Sunday, January 3, 2016

The Spirit of the Law



One of the greatest things I am learning on my mission is the concept of the "Spirit of the Law" as opposed to the "Letter of the Law."
It's sometimes mind boggling to me that an organization trusts a group of 18, 19, 20, 21 year olds (on occasion, some a little older) to get up at 6:30am every morning, to be home by 9pm every night, and to follow all the rules without having an on-site teacher or another leader always supervising them...
They are asked to voluntarily sacrifice their own lives and put in all of their effort, with no wage, or other monetary pay.
They are even given free reign over planning their own schedules!
Above all, they are trusted to carry out the core work of the organization...everything depends on the diligence and the obedience of a group of young adults, not much more than kids.
To the world at large, this makes no sense...
Logically speaking, it is a bad idea, and the sure way for the organization to struggle, if not fail completely.
Anyone could see that this is a terrible business plan...
But, in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, this is the norm.

There are over 80,000 missionaries, ranging from 18years of age to their mid 20's, in the prime of their lives, sacrificing all else to voluntarily serve the Lord, full-time.
How is this possible?
To all successful missionaries, it makes prefect sense because they understand what it means to live the "Spirit of the Law" and not the "Letter of the Law."

When we understand the WHY in being obedient, the WHY in the work that we do, it's easy to see the big picture and to do our part.
Missionaries don't follow the rules and jam pack their own schedules with ways to find and teach people because are forced to!
It doesn't work that way.
There's no one to force them to do anything.
But missionaries do what they do because they love God, our loving Father in Heaven.
Each individual testimony is the engine that pushes each of us forward.
With the understanding that we have been called by Heavenly Father through a Latter-Day prophet to help bring souls unto Salvation, and with a firm understanding that the Plan of Salvation was designed by our God to bring each soul happiness, and that through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, everyone can be cleansed from sin and have the peace that they seek...these young people around the world CHOOSE to be obedient and diligent missionaries.

President Uchtdorf said, "When we choose to believe, exercise faith unto repentance, and follow our Savior, Jesus Christ, we open our spiritual eyes to splendors we can scarcely imagine."
As missionaries, we are representatives of Christ.
As the Thai word for "representative,"  "dduothang" suggests, we are literally doing the work in His stead.
The letter of the law is each of the rules we must keep...
But the spirit of the law is that as a disciple and representative of Christ, we gladly follow in His footsteps with the guidelines that have been given to us with joy in our hearts.

As we choose to be obedient and work diligently, we are blessed with the privilege of witnessing souls be converted unto the Lord.
When that person makes their first attempt at a sincere prayer, the light in their countenance changes as they commit themselves to the Lord...
It's those moments that makes it all worth it.
The Gospel changes lives!
The endless miracles that I have seen are a witness to me that the gospel is true, and a fulfillment of President Uchtdorf's promise.
As we choose to follow the way of the Lord, our eyes will be opened to recognizing God's hand in our lives and the beautiful miracles that surround us.
I want to bear witness that these things are true.
As President Uchtdorf said, "we believe in God because of things we know with our heart and mind, not because of things we do not know."

I know that God is our loving Father in Heaven. Because He loves us, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ to atone for our sins, to be our friend and to set the perfect example for us.
I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that by following Him, we can return to live with Him and our Heavenly Father again.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ brings happiness to everyone who accepts it.
These are the basic truths that I want to share with others by being an obedient missionary.


With lots of love,
Sister Kwak from Thailand





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