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Memorial Day Calls Us To Live Worthy Of Sacrifice · ToddTalks--Spirit By Design: Your Weekly Survival Guide

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back Todd Talks.
• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Todd, and today's episode is a little bit different.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: It invites a little bit of reverence.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Today being Memorial Day, I wanted to think a little bit about those soldiers that lost their lives protecting our freedoms.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: But I wanted also to talk about this from a historical and uh religious aspect as well.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: So, my experience in the military, I flew C-130s and quite often carried the soldiers out on their first way, their first leg home.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Very moving experience, very emotional experience for many.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: I remember this one instance where we had an entire unit come on because they had lost five guys in a Humvee, and the entire unit came on and was crying over the six coffins.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: You can infer what you want from that.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: The um they gave her their all.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: What was even sadder was a week later we had to go pick up the survivor from that Humvee who had uh killed themselves out of survivor's guilt.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: I want to talk about this to remember the fallen and understand sacrifice, eternal identity, and what it truly means to honor those who gave everything.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: This is Memorial Day.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: This is Todd Talks, and I help you design your spiritual life.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: So Memorial Day is often associated with barbecues, start of the summer, and a long weekend, but at its core, it is sacred.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: I hold it to be sacred.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's a day set apart to remember those who died in military service.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: And like I said, I carried many, many of the fallen servicemen on their first leg home, draped in an American flag.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: There's a reason.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: That is the reason that I hold the American flag so sacred.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: And it drives me nuts when people burn it.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: They have the freedom to do so, but it still hurts my heart, hurts my soul.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: These are men and women who stood in defense of freedom, people who believed in something bigger than themselves.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: And from a gospel perspective, that matters.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Because sacrifice is central to God's plan.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: Think about it.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: In Latter-day Saint theology, sacrifice is not just admirable, it's divine.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: The entire plan of salvation hinges on the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Agency, freedom, redemption, we're all preserved through sacrifice.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: So when we reflect on soldiers who gave their lives for freedom, we see a powerful echo of eternal principles.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: As it says in John 15, 13, greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's not just poetic, it's doctrinal.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: You see, one of the most comforting aspects of the restored gospel is this: death is not the end.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Let me repeat that.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: Death is not the end.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Because of the atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ, every person who has died will live again.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Families can be sealed eternally, and relationships are not lost.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: They're continuing.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: So when we honor fallen soldiers, we don't just mourn them, we recognize their eternal journey.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Their story didn't end on a battlefield.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Why does Memorial Day matter spiritually?
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: Because those who served protected something sacred.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: Agency.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: Agency is the cornerstone of God's plan.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Without it, we couldn't choose righteousness.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: We couldn't grow.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Frankly, agency is the reason that we are here.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: And agency is also what Satan constantly is trying to remove.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Let the government decide for you.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Socialism, communism, fascism, big government taking away your right to choose, to speak, to have the God-given liberties that you were given.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: War is tragic.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Loss is heartbreaking, but those who defend freedom are, in a very real sense, preserving the conditions necessary for God's plan to operate on earth.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: It elevates their sacrifice to something deeply spiritual.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: Memorial Day isn't just about numbers or history books.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's about people, sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, friends, neighbors, missionaries, believers.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: In LDS culture, we place strong emphasis on remembering individuals, their names, their stories, their lives.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: Now I don't know the names of those five individuals and the sixth one that we picked up later, but they are immortalized.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: Every member of their unit knows their names and remembers them, especially today.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: Family history work is so important because it helps us to remember the names of those that have gone on.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: In a similar way, Memorial Day invites us to remember by name, to reflect, and to honor personally those that have fallen.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: Major Oz Osborne, Ryan David, and several others that I knew personally.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Names to remember.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: Ryan David was a navigator working in the guard, helping put out forest fires when the wings came off their airplane.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: Can't be helped, not all service members died in war.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the real question.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: How do we honor these people?
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just with flags or ceremonies, though those matter.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: We honor them by how we live, by using our agency wisely, by strengthening our families, by standing for truth, by becoming disciples of Jesus Christ.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: Freedom isn't something that we inherit, it's something we steward.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: He replaced me in Afghanistan.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: Two weeks after I left.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: He was shot and killed in a meeting.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's a meeting I used to attend.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: This Memorial Day, I want to invite you to do something different.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Take a quiet moment, say a prayer of gratitude, reflect on someone who served, think about what freedom allows you to do spiritually.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: Ask yourself, am I living in a way that honors the sacrifices that made my life possible?
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: Take a moment of silence now for those.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: Think of a name.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: Let's take a moment of silence for those who have gone on and made the ultimate sacrifice.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: Memorial Day is more than remembrance, but its connection, its doctrine.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's a reminder that sacrifice, love, and eternal purpose are woven together.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: And from an LDS perspective, it points us directly to Jesus Christ, the ultimate example of sacrifice, and the reason we have hope beyond the grave.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining me today.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: If this episode resonated with you, share it.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, remember those that have fallen.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: Remember with gratitude and keep seeking truth.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: Have a blessed day.