m Cami and we’re so happy that you’ll be joining
us for the next hour.
Jake: This is the first time ever live face to face youth
event.
Cami: This event is world-wide. Right now we’re connecting
with youth from all around the globe.
Jake: Tonight we have as our special guest, David Archuleta
who recently returned from his mission in Chile.
Cami: He’ll be performing for us tonight, we’ll also be
having a live Q & A, you can ask your questions below or on Twitter using
#LDSface2face. He’s inside, let’s go check it out. He’s right back there!
Jake: Hosting the show tonight will be our young men general
president Brother David L. Beck.
Cami: and our young women general president Bonnie L.
Oscarson.
Jake: Well ladies and
gentlemen it’s time.
Cami: Beginning this night with a song, here is David
Archuleta.
Segment #1 @:59
David sings “If the
Savior Stood Beside Me” accompanied by Kendra Lowe. Song by Sally DeFord.
Sister Oscarson: Well done, that was wonderful.
Brother Beck: Beautiful David, Thank you.
David: Thank you.
Brother Beck: So um, you had some Spanish in that uh song.
David: I did
Brother Beck: And it sounded really, really good.
David: Thank you
Brother Beck: So uh how did your Spanish get so perfected?
David: Well, I don’t know if you’d call it perfected quite
yet, but uh I guess that what happens when you’re serving in Chile for two
years, so…
Sister Oscarson: Did you speak Spanish before your mission?
David: You know what, I didn’t a whole lot. Even though my mom’s from Honduras, I wasn’t
that flu- I understood a good amount, but nothing like now. I’m able to speak
way more now.
Brother Beck: So the Spanish you learned in Chile is a
little different in terms of pronunciation?
David: Oh yeah, yeah. They-when I, when I got back, or when
I’d talked to my mom, ‘cause the missionaries, they’re able to call in twice a
year, and so when I’d call in for Christmas and for Mother’s Day when the
missionaries can, um, I was talking to my mom in Spanish and she’s like “What
are you saying” because it was a different dialect of Spanish or Castilliano,
uh, it was just funny. And my grandma I’d talk to her and she’s like “I don’t
understand him” and she doesn’t really speak a whole lot of English which is
kind of funny.
Brother Beck: Wow!
Sister Oscarson: Sounds good to me though.
Brother Beck: Absolutely. Well uh, it’s, it’s just so great
to have you here.
David: Thank you.
Brother Beck: And uh appreciate you coming. We’ve got a lot
of questions from youth all over the world.
David: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Brother Beck: And uh, uh, shall we start and…?
David: Sure, yeah.
Brother Beck: Ok, we got uh, we got Marin who asks this
question. I think it’s really appropriate, uh, how has music changed your life?
I think your music has really impacted a lot of people, but how, how has it
impacted you?
David: How has it impacted me? Man, well we were just
speaking a little bit about my music background in the Spanish chat and I was,
I think just, once again I mentioned it in the Spanish one but, just how Marina,
the music it just has helped me understand myself better. Things, I always had
a hard time talking and communicating. Bad communication skills, and I was
anti-social and people in school knew me for the kid who didn’t talk. But the
kid who was smiling all the time I guess. But, music was a way for me to me to understand
how I was feeling. I was like, I feel this way, what am I feeling? And I would start
singing and I was like oh, now I get it, now I understand what I’m feeling.
Sister Oscarson: At what age did you start singing? Because
it might be kind of interesting for the youth to know when you kind of started
to know that this is where you wanted to go with your life.
David: Yeah, well I mean we started Christmas caroling when
I was like 3, but I wasn’t really singing then I was just wearing the Santa
hats with my cousins and my siblings but, when I was, it really started when I
was 6 years old, is when I just, started just singing all the time, all over
the house, I didn’t really think of it as professional, but I just liked doing
it. I didn’t have the greatest voice, but I just liked it, I liked how I felt
when I sang, I loved listening to songs and I’d like analyze them and... Maybe
I didn’t, I didn’t think of it technically when I was 6 years old, but I paid a
lot of attention to how I felt, like how a song would made me feel, make me
feel.
Brother Beck: We’ve got a lot of questions that have come in
asking about what a mission is and how your mission was for you, and could you
just talk, you know just share some thoughts and feelings about your mission.
David: Yeah, I, man, for, well to explain a mission in a
nutshell…I guess its-
Sister Oscarson: You know it might be interesting for you to
explain what a missionary does on his mission because maybe we have some of
those that are not familiar with the missionaries.
David: Yeah, um, well a missionary. Well I don’t know if you
guys have seen the, for those of you who, maybe some of you out there are not
familiar with what, who the missionaries are, the Mormon missionaries, they’re
the ones that uh, have the name tag, and usually they’re riding their bikes
around with a shirt and a tie. And, what missionaries do, they just teach, they
teach people about the teachings of Jesus Christ or his gospel is another way
of saying it. And, as a missionary you dedicate two years of your life and you
get away from everything, you don’t even have internet, well I guess once a
week you can talk to your family for an hour, but other than that you don’t
have internet, you’re not just calling people whenever you want, and you don’t
have TV. Everything that you do 24-7, from the minute you wake up to the time
you go to bed is about serving other people.
Sister Oscarson: Was it hard for you to give up those things
like the internet and cell phones and…?
David: You know what, I thought it’d hard, but it was such,
I just felt free, It was like, I don’t have anything distracting me, I can hear
my own thoughts better, I’m more in tuned with the guidance of God and his
Spirit. And so, I mean as a missionary you try to, you try to keep this feeling
with you all the time, like always. And that feeling is called the spirit, and
it comes with you when you read and you pray and when you obey the commandments
of God, and that’s why the mission is so AWESOME ‘cause you just, you feel a
change happening in you, because you’re able to that and focus on it
constantly. And you’re not perfect, I wasn’t perfect, but it’s hard to be
obedient all the time, or keep your mind focused all the time. But the fight,
just it’s like you know what, this, I just came here to focus, and I want to
help people, and I want to have that feeling with me, I want to have that
spirit ‘cause that will change everything you do it the day, so.
Brother Beck: Something we hear a lot from return
missionaries is how much they love the people that they served, and how that
just goes with them from the mission, that love. And, we have uh, April from
Chicago she asks, what have you learned from the Chilean culture? That’s an
interesting question.
David: Yeah, oh, the Chilean culture. Well, I learned, wow,
you know, I love Chile, oh! And it’s a lot like my home, our home Utah. Just
there are mountains on both sides, at least in Rancagua where I was, you’re
just surrounded by mountains and I just love that feeling, I feel protected, I
feel like secure. And, the people are just really laid back, they’re really
easy going, and they were pretty honest as well, and I liked that, they’re
just, they’re pretty honest on what was on their minds, what they were
thinking, and how they felt. They were very honest with how they felt a lot too
and I liked that. But the food as well, and I mean I uh, I’m always going to
talk about food because I’m a food lovee, lover, foodie.
Sister Oscarson: As a matter a fact that’s one of the
questions from Canadian Archie.
David: Oh Yeah
Sister Oscarson: I assume she’s from Canada so, she says,
“What were some of your favorite Chilean dishes?
David: Yeah, well yeah, going along with the Chilean
culture, I, you know they eat these, they eat hot dogs, but they’re not your
typical hot dogs. I didn’t really eat hot dogs a whole lot but I love these
Chilean ones ‘cause they’re called Completos, and the difference with them, is
they, so it’s a hot dog in a bun but then they put tomatoes, diced tomatoes and
then they put a bunch of avocado, like um mushed avocado. And it is so good
‘cause I love avocados. So, that’s their like the most common thing I guess
that they eat, and of course Empanadas, they have a lot of Empanadas. And then they
have this thing called Mote
con Huesillo that they drink
during the summer which is um, well, if we start talking about food I might
take the whole hour talking about this so maybe, but it’s good…
Sister Oscarson: Tell me what an Empanada is though.
David: Empanada? Ok, let me think, so it’s like a dough, so
it’s a dough, it’s hard to explain in English. They get a dough out and they
just stuff, they fill it with, there’s cheese, you can put cheese in them, and,
or you can put like meat and cooked onions, carameled onions or something like
that, caramelized onions, or you can put chicken, or they put corn and cheese
and it’s so good. Just talking about it makes my mouth water. But I like the
baked kind. But, they either bake them or fry them, they’re just good.
Sister Oscarson: Sounds like you were well fed on your
mission.
David: Ohhh yeah! Wow, I gained a lot…
Brother Beck: Did you gain weight on your mission?
David: I did and I had to lose it, so you know, exercise was
important for me. I’m trying to keep the exercise going after the mission.
Sister Oscarson: One of the biggest questions that, that
keeps coming up with youth for instance MariJean from the Philippines asked
what was one of things that motivated you to go on a mission in the midst of a
really successful music career?
David: Yeah, um, well, once again, I had, I had mentioned this
in the Spanish one and it got me thinking a little more about the whole
experience. Cause, a mission was something I, I’ve always wanted to do. It’s
never, it was never necessarily like, oh well, I’m doing this, well forget
about a mission, see ya, chow, um it was something that always, it’s like I
always would have liked to do it. And when I got to the age I wondered about
it. And a lot of people said “well you don’t have to go on a mission.” “You’re
already doing a lot of good where you’re at. You’re probably doing a lot more
good where you are now than if you were to leave and go to a different country,
and you know leave the face of the earth.” But, and I thought at first, well maybe
this is my mission in life, where, and, and you know part of it is, you know
music’s part of my mission in life. But I was never ok, satisfied with just,
don’t, like not going on a mission. I felt like there was something I needed
from that experience. There was, and I kind of, I kind of talked about this
too, like, I felt like there was someone waiting for me. And at the time I wasn’t
sure exactly what happened, now I, I know, I know who those people are, those
people are and their faces and experiences and getting to know them and
watching them change, and then me changing was just amazing.
Sister Oscarson: Yeah, those are life time eternal
relationships really. The ones that you, that you bring into the church, that
you touch their lives, so.
David: Yeah
Brother Beck: Is there one in particular you’d like to
share, a person or story?
David: Oh, there are so many people that you get to meet on
your mission. You know people who are members of your church then people who
aren’t members of the church. Strangers you get to meet and become friends with
and just grow to love and you just serve, and it’s so crazy, you’re just on the
street and you just want to help people. And it’s like you know what, this is
what my time is for, I came here to help people. And so everything, you know
you don’t have a phone, you don’t have internet, you’re not saying what movies
my friends are going to tonight, nothing, what are people saying on my Twitter,
no, everything is about what can I do for someone. And you get to do that
constantly and just watch people’s reactions. You just feel different doing
that. But, then getting to teach people, help teach them principles that can change
their lives or can help them. What I loved, there is a quote, if you know who
said this, maybe it was one of the presidents of the church said the gospel of
Jesus Christ helps bad people become good and helps good people become better. And
so a lot of, a lot of times people would be like, why do we need, why do we
need to talk to you, tell me how you can help me? It’s like you know, we’re not
here to tell everybody’s a sinner and you need to repent, but, this will help
your life, it will improve it, and it makes, you know, I’m sure you’re good,
you know, we’ve met a lot of great people, but it helps good people become
better. And I met some of those pretty awesome people who, man I don’t even
know, well, there was one family that I just absolutely loved and they were
just great, you know they were really close with their kids and just as a
family together but they felt like something was missing, and just getting to
teach them and see the change happen. Inviting them to you know, do things, and
like you know try living this commandment, try following this principle, come
to church, or trying praying as a family every day and see what it does. And,
helping them get closer to who Jesus Christ was. And, it just, wow, I don’t
know, I think you have to go on a mission to know what I’m talking about here
and experience it.
Brother Beck: But it is the joy of service that comes
through. You can just feel it. And it’s something that so many people don’t
understand just how much happiness can come when we serve, and you have to
experience that really to understand that don’t you?
David: Yeah.
Brother Beck: Yeah.
Sister Oscarson: Well every mission has its highs and lows
too. We have a question here from Trenton, who doesn’t say where he’s from. But
um, he asks, “what were the biggest struggles you faced on your mission and how
were you able to overcome and grow from such trials?”
David: Well, yeah…that’s uh
Sister Oscarson: Did you ever experience home sickness, or
were you anxious or uncertain?
David: Yeah, it’s, that’s something that, at the beginning I
did, you know, you missed home, where it’s like, oh, I’m not with my siblings,
I don’t, I don’t know what’s going on, what they’re doing, I miss my mom.
Sister Oscarson: Yeah and the culture shock. Oh, yeah, your
mom will be glad to hear that.
David: Yeah, the cultural shock. But, then you just remember,
“It’s like well, why was I willing to come here in the first place, why did I
leave all of that? Why?” And, just thinking, well I came here to serve the
Lord, I came here because, I don’t know if necessarily you know if maybe I felt
like He, He needed me to do it, but I needed it, I know that I did so He knew
that I needed Him you know too.
Sister Oscarson: Well I think that’s the great thing about
missions, it’s for both of you, it’s both for you and your conversion and for
those that you will reach and teach too.
David: Yeah
Brother Beck: There’s a great missionary anthem “Called to
Serve” that uh, missionaries love to sing, I don’t know if you still sing it
or?
David: Oh yeah, yeah.
Brother Beck: Is that maybe something you’d uh maybe
consider singing tonight?
David: yeah, of course, I have that one actually prepared.
Sister Oscarson: Every future, and present and past
missionary would love to hear that tonight.
David: OK, yeah, my pleasure
Brother Beck: Thank you.
David: I have to get it out in English here.
Segment #2 @ 20:36
David sings “Called to
Serve” LDS hymn #246. Accompanied by Kendra Lowe, music by Adam Geibel.
Sister Oscarson: That’s great!
Brother Beck: I’ve heard that song sung a lot David, but
I’ve never heard it sung like that.
David: Oh man!
Sister Oscarson: Did you sing it like that at the MTC when
you were there?
David: Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know if we sang it like
that, but…
Sister Oscarson: Or when you were standing there singing
with the other missionaries did they stop and go, is that David Archuleta?
David: Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know I didn’t pay attention
really to that, but.
Sister Oscarson: That brings up a good question, did people
recognize you, in, when you got to Chile?
David: In Chile? You know what, they didn’t a whole lot,
which is nice.
Sister Oscarson: Yeah, probably you were able to do what you
were there for.
David: I was able to, yeah, So I was able to get the door
slammed in my face all the time, I was still able to, I don’t know get people
yelling all kinds of things at you. But, people sincerely, you know, seeing if
people are sincerely interested. But there were times also when people did know
who I was, and it caught their attention, it’s like what are you doing in
Chile? What is, what’s you’re get up?
Sister Oscarson: It’s a good chance for you to tell them.
David: Yeah, so it was really neat as well. It was a great,
it was a great tool to, well I mean, not just who I was but music as well.
Sister Oscarson : Yeah, I was going to say I bet you did use
music to uh help bring the spirit.
David: Yeah, yeah. What was really nice is because most
people didn’t know who I was, just getting someone to listen without any
expectation, without just like, ooh David Archuleta is singing to me, it was
just OK, let me see what you’re going to sing to me. I don’t know who you are,
I’m just walking down the street or you’re just, you’re here standing at my
door, this is kind of interesting. And then being able to sing a song, and a
lot of times people would even, you know they wouldn’t be interested in what we
had to say, like I don’t know you’re just a bunch of religious people at my
door step trying to I don’t know, convince me of something else now. But when
you’re able to, you know it’s like well will you at least listen to a song?
Sister Oscarson: So you used your music as a door approach
then.
David: Yeah, yup.
Sister Oscarson: Good for you. That’s very creative.
David: yeah, yeah it was fun. It was great.
Sister Oscarson: Did you ever do that on your mission
Brother Beck?
Brother Beck: No they would have really slammed, they
wouldn’t have even…they would have done worse than slam the door on me.
David: No, you know when…
Sister Oscarson: I’d be interested to know, what was their
reaction when you started singing because obviously you don’t have, you don’t
have our kinds of singing voices.
David: Well half of the time I would sing, like a lot of
times I’d sing on my own but a lot of times I would just sing with my
companion. Because I think you know he had the same purpose as I did. And it’s
not like, well I sing better so I’m going to help people feel the spirit not
you. It wasn’t like that, it’s like we both, if we’re both dedicated to this,
we both believe what it’s saying, they’re going to feel the spirit. And so, a
lot of times, especially in the beginning of my mission when I didn’t know what
to say, I didn’t speak Spanish and on top of that I wasn’t good at talking, um
teaching, it’s like, just listen to the song ‘cause it says what we’re here
for. And to see people and to see their faces change and have, and then they’d
invite us in. A lot of people it’s like wow, they always talked about the
feeling they felt and it need to see that it was not with any biased opinion to
know that they felt something and they felt the spirit. And they understood our
purpose even better.
Brother Beck: Oh that’s great, music is so powerful.
Sister Oscarson : Yeah it is
David: Yeah.
Brother Beck: So uh, we’ve got a question from a young woman
in Brazil, Dadeeny. If you weren’t a singer, what would you be?
David: Hmmm (laugh), wow, you know that’s a good question
Dadeeny. I think something that I’ve been interested, I love just watching
people. I love observing them. And that’s partly why I love, maybe why I loved
the mission so much. You get to meet people, you get to see how they are, their
lifestyles, their culture, their beliefs, their problems. And to see the way
their decisions and the beliefs changes the way they live, their lifestyle, or
what they look towards in the future, or why they are the way they are. And
that’s something that’s always been something that’s fascinated me. So I’ve
always liked things kind of like that. Like I’ve thought about learning more
about psychology or I don’t know, sociology or…
Sister Oscarson: ‘Cause just a people watcher doesn’t pay a
whole lot but maybe….
David: (laughs) A people watcher doesn’t.
Brother Beck: But it certainly influences your music
Sister Oscarson: It does.
David: Yeah.
Brother Beck: Yeah, you observe and you respond.
David: Yeah, well that’s, I guess I didn’t think about it
that way, yeah. I think uh, with music and especially like I’ve always kind of
said, it’s like you, a lot of times singers have to be interpreters. They have
to put themselves in someone else’s shoes. And I don’t think that’s just, it’s
not just music that did that for me, I’ve always liked that, ever since I was
little I remember just, I’ve always wanted to understand other people. And
maybe that’s had some kind of effect on music. It definitely had an effect on
me my mission and why I wanted to go on a mission just to not only understand
the way people work and just say OK, that’s nice, but be able to say you know
what, I understand, and this is what’s helped me, and I know it will help you.
And it was just cool to be able to combine all of that on the mission.
Brother Beck: Which is uh so important for a missionary to
be able to really seek to understand those that they meet and what their needs are
and be able to interpret those needs and, and be responsive to those needs.
Great missionaries do that. You’re a great missionary.
David: (laughs) Well I don’t know if I was a gr…, well I
learned a lot that’s for sure. But thank you.
Sister Oscarson: This is an interesting question from
Macarena in Ecuador. Think that’s a real name? You think?
David. Macarena.
Sister Oscarson: Macarena?
David: Yeah
Sister Oscarson: Ok I thought it was a dance, so.
David: (laughs) that too, well it’s a…
Sister Oscarson: But it must come from a name.
David: It does, it comes from a name. (laughs)
Sister Oscarson: Well anyway, she asks, she asks the
question, “How do you keep your life in harmony with the Lord even though
you’re surrounded by a lot of worldly influences?” She says by fame, money and
popularity.
David: Yeah you know actually, I think I, we talked, this
question came up in the Spanish one too and it’s a great question. So it’s,
just…what I had said before in the Spanish chat is, well I don’t know if I
remember what I said, but in uh…like the question is how was it, did it
effect…?
Sister Oscarson: How do you keep your life in harmony with
the Lord? Um how can you be in the world you’re in I guess is the question
because it is a, it is a tough environment sometimes I’m guessing, um and how
do you stay in tune with the spirit when you’re, when you’re surrounded by
these worldly influences.
David: Yeah, you know it’s so interesting because, I don’t, there
are a lot, especially in the entertainment indus, life in general I mean I talk
to my sisters and see what’s going on in the high school and junior high but
they’re going through the a lot same things I am in my work.
Sister Oscarson: It’s, it’s true the youth are surrounded by
some things that…
David: But, a lot of people try to tell you, you know this is
what’s going to make you happy, this is what’s going to make you feel good, and
sometimes you believe them, sometimes you do. Like you know making a lot of
money is what’s going to make you feel good. Or you’re going to be successful,
you know you’re going to be successful when everybody knows you’re name or
everybody recognizes you, or people are screaming your name and things. And
sometimes you believe them it’s like well, maybe that’s what success is. But
after going through it, it’s like well, ok that was cool, I got an adrenaline
rush, but why do I not feel any like better about myself? Why do I not feel
successful? And it’s like look for it and it’s missing. And that happened to
me. Like when the first, I remember just after doing you know American Idol and
having the first album come out and all of that, I… you know everyone was
telling me you know this is what happiness is, aren’t you on cloud 9? You must just
be so happy right now. It’s like well I guess I’m happy but at the same time I
was missing something. Because everyone was telling me to look in here, and
telling me, if you do this you’ll be you’ll feel better. I just didn’t, I was
like, what’s wrong, it’s not working, why don’t I feel good? And I started
getting depressed, I started feeling down. And I kept trying to convince myself
that everyone was right when I knew they weren’t. And I, that’s when I started
realizing, you know what, I’m forgetting the things that always made me happy.
And those things when I started doing them like my family, or remembering who
like I was, that God was there, he had a plan for me, I was His son. And if
living like a certain way, the way he asked me to, makes you feel good. And I
started doing that again. And I wasn’t, you know during that time I didn’t
consider myself inactive, but I wasn’t going to church. ‘Cause people said you
don’t have time to go to church. I was like OK, and some people would even say
“well God will understand that you can’t go to church.” But after a few months
I didn’t realize how it was affecting me. And after that I started, I made a
New Year’s resolution, it was like you know what, I need to go to, I need to
get my things in order here, going to church and spending more time with my
family even though like I’d have to fly on the weekends back home and it wasn’t
convenient exactly but in the end it was because I’d rather, my family, I need
to be with them, I need to be with my sisters. I’m still, we’re still all
young.
Sister Oscarson: What a powerful message for the youth to
hear from you.
Brother Beck: And the mission really helps to show that
contrast of life in the world and life when you’re pursuing the things God
wants you to do. Isn’t it just some bright lights the difference you feel and
what you should do?
David: Yeah, what I realized, you know actually my, the
pianist here Kendra she was actually my first, the first band I had she was the,
she was the keyboardist and went on tour with me, and she, so she still comes.
And she was the only LDS member I had on the road with me. And she said “well,
would you like to go to church?” And I said “well, we can’t go to church, we
are busy today.” And she’s like “well, well look, I found a church that starts
at 9 O’clock. You don’t, you’re not closed and confined until noon. What if we
just went to sacrament meeting? I was like oh, and you know before people told
me I couldn’t go. Like they told me, like I couldn’t. And then I realized, you
know what, I have more of a say than I thought I did, and I went, I started
going to church every week. And we were traveling all over the place, but we
were able to go to church.
Sister Oscarson: And did that, what difference did that make
in your life?
David: It was huge, ‘cause it just made me realize, I can
still be myself who I want to be, and still keep the things that matter to me
with me, it didn’t matter what other people said. And even before that like I
was afraid to telling people I’m a Mormon, oh they’re going to think I’m a
weirdo. But I still went to church, I still read my scriptures but I was, I
wouldn’t even tell people like my religion, my beliefs. And that completely
changed, now. I just, I just don’t care, that’s why we’re doing this I don’t
mind. But it made such an impact on me and it made me realize I can keep my
priorities and I don’t have to change them for anybody.
Brother Beck: David this question just came in from Jackson,
uh, he’s in Utah. He writes, David I am here with my Priest Quorum listening.
David: Ah no way!
Brother Beck: What do you wish you would have done to
prepare for your mission?
David: What do I wish? (laughs) Wow!
Sister Oscarson: Oh and in connection with that, this-this
is a good one, somebody named Limhi. I don’t know where he’s from, if you
could, Book of Mormon. If you could go back to the past and tell yourself some
advice to be more prepared to serve the Lord, what would, what would you say?
David: (Laughs) Well to Limhi and to the Priest quorum, to??
Brother Beck: Jackson
David: To Jackson and the Priest quorum, I would have liked
probably, I would have liked to have studied Preach My Gospel more. Which is
like a missionary handbook, tells you like how to prepare, and what you need to
know to be a missionary. And you realize you don’t know, you don’t, well I was
like, I don’t have the whole, I don’t have all the scriptures...I don’t have
the Bible and the Book of Mormon memorized, I’m not going to be able to teach
people, but you don’t have to. You just have to be willing to dedicate yourself
and to learn. To know a good enough amount, but to be teachable, you have to be
teachable on the mission and Preach My Gospel prepares you how it like, teaches
you how to be teachable does that make sense?
Sister Oscarson and Brother Beck: Sure, yes it does. Oh
yeah, absolutely.
Brother Beck: It’s a great resource to.
David: It is. And you’re going to be studying that every day
on your mission, so might as well start now. I mean the, chapter 10 was such a
huge, I think it’s Teaching Skills in English. Teaching Skills I think, that
one is a huge help for me, it was a huge help. And then there’s the…
Sister Oscarson: And we hope all those Priests out there,
are you listening?
David: Yeah and in seminary…
Sister Oscarson: The whole quorum.
David: Yeah, and you know another thing I said in the
Spanish one, because there was a similar question to this is aside from the
things that honestly we’re always told to do and we hear it so many times that
we kind of overlook them. But, if you’re reading your scriptures daily, if
you’re praying and keeping you’re keeping your con, communication, keeping in
touch with God daily, if you’re going to church and paying attention, and
seeing how you can serve there, you are preparing for your mission. And another
thing that I mentioned was something that helped me so much was being able to
go to the temple. Before my mission, you know after realizing I could go to
church every week, I made it a goal to go to the temple every week, and that
was such a huge help to me. Because you are not with any distractions, you’re
just there with the Lord in the house of the Lord, and just talking to him and
you can hear him so clearly. You know we, we all feel the spirit, like we can
feel those promptings of the spirit in our lives. But in the temple it’s
different, and it’s just clearer. You can ask him questions and say, “Heavenly
Father so I’m doing this, what can I do better to prepare? And you receive that
guidance. And you’re doing something great so,
Sister Oscarson: That’s great, yeah that’s…
David: So I would, that was something huge for me is going
to the temple every week.
Brother Beck: Yeah, great advice
Sister Oscarson: Great, great advice. I think we need
another song whata you think?
Brother Beck: Yeah we’ve fired a lot of questions at you so…
Sister Oscarson: Yeah we have
David: Yeah Ok, yeah, no it’s good
Sister Oscarson: Let your brain rest and use your vocal
chords a little here
David: It’s fine, I get to be a little long winded sometimes
talking.
Sister Oscarson: Oh no, you’ve been doing great.
David: Alright.
David sings “I Need
Thee Every Hour” LDS hymn #98 by Annie S. Hawks. Music by: Robert Lowry. Accompanied by Kendra Lowe.
Brother Beck: Wonderful
Sister Oscarson: Absolutely beautiful.
David: Thank you
Sister Oscarson: Thank you.
Brother Beck: Here’s a question that just came in. I think
uh, it’s really interesting. It’s from Allie from Wisconsin. Even though I may
not be LDS, I am Lutheran, you truly inspire me with your faith and ambition,
thank you for that.
David: Oh thank you.
Brother Beck: Um, there are many people with a shared faith and
ambition from different religions. What message of the gospel do you feel seemed
to be universal with everyone you’ve met?
David: Hmmm, well thank you first of all Allie. I think you
know there are a couple of things, the biggest thing I think everybody wants to
feel and looks for, they want to feel loved. Everybody wants to feel like
they’re loved and have a reason that they’re here. And people I think once they
come to know, you know God, or even just feeling loved, they want to give it
back. The more you feel loved, the more you want to love other people. And, to
get to know people and see them missing that, and looking for it, and then
finding it, being able to be there to help them along in finding that through
the gospel of Jesus Christ, through his teachings, and them gaining that desire
to love other people more, because they’re finding themselves, they’re loving
themselves better, was something I saw in everybody. Everybody was looking for
that.
Brother Beck: Yeah, you know I think that’s one of the
sweetest experiences of a mission is to feel God’s love that he has for His
children.
David: yeah, uh-huh
Brother Beck: To really feel that in your heart, and to be
able to try and express that as best you can in serving them.
David: ummhmm
Sister Oscarson: and I think it helps you realize that, that
Heavenly Father, that we are His children, and that he cares about each one of
us and is interested in our lives, and we start to feel a portion of the love
he feels for each one of us. It’s interesting.
David: ummhmm
Sister Oscarson: Um, then, I don’t know how say this name,
this young man from Brazil Venisius?
Bro Beck: Venisius, uh-huh
Sister Oscarson: Venisius from Brazil asks: How has this
mission experience changed your relationship with God?
David: Wow
Sister Oscarson: That’s a good question isn’t it?
David: Yeah, ooh, my mission, and I would imagine it’s, if
other people have served they’ve probably have felt this way too. I thought I
was close to God, I tried you know, to be close to him. Being on a mission and
not thinking about yourself; focusing on serving other people, is what brought
me closer to God than anything else. And making the time to study, really study
the scriptures and realize how important that was, and realizing that I needed
the spirit to be with me in order to be a better missionary, and realizing the
things I needed to change to do that. It’s like I need, I can’t, I thought like
coming to the mission I would, by being obedient and just giving this time I
would, it would be enough and I would become closer to God automatically. Like
a just, like a little you know factory with those little belts that you go on.
But I realized even doing that and even doing all I could, I still, wasn’t
enough if I didn’t have the help of the Lord with me. And that’s when I really
humbled myself and realized how much I needed Him. That even doing my best, (David
gets emotional here) wow, doing all I could, that I was still going to be
imperfect, I was still going to mess up a lot, and I needed Him. Wow,
and…learning what the atonement was of Jesus Christ which is his sacrifice,
when he died for us, when he suffered for our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane,
realizing how to apply repentance, being honest with myself, being honest,
admitting the things I was doing wrong so that I could change them, and
realizing how much I needed that help of the Savior to treat myself better,
love myself better, love other people more, and be closer to God. That is just
something invaluable that I would never, ever trade in my life, and I’m so grateful
I went on a mission ‘cause I did not understand that until I went there and got
rid of all those distractions and all of my priorities that I had, it changed
on my mission.
Sister Oscarson: Well that was beautiful, thank you for
sharing that, that’s a tender experience.
David: Thank You
Brother Beck: You learn a lot of patience with yourself and
with others.
David: Yeah
Brother Beck: One of the interesting aspects of the mission
is uh you have a companion.
David: Oh yeah, yeah (laughs)
Brother Beck: And uh, you have a companion 24-7. And uh, so
this question from Sam, he lives in Nevada is about that he asks um “I stayed
home from a trip to watch this.”
David: Oh really, wow, well thank you…hopefully.
Brother Beck: …and asks, what were your companions like?
David: My companions. It was…Sam
Brother Beck: Sam uh-huh
David: Well Sam, I had, I cannot complain about my
companions. I had, I had 6 from the US, the United States and I had 7 from
Latin America. And they were all just great, like from my first companion and
just him being a go-getter and just being adventurous, Elder Carbahal? from
Argentina, he was my trainer. And he was just full of energy and he just so…he
was just good with people and I was so anti-social like I was not good with
people, it’s like you know what, I don’t know how he does it but he helped me just
learn how to really love people and be yourself. And, to companions that were a
little more difficult as well, I’m not gonna lie. I had some pretty hard
companions and I got in arguments with them. And I, I’ve always tried to be a
peacemaker all my life, but there was one companion I had, it was just hard, like
whether I, we just argued, we’d, but he was one of the best companions I had.
Because there was, even though we fought the most there was probably not one I
was closer to.
Sister Oscarson: Kind of like a brother
David: Yeah, ‘cause when you fi…when you get in an argument,
you get mad, you can’t just go away and avoid it. He’s right there next to you,
when you wake up you know the next day he’s right there. So you have to learn
how to figure out and resolve, uh what are those called those in English?
Brother Beck: Differences or…
David: Differences and yeah, and arguments.
Sister Oscarson: I-I, Sorry to interrupt you, I have to ask
a question, this is, I think this is from my granddaughter.
David: Really, woah wow
Sister Oscarson: Who lives in Portland she’s 15, Waverly in
Portland. Um, she wants to uh know if you have a boy, if you have a girlfriend.
David: If I have a girlfriend (laughs)
Sister Oscarson: Yeah, you know this question had to come up
at some point, so...
David: You know, yeah, they asked it before actually. I, I
don’t currently have a girlfriend. But you know, especially on the mission we
were teaching about families and how they can be together forever, and watching
how happy they are, you can’t help but want that.
Sister Oscarson: Good, good for you
David: So, I’m definitely getting to know people. Before my
mission I was so self-conscience, and I was so focused on work and so self-conscience,
I just, I probably went on one date once a year, a date a year. And, but you
know that is kind of dumb, it’s like you know that’s, a family is one of the
most important things, greatest things that you can have in your life.
Sister Oscarson: Well, here’s a good follow-up question
then, what, what would you say are the most important qualities that you’d look
for in a future wife?
David: Yeah, well…
Sister Oscarson: And, and it’s OK to put in a plug here for
young women and say you know...
David: (laughs) …for young women. You know I actually wrote
a song about this because everyone, there was a time when everyone was saying
well you need a love song, you need a love song, but I didn’t want to talk
about all that kind of sho… you know all that kind of stuff, so there’s a song
and I called it My Kind of Perfect, and so I’m definitely you know, it says, a
lyric in the song it says I’ll keep searching for my kind of perfect, and it’s
definitely, it doesn’t say I’m waiting for my kind of perfect, sitting back
doing nothing, you know you have to go search for that person, ‘cause I learned
you know, you know God will respond when you act. But um, going back to the
list
Sister Oscarson: Yeah, yeah, you’ve been a little vague
there, but that’s OK, maybe it leaves it open.
David: No, yeah, I’ve actually made a list of things and
obviously, you know, I don’t know if it’s cheesy, but I think it’s OK, you know
I think someone needs to love, you know, love the Lord.
Sister Oscarson: That’s not cheesy at all.
David: OK, and I honestly, I would hope they love, well
obviously it’s like a given, they need to love to Lord more than they love me.
‘Cause then they’ll have their priority set. And if they do that, then we can
make the same kinds of goals together and in our family. I feel like, you know
I think you know, that really lines everything up. You know someone who is
confident, sure of themselves, carries themselves well, someone who’s fun to be
with, who can make me laugh, I think that’s important too, but…
Brother Beck: How about a singer?
David: Um, it doesn’t matter, you know it really doesn’t.
They just…
Sister Oscarson: You just made a lot of young women happy.
Brother Beck: Yeah, yeah that’s right
David: (laughs) I mean they have to be supportive in what I
do I guess, someone who hates my music that would be pretty hard, but if it’s someone
who’s obsessed with me that’s kind of weird too. But you know I think someone
who loves the Lord, someone who’s, something I would say a lot is even before
my mission is that I said at a fireside one time, a virtuous young woman,
someone who has virtue. You can look at them and tell that’s someone who gets
what virtue is. And what is virtue it’s
like well I see a lot of, when I think of virtue it’s like someone who, I think
of the temple when I think of virtue, and clean, like something clean and pure
and someone who strives to live their lives that way. It makes just all the difference, and you can
feel something different with them, you learn from them and I don’t know it’s
cool.
Sister Oscarson: That’s a great answer
David: Oh, OK.
Brother Beck: Izzy on Twitter asks, the youth in my ward are
watching and want to know when was the first time you were able to recognize
the spirit?
David: You know, well I have, I don’t have the greatest
memory, but because I would talk a lot about music, I do remember how the
spirit would influence me, and realizing when a song would make you feel closer
and feel better, closer to God and when a song wouldn’t and make you feel kind
of gross inside, kind of dirty and just lacking the feeling. And, I remember
when I was six years old, just songs doing that to me, and things prompting me
to do things. And I was six years old but that doesn’t mean that I, you can
still feel something good. And I didn’t know it at the time, but as I got older
espec… you know, especially when I probably was a teenager I think I just, you
have a whole lot of emotions going through you when you’re a teenager when
you’re trying to find yourself, when I hit 12 and 13 I was just, going through
a whole lot of emotions. But, even more when I, I started realizing how big of
a difference it made in music in my friends, the people I was around. And there
was a time I didn’t surround myself with the greatest people. They didn’t do
the greatest things. But, uh, it makes a, as I got older like 16, I started
realizing how everything impacted the way you felt, or basically now that I
realize is whether you have the spirit with you or not from the conversations
you’ll have, from a movie, and being willing to get up and one time I was with
my sister and people were telling us how a funny movie was and we were watching
it, we just look at each other, we both realized we felt something not with us,
we didn’t feel good and she was like should we leave? And I was like yeah,
let’s go. Even though we paid for it, we both left, and we just, we felt good
afterwards. But every little thing makes a difference from who you choose to
surround yourself with to the songs you listen to, to what you’re thinking
about, and I know it’s hard to control your thoughts and you know sometimes
thoughts just come or something you don’t expect comes across. But doing your
best to just you know “hum your favorite hymn” or something, that, it makes such a difference.
Brother Beck: Right
Sister Oscarson: This has been delightful.
Brother Beck: It sure has.
Sister Oscarson: And you’ve, you are such a great example
for our youth we appreciate that.
David: Thank you
Sister Oscarson: Some of the things you’ve said to give them
advice so, um…
Sister Oscarson: I think we’re about to…
David: Well, I appreciate you guys.
Sister Oscarson: Well thank you, you’re just…
Brother Beck: It’s been great
David: It’s a privilege to be here with you two as well so
thank you
Sister Oscarson: I think we’d like to hear you sing one more
song if…
David: Yeah, I’d love to.
Sister Oscarson: Ok
David: Yeah
Sister Oscarson: We’d love to I’d think everyone else would
love to too.
Brother Beck: Thank you David
Sister Oscarson: Thank you so much.
David: Awww, thank you.
David sings “Spirit of
God” LDS hymn #2. Text: William W. Phelps, 1792-1872. Included in the first LDS
hymnbook, 1835. Accompanied by Kendra Lowe.
(Ending and goodbye’s thank you’s)
