Hey y'all!

Quote: "How is it that we are immediately blessed for our obedience? Generally we think that blessings are realized only over time.  For example, the prophet Ether said: '...ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.' (Ether 12:6).  Another example of how time, diligence and patience play a role in realizing the fruit of your labors is found in the teachings of Alma about the seed.  Here Alma compared the gospel to a seed and said that we can realize the fruit or benefit of that seed only after a season of caring and nourishing the seed. (Alma 32). Moses said that the people of Enoch were exalted "in process of time" (Moses 7:21).  How then are you blessed immediately for your obedience? 'The answer is that there are blessings and then there are blessings. Some blessings you wait for; others are immediate and invariable. One way that you are immediately blessed is that you are changed, and change may be the greatest blessing of all.'"

That quote is from a talk called "The Fourth Missionary."  It is amazing.  Read it. It's applicable to life too.

There is so much I could talk about just from this quote in the talk, but I just want to talk about change and obedience.

There is purpose in being obedient even when it may be illogical.  I've been discussing this with one of my friends out here in the mission.  Why do we have to be exactly obedient?  I've been in areas where I've seen disobedient missionary's baptize or, in a different way to say it, I see people having fun that don't obey perfectly the commandments. Is it so important?

The answer to all missionaries and normal people everywhere is: yes.

We are here on this earth to learn, grow, and become.  Guess how this is accomplished.  Change.  That's right.  When life takes a wrong turn, when you get blind sighted, when you just get a swift kick in the rear, it's just life telling you it's time to become.  Now, what you become is up to you.  You choose.  We "work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling." How we react to change will either make us more of disciples of Christ or more followers of the devil.  Everything we do has an impact on us, it changes us. Again, we choose how it changes us though. As we choose to be more exactly obedient to God's commandments, we react to change in such a way that it makes us something more.

As I've striven to be more exactly obedient this week I've felt the power of the Atonement in my life.  Only through the grace of God that he gives us through His Son's Atonement can we change and become something bigger than we could ever imagine.  I promise you that the more you align your will with that of God's that you will become something you never knew was or could be there.  You will literally find your true self, thus the scripture in Matthew 16:25 " For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it."

I could talk about this for forever but my time is really running out! Gotta go!

Love y'all!

Elder Frame