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Hey. If you think Leading Saints is just

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a podcast, well, that's a big mistake. We

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are so much more than a podcast. We've

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established online a Leading Saints community.

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That's right. If you go to leadingsaints.org/zion,

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the discussion is really happening. Sure. You're gonna

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listen to this episode. You'll get some great

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tips and ideas and hear a thought provoking

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discussion, but the conversation doesn't end there. We,

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go over to the Leading Saints community and

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talk further there. You can make comments. You

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can ask questions, and we'll probably do some

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follow-up live streams with maybe the same guest.

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But a lot is going on at the

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Leading Saints community. So check out the show

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notes for the link, leadingsaints.org/zion,

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and join the Leading Saints community.

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If you wanted further insight into a come

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follow me lesson, you'd probably search in YouTube

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or get the We Believe app. Tough church

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history questions? You'd reach out to the BH

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Roberts Foundation. But what if you wanted to

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learn to be a better leader? Well, I'm

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glad you asked. You'd come to Leading Saints.

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That's why we exist, to help Latter day

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Saints be better prepared to lead by being

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familiar with others' leadership experiences,

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understand the latest leadership research, and finding a

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community to share ideas. That's why I'm glad

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you found the Leading Saints podcast. We hope

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you will dive into the archives and visit

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to find out what are the top most

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listened to episodes on the podcast.

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Welcome. You're gonna love it.

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So in the church of Jesus Christ of

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Latter day Saints, we have a long history

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of ministering or home teaching

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or block teaching or of the many other

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names that this ministering effort has had over

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the years, and we've which has been phenomenal.

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It's a beautiful tradition, an institution within the

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institution

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of encouraging our members to connect with maybe

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individuals they don't know in their ward and

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minister to them, check up on them, you

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know, as the Doctrine and Covenants encourages us

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to do to pray with them in their

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home. Right? And so I was excited. This

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is a long time coming. Finally got connected

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and arranged an interview with the mister ministering

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himself, I'd like to call him. Steve Weber

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wrote the book Home Ministering,

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the Process of Perfecting the Saints, and I

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wanted to get him in the studio and

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just talk about this effort of where I

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know so many elders corn presidents, release site

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presidents, or awards in general

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struggle with their effort or motivating others to

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do this work. And so Steve gives a

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phenomenal perspective that, we all should know and

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learn and obviously talks about the resources out

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there as he champions the effort of ministering.

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So share this with your elders' court president,

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your bishop, your elite society president. Let's jump

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into it. Here's my interview with Steve Weber

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all about ministry.

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Alright. Steve Webber, welcome to the Leading Saints

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podcast. Excited to be here. Yeah. This is

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a this is a long time coming. You

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know, I came across I think it was

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around the time

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when, you know, the church officially moved from

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home teaching

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to ministering,

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and, your book started popping up places. And

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I was like, oh, I'm glad to see

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someone else's putting some thoughts and ideas out

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there around church leadership, but more specifically about

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ministering. And Right. So and that how when

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did you write that book?

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So I wrote the first book back in

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2015,

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kind of got the prompting to to write

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it back in 2005.

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But, you know, sometimes it takes us longer

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to get around to what we're supposed to

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be doing. That would be the most important.

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Yeah. Yeah. It only took a decade. And

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so

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in 2015, I finished the book. And then

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if you'd like, I can explain a little

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bit behind the book because it kinda goes

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behind the scenes of the whole ministering

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process or the process of of coming to

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ministering in the church. But in 2015,

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which is about three years before ministering

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came to be, I wrote a book called

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Shepherds of the Elevating

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Home and Visiting Teachers to Home Ministers.

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So I was kind of going on a

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limb putting that in the title. And the

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reason I did that is because

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a lot of the language in the book

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centered around

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de emphasizing the lesson and focusing more on

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taking care of the family, taking care of

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the the people that we were assigned to

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in a better way than we had been

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doing before because we were so focused

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on that lesson, so focused on on giving

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that first presidency message that we were kind

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of forgetting about the real responsibility, which is

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helping the family.

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So

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to protect myself a little bit,

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I called the priesthood department. I said, will

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you take a look at this thing so

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that I I don't get a phone call

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from my stake president in a couple of

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weeks and find out that And you were

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were you a bishop at this time? Or

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When I got the prompting to do it,

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I was a bishop. I I started serving

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in 2004 to 2010. And so we had

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kind of implemented

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this idea of ministering in my ward. And

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in January

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2005,

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we implemented. I got up in at the

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the pulpit on the first Sunday after fast

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Sunday and kinda started with a New Year's

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resolution and challenged the ward to to make

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some changes. And I can talk about that

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in just a second, but So you were

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like the ministering pilot without knowing you were

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the ministering pilot,

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You know, the spirit's been working on me

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for about thirty years. I've been put in

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different callings

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along the way that have been primarily focused

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on ministering. So the spirit's

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been kind of working through me for a

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long time trying to help me better understand

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it. And I

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I look back over the years and say,

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okay. That makes sense. But when I called

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the church and talked to the priesthood department,

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there was a great guy up there. I'll

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I'll even drop his name. It's Jeff Orr.

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He was working up there at the priesthood

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department, and I said, I've written a book.

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I wanna kinda make sure that I'm I'm

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working in the the the right direction. And

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Yeah. And he said, so well, send me

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the PDF. And so

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the very next day, I get a call

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and he said, will you come up and

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talk to us at at church headquarters? Will

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you come up and meet with a few

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of us? And

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I said, is this a good meeting or

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a bad meeting? Am I in trouble? In

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trouble. He said, no. No. No. Come on

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up. I said, well, have you had a

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chance to take a look at the book?

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And he said, I I've read it three

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times. Oh, wow. I was shocked. I said,

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wow. Okay. Well, that's great. And so I

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went up there and

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I met with these three guys, and he

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said, are you willing to take a little

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advice? Will you,

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will you take some, suggestions? And I said,

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absolutely. I mean, that's why I'm here is

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to make sure that I'm in line with

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what the church wants to do. And he

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said, will you take the words always and

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never out of the book? And I said,

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absolutely. I said, I said, that makes sense.

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He goes, and this is probably important for

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your listeners to remember. Yeah. He said, there's

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never an always in ministry. And that's those

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are I actually put that into the second

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book because it's so profound.

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Everybody's situation is different. Everybody's

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I mean, your stuff is different than my

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stuff, and my stuff is different than the

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families that I minister to. And I always

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say everybody's got stuff, and you can just

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plug in whatever word you want into there

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for stuff. But everybody this is mortality, and

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we've all got challenges that keep us up

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at night. And

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so, anyways, when he said there's never an

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always in ministry, and I just I felt

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that was very profound and very inspired. So

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Yeah. And did you feel like I'm curious

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when you got that feedback. I mean, I

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think as we write books, you know, I've

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written books to where it's get going and

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you don't realize you're using these Absolutely. Words

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or you're you're overstating things or, you know,

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but not because it should be overstated, but

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that's kinda we talk in hyperbole. You know?

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Right. And so did you was that hard

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to remove those always and nevers? It was

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I only had it in there a few

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times, and, you know, and I had kind

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of alluded to that in the book that,

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you know, hey. There are times when a

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a lesson is really important. They had this

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family really needs a pick me up. It

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needs some inspiration. And so a lesson,

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you know, and back then we were using

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the first presidency message as a default.

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But, you know, you always go in there

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trying to personalize a lesson for the family

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that that for the things that they're going

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through. And a lot of cases, a lesson

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is very important. In fact, Alma says that

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the, you know, the word of God is

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more

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motivating than the the sword. And so he

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can get us off dead center in ways

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that anything else can't, just bearing testimony of

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of gospel truths.

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But when people say you always have to

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give a lesson or you always have to

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do this or you always have to do

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that, well, that's not the Lord's way because

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everybody's situation is different. So Yeah. Especially in

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a international church. Right? And and this is,

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this is a principle that I've really tried

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to navigate, you know, creating this platform, Leading

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Saints and putting content out there is I

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never

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want to put out, like, this is the

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norm. This is how you should everybody should

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do it, you know. Right. When in reality,

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it's like we're just sharing one person's experience

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and there's different nuances and cultural norms or

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the way geographics or whatever. And, that's why

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sometimes I disagree with the guests I have

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on to some extent, and and sometimes I'm

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like, yeah. I really think they should always

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do that. But in reality,

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that's, and you can tell that in the

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handbook. They try they I'd be surprised if

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you can find those two words. Right? They

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dialed back the handbook dramatically. They they took

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a lot of the guardrails

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off of what we used to know as

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home teaching Yep. Even though much of what

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we were doing in home teaching is still

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the norm. I mean, you say

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the norm. There is a norm. There is

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kind of a a framework for what we

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should be doing. But then once we get

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in there,

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everything is based on what the needs of

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00:09:29,379 --> 00:09:31,379
the family are. And when you look back

264
00:09:31,379 --> 00:09:33,700
at the talks that they've given since the

265
00:09:33,700 --> 00:09:36,884
introduction of ministry, you can still see that

266
00:09:36,884 --> 00:09:38,504
norm coming through where

267
00:09:38,805 --> 00:09:41,705
president Holland was saying a visit's still important,

268
00:09:42,085 --> 00:09:44,725
but there are situations where you might not

269
00:09:44,725 --> 00:09:46,485
be able be able to make a, a

270
00:09:46,485 --> 00:09:49,500
visit where there's distance involved or you have

271
00:09:49,500 --> 00:09:51,820
three active priesthood holders and you have, you

272
00:09:51,820 --> 00:09:54,779
know, 500 inactive members. Clearly, you're not gonna

273
00:09:54,779 --> 00:09:56,220
be able to make a visit to every

274
00:09:56,220 --> 00:09:58,940
home every month. And safety, we can talk

275
00:09:58,940 --> 00:10:00,860
a little bit about that, but that's a

276
00:10:00,860 --> 00:10:02,700
serious issue in a lot of cases where

277
00:10:02,700 --> 00:10:04,315
you you might have a sister

278
00:10:04,695 --> 00:10:06,794
that has is in an abusive relationship,

279
00:10:07,335 --> 00:10:09,975
and it would just cause grief between her

280
00:10:09,975 --> 00:10:12,054
and her husband if two men came in

281
00:10:12,054 --> 00:10:13,894
and home taught her or two women came

282
00:10:13,894 --> 00:10:15,269
in and and had a visit with her.

283
00:10:15,350 --> 00:10:17,110
I mean, it may not be a safety

284
00:10:17,110 --> 00:10:18,389
issue for you, but it may be for

285
00:10:18,389 --> 00:10:20,070
the sister that has to deal with the

286
00:10:20,070 --> 00:10:20,570
aftermath.

287
00:10:21,029 --> 00:10:23,429
So we have to make adjustments where needed.

288
00:10:23,429 --> 00:10:25,670
And that's what president Holland was trying to

289
00:10:25,670 --> 00:10:27,830
talk about in his talk. But the second

290
00:10:27,830 --> 00:10:29,190
thing that they said when I was up

291
00:10:29,190 --> 00:10:30,855
there, which is important,

292
00:10:31,315 --> 00:10:33,415
and again, I think it goes to

293
00:10:33,795 --> 00:10:36,434
understanding better what was going on behind the

294
00:10:36,434 --> 00:10:37,495
scenes before

295
00:10:37,875 --> 00:10:40,995
ministering was unveiled. And again, remember this is

296
00:10:40,995 --> 00:10:41,955
2015.

297
00:10:41,955 --> 00:10:44,295
This is in the 2015.

298
00:10:44,639 --> 00:10:45,300
Jeff goes,

299
00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:47,779
where did you get the word ministering?

300
00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:49,860
And I said, well,

301
00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:52,320
we were talking about that. We were using

302
00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:54,960
that terminology when I was bishop because, again,

303
00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:56,100
I wanted to deemphasize

304
00:10:57,035 --> 00:10:59,595
lesson, lesson, lesson and talk about service, service,

305
00:10:59,595 --> 00:11:00,095
service.

306
00:11:00,555 --> 00:11:02,634
And he I said, why do you have

307
00:11:02,795 --> 00:11:04,154
sounds like you've got a problem with that

308
00:11:04,154 --> 00:11:05,595
word. I can take that out if you

309
00:11:05,595 --> 00:11:07,754
want me to, but I'd prefer not to.

310
00:11:07,754 --> 00:11:09,754
Yeah. And he said, no. I'm okay with

311
00:11:09,754 --> 00:11:11,195
it. I said, it sounds like you've got

312
00:11:11,195 --> 00:11:12,899
a problem with that. And he said, no.

313
00:11:12,899 --> 00:11:15,620
He said, I'll let you in on something

314
00:11:15,620 --> 00:11:18,339
that's been going on. And so he explained

315
00:11:18,339 --> 00:11:19,940
that they had been in committee for ten

316
00:11:19,940 --> 00:11:22,339
years. So I got prompted to write this

317
00:11:22,339 --> 00:11:23,720
book in 2005.

318
00:11:23,860 --> 00:11:26,565
2005 is when they started the committee to

319
00:11:26,565 --> 00:11:29,605
try to determine how to change home and

320
00:11:29,605 --> 00:11:30,504
visiting teaching,

321
00:11:30,884 --> 00:11:34,024
how to revert back to its original purpose,

322
00:11:34,325 --> 00:11:37,044
which was to bear one another's burdens and

323
00:11:37,044 --> 00:11:38,965
to nourish with the good word of God

324
00:11:38,965 --> 00:11:40,725
and do the things that we were supposed

325
00:11:40,725 --> 00:11:42,990
to be doing all along, but we'd kinda

326
00:11:43,050 --> 00:11:45,309
shifted. We'd kind of overemphasized

327
00:11:45,610 --> 00:11:46,990
the lesson and de emphasized

328
00:11:47,450 --> 00:11:49,610
service. And he said, we've been in committee

329
00:11:49,610 --> 00:11:51,290
for ten years trying to figure out how

330
00:11:51,290 --> 00:11:54,170
to change this. And he said, ironically, three

331
00:11:54,170 --> 00:11:56,714
weeks ago before you came in here, we

332
00:11:56,714 --> 00:11:59,454
disbanded the committee. We had so many personalities

333
00:11:59,754 --> 00:12:01,615
and so many different ideas

334
00:12:02,075 --> 00:12:04,154
that we couldn't come to a consensus on

335
00:12:04,154 --> 00:12:05,595
what we should be doing, how we should

336
00:12:05,595 --> 00:12:07,754
be changing home and visiting teaching, so we

337
00:12:07,754 --> 00:12:10,669
disbanded the committee. And he said he goes,

338
00:12:10,669 --> 00:12:12,269
it's just kind of funny that you come

339
00:12:12,269 --> 00:12:13,870
in here with a book and start talking

340
00:12:13,870 --> 00:12:16,190
about ministry. And I said, so you just

341
00:12:16,190 --> 00:12:17,389
don't want me to beat you to the

342
00:12:17,389 --> 00:12:19,490
punch? And he said, no. He goes, actually,

343
00:12:19,789 --> 00:12:21,949
this will create a fire and help us

344
00:12:21,949 --> 00:12:23,549
get this rolling. He said, no. I want

345
00:12:23,549 --> 00:12:24,855
you to get out there ahead of us

346
00:12:25,414 --> 00:12:27,195
us and and get this book out there.

347
00:12:27,254 --> 00:12:29,095
Now that was the original version of the

348
00:12:29,095 --> 00:12:30,074
book. And

349
00:12:30,695 --> 00:12:32,615
Deseret book, when I took it to them

350
00:12:32,615 --> 00:12:34,394
to publish it, they said, nope.

351
00:12:35,014 --> 00:12:36,695
We will not publish a book on home

352
00:12:36,695 --> 00:12:37,195
teaching.

353
00:12:37,690 --> 00:12:38,129
And,

354
00:12:38,570 --> 00:12:40,410
Not a best seller. They said it is

355
00:12:40,410 --> 00:12:41,070
not marketable.

356
00:12:41,450 --> 00:12:43,529
They said you you can't sell a book

357
00:12:43,529 --> 00:12:45,850
on home and visiting teaching. And I said,

358
00:12:45,850 --> 00:12:47,290
well, what if I go publish it myself?

359
00:12:47,290 --> 00:12:49,210
And they said, nope. We're not even gonna

360
00:12:49,210 --> 00:12:51,044
give you your shelf space. And the shelf

361
00:12:51,044 --> 00:12:52,884
space is too valuable. You'll never sell a

362
00:12:52,884 --> 00:12:53,945
book on home teaching.

363
00:12:54,325 --> 00:12:56,804
So I had to go off and find,

364
00:12:57,044 --> 00:12:59,285
I did it through Amazon and and, published

365
00:12:59,285 --> 00:13:01,524
myself. And then, you know, I the funny

366
00:13:01,524 --> 00:13:03,125
thing is once it got out there, I

367
00:13:03,125 --> 00:13:04,904
was selling books by the case

368
00:13:05,230 --> 00:13:07,309
all over the world to stakes and wards

369
00:13:07,309 --> 00:13:09,950
that were flailing for information. Yeah. I mean,

370
00:13:09,950 --> 00:13:11,789
they just were dying on the vine with

371
00:13:11,789 --> 00:13:13,950
regard to home and visiting teaching. You know,

372
00:13:13,950 --> 00:13:15,470
somebody would buy the book and they'd hand

373
00:13:15,470 --> 00:13:17,149
hand it to their bishop and their bishop

374
00:13:17,149 --> 00:13:18,615
would buy 10 books, then hand one to

375
00:13:18,615 --> 00:13:20,415
a stake president. The stake president would call

376
00:13:20,415 --> 00:13:22,014
and get a case of books and, and

377
00:13:22,014 --> 00:13:24,174
it just was, I was selling them by

378
00:13:24,174 --> 00:13:26,514
the case. And it was fun to watch

379
00:13:26,735 --> 00:13:29,054
the excitement happen. Now, when I say buy,

380
00:13:29,054 --> 00:13:30,335
sell them by the case, I don't make

381
00:13:30,335 --> 00:13:32,440
any money on this book. I priced it

382
00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:34,200
so low. And this is another reason that

383
00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:36,120
Deseret Book didn't want it. I priced it

384
00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:37,980
so low. There was no margin in there

385
00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:39,879
for profit. I I'm just trying to get

386
00:13:39,879 --> 00:13:41,399
the word out. My goal is not to

387
00:13:41,399 --> 00:13:42,840
make money on this thing. My goal is

388
00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:45,720
to help energize people about this and have

389
00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:46,860
the success

390
00:13:47,574 --> 00:13:50,294
that we did in our ward. Our ward

391
00:13:50,294 --> 00:13:52,235
was just doing so well

392
00:13:52,774 --> 00:13:54,235
with in every aspect

393
00:13:54,695 --> 00:13:56,695
of what we were doing, and it all

394
00:13:56,695 --> 00:13:58,934
came back to ministering. It all came back

395
00:13:58,934 --> 00:14:00,615
to what we were doing in the homes

396
00:14:00,615 --> 00:14:01,355
of the families,

397
00:14:01,700 --> 00:14:04,100
and our sacrament meeting attendance went up. And

398
00:14:04,100 --> 00:14:05,700
our members within,

399
00:14:06,100 --> 00:14:08,899
my our endowed members with Temple Recommends numbers

400
00:14:08,899 --> 00:14:11,139
went up, and our attendance in second and

401
00:14:11,139 --> 00:14:12,980
third hours went up. And, you know, I

402
00:14:12,980 --> 00:14:15,059
I see discussions on your board about how

403
00:14:15,059 --> 00:14:16,740
do we motivate people to come to second

404
00:14:16,740 --> 00:14:17,384
hour. Well,

405
00:14:17,785 --> 00:14:19,945
we minister. I mean, that's we get these

406
00:14:19,945 --> 00:14:22,345
people excited about church and coming back, and

407
00:14:22,345 --> 00:14:24,605
then it's just it's been a great experience.

408
00:14:24,985 --> 00:14:25,225
So

409
00:14:25,785 --> 00:14:27,725
Yeah. So take me back to

410
00:14:28,105 --> 00:14:30,605
those first few years of of Bishop Weber's

411
00:14:30,665 --> 00:14:32,820
time of, like, the promptings and the things

412
00:14:32,820 --> 00:14:33,639
you were trying

413
00:14:34,100 --> 00:14:36,100
and what inspiration came and how did it

414
00:14:36,100 --> 00:14:38,519
start that you're kind of trying to refocus

415
00:14:38,580 --> 00:14:41,139
or reframe home teaching back then? So it

416
00:14:41,139 --> 00:14:43,059
kind of started even before then. I I

417
00:14:43,059 --> 00:14:45,379
was called as an elders quorum president in

418
00:14:45,379 --> 00:14:45,879
Provo

419
00:14:46,544 --> 00:14:48,865
And before I was called, the general authority

420
00:14:48,865 --> 00:14:51,664
came through and gave an apostolic blessing to

421
00:14:51,664 --> 00:14:54,004
the the the leadership and the stake and

422
00:14:54,225 --> 00:14:56,485
and promised them if they would do their

423
00:14:56,544 --> 00:14:58,705
home teaching interviews every month, they would see

424
00:14:58,705 --> 00:15:00,085
their their home teaching

425
00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:02,679
increase. And when I say increase, we were

426
00:15:02,679 --> 00:15:04,519
all in about the 40%

427
00:15:04,519 --> 00:15:05,820
range down in Provo

428
00:15:06,200 --> 00:15:09,240
back in the late eighties and Which sounds

429
00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:11,079
above average at the time, I wanna say.

430
00:15:11,079 --> 00:15:12,360
It was Provo. It was, you know, I

431
00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:13,004
mean, it was

432
00:15:13,485 --> 00:15:15,085
right there at BYU. We should be doing

433
00:15:15,085 --> 00:15:17,664
a little bit better. And and so, anyways,

434
00:15:18,125 --> 00:15:19,804
we were in the 40% range, and he

435
00:15:19,804 --> 00:15:21,404
said, I promise you that if you will

436
00:15:21,404 --> 00:15:23,485
do your home teaching interviews just to the

437
00:15:23,485 --> 00:15:24,544
elders quorum presidents,

438
00:15:24,845 --> 00:15:26,205
your home teaching will go up in the

439
00:15:26,205 --> 00:15:27,725
eighties and stay there as long as you

440
00:15:27,725 --> 00:15:29,159
keep doing that. And

441
00:15:29,460 --> 00:15:31,220
so that was before I was called. But

442
00:15:31,220 --> 00:15:33,059
as soon two months later, I was called

443
00:15:33,059 --> 00:15:35,240
and the member of the state presidency said,

444
00:15:35,299 --> 00:15:37,080
will you do this? And I said, absolutely.

445
00:15:37,299 --> 00:15:38,980
And a couple months later, we had our

446
00:15:38,980 --> 00:15:40,519
first elders quorum training.

447
00:15:41,054 --> 00:15:42,335
And, you know, this is back in the

448
00:15:42,335 --> 00:15:43,934
days when you had these reports and it

449
00:15:43,934 --> 00:15:45,934
showed everybody and how they were doing against

450
00:15:45,934 --> 00:15:47,934
the other wards in the stake. And we

451
00:15:47,934 --> 00:15:49,215
were at 85%,

452
00:15:49,215 --> 00:15:50,495
and the rest of the wards were in

453
00:15:50,495 --> 00:15:52,335
the forties. And the member of the stake

454
00:15:52,335 --> 00:15:54,575
presidency said, what are you guys doing in

455
00:15:54,575 --> 00:15:55,235
that ward?

456
00:15:56,209 --> 00:15:57,889
What you told me to do, I'm doing

457
00:15:57,889 --> 00:15:59,970
our our home teaching interviews. And he goes,

458
00:15:59,970 --> 00:16:02,049
oh, I forgot. He goes, yes. You guys,

459
00:16:02,049 --> 00:16:03,649
all the rest of you guys do it.

460
00:16:03,649 --> 00:16:05,350
So I I carried that forward

461
00:16:05,730 --> 00:16:07,649
into my next ward, and I was the

462
00:16:07,649 --> 00:16:09,649
high priest group leader there. We did that,

463
00:16:09,649 --> 00:16:11,264
and we saw a lot of success, the

464
00:16:11,264 --> 00:16:13,424
same kind of success. But when I became

465
00:16:13,424 --> 00:16:14,964
bishop that first

466
00:16:15,345 --> 00:16:15,845
January,

467
00:16:16,464 --> 00:16:19,184
that second Sunday after the first Sunday after

468
00:16:19,184 --> 00:16:21,205
fast Sunday, I got up and I basically

469
00:16:21,585 --> 00:16:24,544
asked the ward to do something that we'd

470
00:16:24,544 --> 00:16:25,764
never really done before,

471
00:16:26,090 --> 00:16:27,769
kind of a New Year's resolution for the

472
00:16:27,769 --> 00:16:30,250
ward. And I said, I want you guys

473
00:16:30,250 --> 00:16:31,790
to quit asking the question,

474
00:16:32,169 --> 00:16:33,950
what can I do for you this month?

475
00:16:34,009 --> 00:16:35,850
I don't want you to go into anybody's

476
00:16:35,850 --> 00:16:37,049
home and ask, what can I do for

477
00:16:37,049 --> 00:16:38,830
you this month? I want you to change

478
00:16:39,274 --> 00:16:41,195
everything. And I said, I want everybody in

479
00:16:41,195 --> 00:16:43,295
the ward, I'm saying this from the pulpit,

480
00:16:43,355 --> 00:16:44,634
I want everybody in the ward in the

481
00:16:44,634 --> 00:16:46,634
next week or two to go into the

482
00:16:46,634 --> 00:16:48,075
homes of the people that you home and

483
00:16:48,075 --> 00:16:50,335
visit teach and ask this question.

484
00:16:50,875 --> 00:16:53,355
What can I be praying for you this

485
00:16:53,355 --> 00:16:55,440
month? What can I be praying for is

486
00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:56,960
a different question than what can I be

487
00:16:56,960 --> 00:16:58,879
doing for you? Because when you ask what

488
00:16:58,879 --> 00:17:00,480
can I be doing for you, everybody says

489
00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:03,360
nothing? I'm good. Yeah. But when you ask

490
00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:05,200
what can I be praying for? What are

491
00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:07,140
you praying for at night, Kurt?

492
00:17:07,465 --> 00:17:09,005
What are you praying for

493
00:17:09,305 --> 00:17:11,144
right now that I can add my prayers

494
00:17:11,144 --> 00:17:12,825
to? And I asked them to do that

495
00:17:12,825 --> 00:17:15,785
to every single member of that family that

496
00:17:15,785 --> 00:17:17,485
they minister to. And

497
00:17:17,945 --> 00:17:18,445
so

498
00:17:18,825 --> 00:17:21,225
ask mom and dad and the kids, and

499
00:17:21,225 --> 00:17:22,920
all of a sudden you've got a you've

500
00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:24,440
got a list of things to be praying

501
00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:26,759
for. And I said, and now I want

502
00:17:26,759 --> 00:17:29,100
to ask everybody in this, in the congregation

503
00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:32,039
to expect that question. So I want you

504
00:17:32,039 --> 00:17:34,440
to get an answer ready. So when these

505
00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:36,119
guys come and ask, what can I be

506
00:17:36,119 --> 00:17:38,744
praying for? You're ready. You're ready with an

507
00:17:38,744 --> 00:17:40,825
answer. So that did two things. Number one,

508
00:17:40,825 --> 00:17:42,744
it got everybody motivated to go do it.

509
00:17:42,744 --> 00:17:43,565
And it also

510
00:17:44,024 --> 00:17:47,464
encouraged people who weren't letting their ministering brothers

511
00:17:47,464 --> 00:17:49,464
or home and visiting teachers at that time

512
00:17:49,464 --> 00:17:51,640
into their homes. They would always say, no,

513
00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:53,080
we're good. You don't need to come visit

514
00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:54,619
us. Now they were

515
00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:57,080
encouraged to open up their doors and let

516
00:17:57,080 --> 00:17:59,320
somebody come and visit them. Wherever there's a

517
00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:01,160
giver, there has to be a receiver. You

518
00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:03,240
have to have somebody that's willing to let

519
00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:05,240
you in if you're going to be able

520
00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:06,299
to do this ministry.

521
00:18:06,734 --> 00:18:07,234
And

522
00:18:07,694 --> 00:18:11,075
within a couple of months, our sacrament, meaning

523
00:18:11,214 --> 00:18:14,335
attendance went to from 60% to 85%. And

524
00:18:14,335 --> 00:18:16,575
it just, all the numbers just started jacking

525
00:18:16,575 --> 00:18:19,375
up. And that's just because people started feeling

526
00:18:19,375 --> 00:18:22,109
noticed and people started feeling loved. And when

527
00:18:22,109 --> 00:18:23,569
somebody came back to church,

528
00:18:24,029 --> 00:18:25,970
somebody was waiting for them there

529
00:18:26,269 --> 00:18:28,710
to welcome them. And it was less of

530
00:18:28,710 --> 00:18:31,569
a an ordeal, less of a big deal

531
00:18:31,630 --> 00:18:33,630
for somebody to come back to church and

532
00:18:33,630 --> 00:18:34,529
and participate.

533
00:18:35,065 --> 00:18:37,785
Just a a great experience, but that changed

534
00:18:37,785 --> 00:18:39,545
everything, that one question. And if,

535
00:18:40,105 --> 00:18:42,184
bishops out there or stake presidents wanna jump

536
00:18:42,184 --> 00:18:44,424
start ministry in their ward, all they have

537
00:18:44,424 --> 00:18:45,644
to do is encourage

538
00:18:46,105 --> 00:18:46,845
their families,

539
00:18:47,144 --> 00:18:49,650
their home and visiting teachers, which are ministry

540
00:18:49,650 --> 00:18:52,130
brothers and ministry sisters now, to ask that

541
00:18:52,130 --> 00:18:54,309
one question. If we start there,

542
00:18:54,690 --> 00:18:57,009
it'll change everything. And I had a guy

543
00:18:57,009 --> 00:18:58,369
come up. I think I told you this

544
00:18:58,369 --> 00:19:00,130
already. Had a guy come up to me

545
00:19:00,130 --> 00:19:02,869
right after I made that announcement in church,

546
00:19:03,255 --> 00:19:05,974
and sheepishly, he said, I've never even done

547
00:19:05,974 --> 00:19:07,195
that for my own family.

548
00:19:07,575 --> 00:19:09,255
He goes, I'm embarrassed to say I've never

549
00:19:09,255 --> 00:19:11,255
even asked my own kids what I should

550
00:19:11,255 --> 00:19:14,055
be praying for today for them. And it

551
00:19:14,055 --> 00:19:15,434
it really it made everybody's

552
00:19:15,815 --> 00:19:17,434
prayers last longer.

553
00:19:18,130 --> 00:19:20,529
When I tried that before I invited everybody

554
00:19:20,529 --> 00:19:22,450
else to try that, I tried that myself,

555
00:19:22,450 --> 00:19:22,950
and

556
00:19:23,329 --> 00:19:24,069
the spirit

557
00:19:24,450 --> 00:19:25,910
immediately said, absolutely.

558
00:19:26,450 --> 00:19:28,069
I'll help you bless that person,

559
00:19:28,369 --> 00:19:30,929
but you're gonna help me help them in

560
00:19:30,929 --> 00:19:33,465
this way. And when I asked about the

561
00:19:33,465 --> 00:19:34,285
second person,

562
00:19:34,585 --> 00:19:36,585
the same thing happened. I realized really quickly

563
00:19:36,585 --> 00:19:37,785
that I needed to have a piece of

564
00:19:37,785 --> 00:19:39,305
paper and a pencil with me when I

565
00:19:39,305 --> 00:19:41,865
was praying because the Lord was giving me

566
00:19:41,865 --> 00:19:43,785
an action list of things that I needed

567
00:19:43,785 --> 00:19:45,710
to do. And all of a sudden, there

568
00:19:45,710 --> 00:19:47,470
was lots of things that I could do

569
00:19:47,470 --> 00:19:49,950
to serve that family. Lots. And so That's

570
00:19:49,950 --> 00:19:51,950
awesome. It was a great experience. I love

571
00:19:51,950 --> 00:19:53,869
just this model that can be applied across

572
00:19:53,869 --> 00:19:55,470
the board. And and it's just an example

573
00:19:55,470 --> 00:19:58,184
of great leadership of we sometimes want people

574
00:19:58,184 --> 00:20:00,025
to do something, you know, an action, whether

575
00:20:00,025 --> 00:20:02,265
it's, you know, visit a home or go

576
00:20:02,265 --> 00:20:04,265
to the temple or even stand and bear

577
00:20:04,265 --> 00:20:06,025
a testimony during a, you know, a fastened

578
00:20:06,025 --> 00:20:08,345
testimony meeting. And we kind of just throw

579
00:20:08,345 --> 00:20:11,099
the the expectation out there. But to give

580
00:20:11,099 --> 00:20:13,099
them, like, something to go off of saying,

581
00:20:13,099 --> 00:20:15,579
like, okay. You maybe you are willing to

582
00:20:15,579 --> 00:20:17,660
go visit, but it feels awkward or whatever.

583
00:20:17,660 --> 00:20:19,420
But here's a question you can ask. So

584
00:20:19,420 --> 00:20:22,059
just ask this question, and suddenly, it empowers

585
00:20:22,059 --> 00:20:22,559
people

586
00:20:22,934 --> 00:20:24,855
with a tactic. You know? Okay. I I

587
00:20:24,855 --> 00:20:26,534
can go over that person's house, and, you

588
00:20:26,534 --> 00:20:28,294
know, we'll shoot the breeze for a minute,

589
00:20:28,294 --> 00:20:30,615
and then I'll ask the question. And then,

590
00:20:30,615 --> 00:20:32,474
you know, it's a simple way to just

591
00:20:32,615 --> 00:20:35,335
empower people to do the things that they

592
00:20:35,335 --> 00:20:36,764
wanna do. They just maybe don't know how

593
00:20:36,764 --> 00:20:38,849
to do it. I think that that's a

594
00:20:38,849 --> 00:20:39,349
real

595
00:20:39,730 --> 00:20:41,330
issue right now in the church. You know,

596
00:20:41,330 --> 00:20:43,330
there's there's a lot of people these days

597
00:20:43,330 --> 00:20:46,309
that want this relationship to be organic.

598
00:20:46,769 --> 00:20:48,309
They want it to be a natural

599
00:20:48,930 --> 00:20:50,954
thing, and they it's hard for them to

600
00:20:50,954 --> 00:20:52,095
overcome the awkwardness

601
00:20:52,634 --> 00:20:54,714
of that first visit when they're going into

602
00:20:54,714 --> 00:20:56,555
the home of somebody they've never met before

603
00:20:56,555 --> 00:20:58,555
or they really don't know that well. I've

604
00:20:58,555 --> 00:21:00,795
heard people say, we really should be assigned

605
00:21:00,795 --> 00:21:02,474
to people that we're friendly with, that we

606
00:21:02,474 --> 00:21:05,055
know, and it'd be so much easier.

607
00:21:05,460 --> 00:21:08,579
But the problem is that you have certain

608
00:21:08,579 --> 00:21:10,740
gifts and talents that the Lord knows you

609
00:21:10,740 --> 00:21:13,880
have. And the family across the street

610
00:21:14,259 --> 00:21:17,779
might not necessarily need that specific gift or

611
00:21:17,779 --> 00:21:21,164
talent, but that family two blocks away or,

612
00:21:21,865 --> 00:21:24,424
in many cases, two miles away or or

613
00:21:24,424 --> 00:21:25,164
much farther,

614
00:21:25,544 --> 00:21:26,684
they need exactly

615
00:21:26,984 --> 00:21:28,044
what Kirk Francom

616
00:21:28,424 --> 00:21:29,164
is already

617
00:21:29,704 --> 00:21:32,505
pre built with. You're prepackaged with these gifts

618
00:21:32,505 --> 00:21:35,029
and these talents, and the lord has done

619
00:21:35,029 --> 00:21:37,990
that. The lord has prepackaged you to help

620
00:21:37,990 --> 00:21:40,809
that person that's three miles away from you

621
00:21:41,109 --> 00:21:43,109
and help them through this crisis that you

622
00:21:43,109 --> 00:21:45,430
don't know about and that your bishop might

623
00:21:45,430 --> 00:21:47,345
not even know about, but the Lord knows

624
00:21:47,345 --> 00:21:49,184
about, and he knows who you are, and

625
00:21:49,184 --> 00:21:49,684
he'll

626
00:21:50,225 --> 00:21:52,325
if our elders quorum presidents are

627
00:21:52,705 --> 00:21:55,985
prayerfully considering these these assignments and our relief

628
00:21:55,985 --> 00:21:58,725
society presidents are prayerfully considering these assignments,

629
00:21:59,579 --> 00:22:02,240
miracles can happen and problems can

630
00:22:02,619 --> 00:22:05,579
be helped and fixed so easily because the

631
00:22:05,579 --> 00:22:07,039
Lord has already prepackaged

632
00:22:07,339 --> 00:22:10,140
these ministering brothers and sisters with exactly what

633
00:22:10,140 --> 00:22:12,140
they need to serve these people that they're

634
00:22:12,140 --> 00:22:15,535
assigned to. So It's powerful. It is. And,

635
00:22:15,535 --> 00:22:17,855
you know, we kinda I mean, there's, you

636
00:22:17,855 --> 00:22:19,615
know, when I think about taking a system

637
00:22:19,615 --> 00:22:22,115
and dialing in the system to be very

638
00:22:22,174 --> 00:22:24,734
highly functional, sometimes we can skip over some

639
00:22:24,734 --> 00:22:25,554
of these more

640
00:22:26,059 --> 00:22:28,220
spiritual connections, you know, we're because we're hyper

641
00:22:28,220 --> 00:22:30,380
focused on just making it high you know,

642
00:22:30,380 --> 00:22:31,359
highly efficient.

643
00:22:31,819 --> 00:22:34,380
Right? Right. But it's, sometimes when we pause

644
00:22:34,380 --> 00:22:36,460
and really consider some of these things, you

645
00:22:36,460 --> 00:22:38,779
know, you you may find those miracles buried

646
00:22:38,779 --> 00:22:40,934
there that you that would have never come

647
00:22:40,934 --> 00:22:43,654
to the surface without, you know, being thoughtful

648
00:22:43,654 --> 00:22:46,294
and pondering over some of these assignments and

649
00:22:46,294 --> 00:22:49,335
things. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Any other you know,

650
00:22:49,335 --> 00:22:50,554
you mentioned this question.

651
00:22:50,855 --> 00:22:52,634
Any other, like, tactic or

652
00:22:52,950 --> 00:22:55,750
way that someone can feel more comfortable ministering

653
00:22:55,750 --> 00:22:58,069
to somebody or even just visiting somebody that

654
00:22:58,069 --> 00:22:58,970
that you'd recommend?

655
00:22:59,589 --> 00:23:00,649
That's a great question.

656
00:23:01,750 --> 00:23:03,829
In fact, let me tell you a quick

657
00:23:03,829 --> 00:23:05,349
story that's not gonna make me look very

658
00:23:05,349 --> 00:23:06,869
good. Okay. I I

659
00:23:07,664 --> 00:23:09,424
most of my bad stories relate to me.

660
00:23:09,424 --> 00:23:10,565
So anyways,

661
00:23:11,025 --> 00:23:13,345
I got active about three months before I

662
00:23:13,345 --> 00:23:15,345
went on my mission. My Bishop, challenged me

663
00:23:15,345 --> 00:23:16,164
as an inactive,

664
00:23:16,545 --> 00:23:18,144
18 year old to get my life in

665
00:23:18,144 --> 00:23:19,525
order and go on a mission.

666
00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:20,580
And so

667
00:23:21,039 --> 00:23:22,720
I said no. I I laughed at him

668
00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:24,000
and said, no. I'm not gonna go on

669
00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:26,320
a mission. And then I had a very

670
00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:29,440
powerful ALMA like experience, and I knew I

671
00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:31,039
needed to go on a mission. Before I

672
00:23:31,039 --> 00:23:32,799
knew that the gospel was true, before I'd

673
00:23:32,799 --> 00:23:34,000
read the book of Mormon, I knew I

674
00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:35,315
needed to go on a mission. That's cool.

675
00:23:35,315 --> 00:23:36,994
So I was when I got out there,

676
00:23:36,994 --> 00:23:38,035
I had a little bit of a chip

677
00:23:38,035 --> 00:23:40,535
on my shoulder. I still wasn't mister compliant,

678
00:23:40,755 --> 00:23:43,634
and I was still struggling with rules and

679
00:23:43,634 --> 00:23:45,875
and compliance and all that. So the third

680
00:23:45,875 --> 00:23:48,799
mission campaign I had told the mission president,

681
00:23:48,859 --> 00:23:51,019
this guy needs an attitude adjustment. And,

682
00:23:51,900 --> 00:23:54,460
the attitude adjustment was an elder down in,

683
00:23:54,700 --> 00:23:55,200
Altea,

684
00:23:55,500 --> 00:23:57,839
Spain. And I got down there,

685
00:23:58,140 --> 00:24:01,575
and I told him years later, I didn't

686
00:24:01,575 --> 00:24:03,095
like the way he walked, the way he

687
00:24:03,095 --> 00:24:04,795
talked, or the way he chewed his food.

688
00:24:05,015 --> 00:24:06,075
I didn't like anything.

689
00:24:06,695 --> 00:24:09,174
I had some of those companions. Alright. And

690
00:24:09,174 --> 00:24:09,674
so

691
00:24:10,214 --> 00:24:12,375
about a week into this, the mission president

692
00:24:12,375 --> 00:24:13,815
sent the assistants down to see if we'd

693
00:24:13,815 --> 00:24:15,595
killed each other yet. And so

694
00:24:15,929 --> 00:24:17,690
the assistant that came down and took me

695
00:24:17,690 --> 00:24:20,109
out on a split, his name's Kevin Doman.

696
00:24:20,250 --> 00:24:22,889
And, he's the brother of Brandon Doman. He's,

697
00:24:23,210 --> 00:24:24,649
the older brother. He,

698
00:24:25,450 --> 00:24:26,349
was mister

699
00:24:26,809 --> 00:24:29,069
happy and such a I mean,

700
00:24:29,434 --> 00:24:31,674
everything about this guy was just sunshine and

701
00:24:31,674 --> 00:24:34,075
roses. He always saw the positive in everything.

702
00:24:34,075 --> 00:24:36,394
And and here I am looking at all

703
00:24:36,394 --> 00:24:37,615
the negative and everything.

704
00:24:37,994 --> 00:24:39,835
And and, we went on a split and

705
00:24:39,835 --> 00:24:41,595
I said, get me out of here. I'm

706
00:24:41,595 --> 00:24:43,275
going home if you don't, you know, make

707
00:24:43,275 --> 00:24:45,210
a change. And he said, nah, elder, you're

708
00:24:45,210 --> 00:24:46,269
not going anywhere.

709
00:24:46,890 --> 00:24:49,390
And he said, hey, do this. He said,

710
00:24:49,609 --> 00:24:51,289
I promise you, you're going to love this

711
00:24:51,289 --> 00:24:53,289
guy. And by the end of the month,

712
00:24:53,289 --> 00:24:55,150
if you would just do this one thing,

713
00:24:55,450 --> 00:24:57,069
he said, if you'll just go in

714
00:24:57,384 --> 00:24:59,224
and go back to the apartment and do

715
00:24:59,224 --> 00:25:01,704
something nice for him every single day, just

716
00:25:01,704 --> 00:25:03,865
shine his shoes, make him breakfast, take out

717
00:25:03,865 --> 00:25:05,625
the trash for him, make his bed, do

718
00:25:05,625 --> 00:25:07,804
something nice for him every day. He said,

719
00:25:07,944 --> 00:25:09,929
and pray for him every day. That's kinda

720
00:25:09,929 --> 00:25:12,169
where I got this pray every day for

721
00:25:12,169 --> 00:25:13,630
your ministry and families.

722
00:25:14,009 --> 00:25:15,690
He goes, if you'll just do something nice

723
00:25:15,690 --> 00:25:17,130
for him every day, then I promise you

724
00:25:17,130 --> 00:25:18,329
by the end of the month, you're gonna

725
00:25:18,329 --> 00:25:20,190
love this guy. You're not gonna wanna be

726
00:25:20,409 --> 00:25:23,115
moved. And I said, there's no way this

727
00:25:23,115 --> 00:25:24,955
is gonna happen, but I will do what

728
00:25:24,955 --> 00:25:26,795
you've asked me to do. And by the

729
00:25:26,795 --> 00:25:28,315
end of the month, and I'm gonna get

730
00:25:28,315 --> 00:25:29,855
teary eyed talking about this,

731
00:25:30,715 --> 00:25:32,494
by the end of the month, we were

732
00:25:32,715 --> 00:25:35,115
best friends, and I didn't wanna be separated.

733
00:25:35,115 --> 00:25:37,450
I didn't wanna be transferred. We got transferred,

734
00:25:37,450 --> 00:25:37,950
unfortunately,

735
00:25:38,569 --> 00:25:41,049
but to this day, forty years later, I'm

736
00:25:41,049 --> 00:25:43,549
still really, really good friends with this guy.

737
00:25:43,690 --> 00:25:46,089
And all it started with was just doing

738
00:25:46,089 --> 00:25:48,809
something nice for him every day. So I'm

739
00:25:48,809 --> 00:25:51,035
going to say this, and this is what

740
00:25:51,035 --> 00:25:53,434
I came away from that month and for

741
00:25:53,434 --> 00:25:54,875
the rest of my life. It changed my

742
00:25:54,875 --> 00:25:55,375
life.

743
00:25:55,674 --> 00:25:57,434
That if you can learn how to serve

744
00:25:57,434 --> 00:25:58,575
like Jesus serves,

745
00:25:59,035 --> 00:26:00,494
if you serve like Jesus,

746
00:26:00,875 --> 00:26:03,115
you're gonna love like Jesus. And if you

747
00:26:03,115 --> 00:26:05,375
love like Jesus, you're gonna become like Jesus.

748
00:26:05,849 --> 00:26:06,829
It's that simple.

749
00:26:07,369 --> 00:26:09,230
The purpose of home teaching,

750
00:26:09,769 --> 00:26:13,869
visiting teaching, ward teaching, block teaching, and now

751
00:26:13,929 --> 00:26:14,429
ministering

752
00:26:15,049 --> 00:26:17,049
is the exact same thing as it's always

753
00:26:17,049 --> 00:26:20,009
been. It's been to help you become like

754
00:26:20,009 --> 00:26:20,670
the savior.

755
00:26:21,865 --> 00:26:24,285
And President Benson, back in 1987,

756
00:26:24,664 --> 00:26:26,664
gave a talk called the To the Home

757
00:26:26,664 --> 00:26:29,144
Teachers of the Church. Now, this applies to

758
00:26:29,144 --> 00:26:31,865
visiting teachers. This applies to ministering brothers and

759
00:26:31,865 --> 00:26:33,900
ministering sisters. But he said

760
00:26:34,279 --> 00:26:36,059
that if this is done properly,

761
00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:38,039
if we do this the way it was

762
00:26:38,039 --> 00:26:39,339
intended to be done,

763
00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:43,160
that it can spiritually renew the church and

764
00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:46,059
exalt its individual members and families. Now,

765
00:26:46,519 --> 00:26:48,140
how does ministering

766
00:26:48,825 --> 00:26:49,964
exalt families,

767
00:26:50,345 --> 00:26:51,325
exalt individuals?

768
00:26:52,105 --> 00:26:54,204
How can it spiritually renew us?

769
00:26:54,744 --> 00:26:57,644
I am a different person because I learned

770
00:26:58,265 --> 00:26:59,884
how to serve through hate.

771
00:27:00,424 --> 00:27:02,345
And because I served through that, if, if

772
00:27:02,345 --> 00:27:03,884
I can love somebody, I

773
00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:05,579
actually couldn't stand.

774
00:27:06,359 --> 00:27:09,240
How can a ministering brother or sister not

775
00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:11,640
start loving somebody that they're praying for every

776
00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:12,140
day?

777
00:27:12,679 --> 00:27:13,500
Start there.

778
00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:16,039
Start with a prayer every day, and then

779
00:27:16,039 --> 00:27:17,960
have it work into whatever else the lord's

780
00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:19,904
telling you to do. If we look at

781
00:27:19,904 --> 00:27:22,144
this as a way for us to become

782
00:27:22,144 --> 00:27:23,044
like the savior,

783
00:27:23,345 --> 00:27:25,585
and then on the flip side, if people

784
00:27:25,585 --> 00:27:27,585
will recognize that they can develop the Christ

785
00:27:27,585 --> 00:27:31,105
like attribute of of humility by letting people

786
00:27:31,105 --> 00:27:32,325
come into their homes

787
00:27:32,849 --> 00:27:35,269
and sharing the things that are struggling with,

788
00:27:35,410 --> 00:27:38,130
boy, you develop that Christ like attribute of

789
00:27:38,130 --> 00:27:40,390
humility and the Christ like attribute of charity

790
00:27:40,769 --> 00:27:41,589
through ministering,

791
00:27:42,289 --> 00:27:44,529
you guys are halfway home. I mean, what's

792
00:27:44,529 --> 00:27:46,690
keeping us out of the celestial kingdom when

793
00:27:46,690 --> 00:27:48,069
we when we develop

794
00:27:48,384 --> 00:27:49,765
these Christ like attributes?

795
00:27:50,224 --> 00:27:51,125
Yeah. Ministry

796
00:27:51,744 --> 00:27:54,565
can exalt its individual members and families because

797
00:27:54,625 --> 00:27:57,105
we're serving one another, we're becoming like Christ,

798
00:27:57,105 --> 00:27:58,085
and we are

799
00:27:58,785 --> 00:28:01,184
we're moving saints from third Nephi saints to

800
00:28:01,184 --> 00:28:02,404
fourth Nephi saints

801
00:28:02,759 --> 00:28:05,500
by becoming one, by becoming a little Zion

802
00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:06,700
in our ward.

803
00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:10,059
And, when everybody is looking out for everybody

804
00:28:10,359 --> 00:28:12,519
and no one's falling through the cracks because

805
00:28:12,519 --> 00:28:15,339
everybody is magnifying their little assignment,

806
00:28:15,784 --> 00:28:17,164
then all of a sudden we've

807
00:28:17,464 --> 00:28:21,144
got a incredible experience happening. Yeah. Is there

808
00:28:21,144 --> 00:28:22,505
anything else that comes to mind as far

809
00:28:22,505 --> 00:28:24,984
as the on that receiving of the ministering

810
00:28:24,984 --> 00:28:26,744
brothers or sisters? I mean, it's kinda one

811
00:28:26,744 --> 00:28:28,365
of those things. You know, I remember

812
00:28:28,690 --> 00:28:30,609
even as now as an elders court president

813
00:28:30,609 --> 00:28:32,210
or as as a Bishop before, just sort

814
00:28:32,210 --> 00:28:34,529
of being like, would you let people serve

815
00:28:34,529 --> 00:28:36,130
you? Like, come on, like, just do it.

816
00:28:36,130 --> 00:28:38,390
Like, and so you you kind of maybe

817
00:28:38,450 --> 00:28:39,509
it can be too

818
00:28:39,890 --> 00:28:41,730
tyrannical on that point. Like, you just, you

819
00:28:41,730 --> 00:28:43,570
know, you just gotta let them receive, you

820
00:28:43,570 --> 00:28:44,070
know,

821
00:28:44,494 --> 00:28:45,894
let them serve you. Is there anything else

822
00:28:45,894 --> 00:28:47,955
that comes to mind with how to,

823
00:28:48,414 --> 00:28:50,335
you know, encourage people to receive the the

824
00:28:50,335 --> 00:28:51,715
ministering brothers and sisters?

825
00:28:52,095 --> 00:28:54,095
Yes. I'm gonna tell you a couple of

826
00:28:54,095 --> 00:28:55,875
other stories that are family related.

827
00:28:56,174 --> 00:28:56,835
My dad

828
00:28:57,519 --> 00:28:58,099
was inactive

829
00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:01,279
from the age of 18 to 60 or

830
00:29:01,279 --> 00:29:02,099
78.

831
00:29:02,559 --> 00:29:03,059
He

832
00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:06,079
didn't want anybody to come over. He didn't

833
00:29:06,079 --> 00:29:08,180
want any help. He didn't want anything.

834
00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:09,795
He was always a member of

835
00:29:12,355 --> 00:29:12,483
of the church. He never took his name

836
00:29:12,483 --> 00:29:12,994
off the records, but he didn't want any

837
00:29:12,994 --> 00:29:14,134
contact with the church.

838
00:29:14,434 --> 00:29:15,494
And yet he had

839
00:29:15,875 --> 00:29:17,015
a very resilient

840
00:29:17,634 --> 00:29:18,035
and,

841
00:29:18,674 --> 00:29:19,174
very

842
00:29:19,555 --> 00:29:20,055
determined

843
00:29:20,434 --> 00:29:22,375
ministering brother back in the day

844
00:29:22,679 --> 00:29:25,319
who kept showing up and just kept, you

845
00:29:25,319 --> 00:29:26,639
know, knocking on the door every once in

846
00:29:26,639 --> 00:29:28,440
a while and saying, hey, I'm here for

847
00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:30,279
you if you need anything. Here's a little

848
00:29:30,279 --> 00:29:31,799
this or here's a little that or here's

849
00:29:31,799 --> 00:29:32,460
a thought.

850
00:29:32,839 --> 00:29:35,720
And one day, my stepmother, who wasn't a

851
00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:37,575
member of the church at that time, had

852
00:29:37,575 --> 00:29:39,115
just been diagnosed with cancer.

853
00:29:39,494 --> 00:29:41,515
And she opened up the door

854
00:29:41,974 --> 00:29:43,595
and he said, I'm

855
00:29:43,894 --> 00:29:46,134
your home teacher. Just wanted to, you know,

856
00:29:46,134 --> 00:29:48,134
say hi and see if there's anything that

857
00:29:48,134 --> 00:29:49,829
we could be doing for you this month.

858
00:29:49,990 --> 00:29:52,230
And she started crying and she said, I've

859
00:29:52,230 --> 00:29:53,609
just been diagnosed with cancer.

860
00:29:54,230 --> 00:29:55,130
And my stepson,

861
00:29:55,509 --> 00:29:57,669
gives blessings. Do you give blessings? She didn't

862
00:29:57,669 --> 00:29:59,909
know anything about the church. And he said,

863
00:29:59,909 --> 00:30:01,829
yes. And and, she goes, will you come

864
00:30:01,829 --> 00:30:03,929
back tonight when my husband's here? And

865
00:30:04,264 --> 00:30:06,184
though he didn't let anybody in for sixty

866
00:30:06,184 --> 00:30:06,684
years,

867
00:30:07,065 --> 00:30:09,244
when he needed somebody, he let him in.

868
00:30:09,544 --> 00:30:11,304
And I don't know whether that says more

869
00:30:11,304 --> 00:30:14,845
about the determination and the love that this

870
00:30:14,904 --> 00:30:17,519
home teacher had for them, or whether they

871
00:30:17,519 --> 00:30:18,019
finally

872
00:30:18,480 --> 00:30:20,900
had a need and finally opened up,

873
00:30:21,279 --> 00:30:21,940
I wouldn't

874
00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:24,400
recommend to anybody that they let it go

875
00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:27,120
that long because the Lord always has a

876
00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:29,894
way of humbling us and getting us to

877
00:30:29,894 --> 00:30:32,535
the point where we're we're open to his

878
00:30:32,535 --> 00:30:34,795
help, if that makes any sense at all.

879
00:30:35,174 --> 00:30:37,894
Eventually, the Lord's gonna humble us enough to

880
00:30:37,894 --> 00:30:40,075
the point where we're gonna need his help.

881
00:30:40,134 --> 00:30:42,455
And thank goodness there was somebody there that

882
00:30:42,455 --> 00:30:44,930
was ready to help them when they needed

883
00:30:44,930 --> 00:30:47,250
it. But I have a sister, the same

884
00:30:47,250 --> 00:30:49,170
sort of thing happened. She would never let

885
00:30:49,170 --> 00:30:52,090
her home teacher in. And, she knows I

886
00:30:52,090 --> 00:30:53,330
I tell this story all the time. She

887
00:30:53,330 --> 00:30:55,670
is. So she's okay with this story. But

888
00:30:55,809 --> 00:30:57,730
the guy was just the the most wonderful

889
00:30:57,730 --> 00:30:59,534
guy and he showed up every single month.

890
00:30:59,534 --> 00:31:00,734
She never let him in, but it was

891
00:31:00,734 --> 00:31:02,734
always on the porch. He got to know

892
00:31:02,734 --> 00:31:05,294
her kids, her kids' birthdays. He'd always bring

893
00:31:05,294 --> 00:31:07,375
something over for each one of them and

894
00:31:07,375 --> 00:31:09,934
knew more about their kids probably than, you

895
00:31:09,934 --> 00:31:11,970
know, I knew about her kids because he

896
00:31:11,970 --> 00:31:14,049
was showing up every month. But then she

897
00:31:14,049 --> 00:31:16,769
was diagnosed with cancer, and she reached out

898
00:31:16,769 --> 00:31:18,849
to me and said, what do I do?

899
00:31:18,849 --> 00:31:20,609
And I said, well, why don't we call

900
00:31:20,609 --> 00:31:22,289
your bishop and and get him over there

901
00:31:22,289 --> 00:31:23,910
to give you a blessing? And she goes,

902
00:31:24,164 --> 00:31:25,765
how about the guy that used to home

903
00:31:25,765 --> 00:31:27,765
teach me that's moved away? She she goes,

904
00:31:27,765 --> 00:31:28,985
can you track him down?

905
00:31:29,365 --> 00:31:31,365
I said, probably. So I called her bishop,

906
00:31:31,365 --> 00:31:33,125
and I and we tracked this guy down

907
00:31:33,125 --> 00:31:35,125
who'd moved out of the ward. And he

908
00:31:35,125 --> 00:31:36,805
came back. I don't know how far he

909
00:31:36,805 --> 00:31:38,085
came back, but I know he was he

910
00:31:38,085 --> 00:31:40,409
moved miles and miles away. But he came

911
00:31:40,409 --> 00:31:42,169
back and gave her a blessing with the

912
00:31:42,169 --> 00:31:42,669
bishop,

913
00:31:43,289 --> 00:31:44,669
and she had a miraculous

914
00:31:45,049 --> 00:31:47,950
recovery and is cancer free. And

915
00:31:48,409 --> 00:31:49,710
all because, again,

916
00:31:50,169 --> 00:31:52,845
she felt the love of this diligent,

917
00:31:53,784 --> 00:31:54,284
persistent,

918
00:31:55,144 --> 00:31:55,644
determined

919
00:31:56,345 --> 00:31:58,284
ministering brother, and

920
00:31:58,664 --> 00:32:01,085
she was humble enough to ask for help

921
00:32:01,384 --> 00:32:02,924
when she needed it, and

922
00:32:03,224 --> 00:32:05,720
he was there for her. President Kimball once

923
00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:08,619
said, I have no more right to inspiration,

924
00:32:09,319 --> 00:32:11,339
and I have no more authority

925
00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:13,720
than the home teachers that are assigned to

926
00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:16,059
that ward that family, I should say.

927
00:32:16,519 --> 00:32:19,000
He said the home teachers have more the

928
00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:21,424
same authority and more right to inspiration than

929
00:32:21,424 --> 00:32:24,625
I do for the their assigned families. And

930
00:32:24,625 --> 00:32:27,424
so when we realize that as people who

931
00:32:27,424 --> 00:32:27,924
are

932
00:32:28,305 --> 00:32:31,664
people who are receiving the visit, all of

933
00:32:31,664 --> 00:32:33,424
a sudden we're going to realize, boy, those

934
00:32:33,424 --> 00:32:35,429
people are really important in our lives. And

935
00:32:35,429 --> 00:32:37,929
like I said, knowing that the Lord's prepackaged

936
00:32:38,069 --> 00:32:38,569
them

937
00:32:38,950 --> 00:32:42,169
to be your ministering brother, ministering sister, makes

938
00:32:42,230 --> 00:32:43,289
it even more,

939
00:32:43,909 --> 00:32:45,210
I don't know, motivating

940
00:32:45,669 --> 00:32:47,669
to invite them into your life and let

941
00:32:47,669 --> 00:32:48,169
them

942
00:32:48,605 --> 00:32:50,924
help pray for you. Put put yourself on

943
00:32:50,924 --> 00:32:52,765
their little prayer room. Am I making any

944
00:32:52,765 --> 00:32:54,144
sense or am I just rambling?

945
00:32:54,445 --> 00:32:56,125
No. That's great. I love the stories and

946
00:32:56,125 --> 00:32:57,565
and the principles that come out of it.

947
00:32:57,565 --> 00:32:58,785
This is this is fantastic.

948
00:32:59,325 --> 00:33:01,244
I I wanted to ask, like, since the

949
00:33:01,244 --> 00:33:01,744
change

950
00:33:02,179 --> 00:33:05,639
from home teaching, visiting teaching to ministering, you

951
00:33:05,700 --> 00:33:08,179
know, these are tough cultural shifts to create

952
00:33:08,179 --> 00:33:10,660
in in an international church and my heart

953
00:33:10,660 --> 00:33:13,140
just aches for our, you know, the core

954
00:33:13,140 --> 00:33:15,059
of the 12, the general authorities who are

955
00:33:15,059 --> 00:33:17,955
trying to sort of implement this and adjust

956
00:33:17,955 --> 00:33:20,775
with the growing church and international church. And

957
00:33:20,835 --> 00:33:23,394
and so they can make the shift into

958
00:33:23,394 --> 00:33:25,715
ministering and suddenly think, oh, this is totally

959
00:33:25,715 --> 00:33:28,195
different or it's a higher, holier way or,

960
00:33:28,195 --> 00:33:30,455
you know, sometimes then or it's maybe

961
00:33:30,809 --> 00:33:33,690
new excuses come up or more reasons to

962
00:33:33,690 --> 00:33:35,529
not connect with people. What what have you

963
00:33:35,529 --> 00:33:37,450
seen just in that change over the last

964
00:33:37,450 --> 00:33:39,389
few years and where we're at now that

965
00:33:39,450 --> 00:33:41,609
would be worth mentioning to help us kinda

966
00:33:41,609 --> 00:33:42,585
reengage and

967
00:33:42,904 --> 00:33:45,644
reconnect with what the the core desire was

968
00:33:45,704 --> 00:33:47,244
in this, shift in the program?

969
00:33:47,704 --> 00:33:50,524
It's hard for people to grasp this, but

970
00:33:50,585 --> 00:33:53,244
ministering is home teaching and visiting teaching

971
00:33:53,625 --> 00:33:55,544
in a higher and holier way. It's as

972
00:33:55,544 --> 00:33:57,704
simple as that. We're trying to reinvent the

973
00:33:57,704 --> 00:33:59,980
wheel. We're trying to do something different. But

974
00:33:59,980 --> 00:34:02,380
if we go back to Doctrine and Covenants

975
00:34:02,380 --> 00:34:04,619
20, it's all spelled out there for us.

976
00:34:04,619 --> 00:34:05,759
And if you

977
00:34:06,059 --> 00:34:08,219
think about it, Doctrine and Covenants 20 was

978
00:34:08,219 --> 00:34:10,320
revealed before the church was organized.

979
00:34:10,860 --> 00:34:13,494
The Lord laid out his plan for this

980
00:34:13,494 --> 00:34:14,315
type of ministering

981
00:34:14,855 --> 00:34:16,554
back in 1829,

982
00:34:16,934 --> 00:34:19,734
and we've just keep sliding away. And, you

983
00:34:19,734 --> 00:34:21,414
know, back in 1963

984
00:34:21,414 --> 00:34:22,155
when they

985
00:34:22,454 --> 00:34:24,614
established when they went from ward teaching to

986
00:34:24,614 --> 00:34:25,434
home teaching,

987
00:34:25,974 --> 00:34:27,835
president Romney was talking about

988
00:34:28,139 --> 00:34:30,400
how we had gotten away from this idea

989
00:34:30,460 --> 00:34:32,699
of being a guardian in the home. And

990
00:34:32,699 --> 00:34:35,179
then Harold b Lee in in 1973

991
00:34:35,179 --> 00:34:37,420
said, we've gotten away from being this guardian

992
00:34:37,420 --> 00:34:38,940
in home. In fact, do you mind me

993
00:34:38,940 --> 00:34:41,420
reading? Yeah. Please. So this is a quote

994
00:34:41,420 --> 00:34:44,755
from Harold Harold b Lee in 1972

995
00:34:45,535 --> 00:34:48,894
talking about the change that they implemented from

996
00:34:48,894 --> 00:34:51,375
word teaching to home teaching. They changed the

997
00:34:51,375 --> 00:34:54,255
branding, let's say. They changed the branding from

998
00:34:54,255 --> 00:34:56,255
word teaching to home teaching because we've gotten

999
00:34:56,255 --> 00:34:57,075
into this

1000
00:34:57,440 --> 00:34:59,840
idea of just it being a visit. And

1001
00:34:59,840 --> 00:35:01,360
this is what he said. A once a

1002
00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:03,220
month visit. Right? A once a month visit.

1003
00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:05,119
Yeah. Well, but guess what? It's still supposed

1004
00:35:05,119 --> 00:35:07,280
to be once a month. And, if at

1005
00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:09,280
all possible, it's still supposed to be once

1006
00:35:09,280 --> 00:35:10,625
a month. But

1007
00:35:11,085 --> 00:35:12,525
we don't need to push on that time.

1008
00:35:12,525 --> 00:35:14,764
But I Yeah. Yeah. But that's what it's

1009
00:35:14,764 --> 00:35:15,264
still

1010
00:35:15,644 --> 00:35:18,204
in fact, there's a great well, I'll just

1011
00:35:18,364 --> 00:35:19,804
I'll give this quote and then I'll give

1012
00:35:19,804 --> 00:35:21,405
another quote. Again. This is a quote from

1013
00:35:21,405 --> 00:35:23,650
Harold B. Lee. Maybe the home teacher should

1014
00:35:23,650 --> 00:35:25,829
be charged more clearly to describe

1015
00:35:26,289 --> 00:35:28,710
his mission to watch over and to strengthen

1016
00:35:28,849 --> 00:35:31,170
to see that members do their duty. They

1017
00:35:31,170 --> 00:35:33,489
think themselves as teachers of the gospel message

1018
00:35:33,489 --> 00:35:33,989
only.

1019
00:35:34,289 --> 00:35:36,449
Maybe we ought to be calling them home

1020
00:35:36,449 --> 00:35:37,829
guardians or sentinels

1021
00:35:38,344 --> 00:35:40,424
and to report their stewardship to the fathers

1022
00:35:40,424 --> 00:35:42,824
of the ward. We must do something to

1023
00:35:42,824 --> 00:35:45,005
change the emphasis from teaching to guardians

1024
00:35:45,464 --> 00:35:47,644
to watching over the church kind of concept.

1025
00:35:48,105 --> 00:35:50,599
Until we get that into our minds, we

1026
00:35:50,599 --> 00:35:51,960
are not going to do the kind of

1027
00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:54,300
home teaching that is going to get results.

1028
00:35:54,840 --> 00:35:57,239
So that's why they changed it from ward

1029
00:35:57,239 --> 00:35:59,579
teaching to home teaching was to get this

1030
00:35:59,880 --> 00:36:01,820
ministering kind of result.

1031
00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:03,900
About every twenty years,

1032
00:36:04,235 --> 00:36:06,235
we get this same message. That's right. And

1033
00:36:06,235 --> 00:36:07,534
in 1987,

1034
00:36:07,835 --> 00:36:09,755
president Benson did the same thing, and he

1035
00:36:09,755 --> 00:36:11,515
gave that talk to the home teachers of

1036
00:36:11,515 --> 00:36:13,835
the church and reiterated what we should be

1037
00:36:13,835 --> 00:36:15,594
doing, and it should be more ministry than

1038
00:36:15,594 --> 00:36:16,815
we're going into the homes.

1039
00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:17,880
In,

1040
00:36:18,199 --> 00:36:19,819
2018,

1041
00:36:20,199 --> 00:36:22,359
president Nelson, the same sort of thing. But

1042
00:36:22,359 --> 00:36:24,440
they started trying to do this back in

1043
00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:25,319
2005,

1044
00:36:25,319 --> 00:36:26,380
which again is

1045
00:36:26,679 --> 00:36:29,904
twenty years from president Benson's talk. But for

1046
00:36:29,904 --> 00:36:30,404
ten

1047
00:36:30,784 --> 00:36:31,844
years, this committee

1048
00:36:32,304 --> 00:36:34,144
that had been called by the the leaders

1049
00:36:34,144 --> 00:36:35,984
of the church to try to figure out

1050
00:36:35,984 --> 00:36:38,625
how to get us back to the original

1051
00:36:38,625 --> 00:36:40,704
mission of what we should be doing and

1052
00:36:40,704 --> 00:36:42,864
and serving one another and blessing one another

1053
00:36:42,864 --> 00:36:45,000
and helping one another, They gave

1054
00:36:45,380 --> 00:36:47,380
up because here you've got all these people

1055
00:36:47,380 --> 00:36:49,140
with all these different opinions about what to

1056
00:36:49,140 --> 00:36:51,380
do. But what the Lord wants is what

1057
00:36:51,380 --> 00:36:53,400
matters the most. And so

1058
00:36:53,860 --> 00:36:55,880
how often do you go into your home?

1059
00:36:56,099 --> 00:36:58,934
How often do you make contact? How often

1060
00:36:58,934 --> 00:37:00,954
do you do all these things for your

1061
00:37:01,335 --> 00:37:02,074
people? Well,

1062
00:37:02,375 --> 00:37:04,614
that's between you and the Lord. Now, I

1063
00:37:04,614 --> 00:37:07,094
think they've taken the guardrails off to give

1064
00:37:07,094 --> 00:37:09,150
us a higher and holier version of this,

1065
00:37:09,230 --> 00:37:11,569
to help us act higher and holier,

1066
00:37:11,869 --> 00:37:13,469
to give us a higher law kind of

1067
00:37:13,469 --> 00:37:15,789
thing? Are we ready to take the training

1068
00:37:15,789 --> 00:37:18,769
wheels off of ward teaching and home teaching

1069
00:37:19,150 --> 00:37:19,650
and

1070
00:37:19,949 --> 00:37:20,849
empower ourselves

1071
00:37:21,469 --> 00:37:23,409
to where we should be personally

1072
00:37:23,765 --> 00:37:25,285
and how we should bless the lives of

1073
00:37:25,285 --> 00:37:27,465
others. I would challenge everybody

1074
00:37:28,005 --> 00:37:29,765
to get out on our knees every night

1075
00:37:29,765 --> 00:37:31,525
and ask, how can I be doing a

1076
00:37:31,525 --> 00:37:33,065
better job with my ministry?

1077
00:37:33,605 --> 00:37:36,164
And let the spirit guide us. Rather than

1078
00:37:36,164 --> 00:37:38,119
Steve Weber or Kirk Francom

1079
00:37:38,420 --> 00:37:42,900
or anybody else, tell us how to minister

1080
00:37:42,900 --> 00:37:45,059
to the families that we are supposed to

1081
00:37:45,299 --> 00:37:47,380
let's ask them, first of all, what can

1082
00:37:47,380 --> 00:37:49,559
I be praying for? And then secondly,

1083
00:37:50,065 --> 00:37:52,385
listen to heavenly father when we ask, how

1084
00:37:52,385 --> 00:37:54,565
can I be a better ministering brother tomorrow?

1085
00:37:54,704 --> 00:37:56,485
Or how can I be a better ministering

1086
00:37:56,545 --> 00:37:57,364
sister tomorrow?

1087
00:37:57,824 --> 00:38:00,405
Yeah. I promise you, those are prayers

1088
00:38:00,704 --> 00:38:02,005
he answers immediately.

1089
00:38:02,550 --> 00:38:04,010
And if we will just stop,

1090
00:38:04,309 --> 00:38:04,809
listen,

1091
00:38:05,269 --> 00:38:06,730
that answer will come immediately.

1092
00:38:07,110 --> 00:38:08,969
In fact, I've when somebody

1093
00:38:09,429 --> 00:38:10,250
asked me

1094
00:38:10,630 --> 00:38:12,630
every time somebody would ask me as a

1095
00:38:12,630 --> 00:38:13,130
bishop,

1096
00:38:13,590 --> 00:38:15,910
how do I receive revelation? I've never heard

1097
00:38:15,910 --> 00:38:18,234
the spirit tell me what to do. I'd

1098
00:38:18,234 --> 00:38:20,635
always say, tonight, get down on your knees

1099
00:38:20,635 --> 00:38:22,574
and ask, what can I do better tomorrow?

1100
00:38:22,714 --> 00:38:23,614
And I promise

1101
00:38:23,914 --> 00:38:25,775
you will receive revelation today.

1102
00:38:26,074 --> 00:38:27,914
It's a promise. And so when you ask,

1103
00:38:27,914 --> 00:38:29,914
heavenly father, how can I better serve this

1104
00:38:29,914 --> 00:38:32,710
family that I am assigned to? What can

1105
00:38:32,710 --> 00:38:34,789
I do better tomorrow? He will answer that

1106
00:38:34,789 --> 00:38:37,510
prayer and tell us. Now, if you ask,

1107
00:38:37,510 --> 00:38:38,869
should I be doing more or should I

1108
00:38:38,869 --> 00:38:41,030
be doing less? I already know the answer

1109
00:38:41,030 --> 00:38:41,849
to that question.

1110
00:38:42,230 --> 00:38:44,390
It's probably we could be doing more. We

1111
00:38:44,390 --> 00:38:47,054
could probably be doing a better job. And

1112
00:38:47,515 --> 00:38:48,175
so President

1113
00:38:48,474 --> 00:38:48,974
Holland,

1114
00:38:49,434 --> 00:38:51,355
I always say President Holland because number one,

1115
00:38:51,355 --> 00:38:52,795
he was president of BYU when I was

1116
00:38:52,795 --> 00:38:55,114
down there, but then he ended his term

1117
00:38:55,114 --> 00:38:57,034
as president. But when he when he was

1118
00:38:57,034 --> 00:38:59,275
Elder Holland and he and he rolled out

1119
00:38:59,275 --> 00:39:00,735
home ministry and her ministry,

1120
00:39:01,070 --> 00:39:02,909
he said, we still need to visit the

1121
00:39:02,909 --> 00:39:06,030
home. It's still the priority, but there are

1122
00:39:06,030 --> 00:39:09,710
these other extenuating circumstances that might make it

1123
00:39:09,710 --> 00:39:10,210
difficult,

1124
00:39:10,510 --> 00:39:11,010
but

1125
00:39:11,469 --> 00:39:13,389
that's the standard. We still want to get

1126
00:39:13,389 --> 00:39:16,144
into the home. And we're told in doctrine

1127
00:39:16,144 --> 00:39:18,625
covenant section 20, visit the house of each

1128
00:39:18,625 --> 00:39:21,184
member. Now the reason why we should be

1129
00:39:21,184 --> 00:39:22,405
in the house is because

1130
00:39:22,784 --> 00:39:24,945
that's the most personal space and that's where

1131
00:39:24,945 --> 00:39:26,385
we can get on our knees and that's

1132
00:39:26,385 --> 00:39:28,809
where we can leave blessings on these people's

1133
00:39:28,809 --> 00:39:31,070
homes and leave and give them blessings.

1134
00:39:31,609 --> 00:39:33,769
That's the most personal place to be really

1135
00:39:33,769 --> 00:39:35,609
in touch and the safest place for them

1136
00:39:35,609 --> 00:39:36,589
in most cases

1137
00:39:36,969 --> 00:39:39,530
to open up and to share their struggles

1138
00:39:39,530 --> 00:39:40,349
and their challenges.

1139
00:39:40,965 --> 00:39:43,285
Yeah. That's really powerful. I appreciate you sharing

1140
00:39:43,285 --> 00:39:44,825
those quotes and those, that perspective.

1141
00:39:45,525 --> 00:39:48,885
This is maybe more Utah centric or Idaho,

1142
00:39:48,885 --> 00:39:51,765
Utah, Arizona centric question, but, you know, I've

1143
00:39:51,765 --> 00:39:53,605
had individuals bring this up to me as

1144
00:39:53,605 --> 00:39:55,789
they move from out of state, you know,

1145
00:39:55,789 --> 00:39:58,909
the, the old school mission, mission field to

1146
00:39:58,909 --> 00:39:59,409
Utah.

1147
00:39:59,789 --> 00:40:02,030
And it was a good example of this

1148
00:40:02,030 --> 00:40:03,869
was a few years ago, my mom kinda

1149
00:40:03,869 --> 00:40:06,030
had a, cancer scare, you know, went to

1150
00:40:06,030 --> 00:40:08,269
her test, they discovered some cancer and likely

1151
00:40:08,269 --> 00:40:10,514
it was really easily treated. But, you know,

1152
00:40:10,514 --> 00:40:13,014
this is sort of the moment with that,

1153
00:40:13,074 --> 00:40:15,014
you know, in the in the Liahona,

1154
00:40:15,635 --> 00:40:18,054
it's the perfect story of, like, how ministering

1155
00:40:18,194 --> 00:40:20,835
sisters or ministering brothers show up and and

1156
00:40:20,835 --> 00:40:23,349
are are of service there. And and my

1157
00:40:23,349 --> 00:40:25,510
mom was sort of hesitant to let them

1158
00:40:25,510 --> 00:40:28,389
know about this because there really wasn't a

1159
00:40:28,389 --> 00:40:30,230
lot for them to do because my brother

1160
00:40:30,230 --> 00:40:32,550
lives five minutes away. My other brother's ten

1161
00:40:32,550 --> 00:40:34,869
minutes away. My sister's fifteen minutes away. I'm,

1162
00:40:34,869 --> 00:40:37,155
you know, thirty minutes away. And so in

1163
00:40:37,155 --> 00:40:39,394
Utah, oftentimes you get such you know, there's

1164
00:40:39,394 --> 00:40:41,735
a lot of family connections in Utah

1165
00:40:42,114 --> 00:40:43,474
that at the end of the day, there's

1166
00:40:43,474 --> 00:40:45,555
just not a lot for the, you know,

1167
00:40:45,555 --> 00:40:47,555
ministering brother or sister to do. And I

1168
00:40:47,555 --> 00:40:49,635
remember there's this moment where they did find

1169
00:40:49,635 --> 00:40:52,260
out about this, you know, this moment, this

1170
00:40:52,260 --> 00:40:53,700
medical scare that she was going through, and

1171
00:40:53,700 --> 00:40:55,940
they're kinda like, well, I mean, you didn't

1172
00:40:55,940 --> 00:40:58,420
even call. You know? And so sometimes it's

1173
00:40:58,420 --> 00:41:01,079
tricky in Utah or in these more saturated

1174
00:41:01,140 --> 00:41:03,460
areas where there's a lot of family support.

1175
00:41:03,460 --> 00:41:04,980
Like, how do you respond to that or

1176
00:41:04,980 --> 00:41:07,114
thoughts there around that? Well, no. We we're

1177
00:41:07,114 --> 00:41:08,394
in the same situation. We've got a lot

1178
00:41:08,394 --> 00:41:10,315
of family around here that we could reach

1179
00:41:10,315 --> 00:41:12,894
out to. But I've found

1180
00:41:13,195 --> 00:41:15,835
and I I've had a an unusual situation

1181
00:41:15,835 --> 00:41:18,074
because I've had a great ministering brother over

1182
00:41:18,074 --> 00:41:19,675
the years that has been coming to our

1183
00:41:19,675 --> 00:41:21,300
home for a long, long time. In fact,

1184
00:41:21,300 --> 00:41:23,219
I don't think he ever knocks anymore. He

1185
00:41:23,219 --> 00:41:24,760
just comes on in, and

1186
00:41:25,059 --> 00:41:26,980
he's just part of the family. Yeah. And

1187
00:41:26,980 --> 00:41:28,760
I would actually feel more comfortable

1188
00:41:29,219 --> 00:41:30,980
calling him at 03:00 in the morning than

1189
00:41:30,980 --> 00:41:33,940
anybody else because he's inserted himself into our

1190
00:41:33,940 --> 00:41:35,925
our home and into our family in a

1191
00:41:35,925 --> 00:41:38,565
way that I always say he knows me

1192
00:41:38,565 --> 00:41:40,965
well and loves me still. He knows everything

1193
00:41:40,965 --> 00:41:44,005
about me and still loves me. And he

1194
00:41:44,005 --> 00:41:46,485
knows our challenges. He knows our struggles. Things

1195
00:41:46,485 --> 00:41:48,164
I don't even share with my family, that

1196
00:41:48,164 --> 00:41:50,105
I share with him because I know he's

1197
00:41:50,449 --> 00:41:52,929
authorized to help me and he's authorized to

1198
00:41:52,929 --> 00:41:53,989
know how to help.

1199
00:41:54,449 --> 00:41:55,509
I would really,

1200
00:41:55,889 --> 00:41:57,670
again, it comes down to,

1201
00:41:57,969 --> 00:41:59,650
well, I don't the only thing I could

1202
00:41:59,650 --> 00:42:01,809
say is it's a two part system. We're

1203
00:42:01,809 --> 00:42:03,650
gonna rely on those families and we're gonna

1204
00:42:03,650 --> 00:42:05,409
rely on our ministry and brothers and ministry

1205
00:42:05,409 --> 00:42:07,894
and sisters if they're showing up. And I

1206
00:42:07,894 --> 00:42:09,494
always say, just show up and show some

1207
00:42:09,494 --> 00:42:11,735
love. You can't go wrong if you just

1208
00:42:11,735 --> 00:42:13,515
show up and show some love.

1209
00:42:13,894 --> 00:42:14,875
We try to,

1210
00:42:15,175 --> 00:42:17,094
and you said it a couple of times

1211
00:42:17,094 --> 00:42:17,594
today,

1212
00:42:17,894 --> 00:42:20,099
we try to make things happen or we

1213
00:42:20,099 --> 00:42:21,699
try to do things a certain way that

1214
00:42:21,699 --> 00:42:23,480
we think we're supposed to do them.

1215
00:42:23,780 --> 00:42:25,859
Just if you wanna be authentic, just show

1216
00:42:25,859 --> 00:42:27,539
up and let them know, I love you.

1217
00:42:27,539 --> 00:42:28,760
I'm praying for you.

1218
00:42:29,299 --> 00:42:31,299
How can I be praying for you better?

1219
00:42:31,299 --> 00:42:33,219
What sorts of things can I be praying

1220
00:42:33,219 --> 00:42:35,824
for? And when they offer that help

1221
00:42:36,284 --> 00:42:38,224
that way and it's sincere,

1222
00:42:38,605 --> 00:42:40,844
I think we're a lot more inclined inclined

1223
00:42:40,844 --> 00:42:41,344
to

1224
00:42:41,644 --> 00:42:44,204
to ask for their help. I think I

1225
00:42:44,204 --> 00:42:46,045
butchered what I was trying to say there.

1226
00:42:46,045 --> 00:42:47,885
I think I butchered what I wanted to

1227
00:42:47,885 --> 00:42:49,359
say. No. I think it came across. Yeah.

1228
00:42:49,359 --> 00:42:51,280
But I I this brother that has been

1229
00:42:51,440 --> 00:42:53,359
and now he's been assigned to other people

1230
00:42:53,359 --> 00:42:55,760
since he hasn't been our assigned ministering brother

1231
00:42:55,760 --> 00:42:58,320
for two years, but our ministering brothers haven't

1232
00:42:58,320 --> 00:43:00,400
shown up in two years. And so he's

1233
00:43:00,400 --> 00:43:01,760
the guy I still go to. He's still

1234
00:43:01,760 --> 00:43:03,565
my go to guy and will

1235
00:43:03,865 --> 00:43:05,244
be for a long, long time.

1236
00:43:05,625 --> 00:43:08,105
My wife ministers to a a younger woman

1237
00:43:08,105 --> 00:43:09,865
that's half her age. The the woman could

1238
00:43:09,865 --> 00:43:10,684
be her daughter.

1239
00:43:10,985 --> 00:43:13,785
And, you know, it this woman calls my

1240
00:43:13,785 --> 00:43:15,385
wife all the time for help because my

1241
00:43:15,385 --> 00:43:17,389
wife's kind of a fill in grandma

1242
00:43:17,849 --> 00:43:19,929
for her. And it's just because my wife

1243
00:43:19,929 --> 00:43:22,089
has been there for her over and over

1244
00:43:22,089 --> 00:43:24,650
and over again that this woman feels completely

1245
00:43:24,650 --> 00:43:27,789
comfortable calling her for help and assistance where

1246
00:43:28,170 --> 00:43:30,809
her mother's passed away. And and, and my

1247
00:43:30,809 --> 00:43:33,074
my wife is kind of her default mom

1248
00:43:33,074 --> 00:43:35,894
and default grandma for her kids. And so

1249
00:43:36,034 --> 00:43:37,954
it's been a a neat experience to watch

1250
00:43:37,954 --> 00:43:40,994
these relationships develop when we put ourselves in

1251
00:43:40,994 --> 00:43:41,735
those places.

1252
00:43:42,195 --> 00:43:44,835
Yeah. Yeah. And that's really great advice where

1253
00:43:44,835 --> 00:43:46,914
it's not that you need a task, you

1254
00:43:46,914 --> 00:43:49,109
know, you have to help let me help

1255
00:43:49,109 --> 00:43:51,030
you when you're sick or have a medical

1256
00:43:51,030 --> 00:43:53,109
scare because I'm your your ministering brother or

1257
00:43:53,109 --> 00:43:55,670
sister. But it's more of like just knowing

1258
00:43:55,670 --> 00:43:57,349
that their presence is there. My mind as

1259
00:43:57,349 --> 00:43:58,730
you were saying that went to

1260
00:43:59,030 --> 00:44:01,030
an interview I did years ago. Many people

1261
00:44:01,030 --> 00:44:03,235
probably remember the I think it was in

1262
00:44:03,255 --> 00:44:05,775
the Elder Holland when he talked about home

1263
00:44:05,775 --> 00:44:07,394
teaching before they made the change.

1264
00:44:07,855 --> 00:44:09,934
That was talk to the emissaries of the

1265
00:44:09,934 --> 00:44:12,094
saints. Yes. Yes. No. To the emissaries of

1266
00:44:12,094 --> 00:44:13,454
the church. That's what it was. To the

1267
00:44:13,454 --> 00:44:15,054
emissaries of the church. Talked about a give

1268
00:44:15,054 --> 00:44:17,780
an example of a a home teaching situation

1269
00:44:17,840 --> 00:44:20,579
where I think this in Vegas area, tragically,

1270
00:44:20,640 --> 00:44:23,280
a father backed over his son in a

1271
00:44:23,280 --> 00:44:25,440
truck and the son died. He's nine years

1272
00:44:25,440 --> 00:44:27,519
old and this home teacher really showed up

1273
00:44:27,519 --> 00:44:29,199
in a special way to to minister to

1274
00:44:29,199 --> 00:44:30,734
him. And I actually reached out and I

1275
00:44:30,734 --> 00:44:32,755
interviewed that father. Oh, great. It was interesting

1276
00:44:33,214 --> 00:44:35,375
as he told a story, and I'm really

1277
00:44:35,375 --> 00:44:37,454
trying to dig into, like, what were the

1278
00:44:37,454 --> 00:44:40,034
components here that we could maybe learn from

1279
00:44:40,094 --> 00:44:43,269
this experience? And he said, oftentimes, when something

1280
00:44:43,329 --> 00:44:45,170
so tragic happens to a family or it's

1281
00:44:45,170 --> 00:44:47,650
a medical scare or it's even something minor

1282
00:44:47,650 --> 00:44:50,210
where we kinda think, you know what? They

1283
00:44:50,210 --> 00:44:51,109
got family.

1284
00:44:51,489 --> 00:44:54,505
They're good or, you know, I didn't wanna

1285
00:44:54,505 --> 00:44:56,184
bother them. They're going through so much. They

1286
00:44:56,184 --> 00:44:57,864
don't need a visitor just showing up. And

1287
00:44:57,864 --> 00:44:59,644
he said, it was remarkable

1288
00:45:00,184 --> 00:45:03,144
the strength that came from just people showing

1289
00:45:03,144 --> 00:45:05,465
up and just Yeah. Pushing through those feelings

1290
00:45:05,465 --> 00:45:08,119
of, we'll let them process this and check-in

1291
00:45:08,119 --> 00:45:09,960
later. But it was those who just showed

1292
00:45:09,960 --> 00:45:11,799
up and sat in their living room and

1293
00:45:11,799 --> 00:45:13,319
just talked to them for a few minutes

1294
00:45:13,319 --> 00:45:13,819
that

1295
00:45:14,119 --> 00:45:15,960
got them through that next hour, you know,

1296
00:45:15,960 --> 00:45:17,960
to that thing. And so just sort of

1297
00:45:17,960 --> 00:45:20,204
being that, like, that presence, right? Of course,

1298
00:45:20,204 --> 00:45:22,764
they've got family, but knowing that, wow, like

1299
00:45:22,764 --> 00:45:24,844
so many other people showed up in my

1300
00:45:24,844 --> 00:45:26,924
neighborhood, in my ward, and and that meant

1301
00:45:26,924 --> 00:45:28,844
something. And it really sanctifies us on a

1302
00:45:28,844 --> 00:45:30,284
different level. You know, when you bring that

1303
00:45:30,284 --> 00:45:32,284
up, I think of Job and his three

1304
00:45:32,284 --> 00:45:34,660
buddies that showed up f or his buddies

1305
00:45:34,660 --> 00:45:36,579
that showed up for three days and didn't

1306
00:45:36,579 --> 00:45:38,519
say anything. They just were there with him.

1307
00:45:38,900 --> 00:45:40,900
They didn't say. They didn't talk. They just

1308
00:45:40,900 --> 00:45:42,760
were there with him. And I think sometimes

1309
00:45:43,300 --> 00:45:45,719
mourning with those that mourn is very

1310
00:45:46,275 --> 00:45:48,114
challenging for people. It's it is for me

1311
00:45:48,114 --> 00:45:50,034
to know what to say in those types

1312
00:45:50,034 --> 00:45:52,214
of situations when somebody's really struggling,

1313
00:45:52,674 --> 00:45:54,835
and we wanna let them process before we

1314
00:45:54,835 --> 00:45:56,594
we go in there. But sometimes people just

1315
00:45:56,594 --> 00:45:58,769
need somebody to hold their hand And just

1316
00:45:58,769 --> 00:46:01,010
let them know that we love them. No

1317
00:46:01,010 --> 00:46:02,690
matter what, we're here for them. We don't

1318
00:46:02,690 --> 00:46:04,610
have to try to fix it because sometimes

1319
00:46:04,610 --> 00:46:06,610
you can't fix some of these things, but

1320
00:46:06,610 --> 00:46:08,070
you can be with them. And

1321
00:46:08,449 --> 00:46:10,449
when you think back in Mosiah where it

1322
00:46:10,449 --> 00:46:12,625
says to be with and strengthen them,

1323
00:46:13,005 --> 00:46:15,565
to bear one another's burdens, to to mourn

1324
00:46:15,565 --> 00:46:17,724
with those that mourn, those aren't easy things

1325
00:46:17,724 --> 00:46:19,885
to do. Those are difficult things to do.

1326
00:46:19,885 --> 00:46:20,385
And

1327
00:46:20,844 --> 00:46:22,704
we just have to plow through the awkwardness

1328
00:46:22,764 --> 00:46:25,164
until it's not awkward anymore. We just need

1329
00:46:25,164 --> 00:46:25,664
to

1330
00:46:26,269 --> 00:46:29,389
it's hard sometimes to turn a visit into

1331
00:46:29,389 --> 00:46:30,210
something organic

1332
00:46:30,589 --> 00:46:32,429
until we've done it over and over and

1333
00:46:32,429 --> 00:46:34,109
over and over again. It's just not going

1334
00:46:34,109 --> 00:46:34,769
to be

1335
00:46:35,150 --> 00:46:37,730
natural until we've plowed through that awkwardness.

1336
00:46:38,474 --> 00:46:40,795
Yeah. Any thoughts or tips or perspectives come

1337
00:46:40,795 --> 00:46:42,315
to mind? I'm gonna flip the script a

1338
00:46:42,315 --> 00:46:43,994
little bit here as far as you know,

1339
00:46:43,994 --> 00:46:44,894
we've talked about

1340
00:46:45,195 --> 00:46:46,494
maybe Utah centered

1341
00:46:47,035 --> 00:46:49,675
dynamics where family's so close, but what about

1342
00:46:49,675 --> 00:46:51,914
out there in Nebraska and Maine and, you

1343
00:46:51,914 --> 00:46:54,210
know, Spain, wherever it is where maybe it's

1344
00:46:54,210 --> 00:46:55,809
a little bit different of a dynamic because

1345
00:46:55,809 --> 00:46:58,050
people are spread out. Maybe you drive two

1346
00:46:58,050 --> 00:46:59,889
hours to church and, you know, there's a

1347
00:46:59,889 --> 00:47:02,130
lot of those dynamics that make it more

1348
00:47:02,130 --> 00:47:04,849
difficult. Any tips or thoughts, perspectives? Well, I'll

1349
00:47:04,849 --> 00:47:07,010
I'll I'll share another story. And this is,

1350
00:47:07,010 --> 00:47:10,194
again, is a familiar one. My wife, her

1351
00:47:10,194 --> 00:47:12,034
family used to spend the summer up at

1352
00:47:12,034 --> 00:47:13,335
a cabin. They lived

1353
00:47:13,875 --> 00:47:15,554
in near San Jose and they had a

1354
00:47:15,554 --> 00:47:17,014
cabin up in the Sierras

1355
00:47:17,394 --> 00:47:17,894
and

1356
00:47:18,355 --> 00:47:20,775
their home teacher would fly up there.

1357
00:47:21,554 --> 00:47:23,554
Of course, this isn't gonna happen every time,

1358
00:47:23,554 --> 00:47:25,699
but he would fly up there because they

1359
00:47:25,699 --> 00:47:27,139
would be gone for three months. And he

1360
00:47:27,139 --> 00:47:28,980
he has a little pilot's license and he'd

1361
00:47:28,980 --> 00:47:31,400
fly up there to see him. That's devotion.

1362
00:47:31,460 --> 00:47:34,019
That's dedication. And that's also somebody who has

1363
00:47:34,019 --> 00:47:36,339
access to a plane. But in in most

1364
00:47:36,339 --> 00:47:38,579
cases, that doesn't happen. But, you know, when

1365
00:47:38,579 --> 00:47:39,619
you've got, you know,

1366
00:47:40,144 --> 00:47:41,585
and I use this example all the time,

1367
00:47:41,585 --> 00:47:43,505
let's say that somebody lives out on a

1368
00:47:43,505 --> 00:47:45,505
remote island in the Pacific and the,

1369
00:47:46,065 --> 00:47:47,505
you know, they're out in The Philippines and

1370
00:47:47,505 --> 00:47:49,505
and there's one member out on this island.

1371
00:47:49,505 --> 00:47:50,784
How do you get to him? How do

1372
00:47:50,784 --> 00:47:52,545
you minister to him? How do you let

1373
00:47:52,545 --> 00:47:54,599
him know he's cared for and he's part

1374
00:47:54,599 --> 00:47:57,239
of the ward? And that's when those examples

1375
00:47:57,239 --> 00:47:59,480
that Elder Holland's given us come into play,

1376
00:47:59,480 --> 00:48:01,719
where we have all the technology in the

1377
00:48:01,719 --> 00:48:04,219
world now to keep in contact with people

1378
00:48:04,440 --> 00:48:05,659
through text or

1379
00:48:06,119 --> 00:48:08,699
a phone call or video chats or whatever.

1380
00:48:08,945 --> 00:48:10,144
There's a lot of things that we can

1381
00:48:10,144 --> 00:48:12,385
do when we're miles and miles and miles

1382
00:48:12,385 --> 00:48:13,284
away from somebody.

1383
00:48:13,664 --> 00:48:15,125
But as often as possible,

1384
00:48:15,425 --> 00:48:17,425
we should make an effort to get together

1385
00:48:17,425 --> 00:48:19,505
with them and to, you know, as as

1386
00:48:19,505 --> 00:48:21,105
in sales, we say knees to knees and

1387
00:48:21,105 --> 00:48:23,025
nose to nose, you know, to get together

1388
00:48:23,025 --> 00:48:25,519
with them and and talk to them because

1389
00:48:25,980 --> 00:48:27,519
we can plow through a lot of barriers

1390
00:48:27,579 --> 00:48:29,340
when we're we're face to face talking to

1391
00:48:29,340 --> 00:48:31,500
somebody that we can't in a text or

1392
00:48:31,500 --> 00:48:33,180
a phone call or a video chat like

1393
00:48:33,180 --> 00:48:36,140
this. But those are difficult situations. And and

1394
00:48:36,140 --> 00:48:39,019
again, that's why we have changed the name

1395
00:48:39,019 --> 00:48:42,065
of this from home teaching because home isn't

1396
00:48:42,065 --> 00:48:43,605
the only place that it can happen.

1397
00:48:43,905 --> 00:48:46,464
And teaching isn't really the primary purpose of

1398
00:48:46,464 --> 00:48:47,204
it anymore.

1399
00:48:47,585 --> 00:48:50,065
But if we do our best, and that's

1400
00:48:50,065 --> 00:48:52,144
again another another thing that President Holland said

1401
00:48:52,144 --> 00:48:53,824
in his talk, just do your best. And

1402
00:48:53,824 --> 00:48:56,030
President Hinckley used to always say, no. Don't

1403
00:48:56,030 --> 00:48:57,650
do your best. Do your very best.

1404
00:48:57,949 --> 00:48:59,789
And, if we do our very best in

1405
00:48:59,789 --> 00:49:00,449
these situations,

1406
00:49:00,909 --> 00:49:02,829
people will know of our sincerity and and

1407
00:49:02,829 --> 00:49:05,070
that relationship will grow like it's supposed to,

1408
00:49:05,070 --> 00:49:06,829
whether you and I are talking face to

1409
00:49:06,829 --> 00:49:08,909
face or we're doing a video chat. The

1410
00:49:08,909 --> 00:49:10,929
more consistent that we can be,

1411
00:49:11,255 --> 00:49:12,695
and it's not just a once a month

1412
00:49:12,695 --> 00:49:13,594
type of contact,

1413
00:49:14,215 --> 00:49:14,715
then,

1414
00:49:15,015 --> 00:49:17,494
again, that relationship will grow and grow till

1415
00:49:17,494 --> 00:49:18,795
it is the relationship

1416
00:49:19,494 --> 00:49:22,295
that people go to to help with their

1417
00:49:22,295 --> 00:49:22,795
problems.

1418
00:49:23,255 --> 00:49:25,434
Now one thing I I wanna say,

1419
00:49:25,769 --> 00:49:28,170
don't forget to make contact with your your

1420
00:49:28,170 --> 00:49:29,230
families at church.

1421
00:49:29,610 --> 00:49:32,010
Somebody in one of your chats on your

1422
00:49:32,010 --> 00:49:32,510
ZionsLab

1423
00:49:33,849 --> 00:49:34,349
said

1424
00:49:34,730 --> 00:49:37,050
that he feels lonely. And this is a

1425
00:49:37,050 --> 00:49:38,269
guy in church leadership

1426
00:49:38,664 --> 00:49:40,824
that says that nobody sits by him and

1427
00:49:40,824 --> 00:49:41,484
his family

1428
00:49:42,105 --> 00:49:43,164
when they go

1429
00:49:43,625 --> 00:49:46,025
to parties at the ward. Nobody sits with

1430
00:49:46,025 --> 00:49:47,944
him at church leadership meetings. Yeah. He's in

1431
00:49:47,944 --> 00:49:49,545
church leadership, and nobody sits with him at

1432
00:49:49,545 --> 00:49:52,280
church leadership meetings. And he's lonely and he

1433
00:49:52,280 --> 00:49:54,360
doesn't make friends easily. And he said, this

1434
00:49:54,360 --> 00:49:56,059
is a challenge for me. And,

1435
00:49:56,519 --> 00:49:58,940
Curt, nobody should feel lonely

1436
00:49:59,400 --> 00:50:01,239
in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter

1437
00:50:01,239 --> 00:50:01,900
day Saints.

1438
00:50:02,199 --> 00:50:05,275
The Lord, his heart is breaking for anybody

1439
00:50:05,335 --> 00:50:07,494
that says I don't have any friends at

1440
00:50:07,494 --> 00:50:07,994
church.

1441
00:50:08,454 --> 00:50:09,275
And so

1442
00:50:09,574 --> 00:50:12,855
we, as their ministering brothers, ministering sisters, if

1443
00:50:12,855 --> 00:50:14,855
nobody else goes up and says hi to

1444
00:50:14,855 --> 00:50:16,889
them, we should be going up and putting

1445
00:50:16,889 --> 00:50:18,650
our arms around them, shaking their hand, or

1446
00:50:18,650 --> 00:50:21,230
letting them know we see them at church.

1447
00:50:21,530 --> 00:50:23,530
And this may be the only especially in

1448
00:50:23,530 --> 00:50:25,530
these remote areas, we may be the only

1449
00:50:25,530 --> 00:50:28,409
church contact that they have because they aren't

1450
00:50:28,409 --> 00:50:31,484
surrounded by neighbors and friends or even family

1451
00:50:31,484 --> 00:50:33,484
who are members of the church. They may

1452
00:50:33,484 --> 00:50:35,324
be the only member of their family that's

1453
00:50:35,324 --> 00:50:36,304
a member of the church.

1454
00:50:36,605 --> 00:50:38,445
We have to let people know that we

1455
00:50:38,445 --> 00:50:40,445
love them and we see them. I know

1456
00:50:40,445 --> 00:50:41,964
there's a brother at my ward that sits

1457
00:50:41,964 --> 00:50:44,309
by himself all the time. Nobody goes up

1458
00:50:44,309 --> 00:50:46,309
and says hi. I do everything I can

1459
00:50:46,309 --> 00:50:48,250
every time to go up and say hi.

1460
00:50:48,470 --> 00:50:50,710
And that's because I don't know who's ministering

1461
00:50:50,710 --> 00:50:53,130
brother or ministry, sisters, but I know he's

1462
00:50:53,430 --> 00:50:55,930
lonely, and we need to make that contact.

1463
00:50:56,324 --> 00:50:58,164
But I just think it's such a tragedy

1464
00:50:58,164 --> 00:51:01,125
that somebody in our church feels like nobody

1465
00:51:01,125 --> 00:51:03,445
sees him, and nobody knows him, and nobody

1466
00:51:03,445 --> 00:51:04,184
loves him.

1467
00:51:04,565 --> 00:51:07,445
So that's something that we've gotta do in

1468
00:51:07,445 --> 00:51:07,945
Utah.

1469
00:51:08,360 --> 00:51:10,619
That's something we need to do in Nebraska.

1470
00:51:10,840 --> 00:51:12,360
That's something we need to do in the

1471
00:51:12,360 --> 00:51:14,119
far off corners of the world. We need

1472
00:51:14,119 --> 00:51:16,199
to let people know that they're loved and

1473
00:51:16,199 --> 00:51:17,739
that they're seen. Yeah.

1474
00:51:18,039 --> 00:51:20,280
You know, thinking back to your emphasis on,

1475
00:51:20,599 --> 00:51:22,440
home teaching interviews back in the day and

1476
00:51:22,440 --> 00:51:24,505
now, you know, ministering interviews.

1477
00:51:24,805 --> 00:51:26,744
Any, tips or tricks or tactics

1478
00:51:27,045 --> 00:51:29,045
come to mind? Because sometimes those could be

1479
00:51:29,045 --> 00:51:30,664
awkward or it's like,

1480
00:51:30,965 --> 00:51:32,724
you know, am I just here to to

1481
00:51:32,724 --> 00:51:34,885
report that I'm a good person and I

1482
00:51:34,885 --> 00:51:36,485
care for my people? Or is there more

1483
00:51:36,485 --> 00:51:37,469
to it? What tips or tricks do you

1484
00:51:37,469 --> 00:51:39,809
have for just with the interview ministering interviews?

1485
00:51:40,110 --> 00:51:41,969
There's a lot more to it. And actually,

1486
00:51:42,269 --> 00:51:44,349
it is the opportunity for the elders quorum

1487
00:51:44,349 --> 00:51:45,809
president, the Relief Society presidency,

1488
00:51:46,190 --> 00:51:48,190
to do some ministry of their own and

1489
00:51:48,190 --> 00:51:51,010
really to ascertain how each family is doing.

1490
00:51:51,284 --> 00:51:53,284
You'll get to know the person that you're

1491
00:51:53,284 --> 00:51:56,164
interviewing, but you'll also hopefully inquire about the

1492
00:51:56,164 --> 00:51:58,565
families that they minister to and be able

1493
00:51:58,565 --> 00:52:00,264
to to pass that on to the bishop.

1494
00:52:00,484 --> 00:52:02,264
This is a church of assignments,

1495
00:52:02,724 --> 00:52:04,724
and this is a church of returning and

1496
00:52:04,724 --> 00:52:07,320
reporting. And in fact, you know, there's great

1497
00:52:07,320 --> 00:52:08,460
examples in the temple

1498
00:52:08,840 --> 00:52:10,140
of returning and reporting

1499
00:52:10,519 --> 00:52:11,019
stewardship.

1500
00:52:11,559 --> 00:52:13,260
And that is an eternal principle,

1501
00:52:13,640 --> 00:52:16,619
and the savior himself was not exempt from

1502
00:52:17,079 --> 00:52:19,239
returning and reporting, and we need to do

1503
00:52:19,239 --> 00:52:20,140
the same thing.

1504
00:52:20,614 --> 00:52:21,114
So,

1505
00:52:21,655 --> 00:52:23,514
again, this has to be something

1506
00:52:23,815 --> 00:52:26,554
that we're persistent with as a presidency,

1507
00:52:27,094 --> 00:52:29,014
but it's also something that has to come

1508
00:52:29,014 --> 00:52:31,275
from within as a member of the ward

1509
00:52:31,655 --> 00:52:33,914
to show up and return a report.

1510
00:52:34,430 --> 00:52:36,769
And we need to teach that as leadership,

1511
00:52:36,989 --> 00:52:38,849
that this is a principle that we're

1512
00:52:39,150 --> 00:52:41,550
required to do as part of magnifying our

1513
00:52:41,550 --> 00:52:43,730
calling. I know people don't like requirements,

1514
00:52:44,349 --> 00:52:46,989
and I know that's taboo sometimes to say,

1515
00:52:46,989 --> 00:52:48,735
well, this is How we grew up. Right?

1516
00:52:48,974 --> 00:52:51,695
Well, some people don't like the guardrails. Some

1517
00:52:51,695 --> 00:52:53,075
people don't like the,

1518
00:52:53,855 --> 00:52:55,454
you must do this or you must do

1519
00:52:55,454 --> 00:52:57,375
that. The people don't like to be commanded

1520
00:52:57,375 --> 00:52:58,275
in all things.

1521
00:52:58,735 --> 00:53:01,295
So but this is an eternal principle to

1522
00:53:01,295 --> 00:53:03,110
return a report, and we need to teach

1523
00:53:03,110 --> 00:53:04,950
that. As an elders quorum presidency, we need

1524
00:53:04,950 --> 00:53:06,090
to teach that in quorum.

1525
00:53:06,390 --> 00:53:07,910
As a bishopric, we need to teach that

1526
00:53:07,910 --> 00:53:10,390
from the pulpit, that returning and reporting is

1527
00:53:10,390 --> 00:53:11,050
a requirement

1528
00:53:11,590 --> 00:53:14,010
in these types of assignments. And

1529
00:53:14,630 --> 00:53:16,489
when we're doing those interviews,

1530
00:53:17,034 --> 00:53:19,914
we should be, asking how they're doing. We

1531
00:53:19,914 --> 00:53:21,675
should be asking what we could be praying

1532
00:53:21,675 --> 00:53:24,574
for for them. Kind of set an example

1533
00:53:24,954 --> 00:53:27,215
through the interview as to what a

1534
00:53:27,594 --> 00:53:28,094
ministering

1535
00:53:28,715 --> 00:53:31,099
visit could look like. And then

1536
00:53:31,640 --> 00:53:32,140
don't

1537
00:53:32,680 --> 00:53:34,840
take those things lightly that they say that

1538
00:53:34,840 --> 00:53:36,440
they're praying for. Write them down. And then

1539
00:53:36,440 --> 00:53:38,619
at the end of the visit, make sure

1540
00:53:38,920 --> 00:53:41,079
when you're praying for those people that you

1541
00:53:41,079 --> 00:53:43,500
remember those things that they said specifically

1542
00:53:44,204 --> 00:53:46,765
that they're they need prayers for, and the

1543
00:53:46,765 --> 00:53:48,525
people that they visit, the things that they

1544
00:53:48,525 --> 00:53:51,244
need prayers for. And then don't forget to

1545
00:53:51,244 --> 00:53:52,704
pass it on to the bishop.

1546
00:53:53,005 --> 00:53:54,925
Now if they come in with a problem

1547
00:53:54,925 --> 00:53:55,425
that's

1548
00:53:55,805 --> 00:53:57,644
big that they're dealing with with one of

1549
00:53:57,644 --> 00:53:58,305
the families,

1550
00:53:58,690 --> 00:54:01,090
that's where we offer assistance as a quorum

1551
00:54:01,090 --> 00:54:01,590
presidency

1552
00:54:01,969 --> 00:54:03,909
because we have all the

1553
00:54:04,369 --> 00:54:06,610
labor that we need. We have all the

1554
00:54:06,610 --> 00:54:09,010
troops that we need within our ward or

1555
00:54:09,010 --> 00:54:11,170
our stake if the problem is a big

1556
00:54:11,170 --> 00:54:11,670
problem.

1557
00:54:12,135 --> 00:54:14,135
But this is where the the ward and

1558
00:54:14,135 --> 00:54:16,534
the stake rally around even a person, an

1559
00:54:16,534 --> 00:54:17,034
individual,

1560
00:54:17,414 --> 00:54:19,594
if their needs are more than the

1561
00:54:20,054 --> 00:54:22,394
companionship can handle on their own.

1562
00:54:22,695 --> 00:54:25,094
Because some problems are big. Some problems are

1563
00:54:25,094 --> 00:54:27,630
really big that these poor companionships are dealing

1564
00:54:27,630 --> 00:54:29,630
with, and they they need to know that

1565
00:54:29,630 --> 00:54:31,329
they can call on the troops for assistance.

1566
00:54:31,710 --> 00:54:34,130
Yeah. Powerful. Really good stuff. Well,

1567
00:54:34,510 --> 00:54:36,750
any other point, principle, concept, story that you

1568
00:54:36,750 --> 00:54:38,429
wanna make sure we squeeze in here before

1569
00:54:38,429 --> 00:54:39,710
we wrap up? Or what do you think?

1570
00:54:39,789 --> 00:54:41,755
For hours and hours and hours. This is

1571
00:54:41,755 --> 00:54:44,014
such an important thing that we learn about

1572
00:54:44,155 --> 00:54:45,775
and understand our responsibilities.

1573
00:54:46,315 --> 00:54:48,234
In doctrine and covenants one zero seven ninety

1574
00:54:48,234 --> 00:54:50,074
nine, it says let everybody learn their own

1575
00:54:50,074 --> 00:54:52,414
duty. Nobody ever reads 100

1576
00:54:52,554 --> 00:54:54,875
where there's consequences for not learning our duty,

1577
00:54:54,875 --> 00:54:56,769
but we need to learn our duties. We

1578
00:54:56,769 --> 00:54:58,789
need to know what we're supposed to do

1579
00:54:59,010 --> 00:55:01,010
as an elders' comp president or as a

1580
00:55:01,010 --> 00:55:02,929
relief study president or is it a ministering

1581
00:55:02,929 --> 00:55:05,170
brother, ministering sister. And there's lots of great

1582
00:55:05,170 --> 00:55:07,010
information in out there, but I think the

1583
00:55:07,010 --> 00:55:07,989
takeaway here

1584
00:55:08,344 --> 00:55:10,764
is if you and I'll say it again.

1585
00:55:10,904 --> 00:55:13,144
If you serve like Jesus, you'll start to

1586
00:55:13,144 --> 00:55:15,065
love like Jesus. You love like Jesus, you'll

1587
00:55:15,065 --> 00:55:16,284
start to become like Jesus.

1588
00:55:17,304 --> 00:55:18,525
And that is a principle

1589
00:55:19,065 --> 00:55:21,464
that's so easy to follow, but it's so

1590
00:55:21,464 --> 00:55:22,284
simple people

1591
00:55:22,690 --> 00:55:24,610
kind of forget that, hey. All I'm here

1592
00:55:24,610 --> 00:55:27,010
to do is become like Jesus. That's my

1593
00:55:27,010 --> 00:55:29,510
goal in this life. Heavenly father wants

1594
00:55:29,890 --> 00:55:32,210
his goal, his work, and his glory is

1595
00:55:32,210 --> 00:55:34,210
to bring us home, but we've gotta help

1596
00:55:34,210 --> 00:55:36,514
him out. We've gotta we've gotta do our

1597
00:55:36,514 --> 00:55:38,674
part so that he can bring us home.

1598
00:55:38,674 --> 00:55:40,674
And instead of being one of the five

1599
00:55:40,674 --> 00:55:42,594
foolish virgins, we need to be one of

1600
00:55:42,594 --> 00:55:45,315
the five prepared ones and do what needs

1601
00:55:45,315 --> 00:55:46,755
to be done so that door opens and

1602
00:55:46,755 --> 00:55:47,969
we get to join the party.

1603
00:55:48,369 --> 00:55:50,789
And we just need to be really, really

1604
00:55:50,929 --> 00:55:51,429
diligent

1605
00:55:51,730 --> 00:55:54,449
and not slothful servants. I think there's if

1606
00:55:54,449 --> 00:55:57,109
everybody goes back and reads Matthew 25,

1607
00:55:57,250 --> 00:55:58,630
that's a great chapter

1608
00:55:59,010 --> 00:56:01,114
that talks about how we can be like

1609
00:56:01,114 --> 00:56:02,635
him and how we can become like him

1610
00:56:02,635 --> 00:56:05,514
and be with him. Awesome. Well, and I'll

1611
00:56:05,514 --> 00:56:08,554
point people to, on Amazon, you can, find

1612
00:56:08,554 --> 00:56:11,195
the book there in Kindle or paperback. It's

1613
00:56:11,195 --> 00:56:13,214
the new book is called Home Ministering,

1614
00:56:14,030 --> 00:56:16,429
the Process of Perfecting Saints. I had to

1615
00:56:16,429 --> 00:56:17,889
change the language because

1616
00:56:18,190 --> 00:56:20,589
once Deseret Book decided that they did wanna

1617
00:56:20,589 --> 00:56:22,109
carry the book, they wanted me to change

1618
00:56:22,109 --> 00:56:24,210
the language to the new language of ministry.

1619
00:56:24,429 --> 00:56:26,349
So it turns out that ministering does sell.

1620
00:56:26,349 --> 00:56:28,339
Alright. It does sell. Yes. It's helpful. It's

1621
00:56:28,339 --> 00:56:28,989
a practical

1622
00:56:29,585 --> 00:56:31,424
They realized that there was a need. And

1623
00:56:31,424 --> 00:56:33,744
so anyways. But I also have a a

1624
00:56:33,744 --> 00:56:35,505
website that can give them a lot of

1625
00:56:35,505 --> 00:56:38,464
information, just just practical help, and it says

1626
00:56:38,464 --> 00:56:39,904
homeministry.com.

1627
00:56:39,904 --> 00:56:41,105
Yeah. And we'll link to all that in

1628
00:56:41,105 --> 00:56:42,909
the show notes to be honest. Super. Super.

1629
00:56:42,989 --> 00:56:45,150
Last question I have for you, Steve, is

1630
00:56:45,150 --> 00:56:46,670
as you reflect on your time as a

1631
00:56:46,670 --> 00:56:48,670
leader, how has being a leader helped you

1632
00:56:48,670 --> 00:56:50,929
become a better follower of Jesus Christ?

1633
00:56:51,469 --> 00:56:53,630
Wow. You should have given me that question

1634
00:56:53,630 --> 00:56:55,070
up front. Let me think about it for

1635
00:56:55,070 --> 00:56:56,684
a while. That's a great question. Hour if

1636
00:56:56,684 --> 00:56:57,345
you want.

1637
00:56:59,085 --> 00:57:00,465
Sorry. I'm I'm a rambler.

1638
00:57:00,765 --> 00:57:02,765
You're good. That's a great question. How is

1639
00:57:02,765 --> 00:57:05,164
a leader? I I think that it's taught

1640
00:57:05,164 --> 00:57:05,664
me

1641
00:57:05,965 --> 00:57:08,219
a lot more patience for leadership. Being in

1642
00:57:08,219 --> 00:57:08,719
leadership,

1643
00:57:09,019 --> 00:57:10,699
has taught me a lot more patience for

1644
00:57:10,699 --> 00:57:13,340
leadership because I know the time and effort

1645
00:57:13,340 --> 00:57:15,739
that's put into serving as a quorum president

1646
00:57:15,739 --> 00:57:17,199
or a bishop or a counselor.

1647
00:57:17,739 --> 00:57:19,760
I just I know that the sacrifices

1648
00:57:20,059 --> 00:57:20,880
that are made

1649
00:57:21,344 --> 00:57:22,565
And so as

1650
00:57:22,945 --> 00:57:23,605
a follower,

1651
00:57:24,144 --> 00:57:26,465
I'm a lot more patient with them. I'm

1652
00:57:26,465 --> 00:57:29,284
a lot more understanding of them, and I

1653
00:57:29,505 --> 00:57:30,885
am a lot more prayerful

1654
00:57:31,344 --> 00:57:33,284
for them in their responsibilities

1655
00:57:33,984 --> 00:57:34,885
as a follower.

1656
00:57:35,400 --> 00:57:36,380
I know that

1657
00:57:36,839 --> 00:57:39,400
we should be praying for our prophet and

1658
00:57:39,400 --> 00:57:40,920
those that serve with him. We should be

1659
00:57:40,920 --> 00:57:42,760
praying every day for our bishop and those

1660
00:57:42,760 --> 00:57:43,639
that serve with,

1661
00:57:43,960 --> 00:57:44,460
him

1662
00:57:44,760 --> 00:57:46,839
and the ward leadership because they need those

1663
00:57:46,839 --> 00:57:49,019
prayers. When I got released as a bishop,

1664
00:57:49,204 --> 00:57:51,784
I always say that the mantle is half

1665
00:57:52,244 --> 00:57:55,125
rights, privileges, authority, keys, all of that, and

1666
00:57:55,125 --> 00:57:55,625
half

1667
00:57:55,925 --> 00:57:58,085
love for the people that you're serving. It's

1668
00:57:58,085 --> 00:58:00,585
a combination of love and authority.

1669
00:58:01,045 --> 00:58:02,585
And when that's taken away,

1670
00:58:02,960 --> 00:58:04,960
that love doesn't go away. But there's a

1671
00:58:04,960 --> 00:58:07,199
big hole in your heart because I guarantee

1672
00:58:07,199 --> 00:58:09,039
you, you can feel people say that they

1673
00:58:09,039 --> 00:58:11,119
felt the man to leave. I'm telling you,

1674
00:58:11,119 --> 00:58:12,960
they feel the man to leave because those

1675
00:58:12,960 --> 00:58:14,259
prayers stop

1676
00:58:14,559 --> 00:58:16,894
and they go towards the the new bishop

1677
00:58:16,894 --> 00:58:19,295
or the new elders' quorum president. And you

1678
00:58:19,295 --> 00:58:20,034
just feel

1679
00:58:20,414 --> 00:58:23,295
this emptiness when you get released because you've

1680
00:58:23,295 --> 00:58:25,295
put so much of yourself into these callings

1681
00:58:25,295 --> 00:58:26,815
that, you know, what what do I do

1682
00:58:26,815 --> 00:58:29,234
now? And so as a follower,

1683
00:58:29,699 --> 00:58:31,780
I would say our our duty is to

1684
00:58:31,780 --> 00:58:34,519
support, sustain, and pray for our leadership.

1685
00:58:39,619 --> 00:58:41,219
Now that we've reached the end of the

1686
00:58:41,219 --> 00:58:43,940
episode, I quickly wanna thank you for supporting

1687
00:58:43,940 --> 00:58:45,400
the Leading Saints podcast.

1688
00:58:45,724 --> 00:58:47,804
There's so much content out there to consider

1689
00:58:47,804 --> 00:58:50,284
and you picked this one. If Leading Saints

1690
00:58:50,284 --> 00:58:52,284
has made an impact in your life, we

1691
00:58:52,284 --> 00:58:54,364
would sure like to hear about it at

1692
00:58:54,364 --> 00:58:56,304
leadingsaints.org/contact.

1693
00:58:56,684 --> 00:58:58,925
And if you could quickly text or email

1694
00:58:58,925 --> 00:59:01,400
this episode to a leader, you know, I

1695
00:59:01,400 --> 00:59:03,079
bet it will bless their life. You can

1696
00:59:03,079 --> 00:59:05,079
mark off your good term daily, and let's

1697
00:59:05,079 --> 00:59:07,559
even call it ministering. Okay. Maybe not that

1698
00:59:07,559 --> 00:59:09,880
far. But seriously, thank you, and help us

1699
00:59:09,880 --> 00:59:10,860
share this content.

1700
00:59:20,644 --> 00:59:23,065
It came as a result of the position

1701
00:59:23,125 --> 00:59:26,184
of leadership which was imposed upon us

1702
00:59:26,565 --> 00:59:29,449
by the God of heaven who brought forth

1703
00:59:29,670 --> 00:59:32,889
a restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

1704
00:59:33,510 --> 00:59:34,650
And when the declaration

1705
00:59:34,949 --> 00:59:38,230
was made concerning the only and only true

1706
00:59:38,230 --> 00:59:40,630
and living Church upon the face of the

1707
00:59:40,630 --> 00:59:41,054
earth,

1708
00:59:41,614 --> 00:59:44,275
we were immediately put in a position of

1709
00:59:44,414 --> 00:59:44,914
loneliness,

1710
00:59:45,295 --> 00:59:46,835
the loneliness of leadership

1711
00:59:47,534 --> 00:59:50,514
from which we cannot shrink nor run away,

1712
00:59:51,295 --> 00:59:53,694
and to which we must face up with

1713
00:59:53,694 --> 00:59:55,234
boldness and courage

1714
00:59:55,775 --> 00:59:56,594
and ability.