One of the things I appreciate about being a part of this effort is to read the words of my fellow brothers and sisters. Their perspectives and experience enrich my experience engaging the words of the prophets. Of course, we don’t want our posts to replace the words of the prophets, but we hope perhaps this project will inspire you in some way, as it has us.   

The other posts from this week’s reading, which focused on the Friday Afternoon Session of the April 1971 General Conference, are at the bottom of the post. 

It’s so interesting to see how the “What should I write about?” process works each week with the General Conference Odyssey. This week, rather than feeling drawn to the patterns in the talks, (which were definitely present — commandments was a key theme), I was drawn to the one talk that was completely different in focus and voice, which ended up opening up a pattern I observed in my personal sphere.

S. Dilworth Young began his talk thusly:

It is my desire to be led by the Spirit of the Lord in what I say. The wards and branches of the Church have been organized to give activity to a large number of the members, the great majority actually. Yet there are many with no official position or no specific responsibility that calls them to do formal acts for the organization. They belong to the Church; they belong to the stake; they belong to the ward. They are invited to attend various classes and meetings designed for their instruction, but at the conclusion of a meeting they go home, having no particular appointment to arouse them to organizational activity. Many of them feel that they are being left out, that their talents are not wanted. Others do not want to accept any responsible calling.

I have struggled with health issues for 13 years and for several years, my health has affected my ability to hold Sunday callings. I have been active; I attend Sunday meetings every week. My issues relate to sleep and fatigue and migraines; mornings are a challenge. But I didn’t want to miss church, so I have attended other wards. (I have such a testimony about how much God cares about me getting the sacrament; I can’t tell you how many times He woke me up just in time to get the sacrament. Amazing.)

My calling for I-don’t-know-how-many-years has been ward tech specialist. As passionate as I am about the benefits of technology, the work I can do in this calling is fairly limited. And sometimes, as Elder Young describes, I have felt detached and sometimes discouraged when I’ve heard repeated talks about the importance of filling a calling. I also felt self-doubt about the things I have been able to do in spite of health issues — like running this website and doing other online volunteer work.

Without a formal calling, though, there have been times I have wondered if my offerings were acceptable to the Lord because my work wasn’t necessarily part of a calling for which I was set apart.

(I also read Elder Young’s words and think of women who may equate a differential in leadership callings between men and women as a sign that we are less needed, so I hope some of what I share here will be helpful.)

I love what Elder Young had to say — something that I’ve felt the Spirit tell me, and yet, it was still refreshing to hear it so clearly articulated “over the pulpit.”

Each of us has the same general calling. Each of us has the same responsibility as a result of entering into the waters of baptism and making the covenant. The Lord will not hold us blameless if we allow organizational responsibility, or the lack of it, to interfere with this special calling….

He then quotes numerous scriptures — too numerous to list here — that underscore the calling we all have to help the children of God who are in need. It seems obvious, but again, who doesn’t need to hear that our personal service to the one really does matter. In a world where accolades and position and resumes often measure the worth of work, it’s refreshing to be reminded that the Lord doesn’t work that way.

All about us are those in need of encouragement, assistance, and help—help of a kind we can all give, not money, but time and attention and personal encouragement, especially to those who must bear great responsibility for loved ones and who cannot pass it to others for the simple reason there are no others to whom to pass it.

I think of the women from years ago who I called my “stay-at-home sisters.” They were women who had older children but still chose to stay home. That was where they felt they should be. They filled their time serving others. These women helped me at a time when my health issues first started and I had three very young children. Some of my dearest friendships came out of that period in my life when I was in such want and women stepped into that role to help me over and over again.

I think of my friend who came over and read to my children when they had a two-week stomach bug and my husband was out of town. I think of friends who have spent hours with me walking and talking, helping me face the inevitable cycle of discouragement that swings around with chronic pain.

These are the kinds of examples of “helping the poor and needy” that Elder Young invites us to embrace as our covenant responsibility and opportunity. When we don’t have a formal [or “big”] calling, it’s all the more a chance to reach people who can’t be reached otherwise.

I know that home teachers are responsible for these needs, but often those at home conceal the needs from them. I know there are visiting teachers, but still there are many who hide their needs from them. I know the priesthood is expected to be alert, but this responsibility goes beyond the organized priesthood. This is a personal obligation that no living soul who loves the Lord can dismiss. It is one to which we must ever be alert.

Those with no [or “smaller’] ward assignments have more time to pursue this great work of the salvation of souls. Let us not sit back jealous of those giving attention to the stake, the ward, the auxiliaries [or sit back and wonder if our informal service matters to God], but seek our salvation where the Lord appointed us, among those who, weak in spirit, weak in body, or weak in desire, need to be encouraged, need to be raised up in the kingdom of God on this earth….

This echoes what James said: “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” (James 1:27.)

One last word from the Lord to us in this day: “And remember in all things the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted, for he that doeth not these things, the same is not my disciple.” (D&C 52:40.)

I think of the conversation I just had on Sunday with the wife of a bishop of a young adult ward. Oh, how I wish every Mormon woman could have heard her and her husband talk about how they work together! She has not been set apart in her role as “just the bishop’s wife.” But there is no “just” in her service, and because she doesn’t limit her view by her lack of formal calling, she is channeling heavenly power in the lives of these young adults. That power was palpable.

Another conversation with a friend allowed me to bring up this talk by Elder Young, and reminded me also of President Russell M. Nelson’s recent Plea to [the] Sisters. How much the Lord needs us as women to understand how power through covenant living can and must be unleashed in these latter days as we prepare for the Savior’s Second Coming!

If ye have desires to serve God, ye are called to the work. – Doctrine and Covenants 4:5-6

It is easy to think that being called means being formally called. I am grateful for this talk by Elder Young and all that happened in my world this week to remind me that God’s work is everywhere and the needs of His children are all around us. Our calling to serve is never-ending, not bound by formal callings alone. I desire to serve. I pray to be open to where He calls me to help, every day.

– – –

Other posts from this week’s General Conference Odyssey can be found below:

The post Permacallings (#ldsconf Odyssey) appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

“Man’s greatest happiness comes from losing himself for the good of others.” (David O. McKay, from this talk)

Service is an answer for unhappiness. (Please understand that I am not saying that service is the answer for clinical depression or other mental illnesses, that is a hugely different issue.)

Many years ago I became acquainted with a wealthy woman (wealthy by my standards). One day we got onto the topic of paying tithing. She said, “Getting paid more doesn’t mean that paying tithing is any easier. It gets harder because that check is so large. You look at it and think, ‘Wow, that could almost buy a car!'” I realized that she was right, it hadn’t occurred to me before. Her statement stuck with me and recently I realized that I had that attitude, but in relation to service.

Recently I’ve been frustrated by the responsibilities my husband and I have at church. It seemed overwhelming that so much is asked of both of us. How could we take care of everything in our lives and perform the duties necessary at church? When I asked it of myself, of my husband, and of God, I thought it was a rhetorical question. Turns out God gave me an answer. The answer is that I have too many useless cares. I have too much good and better but not enough best.

This morning the lines to the hymn ‘Come Come Ye Saints’ [“saints” in our church simply means “members”] came into my mind:

“Come, come, ye Saints, no toil nor labor fear;
But with joy wend your way.
Though hard to you this journey may appear,
Grace shall be as your day.
’Tis better far for us to strive
Our useless cares from us to drive;
Do this, and joy your hearts will swell—
All is well! All is well!”
– William Clayton (LDS Hymns #30)

Specifically I thought of the line, “our useless cares from us to drive….” The service I perform is important, to some in desperate need it could even be called essential. My children and husband would say that my service in our home is essential. That is something worth caring about. What isn’t so obvious is what isn’t worth caring about, the useless cares. It is a waste of my precious energies to worry and care for useless things. Useless cares may be different for each individual; right now TV is on my list of useless cares, but it might not be one of yours.

A care that I thought was less important, but not exactly useless, was housework and maintaining a reasonably nice home. I am realizing that this is important and effects my family. After I cleaned the kitchen and cleared everything off the kitchen table, my son said, “Mom I like what you did with the table.” It was a little clue to me that I hadn’t been creating the right environment in my home. At the end of each day that I make an effort towards keeping a nice home I feel good. I’m not saying that this is something you need to care about (just like you’re not going to tell me to care about TV), but for me, and where I’m at in my progression, it is something that God wants me to care about.

I have to trust God enough to let Him lead me in a direction that roots out the useless cares of my life, choosing the path of selfless service. To me that is what the hymn means when it says, “No toil nor labor fear.” Choosing service usually involves a period of stress where I renegotiate my own priorities and find useless cares to eliminate. Through this process I find greater happiness, please God, and have the great benefit of aiding those in need.

___

For more We Believe posts, click here.

The post We Believe: Happiness in Service, Purpose in Life appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

Something unique about the Mormon faith that has greatly enriched my life is the multitude of opportunities for service. Many churches do massive amounts of service, but in the LDS church we also serve each other in set responsibilities referred to as “callings.” This results in blessings all around.

In the LDS church there is no paid clergy. Each local congregation has a pastor, what we call a bishop or branch president, who volunteers his time and abilities. Actually, the entire congregation is asked to serve in varied positions of responsibility. We call these jobs or positions “callings.” We believe that these calls to serve are made with inspiration from God, for the benefit of the congregation, community, and the person performing the service. The time a person serves in a specific calling is varied. Members serve until they are formally relieved of duty – what we call “being released.”

The attitude we are encouraged to take in performing our duties is one shown in Mosiah 2:17: “And behold, I tell you these thing that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” (See also Matt 25:40.)

You might wonder how each person in a church congregation could hold a calling, as local congregations can range in size from 15 to 500. Teachers are the most common, and important, calling in the church. We need worthy, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic members to teach the gospel to our children, youth, new members, and adults. With three hours of meetings every Sunday and small class sizes for the children; it takes many hands to coordinate, supervise, and perform the teaching that takes place.

In addition to this each member that is willing and able is given the opportunity to be a visiting or home teacher. Women are visiting teachers who minister to the needs of individual women, while men are home teachers who minister to the needs of families. With people in the church receiving a monthly visit  from their home and visiting teachers, and additional help if needed, there is no shortage of work to be done. There are various other callings in the church, such as financial clerk (keeps an accounting of monies donated and spent), secretaries (assist those in leadership positions to keep attendance records, take minutes of meetings and etc.), and mission leader (coordinating missionary efforts in the area) to name just a few. In a macro sense, this system of responsibility is orderly and efficient. In a micro sense it blesses individual lives, both those serving and those being served.

I believe God has confirmed each calling I have received in the church. When there is a need for someone to fill a position those in leadership take an accounting of who is worthy and able to serve, and then they council together and pray for the guidance of God. If a spiritual confirmation of the calling is given then the person is asked to serve (see Acts 1:22-26).  It takes faith to accept a calling, to say, “Yes, I will take on that responsibility.” Once you take on that responsibility people depend on you to do it.

Every job I have performed in the church has been different. If I am asked to teach, there are variables that make each teaching positions unique. If I am teaching 2-year-olds it is much different than teaching a Sunday School class for adults. Because of this variety there is always something new to learn, new experiences to understand, and new friends to embrace. I’ve learned leadership skills from successful entrepreneurs and housewives. I’ve been taught gospel principles from a high school graduate with a stutter and a theological professor. I’ve been shown homemaking skills by a mother-of-the-year and a humble newlywed. This layman’s work shows me that God trusts us with the care of each other. He believes in our abilities, he knows we will rise to the opportunities that are given if we depend on him. And being dependent on God is an integral part of performing a calling well.

There are two things I find difficult about callings. It can be hard to get along with everyone. Trying to do what is required while working with people who have different ideas and personalities takes Christ-like attributes. Being put in these somewhat uncomfortable situations pushes me to be a better person. I learn more about Christ by realizing what it takes to serve in the manner that he would.

The other difficult thing about callings is that they don’t last forever. A calling can change at any time, although usually for continuity and ease, members are left in a calling for at least a year. There is a joke in the church that as soon as you master a calling it’s bound to change. We know one of the purposes of service is to learn, so if you’re doing well, it must be time to move on and learn something else. The hard thing is that often changing callings means changed relationships and a changed life.

When I work with someone I become attached to them, it can be a sibling-like relationship. I gain a love for those I serve. It feels like Christ is sharing his love of individuals with me. It is an amazing experience when you are sufficiently humble. But when the time comes to change callings it is hard to let go of those relationships that are built through service. It never really goes away because you still attend the same congregation, but you have less contact than when you were serving together. It is a life change as well, because your meeting schedule varies. The nights you might have previously been at home are now spent in service. This makes changes for your family as well as they adjust to your new schedule. These type of changes force me to be flexible and keep my priorities in line.

I often feel a confusing mix of emotions when my calling is changed. Those feelings can range from relief, shock, excitement, even dejection. Just as I must do in the calling, I must do when the calling changes. I have to rely on God, that he will help me through the changes. He will help the person who now has that stewardship to take care of those I have come to love through serving them. These frequent changes in callings keep me humble, which isn’t necessarily a comfortable thing.

As the congregation serves in these callings it develops unity, a loving reliance on each other. While I teach the younger children in Primary, someone else is teaching my teenage daughter, while my husband teaches the teenage boys. It creates a web of interconnectedness that brings everyone together.

I am a better person because I have been called of God to serve his children. It is an opportunity he wants everyone to have. The more I put my soul into the work, the better it is for me, and those I serve. I am grateful to the many people who have allowed me to serve them and to the people that have patiently taught me how to serve. These experiences are another witness to me that this is God’s church and that he has a wonderful plan to help us grow and progress.

The post We Believe: Called appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

My name is Richa, and I was born in Calcutta, India.

When I was 9 months old, I was adopted and moved to the United States. The rest of my siblings were all adopted, too [two are from Korea, two from the Phillipines, and two from Pennsylvania (USA)]. I think that it is the coolest thing!

I have been a member of the Mormon Church my entire life. Currently, I am in school majoring in Elementary Education and Music. My goal is to become a teacher and be an influence to children. At church, I have two callings right now: the Young Single Adult Representative [helping with spiritual and social gatherings for young single adults ages 18-20] and a Relief Society Enrichment board member.

I love to read and watch movies; if I am not doing one, I am doing the other. My talents include violin, piano, writing, and cooking.

I love being a Mormon Woman because even though the world can be a bad place sometimes and bad things happen, I am comforted by the thought that God is up there watching over me and that He is on my side.

For example, there was a time, about two-and-a-half years ago, when a special someone in my life decided to call it quits with our relationship. I was devastated, but with the support of my family and the love of God, I realized that just because bad things happen –even though I may be doing everything in my life right– it doesn’t mean that God hates me. He loves me and wants me to learn from the experiences I have. I knew that everything would be okay and that God did really love me and wanted to protect me from something that may have been ten times worse in the future.

——-

For more Portraits of Mormon Women, please click here.

Related topics: adversity/trials, church callings, Relief Society, Enrichment,

The post Portraits of Mormon Women: Richa appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

I spent many years serving in the Young Women’s organization. When that responsibility ended, I was asked to report on my experience in a talk in Sacrament Meeting.

Working with the youth is a demanding calling; is time-intensive.

Yet, what an absolute privilege it is to work in the name of the Lord for the sake of His beloved daughters!

What a privilege to communicate with Him about their welfare.

What a privilege to feel of His pure love for them, and to gain that same love for them in my own heart.

What a privilege to work with other members of this church who are doing all these same things, to be inspired by them and their efforts in the behalf of others.

What a privilege to be given the opportunity to show God how much we love Him, by going to work for Him.

What an inspired system!

It is through giving service to our God by serving our fellowman that we can become close to God, that we will feel His pure love in our lives, that we will have charity — the pure love of Christ in our hearts.

– By Tami

For more First Person essays, click here.

If you would like to submit a First Person essay, please send your submission to ‘mormonwoman’ AT ‘gmail’ DOT ‘com’

The post First Person: The Blessing of Serving in the Church appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.