Keeping the Commandments - When the Rubber Meets the Road

I'm a few weeks behind in my stories about my class, so I'll start with today and work backwards.

First, I think my class finds it both cool and weird that I would write about them. When I spoke with them today about it, I found out one of the girls actually went to the page to check it out!  No one is more surprised than me that there is any interest in the things I have to say about them. Although, it could quite possibly be that they are worried I'll tell some secret, which isn't the point of this blog at all. It's more for me to remember what I taught, what they thought and to keep a journal of this extraordinary group of young men and women. Now on to today's tale.

We had 8 youth today, 5 young men and 3 young women. I love every one of them! Their personalities, their laughter, the things they say that they don't think I hear. (And if they only knew that my ears work much better than they think!) They are a blessing to me and keep me on the right path.

The theme for the month is Commandments, and this is lesson #2. In case you are wanting to learn more about the lessons we teach our youth, you can click here:Come Follow Me - September - Commandments

The lesson I chose for this week is: What blessings does Heavenly Father promise if I obey the commandments ?

The most important scripture I can think of that explains this basic principle of how blessings work with our obedience is found in Doctrine and Covenants 82:10 which states: " I the Lord am bound when you do what I say. And when you do not what I say, you have no promise. "  It could not be more clear.  Obedience brings blessings!  And Heavenly Father is under no obligation to bless us when we aren't listening to him - and He gives us hundreds and hundreds of chances!  Still, there are going to be those times when we will blow it and we need to stop, change our course and start over.

I realized today that the youth don't understand what the commandments are related to the Church.
They know the should's/should not's of the Church, but I can tell it is kind of a gray area. My guess is because no one has ever said to them, " We are commanded to pay tithing. We are commanded to love one another. We are commanded to fast", etc. It is simply something they do, so defining it as a commandment may be new to them. We truly have our own language in the Church.

I also recognized that they haven't yet learned about what tithing is used for, who benefits from fast offerings etc.  As the youth grow in the Church they learn more about the "why" as they continue to learn about the "how".  Line upon line...

This class is full of "what if" questions. And honestly at times, it is hard not to laugh. Their imaginations run wild and sometimes we are waaaaaay off course! But part of being their teacher is to know that delicate balance between spiritual lessons and lighthearted learning.

The hardest part of the class today, for me,was the end, and as I type this, that feeling is still sitting in the pit of  my stomach. This is my "when the rubber meets the road" experience.

 In my work life, I am the team captain for our company at a local charity event. The annual walk takes place on a Sunday, and is scheduled to happen on September 18th. Being the captain now for the 3rd year, I look forward to participating, to fundraising and to spending time with my colleagues.
However, today was different.

I had just finished giving my lesson about obeying the commandments, and talked about keeping the Sabbath day holy. I had one more thing I wanted to share - I would be out next Sunday.  As I made mention of my absence, one of the boys wanted to know if I was going on vacation,and for a split second I wished I was. It certainly would look better than making a choice to break the Sabbath. As I explained that I would be participating at the charity event, I felt so uncomfortable.  It reminds of words I have heard in holy places, " Is there no other way ?"  And those words have been in my mind and heart the rest of the day.

While I could have lied to the youth about my choice, I decided being honest was better. I wanted them to know that this is a hard choice for me and I would rather teach them than go on the walk. And sometimes, there are choices like that.

I wanted so much to put a big red bow on my lesson - to tie it all up nicely that I did the right thing and it was easy as pie, but the truth this, this one isn't quite so easy.  The unsettled feeling I have in my stomach tells me that I need to explore ways to be able to keep this commandment rather than giving in to the situation at hand. I may end up at the same location and I may end up at the walk, but I will have asked for guidance to find a solution rather than accept that obedience in this instance isn't possible.

In the Book of  Mormon, Nephi faced challenges as well. 1 Nephi 3:7 says,  " I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." 



It is now my turn to find the way to accomplish the thing which I am commanded to do AND accomplish the task I was asked to do at work.  Even I don't know the outcome of this story, but I have faith that the Lord's hand will be in the details. 

Have a blessed week!

RMC