Zone Conference

     On March 19 and 21 we experienced our first Zone Conferences.  As senior missionaries we attended both as it is our responsibility to provide the lunch for all of the missionaries.  We had about 18 missionaries at each conference plus the seniors so we served 25 people each day. President Shaw, our mission president, spoke to us about the pyramid of discipleship. In the beginning we are obedient out of routine, because of the pressures of others around us.  This is much like a child being made to attend church or the routine in the MTC, of getting up at 6:30 every morning. We move from there to Selective Obedience, where we choose to keep some of the commandments some of the time, when it is convenient or meets our needs. From there we move up to being exactly obedient, which is where some missionaries are. Many of us do everything we are supposed to, but about half of the time it is because someone  is watching us, or we’re afraid of what others may think if we don’t.  At some point we hope to move to “I Know that I Know,” which is becoming more internal.  We are obedient because we know it is the right thing to do for example, we attend church every Sunday wherever we are at because it is the right thing to do.  However, the goal is for each of us to become a Disciple of Christ, which means we are obedient because we have a love of God, the Savior, and all mankind, and we want to be His servant.  The question is, “Where are we on the Pyramid of Discipleship?”

 

President Shaw teaching