Todd's Talk

On Mothers’ Day, Todd was asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting. He did a great job and received many compliments from members of the ward. This is the text of his talk:

My name is Todd Zimmerman. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m the son of Rita Zimmerman. If you don’t know who Rita is, then you’re probably visiting the ward. Oh, yeah…my dad’s in the ward, too, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t know him.

I have been asked to speak today about Mary, the mother of Jesus. We don’t know very many things about Mary. But what we do know is that she was a very important mother, but every mother is important. I would like to explain to you today how great a mother Mary was and also how our mothers are very much like she was.

Mary was humble. She told her cousin Elisabeth how she felt about being chosen as Christ’s mother in Luke 1:48. “For he hath regarded the low estate of this handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.” Our mothers are humble. They sacrifice a lot for us. For example, my Grandma Zimmerman is a very smart woman. She received a Ph.D. and was a professor at BYU. However, she didn’t start working until after all of her seven children were raised. Now she and my Grandpa are missionaries in Peru.

Mary was faithful. She didn’t quite understand how she could be the mother of Jesus but she was willing to do what the Lord had asked her. Sometimes our mothers feel like they do not know the best way to help us, but they always do what they believe to be best for their children.

Mary did hard things including endure a very long, most-likely uncomfortable ride on a donkey. Sometimes our mothers wonder how they will be able to raise children but they stay close to the Lord and work to teach us and make us who we should be. I think that mothers are the hardest working and most patient of people.

Mary brought a little baby into the world under less-than-ideal circumstances. Luke 2:6-7 says, “And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger.” Sometimes our mothers want more for themselves and for their children but like Mary, they make the best and most of what they have to ensure that their children are clean, comfortable, and cared for no matter what the situation.

Mary lost track of Jesus for a little while when he was 12. She and Joseph were relieved to find him teaching priests in the temple. Our mothers worry that they might lose us, literally and figuratively. They make sure that we are safe and that they know where we are but they also don’t want us to stray away from the gospel. For example, when I go to parties, my mother worries about me. She wants to know who I will be with, where we will be, and what we will be doing. If we watch a movie, she makes sure it is appropriate.

Mary came to understand that she was carrying and raising the son of Christ well before Jesus could have realized his mission. Similarly, our mothers recognize our potential and want us to be the people we were meant to be. They believe that we are good and teach us how we can be great. They understand better than we do that we are children of God. It is important for us to realize that their high expectations of us are because they understand who we can be—that we are all sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father.

I hope that we can recognize how great our mothers are and how similar they are to Mary. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.