Eva Timothy is doing presentations in the Inklings study where on Wednesdays we study attributes of Christ. This week was the first one and I watched the video tonight.
Eva grew up in Sofia, Bulgaria while it was a Communist country. She said that there was no freedom and there were so many rules. When she and her family met the missionaries, it seemed at first that the gospel just gave them even more rules. One morning she and her dad were out for a walk. As they walked, they were making a list of all the reasons they could not be baptized. They planned to give the list to the missionaries the next time they saw them. As they were walking, suddenly there came the two elders out of their apartment, right on time according to mission rules. The Elders came up to them and greeted them and asked how their most favorite people were doing. They talked for a few minutes and felt such love coming from these obedient, diligent missionaries. They tore up the list and realized that the rules were coming from a place of love.
Eva also explained that her parents smoked and drank. They had tried to quit several times but always ended up picking up their bad habits again. Their addiction was stronger than they believed they could overcome. It was just too hard to quit. But as the missionaries taught them of God's love and of the blessing of receiving ordinances, they had a desire to quit to show love and obedience to God. And suddenly they had the power and ability to quit because it came from a place of love.
Eva pointed out that obedience is us reaching out to embrace Christ and to receive some of His power. Nature is peaceful and healing and Eva believes that a big reason it is so healing is because it follows the natural laws, it is strictly obedient.
Christ said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15) Obedience is a way to show love. It is an act of love.
And we are promised in D&C 82:10, "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say, but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise."
LESSONS LEARNED: Obedience is an act of love and gives us greater power.
One of the reasons nature is so healing is because it is strictly obedient.
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