I spoke in stake conference yesterday, and this is what I said, since I didn't post on Friday...
One of the most quoted passages of scripture is the Savior’s admonition, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” In fact, the extent to which we keep His commandments seems to be the Lord’s litmus test for whether we truly love him. Later on in the same chapter he says, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” To the elders in Kirtland He said, “If thou lovest me thou shalt serve me and keep all my commandments.” Today I would like to speak on the service the Lord expects of us.
In Section 20 of the Doctrine and Covenants, given at the organization of the Church in this dispensation, we learn that Christ “gave unto them commandments that they should love and serve him, the only living and true God, and that he should be the only being whom they should worship.” How can we serve the Lord? One way that clearly stands out to me is to by fulfilling our callings and assignments in the Church. I hope that I do not sound boastful as I share some of my experiences in serving the Lord.
After returning home from my mission, I served as the ward mission leader in our ward. As part of my responsibilities, I attended the weekly ward council meetings. Shortly after my wife and I were married, I attended a meeting where we discussed the need the Bonneville 7th Ward, which is a Spanish language ward, had for couples to come and serve for a one-year period, as told to the bishop by the stake president. I had a feeling that this might be something for us to do. I felt even more so when it was mentioned that only one of the couple had to speak Spanish. I was nervous as I returned home after the meeting and shared my feelings with my wife. Thankfully, she was very excited about this opportunity and we decided that this was something we needed to do.
After being in the 7th Ward for a couple of weeks, we were asked to serve as special needs teachers in the Primary. Our class consists of one wonderful, 8-year-old boy, named Randolph. Randolph is special because he has autism. He has a need for schedules, structure, and consistency. The first couple of weeks teaching him were difficult, and I honestly wondered whether we had made the right decision after all. But we pressed on, knowing this was what the Lord would have us do. We were able to find a way to help Randolph learn during Primary, with the help of his parents, his schoolteacher, the ward Primary presidency, and stake leaders. We came together as a team to help restructure Randolph’s environment so that he could learn with the other children. Today, Randolph is able to sit for fifteen minutes at a time in sharing time, and in the 8-year-old primary class with the other children. In between, Randolph has five minute breaks. To be honest, these breaks are my favorite part of Primary. Sometimes we play with our Hot Wheels cars, other times we look out the window at the passing cars and motorcycles, and Randolph yells at them to come back to church..
I think that by serving Randolph I have seen more clearly how much the Lord loves me, and all of His children. I have seen inspired Church leaders come together to bless the life of one little boy, just as they do to bless my life. I researched extensively about autism and tried to learn everything I could about it, to be able to understand what Randolph is thinking; I remember the suffering the Lord went through to know how to help me. I have gained a friend that is now excited to come to Primary every week and learn new things. Most of all, I have gained a friend in the Savior and am excited to come to Primary every week and learn more about Him through the teachings of little children.
I do not claim to know the reason for the Lord’s commandment to serve Him, but I have a strong feeling that it is at least partly because as we serve Him, we come to know Him and His love much better. His love is a comfort, and an example of how we should love those around us. The more we inject charity into our being, the more we feel and understand it, and the more we can emulate it. Being a scientist, this reminds me of my organic chemistry classes. Before I go on, I would like to explain that my favorite branch of chemistry, (yes, I’m a nerd) is analytical chemistry, not organic chemistry. But this example from organic chemistry seems fitting.
Organic chemistry is the study of carbon-based molecules, which is just about everything. A large part of the discipline, as those who have taken an organic chemistry class know, is being able to predict reactions between organic molecules, and use that knowledge to construct different molecules that may be helpful in certain areas, whether in be a new drug, polymer, plastic, or protein. In order to best make those predictions, understanding of the molecules involved, especially where the different electrons in the various orbitals are wont to go, is critical. Just as understanding the electronics of an organic molecule increases our capacity to synthesize new materials, understanding of the Lord’s love for us and His desire to serve us increase our capacity to love and serve those around us in a Christ-like way.
I bear testimony that the Lord’s love can become a real power in our lives. We can begin by simply looking for examples of the Lord’s love for us in our everyday comings and goings. Most importantly, we can learn of the Lord’s love for us as we serve Him by serving those around us. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
