So, not a whole lot of crazy stuff went down this week. Which means I'm going to dedicate a lot of this letter to something that happened a few weeks back, but there's a lot of questions about it.
We were asked to present in front of 3 zones a power point that we created on the subject of "obedience in the mission." I got a lot of people asking me if there's a lot of crazy crap hitting the fan here, and the answer is no. Pte Wilson is just DONE with people not doing what we were sent here to do. So awesome.
We based it off one of the talks that my Mom sent me for my birthday which compared the journey of Nephi and his family to the journey we all have to take in life, and even deeper, the comparison of the mindsets of Nephi to his older brothers.
In the conference we talked about the 'why missionaries should be obedient' and it was awesome, felt good dropping some cane.
My guess is that any one of you can ask that question to yourself. Why should I be obedient to the commandments and counsel of God?
I'm sure some of you, like the missionaries in the audience would say things like, Well, because we love Him" and "We get blessings." Which you would not be wrong. But, what we were able to do was share with the mission that if those are your only responses, you do not understand or comprehend the love, mercy, and plan that God has specifically for YOU.
We can compare the journey Nephi took to our own lives. Like the talk my mom gave me, it talks about that God gives us journeys or experiences to purge and cleanse us, to build us up and change us, to make us candidates for the promised land. While none of us (that I know of) have to wander 8 years, build a boat, and dodge your murderous brothers to get a sweet plot of land like Nephi. BUT the Lord sends us on our own journey, not to give us a promised land, but a promised LIFE. A life full of success, love, peace, and knowledge. A life better than we could ever obtain on our own. But how do we accomplish that and get to that life? Become that person? Through obedience to the loving guidance and counsel that a loving Heavenly Father has given us.
Why be obedient? Because Gods wants, desires, and PLANS for you is to have the best life imaginable and eternal life in the life after. But guess what, God does not work and can not work with disobedience. The creation itself was a product of obedience as God could not and would not move onto the next step until the creations obeyed. Just as a silversmith or a goldsmith wants to take raw material and make something beautiful, a refiners fire is necessary, and does have a purpose. But even the most skilled goldsmith can not shape the gold to what he wants, if the gold were able to act for itself and do things contrary to its nature. Unpredictable and unhelpable.
All actions we make have a natural consequence. The weight of guilt and shame are the natural result of sin. Happiness, freedom, and blessings are the direct result of obedience, yes. But, that does not explain the WHY in God's plan for us to be obedient. If we obey to be blessed we will one day fall into a cycle of pride that is seen in the Book of Mormon and Bible over and over again. We become exceedingly blessed, and when we feel like we need no more or we aren't constantly depending, we forget the being who gave us it all.
Constant obedience comes from a trust in God and the understanding that He must shape and mold you, He must change your nature in order to make you something better than you ever could on your own to give us the promised life that we find in our patriarchal blessings. Those are just windows into the life we are promised as we allow God to shape us, put things in our lives, soften our pains, and the only way that is possible is through obedience to Him.
The mission is the place where we gain a testimony of that principle. Where every day is MAJOR dependence on the Lord. Where we see that truly through him, weak and simple things can bring about miracles.
I am overly grateful for this mini journey of the mission I am on where I get to learn and apply these principles into my life.
I had a close friend in High School who told me that "this is my nature and can't change, it's just something that has to be accepted" My desire is to expunge that mindset from the beliefs of people.
Change is possible and change is expected. God does not intend for us to come to this earth and leave as the same people. His plan and desire is to make you better and greater than you ever could on your own, and a life that's more full of purpose than could be expected.
The promise is so simple but so true. There is a (life) of promise awaiting each one of us, the road to that life is built and laid with the commandments, love, and word of God.
This is the testimony that is in me and that I have seen from my own experience and from the Holy Ghost which has testified of it to me.
I was grateful for the opportunity to share this with other missionaries as we can together help each other see the potential that God sees in each one of us.
He is good, and so is His PLAN for you.
Elder Parker Yocum
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