Elder Carl B. Cook made this observation: “Serving in the Church … can be challenging if we are asked to do something that frightens us, if we grow weary of serving, or if we are called to do something that we do not initially find appealing.”1 We were experiencing the truth of Elder Cook’s words when we decided we had to seek direction from Someone with a greater perspective than our own.
This is so true; every calling comes with feelings of inadequacies, and they are all scary. I have found that all callings challenge me. Sometimes, I excel, and sometimes I am a royal mess. Either way, at the end, I feel that I am a little bit better. It reminds me of my kids on the basketball field, or the cross-country course. The games or races that they lose, or the “off days” they have are tough. Often, I will spend hours holding a crying child, soothing their broken hearts. As I hold them, I try to explain this exact principle: You learn more from your losses then you do your wins. How true is this throughout all life? When it comes to sports, the loss pushes the athlete to work harder. With our callings, hopefully it works the same way, they push us to call on our Heavenly Father for some spiritual tutoring and guidance, ultimately leading to our growth.
Sister Jones shares a ministering experience, where the family they were called to minister, didn’t respond with kindness. They tried all kinds of approaches, but nothing seemed to work. It left her with feelings of “why” am I doing this? After much contemplation, she realized the answer was in this scripture: D&C 59: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy might, mind, and strength; and in the name of Jesus Christ thou shalt serve him.
As we serve others, we are serving the Lord. Considering the fact that the Lord serves us day and night, it is the least that we can do to give back just a little. If we keep this focus as we serve, even when it is difficult, it will make our callings and ministering delightful. We will feel the joy that comes from loving our Heavenly Father.
I have a favorite story in relation to ministering: my best friend fell away from the church for many years. During this time of inactivity, my friend’s visiting teacher was amazing! She came every month with a newsletter and a plate of goodies. My friend would tell her that she wanted nothing to do with the church. Nothing stopped this visiting teacher from visiting my friend. Sometimes, my friend would even tell her to please have her name removed from the church list. Still, this faithful visiting teacher brought the newsletter and the goodies. One month, she didn’t come. The next month she didn’t come. My friend was devastated. She called her mom, feeling lost. She felt that everyone had given up on her. Her mother was confused about what had happened. My friend explained how her visiting teacher had come every week for years; that no matter what she said to her, she continued to come. Her mom was shocked. After all these years of you telling her to stop coming, she never stopped? What did you expect?
The result was that my friend came back to the church, and is an active member now, and has been for years. All because one visiting teacher knew the “why” to what she was doing. She was seeking out the one, she was shepherding for the Lord. She was serving our Heavenly Father by loving all his children. She was believing, and never gave up. She had truly been in the service of her Lord, as mentioned by King Benjamin: Mosiah 2:16 Behold, I say unto you that because I said unto you that I had spent my days in your service, I do not desire to boast, for I have only been in the service of God.”4
“So, whom was King Benjamin really serving? Heavenly Father and the Savior. Knowing the who and the why in serving others helps us understand that the highest manifestation of love is devotion to God.”
How can this understanding help us in our callings?
Sister Jones explains what happens with her ministering family once she changed her attitude, and understood the WHO and the WHY she was serving…
“As our focus gradually changed, so did our prayers. We began looking forward to our visits with this dear family because of our love for the Lord.5 We were doing it for Him. He made the struggle no longer a struggle. After many months of our standing on the doorstep, the family began letting us in. Eventually, we had regular prayer and tender gospel discussions together. A long-lasting friendship developed. We were worshipping and loving Him by loving His children.”
“Can you think back on a time when you lovingly reached out with sincere effort to help someone in need and felt that your efforts went unnoticed or perhaps were unappreciated or even unwanted”?
“In that moment, did you question the value of your service”?
“If so, may the words of King Benjamin replace your doubt and even your hurt: “Ye are only in the service of your God”.
“Rather than building resentment, we can build, through service, a more perfect relationship with our Heavenly Father. Our love for and devotion to Him preempts the need for recognition or appreciation and allows His love to flow to and through us”.
This should be the way we look at everyone we meet. Everyone is indeed our brother and sister; they are all children of God, and loved dearly by Heavenly Father. This attitude was passed down to me and my other siblings through the example a d attitude of our parents who made it natural and instinctive. I am thankful for this, because some of my best friends are ladies that I might not naturally gravitate towards and think that we were similar enough to be friends. But thanks to my understanding that each of us is apart of an eternal family, I have developed life-long, precious friendships with these women.
“Sometimes we may initially serve from a sense of duty or obligation, but even that service can lead us to draw on something higher within us, leading us to serve in “a more excellent way”7—as in President Nelson’s invitation to “a newer, holier approach to caring for and ministering to others.”
In recalling previous callings at which I felt I’d failed, I realize now with this new perspective, I actually succeeded in them, because I loved those I served, and I tried my best. Looking back, I had a lot to learn about the calling. Since then, I have paid close attention to those who excel where I am weak and have learned a lot. I don’t believe I would have paid attention to those details, if I did not had the chance to recognize my own weaknesses. We can glorify and serve Heavenly Father even while we are struggling and feeling like failures, if we will but take the opportunity to learn, and to build new talents.
“When we focus on all that God has done for us, our service flows from a heart of gratitude. As we become less concerned about our service magnifying us, we realize instead that the focus of our service will be on putting God first”.
We live in a world of “me”. How many likes do we have on Facebook, or Instagram? Even at church we wonder, “do people think I’m awesome?”
The bottom line is we are all awesome, and our awesomeness will shine even brighter as we stop focusing on ourselves and give all the worries and concerns to the Lord and let him guide our actions. We will find that we are now building up those who may feel forgotten or unnoticed. We will mend the broken-hearted and heal the spiritually wounded. The work of the Lord will move at an insurmountable pace once we open our hearts to the powers of heaven. The best part is that as we forget about ourselves, we will find that we are happier and lighter. Our callings will even feel easier, as we surrender what we think others expect, and just turn to the Lord to let him do His will through you.
I love the sweet testimony of Wendy Nelson on how tutored and guided the prophet is. President Russell M. Nelson, is the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and yet, what do you think he fills his notebook with? He fills it with direction that he has received from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. He is constantly on-call, always available, and ready to listen to the tutoring he must receive in order to lead this world-wide church as an instrument in the Lord’s hands. It is not about what he wants or what he is thinking. It is about you and me–it is about what we need to hear and know from the Lord himself. He is a mouthpiece, and that is what he has devoted his life to, leading us with exactness, in the direction given to him from the Lord. We too, can do this with our own callings. We too have special keys, and responsibility to teach and love those that we work with. We too must look to the lord constantly for His direction, so that our callings are done in His will, so that everyone’s full potential can be reached.
“President M. Russell Ballard taught, “It is only when we love God and Christ with all of our hearts, souls, and minds that we are able to share this love with our neighbors through acts of kindness and service.”
In order to give this love and to receive this guidance we need to have that relationship in our own personal lives. We need to know that God loves us. We need to accept that love, and let it fill our souls daily, especially during difficult times. Then we will be equipped to help others feel His love, through us, and through our guidance. Also, we need to LOVE the Lord. We show that Love when we willingly listen and obey, when we strive to do His will in our lives and in our callings. Through our love, His loves is magnified through us.
“The first of the Ten Commandments reiterates this divine wisdom: “I am the Lord thy God. … Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”11 The placement of this commandment helps us understand that if we place Him as our main priority, everything else will ultimately fall into place—even our service to others. When He takes the preeminent position in our lives by our deliberate choice, then He is able to bless our actions to our good and to the good of others.”
If we follow the first commandment, all the other ones naturally happen. What an amazing line up! Putting the Lord first works in all aspects of our lives, including, our marriages and families. As we seek after His will, we will ultimately have a divine love for our spouse, which will lead to a healthy strong marriage. This is key to a well-balanced family, and a firm foundation, which gives the kids the base they need to survive the battles they daily face. All these ultimately create a peaceful joyful home.
“The Lord counseled, “Look unto me in every thought.”12 And each week we covenant to do just that—to “always remember him.”13 Can such a godly focus apply in everything we do? Can performing even a menial task become an opportunity to demonstrate our love and devotion to Him? I believe it can and will.”
“We can make each item on our to-do list become a way to glorify Him. We can see each task as a privilege and opportunity to serve Him, even when we are during deadlines, duties, or dirty diapers.”
This is exciting to me. I believe this will give our everyday routines purpose again, and through that we will find joy in the daily tasks that so often become dull and draining. It reminds me of two other things that changed my life forever by adapting this same idea.
My sister, Debbie, encourages us every November, to say only prayers of thanks for that month. At first it is difficult, because we are so used to asking the Lord for every desire of our hearts. It doesn’t take long, after saying prayers of thanks only, that everything in life becomes delightful. It’s truly amazing. I often think to myself, I am going to do this all year. Somehow, I drift back to my prayers full of demands. Gratitude opens the eyes to all the blessings that surround us.
Secondly, I read a book that talked about how God created everything on earth, and everything on earth is constantly worshiping God, except us. We are the only creatures who forget the Lord and his goodness. After reading this, I started looking around me and seeing the trees and the grass as if they were worshiping the Lord. Suddenly, my heart was filled with constant worship, and I found myself wanting to worship him constantly as well, and I found myself looking outside of my own life to those who may need me that day.
I am excited to look at my daily tasks to glorify him. I believe, the tasks will feel joyful, and I will be able to smile (and maybe even skip) as I do hours of laundry, and dishes.
“As Ammon said, “Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore, I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things.” (Alma 26:12)
“When serving our God becomes our main priority in life, we lose ourselves, and in due course, we find ourselves”.
I love this outlook! It truly makes every event or activity more enjoyable for everyone involved. I remember my mom always told us this when we would go out, even for the events like prom. She would tell me, get ready, look in the mirror, then forget yourself, and think of others the rest of the night. I never brought a clutch with lip gloss or makeup. I didn’t need to do retouches, my time for myself was over, it was time to focus on others. I always believe I had the best dances. I may not have had the most expensive dress, but I had the best time, because others were having a good time around me, as I forgot about myself, they forgot about themselves. It’s contagious.
“The Savior taught this principle so simply and directly: “Therefore let your light so shine before this people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven”.
Our light is always brightest when it’s not covered with selfish concerns. There are so many people out there who need help, they need love, they need to be drawn in. It’s way more important than anything else. We must reach out to them. Sometimes we must step out of our comfort zone to see what others need. It is easy to talk to the same people, but who needs to be talked to? Ask the Lord, he will help you know who need you today. You could change lives every week, if you just ask the Lord to know.
“May I share with you some words of wisdom that were found on the wall of an orphanage in Calcutta, India: “If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight. Build anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow. Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough. Give the world the best you’ve got anyway. You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God … anyway.”
“Sisters, it is always between us and the Lord. As President James E. Faust said: “‘What is the greatest need in the world?’ … ‘Is not the greatest need in all of the world for every person to have a personal, ongoing, daily, continuing relationship with the Savior?’ Having such a relationship can unchain the divinity within us, and nothing can make a greater difference in our lives as we come to know and understand our divine relationship with God.”1
“Similarly, Alma explained to his son, “Yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.”
“And President Russell M. Nelson has likewise taught us, “When we comprehend His voluntary Atonement, any sense of sacrifice on our part becomes completely overshadowed by a profound sense of gratitude for the privilege of serving Him.”
“Sisters, I testify that when Jesus Christ, through the power of His Atonement, works on us and in us, He begins to work through us to bless others. We serve them, but we do so by loving and serving Him. We become what the scripture describes: “Every man [and woman] seeking the interest of his [or her] neighbor and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God.”
Here is the talk:https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2018/10/for-him?lang=eng
-Sherri Jorgensen
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