Many of us remember singing the stirring lines of the Primary song from the "Children’s Songbook":
"Dare to do right! Dare to be true! You have a work that no other can do; Do it so bravely, so kindly, so well, Angels will hasten the story to tell."
"Dare to do right" could also be spoken as "dare to obey." We are taught in the scriptures that "to obey is better than sacrifice" (see 1 Samuel 15:22). The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: “To get salvation we must not only do some things, but everything which God has commanded” (see “Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith”). And his successor as president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Brigham Young said, “All who receive eternal life and salvation will receive it on no other conditions than believing in the Son of God and obeying the principles that he has laid down” (see “Discourses of Brigham Young”).
There are myriad examples of faithful obedience througout the history of the LDS Church. I like the straightforward example of Dimick Huntingdon, told in the words of his brother Oliver.
Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum Smith had just arrived in Quincy, Illinois, after their imprisonment in Missouri and their unexpected escape. The Prophet walked over to the humble log shanty where Dimick and his family were making their temporary home. He said, “I have had a revelation in regards to you, and God has shown to me that you have to go among the Lamanites.” That was all. The following morning, right after breakfast, the young man presented himself with “valise in hand, and said he was ready to go."
"'Go where?’ asked Joseph. 'To the Lamanites,’ said Dimick. Joseph smiled and said, ‘It is not time now, but after a while your work is with them’” (see “Journal of Oliver B. Huntington" as quoted in “Personal Glimpses of the Prophet Joseph Smith,” by Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus).
Obedience is not always easy. But it always brings increased personal power and freedom — as well as additional light and knowledge.
Sick, cold and hungry, and lying in a miserable temporary shelter with no comforts, Mormon pioneer Mary Fielding Smith gave birth to her first son — just days after her husband, Hyrum Smith, was taken by a mob of men howling for the blood of the Prophet Joseph and Hyrum Smith. She knew not where they were going or if she would ever see them again.
Shortly after the birth, she contracted a severe cold that brought on chills and fever. This, along with the anxiety she was suffering, brought her to the brink of death. For four months, she was unable to care for herself or her child in any way, and when the Saints were driven from Missouri, she endured the 200-mile journey mostly lying helpless in bed. Once safely in Commerce, which later became Nauvoo, Illinois, she began slowly to mend.
Following these circumstances, she wrote to her brother Joseph Fielding: “I feel but little concerned about where I am, if I can keep my mind staid upon God; for, you know in this there is perfect peace. I believe the Lord is overruling all things for our good.” At the end of the letter she added, “The more I see of the dealings of our Heavenly Father with us as a people, the more I am constrained to rejoice that I was ever made acquainted with the everlasting covenant. O may the Lord keep me faithful till my change comes!” (see “In Their Own Words: Women and the Story of Nauvoo,” by Carol Cornwall Madsen).
The trials, challenges and heartaches did not end. But she remained faithful because her obedience came from her convictions — convictions based upon love of truth and love of the Savior.
Leonora Cannon Taylor, wife of John Taylor who was the third president of the LDS Church, wrote in her diary: “The Lord often led me by a way I knew not.” (see “In Their Own Words: Women and the Story of Nauvoo”).
Is this not the pattern of each of our lives here in mortality?
Mosiah Hancock learned obedience and love of truth as a child through the trials of Kirtland, Ohio, and Missouri, walking barefoot through 8 inches of snow, sleeping on the cold ground and eating elm bark along with the corn his family carried with them, as they made their way to Nauvoo. As a boy of 12, he stood guard at the temple during many long nights.
He learned tenderness and compassion as he endured trial following trial, choosing faithfulness at each junction along the way. He accepted every mission call he was given and every call to colonize new areas for the Saints in the West. As he served, he developed many skills and gifts and received much joy. His daughter, Amy Hancock Baird, was able to say of him: “My father had a kind, charitable heart, and relieved poverty and distress, and whenever and wherever he was called to serve, he willingly did so. His heart belonged to the Lord.” (“Daughters of Utah Pioneers Lesson for September 2015: Pioneer Children,” by Ellen Taylor Jeppson).
"His heart belonged to the Lord" is the crux of obedience and of happiness. Brigham Young said of the gospel, “It is everything in heaven and on Earth to those who possess it truly” (see “Discourses of Brigham Young”).
Today we are all part, in one way or another, of the phenomenon of obedience. There are thousands of youths putting aside their own young dreams amid plans to serve missions. They are young men and young women who will return as seasoned servants of the Lord — loving obedience, loving the reason for it.
Why obedience? Pure and simply so that Heavenly Father can bless us, and in receiving those blessings, we can become like him. If we choose not to obey, we are saying “no” to blessings.
“There is no gift greater than the gift of salvation,” states the revelation given to the Prophet Joseph Smith in Doctrine and Covenants 6:13. In verse 20, it continues, “Be faithful and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, and I will encircle thee in the arms of my love.”
The blessings from participating in general conference are now with us. The Prophet of the Restoration, even our beloved Brother Joseph, gently exhorted: “In obedience there is joy and peace unspotted, unalloyed; and as God has designed our happiness, he never will institute an ordinance or give a commandment to his people that is not calculated in its nature to promote that happiness which he has designed — and which will not end in the greatest amount of good and glory to those who become the recipients of his law and ordinances” (see “Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith”).
Let us gird up our loins and lift up our hearts to receive.
Susan Evans McCloud is author of more than 40 books and has published screenplays, a book of poetry and lyrics, including two songs in the LDS hymnbook. She has six children. She blogs at susanevansmccloud.blogspot.com. Email: susasays@broadweave.net