Here is a talk that I gave in our branch in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Xi'an, Shaanxi, China in March 2019.
The Mutual theme for this year is found in John 14:15 and says: "If ye love me, keep my commandments." Kim and I had the opportunity to teach the youth in our home ward about this theme. When you have that opportunity to teach, it builds and strengthens your testimony. Even though none of us are youth, we can learn and grow from this scripture. It made an impact on my life and how I view others and the importance of Loving God.
After the Savior was resurrected he visited with Simon Peter. In John 21 we read: "So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, sonof Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, sonof Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, sonof Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep."
So I go back to John 14:15, If ye love me, keep my commandments. If ye love me, feed my sheep. We made a covenant at baptism to lift up others. When Alma was baptizing in the waters of Mormon he said:
"….: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon … and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;
9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, …." (Mosiah 18:8-9)
We covenant to love one another.
Again in Matthew 22: 36 "Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second islike unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
So when Jesus said: If ye love me, keep my commandments. I see this as asking us to love one another. As he loved us. And as he loves us now. Pres. Nelson and our leaders of the church are leading us and teaching us to reach out to others. We have been asked to minister to our brothers and sisters. We have been asked to love just as Jesus Loved.
In Elder Uchtdorf’s talk in the October 2018 conference, He said: "Jesus 'went about doing good.' He walked among the poor, the outcast, the sick, and the ashamed. He ministered to the powerless, the weak, and the friendless. He spent time with them; He spoke with them. “And he healed them all.” Everywhere He went, the Savior taught the “good news” of the gospel. He shared eternal truths that set people free spiritually as well as temporally. Those who dedicate themselves to Christ’s cause discover the truth of the Savior’s promise: 'Whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.'”
When we truly love Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father than we go about doing good as we saw Jesus do in his life. We lose our own lives for the sake of others.
In a discussion this week in my classes at Xi'an International Studies University one of my students mentioned how important it is that we accept others as they are and love them. I realized again in my life how important and powerful love is. Love can change the world. It can soften the hardened heart. It can heal broken hearts and give hope. It can lift the sorrowful, the sad and the lonely.
Quoting Elder Uchtdorf again: “Believing God leads to faith in Him and developing trust in His word. Faith causes our hearts to grow in our love for God and others. As that love grows, we are inspired to emulate the Savior as we continue our own great journey on the path of discipleship.”
In order to love God, we must first believe. And belief in Him leads us to faith. That faith leads to action. Elder Uchtdorf says we must work in order to develop that belief and faith and ultimately love for our Heavenly Father: “In my experience, belief is not so much like a painting we look at and admire and about which we discuss and theorize. It is more like a plow that we take into the fields and, by the sweat of our brow, create furrows in the earth that accept seeds and bear fruit that shall remain.”
When I was a young girl about 8 years old, my father bought a farm in southern Missouri. I remember many days and weeks following behind my father as he drove the tractor and pulled a plow through the field. We followed behind him picking up the rocks that filled the ground and threw them out to the side so that he could make furrows in the dirt. It was back breaking, sweaty hard work. Developing a true love for God is hard work. It may not be physical work but it takes diligent study and effort and implementation to grow in the gospel of Jesus Christ. To learn to love, develop faith and change our lives to emulate and be like the Savior.
Love is Doing. Love is action.
This past conference, Sister Franco told the beautiful story of her primary teacher when she was a young girl in Argentina. Back in the day when primary was during the week, her teacher would bring chocolate cake to share with her class. Cristina would not eat the cake because it was chocolate and she didn’t like chocolate cake. After several weeks, Cristina asked her to bring a different flavor of cake. Her teacher told her that this chocolate cake was made with a special ingredient and if she would just try it she promised her that she would like it. So, Cristina tried the cake and to her surprise, she liked it. It wasn’t until years later that she learned what the special ingredient in the cake was. It was love. Cristina’s mother told her: “Victoria and her family didn’t have a lot of resources, and each week she had to choose between paying for the bus to take her and her four children to Primary or buying the ingredients to make the chocolate cake for her Primary class. She always chose the chocolate cake over the bus, and she and her children walked more than two miles, each way, regardless of the weather.”
When we have that deep never-ending love for God, then we see other’s as they are and love them as well. We reach out to the sick, the needy, the poor and the afflicted. We serve God by serving others. We minister to all those around us. We reach out and share our talents to help bless those we come in contact with. Love is forgiveness and acceptance of others for who they are.
About a year out of high school, one of our daughters had moved out of the home for the first time. One Sunday she brought a new boyfriend home for Sunday dinner. Our first reaction when he walked in wearing his pukka shells and his bleached blonde hair was “who is this boy she’s dating?” Maybe we were judging him by his appearance but we weren’t too sure about this guy. She kept dating him and we found he was a really fun kid and we learned to love him but we never felt like they were a good match. So, when they announced that they wanted to get married but they weren’t worthy to go to the temple, we asked them to give it some more time. Work on their worthiness and try to get to the temple. We were hoping they’d change their minds. But they didn’t take our advice. They wanted to get married right away. We got busy and gave them a beautiful wedding. We loved them and forgave them. Several months later, a friend of mine told me how much she admired me for doing that. She said if it had been her daughter, she wouldn’t have put on a nice wedding for her. My reaction was REALLY? Despite how I felt about their decisions, we still loved her and we were able to forgive her. We had then and we have now a wonderful relationship with this daughter. I hate to think what might have happened if we had turned her out. If ye love me, keep my commandments. If ye love me, feed my sheep.
Of course, the perfect example of love which leads to action which leads to sacrifice and forgiveness and ministering, is the Savior, Jesus Christ. He loved us so much that he lived his life in serving and ministering and teaching and healing and forgiving others. And then he gave the ultimate sacrifice by taking on him all our sins and pains during the atonement. He hung on the cross and died an excruciating death and then he rose again giving us life everlasting.
There are many ways we can show our love for others:
Through temple work—which is a bit difficult here. But we can seek out our ancestors and get their names ready to be taken to the temple.
We can’t verbally share our testimonies with those around us here but we can Share our light by the way we live our lives and the way we treat others.
We can continue to share our thoughts and testimonies to our friends and family members at home and to each other here in our branch.
We can share our talents and abilities and strengths.
We can be patient and kind and merciful.
We can forgive others and not find fault or tear others down.
We can all lift others when and where needed.
We can mourn with those that mourn, comfort those that need comforting and help lighten the burdens of others.
We must BELIEVE-LOVE-DO! As we do these things— love and serve others—then we ultimately bring eternal happiness and peace into our own lives. What better reason is there to serve. It’s a full circle of service and love.
If ye love me, keep my commandments. If ye love me, feed my sheep.
This is MY testimony.
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