I was overwhelmed with the support and love I received from everyone. It was such a special day and I am so grateful for everyone who was there in person and in spirit. Thanks guys.
So the topic for my farewell talk was Alma 32 and the role of faith in conversion. Here's a bit of what I learned:
Elder M. Russell Ballard said, "True conversion comes through the power of the Spirit. When the Spirit touches the heart, hearts are changed. When individuals…feel the Spirit working with them, or when they see the evidence of the Lord's love and mercy in their lives, they are edified and strengthened spiritually and their faith in Him increases. These experiences with the Spirit follow naturally when a person is willing to experiment upon the word. This is how we come to feel the gospel is true."
The process of gaining a testimony is like a spiritual science experiment. This is actually sort of the perfect topic because back in my good old 9th grade biology class, I did a science fair project about seeds and nourishing them with different types of fertilizer (including things like eggshells, which actually work, by the way). So basically I'm an expert in this area, right? Okay, no, not really. Anyway, as my science fair partner and I were doing our experiment, we first had to pick the type of seed, then plant it, then we used a bunch of different types of fertilizer, made sure to water them the same amount every day, and let them soak in the sun. We then monitored and recorded their progress.