Hey team!
This is a paper I wrote while in Jerusalem. I hope you like it.

Christmas rolled around Ellensburg Washington at the same time of year that it did for everyone else. It was bitter cold; the temperature rarely went into the double digits. I was a brand new missionary, enjoying the festive season and the kindness that was being poured upon me by members in the ward. I wasn’t homesick but I knew that my mother missed me dearly. I decided to take great care to make my phone call home meaningful and comforting.

Each Christmas eve, my family would gather around candles and read aloud the Christmas story. Our tiny living room in Manhattan would become a grotto as candlelight danced across the window onto the busy street. Dad’s mood would determine how many verses were to be recited. Not wanting to miss this tradition, I requested and received permission from my Mission President to call home on Christmas Eve. I thought it would be a nice gesture to my mother.

I lit a small candle on my desk, stationed in the corner of a cold basement in a rickety old farmhouse and read along over the phone. Dad decided that this year, we would read Luke 2 in its entirety. I took my turn to read aloud verse 49. Though written two thousand years ago, the words became mine. “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” Time seemed to stand still. My mother was comforted and knew that I was doing a great work. Like Jesus, she knew I had to leave everything behind, including family and friends to serve a higher purpose. My gratitude to the Lord was immense for he had comforted my Mother and taught me a valuable lesson.

Reflecting on the story, Christ’s desertion to the temple seems counterintuitive. It would not have been any trouble to inform Joseph and Mary of his decision to study in the temple. How could he worry his parents so desperately? I do not have a perfect answer to this question but I can take a stab at it. Mont Poulsen provided a powerful insight in the July 2011 Ensign. Brother Poulsen points out that many of the good things, like children and marriage, when done in the wrong order is a “disaster.” “Satan deceives us by convincing us to do the right thing in the wrong order.” The Savior taught on many occasions that the greatest commandments, and thus the ones Satan is most interested in, is to love God and our neighbors (Luke 10:27). The consequences of incorrectly prioritizing these two commandments are dire.

            It is easy to justify our sins by prioritizing people over God. I cannot number the dumb things done by missionaries in my mission in the name of companion, district or zone unity. It is vital that we consider the feelings of others and the impact our decisions will make, but we must first consider what God thinks of our decisions, then how it will affect other people. Elder Holland in October 2012 General Conference taught, “the crowning characteristic of love is always loyalty.”  

            The Savior wants us to be loyal to and love all men equally. The importance of this principle is evident its status as the second greatest commandment in the universe. Yet we often make it the greatest commandment when our loyalty to our brothers and sisters supersedes our loyalty to God. Christ’s love of his Father drew him to the temple as he left behind his friends and family and I can attest to the blessings of loving God more than man. As I read the scriptures with, but far from, my family those years ago in a hick town in the middle of nowhere, I could feel the encircling arms of a God who was blessing us for loving him more than each other. 

My Bearrie Brothers,

We love each other. but we must love God even more.