Good morning, brothers and sisters.

Like my wife said, Im Matt Wontroba and we just moved

here at the beginning of June. Im really looking forward to getting to meet all of you personally.
But if you want to know about me, Im not overly complicated. Im a huge nerd. I love
computers, reading, and playing nerdy, nerdy games. Ive just turned thirty, which, Ive found, is
the age at which Im reminded that Im not a kid at least once a day, as opposed to just every
other week or so.
Im always nervous when Im called on to talk in sacrament meeting. I have to keep telling
myself, Theres not a wrong answer, just say whats in your heart, theyre not gonna throw you
out if you make a mistake. You wont, right? Had to make sure. Of course, all the logic in the
world doesnt help you when youre nervous.
Ive been asked to speak on President Henry B. Eyrings recent conference talk, Come Unto
Me. To me, the very essence of the talk is found in his very first paragraph: In the words of our
Creator and Father, Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye
shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Those words have always stuck with me. I didnt grow up with the church. Ive only been a
member for a little bit over two years now. I was baptized, Ive been to the temple, and Ive
learned so many things about not only who I am, but who I want to be. Thats why that simple
statement resonates for me; Ive been very, very far away from my Heavenly Father. Ive found,
and I can testify to you, that if you are far away from your Heavenly Father, its certainly not his
doing.
His hand is ever reaching out to take yours and draw you closer. Of course, its not a literal hand.
In my case, it came in the form of a woman who knew that I was just pretending to be happy in
my life. That there was a huge, gaping hole in my heart. Carefully, gently, she reached out to me
and helped me find a way to be happy. As we became friends, she taught me about the gospel, or
at least as much as she felt comfortable.
I learned that my Earthly father, who had been gone for almost a decade on the other side was
still watching over me. I learned that he was with my Heavenly Father and that they, along with
my Savior, still had an undying and enduring love for me. I learned that more than anything, I
wanted to be worthy of that love and to be able to return it. It started as a small wish, but it
quickly grew into a very powerful desire.
Eventually, my friend, who had become my fiance, felt that I needed to start meeting with the
missionaries. I wanted to keep working with her, but she was wiser than I. I met with the
missionaries, and I remember very early on, they read me a scripture from Mosiah. I recognized
it when I saw it in President Eyrings talk:
Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in
the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that
ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly
upon you?

Well when you put it that way Thats always something Ive found as Ive grown in the
gospel. Everything, when it was presented me, seemed like such an obvious answer. So naturally,
as the next verse says:
And now when the people had heard these words, they clapped their hands for joy, and
explained: This is the desire of our hearts.
So, after some discussion with my fiance, who thought it would be wise if I would be baptized
on my fast-approaching birthday, I set about doing just that. I had taken the first step toward the
things I wanted: I wanted to have a stronger, closer relationship with my Heavenly Father. I
wanted to be a good, strong priesthood holder for my family. I wanted to be a good man, a man
that my Heavenly Father could be proud of.
The following December, I was blessed enough that I could find a well-paying job that would
allow me to get married. My wife, ever patient and good to me, agreed to leave her family here
and move to Chicago. Of course, life isnt always that easy. As President Eyring said in his talk,
My promise to you who pray and serve the Lord cannot be that you will have every blessing
you may wish for yourself and your family.
Chicago was a trial for my wife. It was a trial to me as well, but it was nothing compared to her.
She heard stories of her nieces and nephews growing up without her, worrisome reports about
some of her family members health, and apathy of her mother-in-law. Meanwhile, she was left at
home while I took our only car to work every day, leaving her in a neighborhood that she felt
profoundly uncomfortable in.
The following April, I was laid off from my job. I was lucky enough to find another job before
our savings were completely spent, but that one sadly only lasted about as long as the one before
it. I felt pretty miserable. I felt that I had done something wrong, that I had somehow failed.
Tracee suggested that I turn to my Heavenly Father for guidance. Shes just full of useful advice.
So I kneeled down and I prayed. I prayed probably harder than Ive ever prayed before. I had
two paths before me, as I saw it. We could keep trying to find a job that would hire me full time
in Chicago, or we could pack up everything and go west. I had never lived outside of Illinois,
and the latter idea scared the living heck out of me. I wanted the answer desperately to come
back that I was supposed to stay put.
Naturally, that was not the answer that I got.
I will say this much: I dont think Heavenly Father had ever been as patient with me as he was
then. At least a couple times a day I would pray and ask him, Are you sure? Really? This
isnt one of those situations where both options would make me happy and I just have to pick
one?
Nope. He as pretty firm on that, Go west, young man, thing.
After we made that decision, after we chose to align ourselves more closely with Heavenly
Fathers will, we were richly blessed. We carefully planned out our budget for moving expenses
and found that many of them would come in a fair ways under our hopes. We found that the

exact house that we had wanted, which had initially been unavailable, had just become available
as soon as we made our decision. We started to drive, and Okay, well, it was still a horrible
drive, but we made it in one piece. Within a month, on the very day that we moved out of my
mother-in-laws basement and into our new home, I interviewed for a job that Im still working
at today. A job that, if things keep going the way theyre going, Ill have benefits and a 401(k)
starting next week.
President Eyring continues, By His words and His example, Christ has shown us how to draw
closer to Him. Every child of Heavenly Father who has chosen to enter through the gate of
baptism into His Church will have the opportunity in this life to be taught His gospel and to hear
from His called servants His invitation, Come unto me.
What have you done recently to draw closer to Him? Did you read your scriptures last night? Did
you reach out and perform an act of kindness for another? Have you instead done something that
takes you further away from him? Have you put worldly things before him? Have you watched a
movie that will make it impossible for the Holy Ghost to be at your side? Every day, we either
grow closer or further away from our Heavenly Father. It is our decision in which direction that
we will go.