“I asked if our faith does any good if we are sitting in our apartments all day, or sitting in members homes, listening to the radio or watching TV, or doing any of the other things we should not be doing. I said that I have had companions say it does not matter, besides, we are not perfect anyway. They seek to excuse themselves from having to keep the rules. Living the rules means that we strive to keep them, that at the end of the day we evaluate how we did and ask for forgiveness. We recognize our imperfections and ask to be forgiven for them.
“I have always seen two reasons for the rules: 1. to keep us from getting too far out of line, and 2. to see if we will do everything the Lord asks us to do, no matter how small, insignificant or even pointless it might seem. A lot of missionaries appear not to realize that these two years will determine what kind of person we are for the next 60 years or so. Would it not be better to give our whole souls unto God now in the mission field than some 40 years down the road?
“I had a companion once who came out for the glory of being a missionary and the glory of being a returned missionary. While many girls, at BYU and elsewhere, can go crazy over a returned missionary, whatever glory there is, it is inside you, and between you and the Lord. It is in continued love for the Lord and His ways. Whatever glory is left over at the end of a mission is when a missionary can say he worked hard, finished the street and kept the rules. That he fought the good fight and finished the race.
“I then turned to and set up Helaman 10:4-5." Nephi, son of Helaman, was praying on a tower in his garden when a crowd gathered below and he began to preach. He prophesied of the murder of the chief judge only to be accused of being part of a conspiracy. Nephi demonstrated his innocence by prophesying that when confronted, the chief judge's brother would confess. It is after this somewhat surreal episode that Nephi hears the voice of the Lord.
"Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will and to keep my commandments. And now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will."
“What do you suppose Nephi would do if he were serving in San Jose, California? I imagine him keeping the rules unquestioningly. I am sure that he would get twenty-five teach/tract every week, if not thirty-five teach/tract and more. Ask yourself, what would Jesus Christ do if he was serving in San Jose? We teach our investigators that we are striving to become like Christ. If Christ would keep the rules, Shouldn’t we? Should we not ask ourselves, ‘What would Christ do in this situation?’ and then do it?
“It is my prayer that we will all catch the vision. There is a principle called the 80-20 principle. It is that 80% of the missionaries do 20% of the work and that 20% of the missionaries do 80% of the work. Let us really make this the greatest mission in the world with 100% of the missionaries doing 100% of the work.”
If we have character and integrity, not to mention an eye single to the glory of God, will we not keep all of the mission rules, no matter what, as well as work with “unwearyingness” like Nephi of old? Ironically, my companion at the time I gave that talk would ask me one day if I thought it was fun to break the rules. Such an attitude is incompatible with the Whole Missionary.
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