Heed the Tiwi

I really enjoyed a talk that was given in our ward a few weeks ago so I want to share what I took away from it. The speaker had accompanied the high councilman who was speaking also. I didn’t have my notebook with me that day, unfortunately, and I don’t remember his name. (If anyone reading this was there and knows, let me know and I'll include his name.) He was a recently returned missionary who spoke about a monitor that is now put on missionary cars. It’s called a Tiwi . I had never heard of it before.

It’s a unit that is put on the car and then warns you if you are speeding, driving aggressively, not wearing your seat belts or going beyond the area designated as permitted to travel in. Not only does it warn the driver with a audible voice, it sends reports to the mission home or Salt Lake.

“Exceeding speed limit”

“Warning: aggressive driving”

Can you imagine how much many of the missionaries despise this device?

When a missionary had too many bad reports from the Tiwi, their driving privileges would be suspended. Sadly, the mission president was having a hard time arranging new companionships so that at least one of them would be able to drive. I know they are basically just teenagers, but it’s still sad.  

The speaker said that some of the cars in the mission weren’t compatible with the Tiwi, so those missionaries would drive however they wanted, not worrying about being caught speeding or going slightly outside their boundary limits. But the monitor on this missionary’s car worked fine so he was careful to drive so as not to get bad reports sent to Salt Lake. After some time, he noticed that the missionaries who didn’t have a Tiwi and weren’t careful, had a lot of problems with their cars that he didn’t have--they went through tires faster, bumpers were falling off, repairs were needed more often. Because he followed the rules, he enjoyed good consequences. Because the other missionaries didn’t, they suffered bad consequences.

Of course, this Tiwi is like the Holy Ghost for each one of us. Our Heavenly Father “gets a report” since he sees all and knows all. The Holy Ghost is a warning system for us. “Approaching boundary limit” “Going too fast” Whether we heed these warnings or not is up to us. Unlike this electronic monitor, if we do not listen to the Holy Ghost, his warnings get quieter and quieter. We may think that we are smart enough or good enough to ignore the “little” things and still avoid the big temptations, but as we distance ourselves from the Lord and the Holy Ghost, we are less able to hear the warning and see the consequences, both immediate and eternal.

I am so grateful for the beautiful blessing our loving Heavenly Father has given each of us to have the companionship of a member of the Godhead to guide and exhort us. To me, it is just another way he shows us that he wants us to return to him and to be happy while we are on this earth. Instead of being shackles that bind us, the rules and commandments give us freedom to enjoy the best in this life, find real, lasting joy and avoid the sorrow that “just having fun by breaking rules” inevitably leads to. I love my Tiwi.