It's Qulaitiy not Quantitiy that matters

So let me share a long held debate that's been happening in my family recently, it's all about scripture reading (yup not politics or ethnic or anything else....) 

See when my siblings and I were growing up we'd read scriptures every night with my parents and we usually read an entire chapter. Since I've come home from my mission we alternate sometimes we read a whole chapter sometimes just 15 verses (there's only three of us now) but we pretty much always read which in my book is the most important thing. Not so much with my parents. See they frequently debate are we reading enough. Mom will say something like couldn't we read more and then Dad gets stressed and overwhelmed. Then the next night Dad us stressed about how much we are or arent reading and Mom getting defensive and it's just silliness y'know? 

So last night I had a little mini-epiphany; does God ever give us a number of how much we need to do I mean I've not looked everywhere but I'm pretty sure there isn't q list that says:

-daily prayers (two, five if meal prayers included)

-scripture reading (1 chapter, 2 if seeking greater blessings)

-service (45 min, helping old ladies cross the street recommended)

I mean can you imagine if there was something like this out there?! I mean maybe it would be nice I would definitely know I wasn't making it to heaven so that would be a load off I guess. But guess what?!  This is not how God works!!! There is no master list or point system!!! 

I occurred to me that it's not so much the quantity of our Obedience that matters it's really about the quality of our Obedience. God doesn't say read 2 chapters a day He says read scriptures daily and ponder them. God doesn't give us a number of prayers to pray, he asks us to communicate with him through prayer open and honest and then listen for him to answer us. 

I remember a conversation I had with a struggling companion on my mission who just could grapple with exact obedience and being a "consecrated missionary" (Just imagine super stressed perfectionist missionaries that's what I served with haha!) I read her a scripture: 

Mosiah 5: 2 "And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually" (italics added for emphasis) 

See this is conversion, it's about our hearts changing and with it our true desires. After that the actions will follow automatically. 

So if you feel like your obedience is lacking maybe instead of trying to gauge if the quantity is enough look at your heart and your desires and the quality of your choices.