Ministering: less talk, more action
A few weeks ago, I was called to be the ward mission leader. Since then, I have been pondering on what I need to do to magnify my calling. I have served with a lot of different ward mission leaders both on and off my mission. Some jumped in with the missionaries. Others never learned the missionaries’ names. Some rarely missed an opportunity to attend teaching appointments. Others rarely attended Church itself. Some were overbearing in their calling. Others couldn’t bare to be in their calling. It’s a wide spectrum.
So how does the Lord want me to serve? What should my focus be? How can I put new energy into visiting the “same ten people?” Or do we need a new approach entirely? A lot of weighty questions on my mind. I’ve been trying to discern how Christ wants me to serve in this capacity.
The only glad tidings
On Fast Sundays, instead of a full-length article, I write what I call a “fast thoughts” post. A short, unplanned look into a quick lesson I learned from the Book of Mormon. Enjoy.
The other day as I was reading King Benjamin’s address to his people, something new stuck out at me. Right in the part where an angel appears and instructs him to teach the people about the coming of the Son of God:
And he said unto me: Awake; and I awoke, and behold he stood before me.
And he said unto me: Awake, and hear the words which I shall tell thee; for behold, I am come to declare unto you the glad tidings of great joy.
Sounds familiar, right? Chances are you read something about “good tidings of great joy” a few months ago with your family as you gathered to recount the Christmas story. That phrase about tidings and joy is echoed throughout scripture: from Isaiah to Luke, from Romans to the Doctrine and Covenants, and here in the Book of Mormon. But I noticed that this angelic rendition of the phrase includes an extra work– the angel is here to announce “the glad tidings of great joy.”
The secrets of Godliness
I’ve heard some members of the Church who wish that they were converts to the Church instead of having been born into it. They look back on their supposedly straightlaced childhoods and say, “I wish I could have had my fun in my youth. You know, sow my wild oats and not worry. Then, after I’m married, I could hear the Gospel, join the Church, and live all the rules.” Sounds so appealing, right? Converts get the best of both worlds after all– they get to experience the pleasures of temptation and then the light of the Gospel once they’ve had all their fun, right?
I hope that idea makes you feel as sick as it makes me feel writing it just now. There are so many problems with that philosophy.
Asking questions when we already know the answer
On Fast Sundays, instead of a full-length article, I write what I call a “fast thoughts” post. A short, unplanned look into a quick lesson I learned from the Book of Mormon. Enjoy.
I read the Book of Enos again the other night and realized something: Enos’s wrestle with God in the woods doesn’t seem to have told him anything he didn’t already know. Let me explain.
I could really use a sign right about now
There’s a gloom in my house right now. A family friend in our ward passed away this past week after a short but vigorous battle with cancer. He leaves behind an amazing family with kids ages Primary through missionary. Our heart breaks for his wonderful family and will miss the cheery smile and spirit he always brought into the room. He was the kind of guy that always made you feel like you were important when you talked to him. As another ward member said when they heard of his death, “Heaven just leveled up.”
The Lord's soldiers are getting younger
This past week, the First Presidency made Church history. Again. In a letter dated Friday, December 14, Pres. Nelson and his counselors announced that young men and women’s quorums and classes will start following the same advancement pattern as Sunday School classes. Meaning everyone will transition to the next quorum or class at the beginning of the year. For example, if you turn 12 in 2019, you will be in the deacons’ quorum at the start of the year. And priesthood ordination will follow. No more waiting until you are 12 years old to receive the Aaronic Priesthood– from now on you will be ordained to the priesthood office at the same time as your fellow quorum members on the January of the year you turn that age. So be prepared for a lot of 11-year-old deacons passing the Sacrament in January!