Missionary Preparation: Lesson 200

The Importance of Obedience in Bringing Others to Christ

Obedience in Missionary Work

Choosing to be obedient because we love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is a vital part of our mortal journey (see John 14:15). Our personal obedience is especially important when we represent the Savior Jesus Christ as members of His Church and as full-time missionaries. This lesson can help students recognize the importance of obedience in doing the Savior’s work as missionaries.

Student preparation: Invite students to review some of the standards for missionary service found in Section 3 of “Missionary Standards for Disciples of Jesus Christ” in Gospel Library. Alternately, students could speak with someone who served a mission and ask what mission standards they remember.

Possible Learning Activities

Missionary standards

Consider beginning the lesson by showing an image of a missionary and the resource Missionary Standards for Disciples of Jesus Christ from ChurchofJesusChrist.org. You could explain to students that missionaries are expected to follow certain standards while they represent the Savior.

• What are some of the standards missionaries are expected to obey?

If needed, you could share some of the missionary standards listed below, from your own experience, or others found in Section 3 or Section 7 of Missionary Standards for Disciples of Jesus Christ from ChurchofJesusChrist.org. You might point out that missionaries are also expected to follow the counsel of their mission leaders as they direct the Lord’s work in righteousness.

Some missionary standards:

• Be kind, positive, and uplifting.

• Always stay with your companion.

• Avoid situations that could become physically or spiritually dangerous. Do not use power tools, operate heavy machinery, or ride on tractors, trailers, or truck beds.

• Avoid television, movies, video games, and unauthorized videos.

• Limit physical contact with someone of the opposite gender to a handshake.

• Why might some of these standards be challenging for a missionary to obey? Why would they be important for missionaries to follow?

You could invite a few students to share an example of a missionary they know, standards they were asked to maintain, and how the Savior blessed them for their efforts.

Personal righteousness and obedience

You can share the following statement from Elder Soares to help students identify a truth about the relationship of obedience and missionary work.

In speaking to missionaries, Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

Personal righteousness is one of the most important qualifications to represent the Savior before the world. It also qualifies us to have the companionship of the Spirit of the Lord with us. …

If we choose not to be obedient, we will not be able to represent the Savior accordingly, nor will we have the Spirit of the Lord with us. … In order to be a positive influence in the lives of individuals you teach, you must have the Spirit of the Lord with you. …

If you obey with a willing heart, you will be demonstrating to the Lord your willingness to follow Him, your love for Him and for our Heavenly Father. Your spiritual progress will be broader. You will come to know the Savior, and this will make all the difference in your mission and in your life. (Scott Tayler, “Obedience Is Critical for Missionaries to Fulfill Their Responsibilities, Elder Soares Teaches,”newsroom.ChurchofJesusChrist.org, Mar. 29, 2021)

• What do we learn from Elder Soares about the importance of obedience?

  Students may use their own words to identify a truth like personal righteousness and obedience qualify us to represent the Savior and have the companionship of the Spirit.

  It might be helpful to explain that obedience includes keeping our covenants with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Obedience is an important part of personal righteousness and an expression of love for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ (see John 14:15).

• What blessings have you seen Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ give to someone striving to obey Them?

• How have you seen these blessings in your life or in the life of someone you know?

Take a moment to prayerfully consider your current efforts to be obedient to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Invite the Holy Ghost to help you recognize things you are doing well or may need to adjust to better show your love to Them and bring others to Them.

Faithful obedience in missionary work

To help students see how obedience can help us bring others to Christ, consider discussing the account of Daniel’s influence on King Darius from Daniel 6. Students may have studied this account in Lesson 145: “Daniel 6.” You might briefly summarize the story with the following paragraph.

Though enslaved in Babylon and Persia, Daniel served the Lord faithfully. King Darius preferred Daniel “above all the other presidents and princes” in his realm “because an excellent spirit was in him [Daniel],” (Daniel 6:3). In an effort to discredit Daniel in King Darius’s eyes, the other presidents devised a plan to pit Daniel’s loyalty to King Darius against Daniel’s loyalty to God. They pressured Darius to declare that petitioning God or any man other than Darius, punishable by death in the lions’ den (see Daniel 6:4–9). Despite the danger, Daniel demonstrated his willing obedience by continuing to pray to God. When Daniel’s prayers were reported, Darius reluctantly agreed to cast him into the den.

Read Daniel 6:18–28, looking for the impact Daniel’s obedience to the Lord had on King Darius.

• What did you discover?

• How can our efforts to obey the Lord have a positive impact on how others view Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?

Share what you have learned

Consider inviting students to create an outline that could be used for a three- to five-minute talk. To help students create their outline, you could provide the handout “The Importance of Obedience when Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

The following instructions could be displayed to help students create the outline.

Create an outline that could be used to give a three- to five-minute talk on the importance of obedience when sharing the Savior’s gospel with others.

Include at least three of the following in your outline.

1. A scripture about obedience and how it could apply to sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

2. An example from the life or teachings of Jesus Christ that could help someone striving to be obedient.

3. A modern-day example of the importance of obedience and how Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will bless our efforts.

4. A short quote from a Church leader that emphasizes striving to be obedient and the blessings for doing so.

5. Your personal feelings about why obedience is important when we represent the Savior as members of His Church and as His missionaries.

You could also provide students with the second handout in this lesson to organize the outline for their talk. They could include a title in the first box, a simple introduction to their talk in the second, the three things they decided to include from the list above in the next three boxes, and their testimony in the final box.

After students have created their outline, they could work with a partner to either practice or refine their talk. You could invite willing students to share their talk with the class. Some students may not feel comfortable sharing aloud. You could encourage them to take their outline home and teach a family member or friend.

Consider sharing your witness of the importance of personal righteousness as we represent the Savior and His gospel to others.

Additional Resources

How does maintaining our standards show our love for the Lord?

Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

Loving the Lord is often measured in small daily deeds, footsteps on the covenant path: for young people, using social media to build up rather than tear down; leaving the party, movie, or activity where standards might be challenged; showing reverence for things sacred. (“Bridging the Two Great Commandments,” Liahona, May 2024, 105)

Why is it important to learn obedience as we prepare to share the gospel with others?

Speaking to new missionaries, Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles reminded them:

Disobedience is rebellion against God and His purposes and causes us to distance ourselves from the influence of the Holy Ghost. … The Holy Ghost does not leave us; rather, through disobedience we withdraw ourselves from the influence of the Holy Ghost. (Scott Tayler, “7 Lessons Elder Bednar Has Learned About Obedience Over Past 50 Years,”newsroom.ChurchofJesusChrist.org, June 27, 2022)

Elder Larry S. Kacher of the Seventy taught:

[A]s we move toward true faith in Jesus Christ, our mindset begins to change. We recognize that obedience and faith in the Savior qualify us to have His Spirit always to be with us. Obedience is no longer an irritant but becomes a quest. We recognize that obedience to God’s commands enables us to be trusted of Him. With His trust comes increased light. This light guides our journey and allows us to see more clearly the path we should take. (“Ladder of Faith,” Liahona, May 2022, 25) (time code 4:05 to 4:39)

Supplemental Learning Activities

The blessings of obedient missionary service

It might be helpful for students to use scenarios to help them recognize how our righteous choices can affect our ability to share the Savior’s gospel with others. Consider providing the following scenarios or something similar.

• As missionaries, Sisters Kelly and Shepherd know their mission curfew is 9:00 p.m., but they want to stay until 9:30 with a family they have been teaching.

• Elder Pratt has been very tired waking up at normal missionary time of 6:30 a.m. He thinks getting more sleep will help him have more energy for the day.

• The mission rules say that missionaries are not allowed to go to the beach. However, members of a local branch have invited Elders Miller and Smith to meet with several of their neighbors who have asked about the Church and will attend the beach party.

You could organize students into partnerships to discuss the scenario they select. Students could use a text message thread to craft a conversation. Students could imagine the person in the scenario has asked for their counsel. They could create a conversation, sharing what they have learned about obedience and missionary work.

Good or not so good

After reviewing some of the mission standards, students might benefit from a discussion about what obedience on a mission should look like. To do this, you could show “Preparation Day Safety,” from time code 1:58 to 6:15. You could pause after each depiction of missionary work and invite students to respond to the moderator’s invitation to determine whether the activities are good or not so good.

Obedience means we recognize mistakes, repent, and retry

If students struggle to feel confident that they can be obedient, or worry if they have been forgiven for past mistakes, you could share the video “Transformed Through the Love of Jesus Christ” (2:26). You could explain that if we are earnestly striving to do our best, even though we make mistakes, we can be forgiven through the Savior’s Atonement. Consider inviting students to write a brief journal entry expressing their willingness to keep trying to be obedient, including to the commandment to repent when they make mistakes.