There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated-
Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21
And when we receive any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it was predicated.
In an Elder’s Quorum lesson recently, we were discussing the scripture above when the instructor told the following shocking story:
Once, at a conference of missionaries, his mission president held up a copy of the small missionary handbook they all had a copy of. This booklet (now called “Missionary Standards for Disciples of Jesus Christ”) is often referred to by LDS missionaries as the “Rule Book.” The mission president quoted the scripture above and then said, “Since blessings come from following the rules, you should all wish that this book (i.e. the “Rule Book”) was MUCH LARGER so you could get EVEN MORE BLESSINGS!”
Using his logic, one would have to say that the Old Testament, and the Law of Moses, is superior to the New Testament, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because it has far more strictures and rules about personal behavior.
To control or inspire?
I say the story is shocking because here we have a mission president teaching a blatantly false doctrine to the naive young men and women under his care. It is even more shocking because the man’s motive is clearly NOT to enlighten and empower his audience. Rather, his objective is control them.
I recognize this behavior because it was, and still is, a constant issue in my professional field. (I am a retired K-12 public educator.) The question is whether you are trying to create quiet, blindly-obedient, servile, no fuss, cogs in the capitalist machine, or whether you want your students to become curious, questioning, thoughtful, responsible, well-educated, adults.
Within the Church of Jesus Christ I consider the stakes to be even higher. Rules are man-made. Laws are universal. Mere obedience to mission “rules,” while a necessary prerequisite, is not the goal. We want our young men and women to develop personal responsibility and become strong, independent, faithful, adults. This is especially true for our missionaries because our missionary corps is a primary source of future Church leadership.
Preparing future leaders
Decades ago, in the Florida Tallahassee Mission, my mission president trusted his missionaries. You could say he taught us correct principles and we governed ourselves. Two months before I was released, there was a change in mission boundaries and I found myself in the Georgia Atlanta Mission. The contrast was eye-opening.
The Atlanta mission president immediately brought all the Tallahassee missionaries he had just inherited in to be “trained” in his missionary door approach. He actually taught us that when a person opened their door to see who was there, we should discreetly place our foot on the doorstep so they could not close the door. After introducing ourselves, we were taught to say, “May we come in?” while leaning toward the person so as to cause them to back up.
Most of the missionaries that had come from the Tallahassee Mission were appalled at this manipulative, high-pressure, “salesman,” approach to sharing the Gospel, but, while we murmured amongst ourselves, we tried to go along and not show disrespect for our new mission president.
I was fortunate to only spend two months under this repressive, bureaucratic, top-down, regime. (You should have seen the massive, error-prone, record-keeping system we were supposed to use. There was also a required, nightly, call-in, checklist report we had to make.)
Interestingly, and not surprisingly, I learned after I got home that within a very few months almost all of the missionary leadership positions (Assistants to the President, Zone Leaders, District Leaders) in the Georgia Atlanta mission had been filled by missionaries who had originally come from the Florida Tallahassee mission.
A higher ideal
Teaching missionaries (or anyone) to become merely “rule followers” rather than inspiring them to become fully-converted, “born again,” Saints is to short-circuit their growth and limit their potential. We should have much higher goals and ideals for our youth.
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
1 Corinthians 13:11
Humans are not intended to become pre-programed robots. We are free agents who have been instructed to do good, love one another, and strive to become like our heavenly parents.
For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.
Doctrine and Covenants 58:26-28
Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;
For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.
The law of cause and effect
The “Law upon which all blessings are predicated” is actually a restatement of the familiar scientific law known as “The Law of Cause and Effect.”
The Law of Cause and Effect is a universal law that states that every effect, whether positive or negative, is the direct outcome of a specific cause. This means that the conditions and experiences of our lives are the product of the choices and actions we make, as well as the thoughts and emotions we harbor.
Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21 is simply saying that if you want to attract blessings into your life, you need to follow the path – live the type of life – that leads to those blessings. This scripture is not a promise of direct quid pro quo. Living the Word of Wisdom, for example, does not guarantee one a life of perfect health. But a healthy diet, and avoiding alcohol and nicotine, will certainly improve your chances of living longer!
Living the higher laws
The nearer man approaches perfection, the clearer are his views, and the greater his enjoyments, till he has overcome the evils of his life and lost every desire for sin; and like the ancients, arrives at that point of faith where he is wrapped in the power and glory of his Maker and is caught up to dwell with Him.
Joseph Smith, History of the Church 2:8
Living righteously means to live in harmony with the higher laws of the universe. There is no “count” of the number of “rules” one keeps or breaks. What matters is the kind of person you become. As President Nelson pointed out in the October, 2023 General Conference:
Here is the great news of God’s plan: the very things that will make your mortal life the best it can be are exactly the same things that will make your life throughout all eternity the best it can be!
Think Celestial! Russell M. Nelson, General Conference, October 2023
I did, indeed, instruct my sons and grandchildren who left on missions to follow the rules. Learning how to discipline oneself is a first step in the path to becoming strong, independent, faithful, adults. My husband served a Northern Indian mission in the 60s, well before cell phones and internet connections to leadership. Such a large mission covering several states and populated sparsely left little opportunity for the training mission presidents are now able to provide and the result was disastrously untrained and unsupervised young men, many of whom were sent home to repent. The key is that as we grow spiritually, we need training in correct principles and in leadership characteristics before we are set forth to progress in agency – all this as our bodies and brains also mature.