Jessica's talk on Mother's day

Jessica spoke as the Youth Speaker (her last Youth talk) in Sacrament meeting on Mother's Day, May 9.

"Spencer W. Kimball once said that there is no greater calling or service in life than being a mother.  Today I would like to honor three mothers that have personally touched my life and made me who I am today.

The first one I'd like to speak on is Suzannah Merrit (my Great Great Great ….. grandmother). She grew up in Windsor Castle where her father was the head steward to the King.  She married a Lord in Grimsby, England.  She enjoyed a life of luxury with many servants.  She met the LDS missionaries in the early 1850's and was baptized along with her four children.  However, her husband was a devote member of the church of England and refused to have anything to do with the gospel.  She had a difficult choice ahead of her - whether to follow her heart and the spirit telling her to go to Zion in America with her children or to stay in England in a castle and life of luxury with her husband.  She ended giving up everything and left her husband and took her children across the ocean and across the Great Plains with only possessions that would fit in a wagon.  She had such great faith and courage to do what is right and be willing to give up everything so that her children could grow up in the gospel and be united with other saints in Zion.  Her husband paid their way and had no hard feelings for her choice.

The second mother that has made a great impact on me in my life is my Grandma Lowe.  She passed away approximately 9 years ago and I still miss and think of her often because of the type of person she was and the Christlike example she was to me.  She was such a giving and charitable person and I know many were touched by her sweet spirit.   When my father was 12 years old his family lived in Okinawa, Japan.  He had a ruptured appendicitis and the doctors were not able to remove all the infection as it spread through out his entire body.  The doctors told my grandma and grandpa that they were doing all they could but there was a good chance that my father was not going to survive as his temperature steadily rose - all the way to 106 degrees.  My Grandmother Lowe was not going to give up though.  That night, she prayed and pleaded to her Heavenly Father and made a covenant with him that if he would save her youngest son, she would dedicate the remainder of her life to Him and serving the Lord.  Now you have to understand my grandmother was already a very spiritual person but after this experience where my father regained his health, my grandmother kept her covenant and dedicated the rest of her life serving the Lord.  My Grandmother Lowe is the most Christ like person I know.  She was honestly a saint and had so much love and compassion for everyone around her.

The third person I would like to talk about is my own mother.  As many of you know I have played Varsity Basketball for my high school for the past three years.  The last two years my mother has been the "team mom" making sure my teammates and I are fed on game days, communicating to other parents, organizing the end of the season banquet, and many other duties that are very time consuming.  She also took stats for my team and has not missed a game for the past two years.  Not to mention she also goes to all my brother's soccer games and practices which he plays about 10 months of the year.  She goes to my brother's and sister's cross country practices and meets as much as she can.  Always driving us around to all of our multiple activities giving up hours and hours of her own time.  She cooks, cleans, works as a substitute teacher, has a church calling, was PTSA President of the middle school for four years, and is currently team mom of my track team!  I'm telling you the girl is wonderwoman!  When my prom dress needed altering to make it modest, she was there to fix it.  After I was accepted to BYU and stressed about where I was going to live, she took care of it.  If I come home late after hanging out with my friends or being on a date, my mother is always awake waiting for me to make sure I arrived home safely.  I could go on and on about my mother and how amazing she is but my time is limited.  To get to the bottom line, my mother is an amazing person.  She is sweet, kind, charitable, smart, funny, steadfast in the gospel and is fearless when it comes to doing whatever it takes to provide and be there for her children.  I love you mom :)

In conclusion, I know that behind every prophet and every great person, there is a mother who helped mold and teach that child.  The role of motherhood is often downplayed and taken for granted in todays society - which is such a shame because there is truly no greater calling or service in life than being a mother.

I would like to bear my testimony that I know that this church is true and that all you women and mothers of the church are such wonderful examples to me personally.  You are such a great strength and driving force in the Lords plan for his children and continuing growth in this gospel.  Make sure you go out of your way to let your mother know how much you love and appreciate her not just on Mother's day, but every day.  By doing this I know you will be blessed and your relationship with your mother will greatly benefit.  I am so grateful for the mothers who have influenced me and touched my life - I know I am a better person for it.  I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.