I wanted to share this amazing talk that Scott Sadlier gave in
our branch a few weeks ago. He had an amazing experience sheep herding
for a summer and learned much about the Savior...it changed my life and I
wanted it to change yours!
The talk made me think of these great
scriptures!
Alma 5:
37 O ye workers of iniquity; ye that
are puffed up in the vain things of the world, ye that have professed
to have known the ways of righteousness nevertheless have gone
astray, as sheep having no shepherd, notwithstanding a shepherd hath
called after you and is still calling after you, but ye will not
hearken unto his voice!
38 Behold, I say unto you, that
the good shepherd doth call you; yea, and in his own name he doth
call you, which is the name of Christ; and if ye will not hearken
unto the voice of the good shepherd, to the name by which ye are
called, behold, ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd.
59 For what shepherd is there
among you having many sheep doth not watch over them, that the wolves
enter not and devour his flock? And behold, if a wolf enter his flock
doth he not drive him out? Yea, and at the last, if he can, he will
destroy him.
60 And now I say unto you that
the good shepherd doth call after you; and if you will hearken unto
his voice he will bring you into his fold, and ye are his sheep; and
he commandeth you that ye
suffer no ravenous wolf to enter among you, that ye may not be
destroyed.
-Sister Riggs
Good
Morning,
I
was asked to talk to you today about sheep.
In
April of this year I left for Idaho
to attend BYU for the spring semester. However when I got up to Idaho my plans
quickly changed and I found myself accepting a job on an old potato and sheep
farm in a small town called Hamer. I had no idea what I was getting myself
into…
During
my time on the farm I was taught how to do many things that I never thought I
would do, some fun and some were pretty much just gross. But as time went on I
learned to love it all. One of my responsibilities was to take care of a small
group of about 300 sheep. I was expected to feed them and water them and clean
up after them and sometimes even help them give birth… For about a month I
lived on the farm spending time with these sheep desperately trying to better
understand what sheep were all about. One day while working I remembered that
when I first arrived on the farm I was told that this farm was home to over
7000 sheep and I began to wonder where the rest of the sheep were and why I
only ever saw these same three hundred. This is when I learned about sheep herding…
I
was informed that for about 8 months out of each year all of the sheep were
divided into herds of about 900 and were then shipped out to the wilderness to
feed on the wild grass. Each herd was watched over by one man, “the herder” and
however many dogs he may have. I had no idea that such a thing even existed and
the more I learned about it the more I became interested in whether or not I
would be able to do something like this during my time on the farm. I was told
that if I truly wanted to understand the sheep this would be the route to
take. I discussed this interest with the
farmer and he seemed very pleased with my desire and told me that they were in
need of a herder and that I could leave in two weeks if I wanted to.
So
two weeks later I found myself in the middle of nowhere with the same three
hundred sheep from the farm, some of which were still laden with child, and I
of course had no idea what I was doing. I had at my disposal a horse, a trailer
constructed to house a very small Peruvian man and of course my new sheep
herding pup named Ammon. I felt very much like a missionary again being dropped
of in an unfamiliar area with no experience and a great responsibility to care
for my Heavenly Father's sheep.
The
next couple of months were hard to say the least but very rewarding. My herd
eventually grew from 300 sheep to 700 and I was also given a couple more
experienced dogs to help me along the way. I spent all of my time with the
sheep and grew to love and appreciate them. As I would watch them my mind would
often turn to thoughts of the Savior; especially in my moments of frustration
and weakness. I would think of him and how much he loved me and how patient he
is with me when I am slow to hear his voice or heed his commands. The more I thought of the Savior the more I
realized how much like sheep we truly are. I began to view the sheep's time in
the wilderness as our time here on earth and saw many similarities in the
trials and experiences that we face. For my talk I would like to focus on a
couple of the trials that I saw the sheep endure that reminded me of my own
life.
The
first occurred on almost a daily basis. Each morning and every evening the
sheep would wake up and move together as a herd swiftly across the areas
surrounding my camp, feeding on the grass as they went. As they did so they
were faced with many dangers that came in many forms; including predators,
poisonous plants disguised with beautiful tasty looking flowers, and sudden
extreme changes in the terrain. As I would watch the sheep each day I noticed
that for the most part the sheep were very cautious and would often lift their
heads to scan their surrounding, making sure that they were safe and not too
far from the rest of the herd. This made me very happy to see and made my job a
lot easier to do; however I also began to notice somewhat of a pattern as the
days went on. Every once in a while one of the sheep or sometimes even a small
group of the sheep would wonder off and get lost. As a result I decided to mark
a few of these sheep hoping that I could keep a closer eye on them. I was able
to watch them carefully and discovered that the sheep who got lost almost
always were the same sheep that never looked up to see where they were or in
which direction they were headed. They would become so consumed with eating the
wild grass that they would disregard the warning calls coming not only from me
but from their fellow herd members. This
would cause me to become very frustrated at times and as I would guide them
back to the herd I would exclaim “why cant you just listen!” almost every time
I would speak these words I would hear the voice of Heavenly Father saying to
me “Now you know how I feel!” and then I would feel very small and apologize to
the sheep…Since then I have often reflect on how well I am listening to the
voices of warning around me. It is so easy for us to become distracted and even
consumed by the world around us. We are so blessed to have Prophets and Apostles
on the earth to warn us and guide us through the wilderness but how often do we
follow their council? Are we doing the simple things that we are asked to do, like
reading our scriptures and praying each night? Are we fulfilling our church
callings and doing our home teaching each month? Or are we allowing ourselves
to become distracted and slowly drift away? Almost every less active or
inactive member that I ever visited on my mission became that way because they
stopped doing the simple things. Sometimes these things can seem harmless to
us, we may not even realize we are in danger, but when the moment comes and our
testimonies are put on the line we must be sure that we are spiritually
prepared to hear the warning voice of the spirit.
One
of the first warnings that I received from the farmer before I was dropped off
with the herd was to beware of the wolves. I was told to shoot on sight; that
it wasn't uncommon for a herd to lose 40 or more sheep to the jaws of a hungry
wolf. I remember thinking to myself “I'd like to see one try!”….Well try they
did and unfortunately they succeeded on many occasions. After losing the first
few sheep I began to wonder how this was possible. I hadn’t heard or even seen
any sort of dramatic attack like I had expected. They didn’t rush in and make a
big scene or anything like that. They were subtle and slow, quietly lurking
right through the middle of the herd looking for the weakest, easiest kill they
could find. One of the saddest things I ever saw was a mother calling for her
lamb, not even realizing that her baby had been taken away. After this I was
determined and I swore that I would never lose another lamb again. I came up
with all kinds of ways to make sure that they couldn’t sneak in and for a time
I thought I had them beat. Until one night as I lay in bed I heard the blood
chilling cry of a wolf pack ready to hunt. I wasn’t prepared for this at all.
There was nothing I could do. I woke up the next morning feeling a little
discouraged. I called the farmer and explained to him my situation. I was
surprised when he told me that they had expected this to happen and that they
would be sending me a "secret weapon" in a few days. When the day
came and the truck arrived I was pumped. I saw a large cage resting in the bed
of his truck but couldn’t see what was inside until, he open the door and out
jumped the biggest whitest dog I had ever seen! He told me that from now on
this dog would live with the sheep and that he would protect them with his
life. That night when the wolves came yelping through the woods their sudden
silence told me that they were not expecting to hear echoing through the
mountains in return the deep bark of good ole Betty White, who did not hesitate
to make herself known. She was fearless. I never once saw her deviate from
accomplishing her mission to protect the sheep. It was inspiring for me to
watch her each day.
As
I did the words of the savior would often come into my mind, “I am the Good
Shepherd: the Good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep”. Watching this
faithful dog over the next month or so helped me to appreciate how blessed we
are to have a Good Shepherd watching over us. We cannot comprehend the love
that the savior has for us but greater love hath no man that this that he
layeth down his life for his friends. The wolves in our lives will never give
up. But we can take comfort in knowing that we have a friend, a brother, a
savior who has given his life in our stead so that we may live again.
At
the end of my journey with the sheep I was told to herd them into a large coral
and then to wait until the farmer came. With the help of a few hands we
released the sheep one by one through the coral gate counting them as they
went. As I watch the number of sheep in the coral shrink I couldn’t help but
reflect on the last few months and all the experiences I had had. I had truly
come to love these sheep. I was not looking forward to knowing how many I had
lost and I was broken hearted to learn that 30 of my sheep were missing from
the herd. It was difficult for me to accept, especially after all we had done
to try to save them.
When
our journey here on earth is through many of our brothers and sisters will have
been lost or eaten because of the temptations of this world. Perhaps some of us
here in this room are at risk of becoming lost ourselves. In Isaiah 53:6 it
reads, “and he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace is upon him and with his stripes we
are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his
own way and the lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” We will all at
some point or other make mistakes but no matter how lost we may be we can
always be found, all we have to do is repent.
And
as members of the fold of God it is not only our responsibility to repent but
also to invite our brothers and sisters to repent as well by sharing with them
the gospel truths that we have come to love. Luke has accepted this challenge.
Soon he will be spending every day of his life in search of lost sheep that are
in need of being rescued. Because of his decision to serve many of the lords
sheep will soon be found.
As
a part of my team in the wilderness I was blessed with three very loyal sheep
herding dogs. Unlike Betty white they did not live with the sheep and they were
not expected to give up their lives in order to protect them. Their job was to
keep the herd in line and to make sure that none would fall behind. They would
stay focused on constantly looking for any signs of the herd becoming
scattered. And when necessary they would
provide little friendly reminders like gently nibbling on the legs of the
distracted sheep until they would move and keep up. I was amazed to see how
well these dogs preformed this task. I was grateful to have them on my team. In
a very like manner the lord has called each of us to be missionaries on his
team. We have the responsibility to look out for one another. In this very
branch we have been able to witness the fruits of these labors. I feel
strengthened every Sunday as I attend church with each of you. At times I am in
need of little friendly reminders to help me along the way. There are also many
of our brothers and sisters who are not here today who need our help. I am
grateful for this branch because we have committed to each other to not let
these people slip by unnoticed. We are a team and together we can rescue many
of our brothers and sisters here in this area.
I
am grateful for the gospel in my life….Testimony. Amen
