A Farewell

This is the typed version of the talk I gave in Sunset Valley Ward on Sunday, March 25, 2012. It certainly can not replace the elegant cadence of my voice (ha I couldn't even type that with a straight face) and ad lib comments, but I think there are still some good, juicy bits despite any typos. It also briefly explains how I decided to serve. Enjoy!

Last week I spent some time in Morocco. We took 4x4s out in to the sand dunes, hopped on camels and rode them up to the peak of a dune. We sat on blankets, eating dates and as I watched the sun dip below the sand, I thought: Wow, this is amazing! I don’t have any spiritual message to relate to this, I just wanted to tell everyone that I rode a camel in the Sahara.

Now, I actually do have a spiritually relevant story from my trip. Morocco is a Muslim country and as such there are live, broadcasted calls for prayers that can be heard from almost anywhere. The call is to remind people to stop what they are doing and present themselves before God in prayer and worship. It was quite interesting to experience, and I’ve never experienced anything quite like it. As latter-day saints, we don’t have these loud calls to worship except maybe General Conference, which is coming up, but generally we are each personally responsible for completing our obligations to go to church, to pray, to attend the temple, and in general to follow all the principles of the gospel. We are left to be quietly obedient. As a result of this quiet obedience, we stand out and people often take notice and many will be drawn to our gospel because of it. As a missionary, I’ll be blessed with the opportunity to not only be an example but to stand as representative of truth and this gospel, calling out for people to come to Christ. Let me tell you how I got here.

I was born with a natural desire to be obedient. I was a reasonable good, although rather bossy child. I was a good student, non-rebellious and have remained fairly close to the iron rod my entire life. I was obedient much like a little child is to their parents because I was afraid of the consequences of disobedience. I’ve been very blessed, but life has never been easy for me. I didn’t want to be punished and I certainly didn’t want to make a hard life even harder. So I did my best by living under the radar, being as good as I could. As I’ve gotten older, life has become more complicated, difficult and the reasons for being obedient were more carefully tested. Last year was a particularly challenging year. There was lots of heartache, headache, expenses, damages and pain. Towards the end of the year things were just getting worse and I was pretty unhappy and angry at that point. I felt like I was doing all the right things and yet nothing was going my way and everything in my life seemed pretty miserable. I like to call it the prodigal son’s brother syndrome. I was mad the prodigal son was getting all the glory and I, the good one, was getting nothing.

After an interesting fast and testimony meeting a few months ago, the bishop pulled me aside and we had a long, heart filled chat. I laid all my concerns on the table for probably 45 min. At the end there was a long pause followed by some hesitation, and the Bishop spoke. He said all he wanted was to offer me comfort and he would do his best, but something else kept coming to his mind while I was talking and so he asked what my thoughts were on serving a mission. To be honest it wasn’t something I considered in about a decade. Bishop Stebbing continued, well what about now? I was pretty speechless. For the next half-hour we talked about the possibility, restrictions, consequences and realities. He encouraged me to pray about it that day and to talk to my mom. Needless to say, I left that room rather surprised. I met up with my mom to talk to her about it. We both talked about how shocked we were and then how it actually wasn’t that crazy. After a week of semi miraculous events it was clear, I was being called to serve a mission. I called the bishop and started my paperwork. Within a month I had my call and now in just a few weeks I’ll be serving as an ambassador of the lord in California. In a few short months, my life has completely turned upside down. The one thing that stands out to me more than anything in this whole experience is how I feel about the Lord truly directing our lives. Just a few months ago my world was covered with pain, frustration and an ungrateful heart. Today I’m hopeful, excited, perhaps a little bit terrified, but the good kind. The difference was a direct call for simple, loving, trusting obedience to Father’s will. And that is when it hit me. All my life, I’d been a fairly obedient daughter of God – a few months ago, I was now asked to be obedient not out of fear or obligation, but out of pure faith and love. Thanks to the support of my bishop, family and friends, I have been able to do all the things needed - sell my car, quite my job, stop my entire life and go to serve the Lord.

Until recently, only my Mormon friends knew of my plans and have all been extremely supportive. After giving notice to my job just a week ago, I’ve had the opportunity to share my testimony, explain a little about our church and what a mission means. For the first time during this whole process I’ve had to explain myself to people outside the church and I’ve received some good questions, and really had to reach inside myself for the answers. It’s been wonderfully liberating and really good practice.

Most of my coworkers have long pegged me as the Mormon and are very respectful of my beliefs and standards, but a new coworker recently offered to take me out for drinks as a sendoff. She stopped and said oh wait, do you drink? I replied that I did not and she followed with, “Oh, so you’re a real Mormon.” I chuckled and confirmed. After she left my office I thought about the words she used. A real Mormon. I felt like I knew what that meant and it ached. The world has always been observing us, but it’s become even more apparent in recent years and even months and we are under constant scrutiny. Luckily for me, I soon get to be a walking ad for the church with the mantle of missionary, but what does it means to live up to this perception of what a ‘real’ Mormon is and more importantly how do we make sure everyone we encounter knows that what it means to be a real Mormon is that we are a true disciples of Christ. The key to this is obedience.

Why are we obedient?

The prophets and scriptures have clearly told us there is no doctrine more critical to our well-being in this life and the next than obedience. If we do not obey, the power to obey is lessened and our capability to recognize good is weakened.

As I’ve recently learned, it’s important to ask ourselves why we obey. Do we do it out of fear of punishment, because we want the rewards of living a good life or because we love God and Jesus Christ and trust them will all our being? It’s better to obey because we fear punishment than not to obey at all, but we will be much happier if we obey God because we love Him and want to obey Him. When we obey Him freely, He can bless us freely. “I, the Lord, … delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and in truth unto the end” (D&C 76:5). Obedience also helps us progress and become more like our Heavenly Father. But those who do nothing until they are commanded and then keep the commandments unwillingly lose their reward (see D&C 58:26–29). President Boyd K. Packer: “Latter-day Saints are not obedient because they are compelled to be obedient. They are obedient because they know certain spiritual truths and have decided, as an expression of their own individual agency, to obey the commandments of God. We are not obedient because we are blind; we are obedient because we can see.”

We are obedient because we love the Lord and we put our faith and trust that his way is the absolute best way to live our lives for temporal and eternal happiness.

What are the consequences of disobedience?

The list for consequences is lengthy and horrific. As the Lord says in section 93: “And that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience.” (D&C 93:39.) Disobedience distances ourselves from God weakening every aspect we have to progress. As it begins to become more disobedient we begin to lose clarity, our vision is clouded and too often we are no longer able to see that we are falling in the mist of darkness.

What are the blessings of obedience?

Hope and eternal life. “If you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God” (D&C 14:7) When you are obedient, no matter what is going on in your life you can be confident you’re doing the right thing and have placed your life in the best hands. An obedient life is a hopeful one.

Revealed treasures. “Great shall be their reward and eternal shall be their glory. And to them will I reveal all mysteries, yea, all the hidden mysteries of my kingdom from days of old, and for ages to come, will I make known unto them the good pleasure of my will concerning all things pertaining to my kingdom. Yea, even the wonders of eternity shall they know, and things to come will I show them, even the things of many generations. And their wisdom shall be great, and their understanding reach to heaven. For by my Spirit will I enlighten them, and by my power will I make known unto them the secrets of my will—yea, even those things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor yet entered into the heart of man” (D&C 76:5–10).

Obedience leads to true freedom. This may seem counterintuitive, one most often recognized by teenagers struggling as parents put ‘unfair’ restrictions out of love and safety. In reality, the more we obey revealed truth, the more we become liberated. Obedience to righteous principles offers freedom from shame, degradation, and feelings of guilt. Obedience to the Word of Wisdom keeps us from addictions so we do not become slaves and our bodies will be healthy and our minds clear. Obedience brings peace in decision-making. If we have firmly made up our minds to follow the commandments, we will not have to re-decide which path to take when tempted, providing spiritual safety. The iron rod keeps us from falling into the icky mist of sin and Satan’s grasp. The more the Lord can trust us the more blessings we will receive.

How can we be obedient?

Some believe you may pick and choose which of God’s commandments to follow. They conveniently label many commandments as little things which can be put off and which don’t appear to be life threatening or important like prayers, honoring the Sabbath, reading the scriptures, paying our tithing, attending our meetings. It’s the little things that are the glue that binds us closer to the Lord. Our Heavenly Father communicates in a very clear way to His children and has given us tools to learn obedience.

1. We are not left alone. His laws are explicitly recorded in the standard works.
2. Follow the counsel of living prophets and other appointed leaders.
3. We learn by disciplining our lives in all things.
4. We learn by the things we suffer, just as the Lord did.

“We have some tight places to go before the Lord is through with this church and the world in this dispensation. … The power of Satan will increase; we see it on every hand. … We must learn to give heed to the words and commandments that the Lord shall give through his prophet. … There will be some things that take patience and faith” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1970, 152).

As humans, we are built with a desire to find happiness. Our primary goal is to achieve true joy and everlasting happiness. There is only one way to do this, by being obedient to all the commandments of God. This is the purpose of our mortal life and our only way to true happiness that leads to exaltation. As we quietly obey, others will be drawn to the light that surrounds us providing opportunities to bear testimony of the gospel. This journey towards a mission has shown me a deeper meaning of one of the Lords highest expectations, obedience. I’ve had many great examples in my life. Everyone in my family has served or is serving a mission and I get to give us a good solid 100%. I’m so very grateful for this opportunity that I have to be obedient to the Lords’ call and to bring the joy, peace and salvation of this gospel to the people of San Jose, California. I know of the hope and joy that comes from obedience as I have seen it glaring throughout this experience and I’ve seen it in the lives of my family and friends. I believe our Heavenly Father and Savior love us all very much and are eagerly waiting for our simple obedience to open the windows of heaven and poor their blessings upon us. It is my sacred privilege to be part the effort to spread the gospel to all people. I leave all these things in the name of Thy son, Jesus Christ, Amen.