When I was on my mission several years ago we were given a set of discussions and we were instructed that they were to be taught in the order given. These new discussions were an upgrade from the previous ones as they did give you principles to study and allowed you to use them creatively in your teaching by the spirit. Shortly after I left the mission field they began to encourage teaching principles by the spirit. Meaning that they could teach in whatever order the Spirit dictated. This was a huge leap of faith in the missionaries and their preparation.
Perfect obedience has been emphasized since, well, I don't know when, as it is a basic belief that the first law of heaven is obedience. So, when Lauree wrote me and asked for advice about perfect obedience I wasn't too surprised with her struggles. I think most missionaries go through struggles in regards to obedience to the rules. She is a perfectionist. She looks at the handbook as her bible of rules and has the utmost intention of being perfectly obedient to the rules that she has been given. This is good. Her contrite desire to be obedient will do her much good. Even if she never gets past the rigid rules aspect of the handbook. Just as it would for anyone in her situation.
Now lets take just a second and put the handbook in perspective. It is a creation of many years of experience. You have young people from every walk of life, and from every sort of background and culture. These young people have, in many cases, very little sense of direction or standards of conduct in many cases. They fear nothing, and they are not always the most wise of souls in the Kingdom of God. Let's face it, J Golden Kimball was right, if the church were not true the missionaries would have destroyed it long ago. That being said, the handbook of rules is there to minimize the damage. It is there to assist the missionaries in learning how to think and to serve as a conscience to those who may at times let their conscience slip...a little. Kind of like the Pirates code, they are more like guidelines. ;) Well, a little more than guidelines... This must not be interpreted as lessening the importance of the "White Bible," as we so fondly referred to it as.
So, my daughter struggles with perfectionism and truly desires to be perfectly obedient, as do many missionaries. I can not speak for their mission presidents, nor for the church and I may be completely wrong, but I don't think so, when I say they really aren't talking about the handbook when they say they want to you to be perfectly obedient. I believe they are saying be perfectly obedient to the Spirit of God. Be perfectly obedient when the Spirit says be home at 9:00. Be perfectly obedient when the Spirit says, be out of your apartment at a certain time. Be perfectly obedient when the Spirit says, talk to this person, knock on that door, etc...Then when the Spirit does not say what to do, you will be in the right frame of mind that the "rules" won't matter because they will be apart of you.
Remember, Christ, when on the Sabbath he gathered food with his disciples? Or when he healed a man on the Sabbath? The scribes and Pharisees sought to accuse him of breaking the law of Moses, but Christ turned their questions back on them and declared that the Son of Man was also Lord of the Sabbath. Did he break the law? How about Adam and Eve? In order for them to set into play Our Heavenly Father's Plan of Happiness, they had to transgress the law. According to President Joseph Fielding Smith Adam and Eve "transgressed the law, but did not sin, because they had to do it." Thus, perfect obedience required they break the law. The story of Nephi was another case in which the commandments were required to be broken in order to be perfectly obedient. It might be noted that in each case where the law was broken it was not an easy decision for the one asked to break the law. And that I believe is because they understood the importance of obedience to the laws.
If we are not enjoying ourselves, I can guarantee that we are not being perfectly obedient. When we become perfectly obedient we will find our creativity is increased, our enjoyment is increased, our effectiveness will be increased, because we will be so in tuned to our Heavenly Father's Plan of Happiness.
No one can judge our level of obedience better than we can. In fact no one can truly measure our level of obedience besides us and God. That is because perfect obedience is more about our personal relationship with God than it is about obeying commandments and rules. Perfect obedience does not negate the law, it in fact justifies the law.
Perfect obedience has been emphasized since, well, I don't know when, as it is a basic belief that the first law of heaven is obedience. So, when Lauree wrote me and asked for advice about perfect obedience I wasn't too surprised with her struggles. I think most missionaries go through struggles in regards to obedience to the rules. She is a perfectionist. She looks at the handbook as her bible of rules and has the utmost intention of being perfectly obedient to the rules that she has been given. This is good. Her contrite desire to be obedient will do her much good. Even if she never gets past the rigid rules aspect of the handbook. Just as it would for anyone in her situation.Now lets take just a second and put the handbook in perspective. It is a creation of many years of experience. You have young people from every walk of life, and from every sort of background and culture. These young people have, in many cases, very little sense of direction or standards of conduct in many cases. They fear nothing, and they are not always the most wise of souls in the Kingdom of God. Let's face it, J Golden Kimball was right, if the church were not true the missionaries would have destroyed it long ago. That being said, the handbook of rules is there to minimize the damage. It is there to assist the missionaries in learning how to think and to serve as a conscience to those who may at times let their conscience slip...a little. Kind of like the Pirates code, they are more like guidelines. ;) Well, a little more than guidelines... This must not be interpreted as lessening the importance of the "White Bible," as we so fondly referred to it as.
So, my daughter struggles with perfectionism and truly desires to be perfectly obedient, as do many missionaries. I can not speak for their mission presidents, nor for the church and I may be completely wrong, but I don't think so, when I say they really aren't talking about the handbook when they say they want to you to be perfectly obedient. I believe they are saying be perfectly obedient to the Spirit of God. Be perfectly obedient when the Spirit says be home at 9:00. Be perfectly obedient when the Spirit says, be out of your apartment at a certain time. Be perfectly obedient when the Spirit says, talk to this person, knock on that door, etc...Then when the Spirit does not say what to do, you will be in the right frame of mind that the "rules" won't matter because they will be apart of you.Remember, Christ, when on the Sabbath he gathered food with his disciples? Or when he healed a man on the Sabbath? The scribes and Pharisees sought to accuse him of breaking the law of Moses, but Christ turned their questions back on them and declared that the Son of Man was also Lord of the Sabbath. Did he break the law? How about Adam and Eve? In order for them to set into play Our Heavenly Father's Plan of Happiness, they had to transgress the law. According to President Joseph Fielding Smith Adam and Eve "transgressed the law, but did not sin, because they had to do it." Thus, perfect obedience required they break the law. The story of Nephi was another case in which the commandments were required to be broken in order to be perfectly obedient. It might be noted that in each case where the law was broken it was not an easy decision for the one asked to break the law. And that I believe is because they understood the importance of obedience to the laws.
If we are not enjoying ourselves, I can guarantee that we are not being perfectly obedient. When we become perfectly obedient we will find our creativity is increased, our enjoyment is increased, our effectiveness will be increased, because we will be so in tuned to our Heavenly Father's Plan of Happiness.
No one can judge our level of obedience better than we can. In fact no one can truly measure our level of obedience besides us and God. That is because perfect obedience is more about our personal relationship with God than it is about obeying commandments and rules. Perfect obedience does not negate the law, it in fact justifies the law.
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