Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints should seek to have the same "faith obedience" exhibited by Abraham, Noah and Nephi, said Elder R. Conrad Schultz of the Second Quorum of the Seventy.

Satan will try to convince an individual that unquestioning obedience to God's commandments is unwise, but that is not the case, Elder Schultz said.

"Our unquestioning obedience to the Lord's commandments is not blind obedience," he said.

Some will erroneously believe that worldly learning is the only way to obtain knowledge, discounting God's counsel, Elder Schultz said. Others will think they can choose to obey only some of God's commandments.

Trust is a necessary component of our relationship with God, he said.

"The question is simple, do we trust our Heavenly Father?" he said. "Do we trust our prophets?"

The necessity for this trust was demonstrated several years ago during a fishing trip off the Oregon coast with members of his extended family, Elder Schultz said.

An eight-foot wave struck the boat they were in unexpectedly, knocking the cousin of Elder Schultz's wife overboard. Everyone in the fishing group was wearing a life jacket and the group was able to rescue the man and pull him back aboard the boat.

Later, Elder Schultz learned that the same wave had caused three separate accidents and five people had drowned.

Elder Schultz likened our obedience to gospel principles to spiritual life jackets.

"I am grateful that we had on our life jackets that summer day on the ocean," he said.

Copyright Brigham Young University 6 Apr 2002