Concluding remarks by Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Council of the Twelve Apostles at the funeral services for Barbara Jean Fraughton Lange on Monday, February 28, 1994, in the Mueller Park Ninth Ward in Bountiful, Utah. This talk was transcribed from a recording of the funeral and published in the March 7, 1994, issue of the Family Journal. Elder Oaks’s wife, June Dixon Oaks, was Barbara Lange’s first cousin.
Marvin and David and Claudia and other members of the family and my brothers and sisters: I feel privileged to be invited to take a few moments to speak at the conclusion of this beautiful service. I complement Bishop Clegg and Brother Cleverly for the wonderful spiritual banquet that they have given us.
As I listened to what they had to say, I couldn't help contrasting that with the last funeral service I attended in another place and under a different presiding authority. It was a suitable tribute to a life well lived, but I went away spiritually undernourished because there was no testimony, there was no doctrinal comfort, there was no tribute to the Lord Jesus Christ, who makes it all possible. There was no note taken of the fact that love is immortal and marriage properly entered and covenants properly observed can be eternal, and that life has a purpose and that death is only a transition from one phase of eternal life to another.
We've had all those assurances in this service, and they're true. And I thank Bishop Clegg and Brother Cleverly for the beautiful assurances that they've given, which I affirm.
Like many of you, I've felt the warmth of Barbara's hospitality and I've taken strength from the brilliance of her example. Hers was a life well lived, hers an example appropriately followed, hers was a faith strong and bright, hers an influence that will perpetuate itself through the generations to come—as is evident from the expressions that I've observed on the faces of those who are her descendants, her companion, her friends.
Death is an eternal milestone. And a funeral, which commemorates a death, is not a time for trivial things. That's a truth forgotten in many Latter-day Saint funerals. But it wasn't forgotten here. The things spoken of here have been things important, not things trivial. And so this service has been a comforting one and an appropriate one, and all of us in tune with the Spirit that has activated what has been said and done here have recognized the benediction of approval from our Heavenly Father whose daughter Barbara is and who takes joy, as has been noted, in the death of His saints, a life well lived, a new horizon opening, for additional joy.
And when there is a sad parting here, there is a joyous reunion there. And I'm sure that joy is warmly felt by many for whom we have ties of love and affection, because our families, in every case, are on both sides of the veil. And when we have that vision, a funeral has a different meaning and death has a different significance.
I testify of Jesus Christ, who made it all possible, of the truth of His gospel, and of the authority of the holy priesthood, which makes possible the fulfillment of the promises given, contingent upon the covenants made.
I testify to you of these things and invoke His blessings upon the family to comfort and strengthen them, and especially upon our brother Marvin, who has a difficult season of adjustment despite the sweet assurances that have been given.
And I say these things and invoke these blessings, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Showing posts with label Service. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Service. Show all posts
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Friday, July 4, 2008
44. More Joy in His Service
A talk I gave in a Missionary Department devotional on Tuesday morning, March 14, 1978, on the 12th floor of the Church Office Building in Salt Lake City, Utah. I worked in the Presiding Bishopric’s Office from April 1974 until November 1976, when I transferred to the Missionary Department. Just before I spoke, we sang the hymn “More Holiness Give Me” (number 114 in the 1948 hymnal in use at that time; number 131 in the 1985 hymnbook). The story I told about my great-grandparents, Charles and Eliza Batt, can be found in chapter 2 of Batt & Lee Ancestors.
There is a line in the hymn we just sang that I want to use as my theme this morning:
More joy in his service,
More purpose in prayer.
One hundred and thirty-six years ago this Friday the Prophet Joseph Smith founded the Relief Society organization. One of its stated purposes—both then and now—was to render compassionate service. “This is a charitable society,” taught the Prophet, “and according to your natures; it is natural for females to have feelings of charity and benevolence. You are now placed in a situation in which you can act according to those sympathies which God has planted in your bosoms” (Teachings, 226).
I want to talk a minute this morning about compassionate service by first relating two stories—both of them true—and then reading a scripture, and then making a few comments.
The first story comes from the history of my great-grandparents, Charles and Eliza Batt. As a young couple in England they heard the gospel, were baptized, and within a month left to come to America. This was in the 1880s. They had been married just a few years and had one small child when they came.
As soon as they arrived in Utah, they went to the Cache Valley, and after only three days my great-grandfather left his wife and baby alone in a strange new land without any friends and went away for the rest of the summer to help put railroad tracks and telephone lines into the Cache Valley. He was gone all summer, and the record states that “by the time he had paid for his board and room, he had only five dollars to take home to his family.”
Well, Charles tried farming and wasn’t very successful at it. In England he had been a gardener, a landscaper, and had been employed on the estate of the poet Shelley, evidently one of the most beautiful estates in all of England at that time. But he wasn’t a very good farmer—as I wouldn’t be if I were a farmer—and the family got poorer and poorer. They also kept having babies, which didn’t seem to help matters.
I mention all of this just to set the scene for the incident I want to read from their history; let me quote from a few places here:
“Charles wasn’t a good farmer, and the land was sandy and rough. . . . Charles and Eliza worked hard, but the crops didn’t do well. Eliza helped pick up potatoes to help Charles. She also did washing for a lady in Lewiston in order to get a tub, a washboard, and soap so she could do her own wash.
“Another baby was on the way. The family was so poor that they finally had to ask for help. Sister Kemp went with Eliza to the president of the Relief Society to ask for clothes for the new baby.”
One year, according to the record, the potatoes were so small that they couldn’t peel them, and evidently that was one of the main things they had to eat. Then comes this classic statement:
“The longer Charles tried to farm the poorer they got. Farming in Utah was so different from the farming in England.”
After a time, Charles went into Logan to see if he could find more suitable work there. Through a series of experiences and acquaintances, he finally obtained a job at the then Utah Agricultural College—now Utah State University—which was just then being built in Logan. He was hired initially as a handyman, a sort of jack-of-all-trades I guess, and then later as a gardener. And now I’m to the incident I wanted to relate:
“Sickness struck shortly after their move to Logan. All three children became desperately ill. The baby Ernest wasn’t quite 15 months old when he passed away October 21, 1890. Doll and Bill were still very sick children at the time their little brother died. Charles and Eliza were saddened and had a great decision to make. Where were they going to get the money to bury their little son? Charles had not received his first paycheck from the college, and they didn’t know anyone who could loan them the money. Charles decided to go see the undertaker and see what could be arranged. Eliza got on her knees and offered a humble prayer that things would work out.
“Charles went to the Lindquist Mortuary and told Mr. Lindquist of his troubles. He said he would sign a bank note or anything Mr. Lindquist thought best. After hearing Charles’s story of joining the Church in England and coming to America for the gospel, Mr. Lindquist told Charles he would not have to sign a note or anything else. He would take Charles at his word and knew he would pay him when he could. Mr. Lindquist had been a convert himself and had come to America too and knew how Charles felt.
“While Charles was in Mr. Lindquist’s office, a Mr. H. G. Hayball came in. Mr. Lindquist introduced them, telling Mr. Hayball that Charles was one of his countrymen and also a convert to the Church. Mr. Hayball and his brother owned a grocery store in Logan. Mr. Lindquist told Mr. Hayball that the Batt family needed some food. Mr. Hayball invited Charles to come with him and take home some groceries. Charles could pay him anytime.
“Charles was so overcome by the kindness of these two men that he couldn’t talk. Mr. Hayball asked Charles what part of town he lived in. When he found out, he told Charles to go see Mrs. Ross Neil-son and to tell her that H. G. Hayball said to let him have some fresh milk for the sick children and that he’d make it good to her.
“Charles took the groceries and went home. He found Doll feeling a little better, but Bill [he was my grandfather] was still burning with fever and was a very sick little boy.
“Charles took a small bucket and went in search of Mrs. Neilson. He told her who had sent him and why he wanted the milk. After hearing his story, Sister Neilson put a shawl over her, took a larger bucket, and got some milk. She also got some eggs and went home with him. Sister Neilson was not a woman of many words, nor very easy to get acquainted with, but she was a good Latter-day Saint who reached out her helping hand. After she talked to Eliza . . . and gave [her] some words of faith and comfort, she left. A short while later, she returned with her daughter and some material to make the burial clothes for [the baby].”
I’m always moved by this story, perhaps because it happened to my people, but also I think because it is a good example of a need and a heartfelt prayer and Christian service in response.
The second story was told by President Harold B. Lee in a Relief Society conference in the Tabernacle:
“Another matter of importance we call compassionate service. My Aunt Jeanette McMurrin told me this interesting story. She was widowed and living with her daughter. One morning her daughter came to her and said, ‘Mother, we don’t have anything to eat in the house. My husband, as you know, has been out of work. I am sorry, Mother.’
“Aunt Jeanette said that she dressed and worked around the house, then closed the door, knelt down, and said, ‘Heavenly Father, I have tried all my life to keep the commandments; I have paid my tithing; I have given service in the Church. We have no food in our house today. Father, touch the heart of somebody so we won’t have to go hungry.’ She said she went about with a feeling of gladness, thinking all would be right.
“There came a knock at the door in a few hours, and there was a little neighbor girl with food in her arms. Choking back the tears, the widow brought the child into the kitchen and said, ‘Set them here, and tell your mother that this came today as an answer to our prayers. We didn’t have any food in our house.’
“Needless to say, the little girl went back and carried that message, and in a little while she returned with still a larger armload. As she brought the bags to the kitchen table, she asked, ‘Did I come this time as an answer to your prayers?’
“My Aunt Jeanette replied, ‘No, my darling, this time you came as a fulfillment of a promise. Fifty years ago when your grandmother was expecting a little child, she didn’t have anything to eat and she was lacking in strength and nourishment. I was the little girl who carried food into her house so that she would have the strength to bring her little baby—your mother—into the world.’ Then she said, ‘The Lord said, “Cast your bread upon the waters, and after many days it shall return again.” This time you have been carrying back to me the foodstuff that I carried into the home of your grandmother so you mother could be born into the world.’ Compassionate service” (Ensign, Feb. 1972, 55–56).
Notice the common threads running through these two stories: a need, earnest prayer, and compassionate service. As we sang a few moments ago,
More joy in his service,
More purpose in prayer.
Now, if I understand the scriptures at all, we have to serve others if we desire an inheritance in the celestial kingdom. Service is that fundamental. In the fourth chapter of Mosiah we read:
“And now, for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you—that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God—I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visit-ing the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants” (Mosiah 4:26; emphasis added).
And then it continues with this interesting instruction:
“And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order” (Mosiah 4:27).
All things must be done in order. That is why, I think, the Lord in His mercy allowed the Relief Society to be raised up—so that the sisters in an organized way could render compassionate service to the Church, the same as the priesthood quorums for the brethren, and the welfare services program, and everything that helps us to do it in the Lord’s own way (see D&C 104:14–18).
I bear you my own witness that these things are true. Service is essential to our salvation. May we be involved not only in rendering compassionate service but also in living close enough to the Spirit so that when those who need our help pray for such help we may recognize the promptings and go and serve. And if we do, miracles like the ones we’ve mentioned in these stories will happen in our lives. May such be the case, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
There is a line in the hymn we just sang that I want to use as my theme this morning:
More joy in his service,
More purpose in prayer.
One hundred and thirty-six years ago this Friday the Prophet Joseph Smith founded the Relief Society organization. One of its stated purposes—both then and now—was to render compassionate service. “This is a charitable society,” taught the Prophet, “and according to your natures; it is natural for females to have feelings of charity and benevolence. You are now placed in a situation in which you can act according to those sympathies which God has planted in your bosoms” (Teachings, 226).
I want to talk a minute this morning about compassionate service by first relating two stories—both of them true—and then reading a scripture, and then making a few comments.
The first story comes from the history of my great-grandparents, Charles and Eliza Batt. As a young couple in England they heard the gospel, were baptized, and within a month left to come to America. This was in the 1880s. They had been married just a few years and had one small child when they came.
As soon as they arrived in Utah, they went to the Cache Valley, and after only three days my great-grandfather left his wife and baby alone in a strange new land without any friends and went away for the rest of the summer to help put railroad tracks and telephone lines into the Cache Valley. He was gone all summer, and the record states that “by the time he had paid for his board and room, he had only five dollars to take home to his family.”
Well, Charles tried farming and wasn’t very successful at it. In England he had been a gardener, a landscaper, and had been employed on the estate of the poet Shelley, evidently one of the most beautiful estates in all of England at that time. But he wasn’t a very good farmer—as I wouldn’t be if I were a farmer—and the family got poorer and poorer. They also kept having babies, which didn’t seem to help matters.
I mention all of this just to set the scene for the incident I want to read from their history; let me quote from a few places here:
“Charles wasn’t a good farmer, and the land was sandy and rough. . . . Charles and Eliza worked hard, but the crops didn’t do well. Eliza helped pick up potatoes to help Charles. She also did washing for a lady in Lewiston in order to get a tub, a washboard, and soap so she could do her own wash.
“Another baby was on the way. The family was so poor that they finally had to ask for help. Sister Kemp went with Eliza to the president of the Relief Society to ask for clothes for the new baby.”
One year, according to the record, the potatoes were so small that they couldn’t peel them, and evidently that was one of the main things they had to eat. Then comes this classic statement:
“The longer Charles tried to farm the poorer they got. Farming in Utah was so different from the farming in England.”
After a time, Charles went into Logan to see if he could find more suitable work there. Through a series of experiences and acquaintances, he finally obtained a job at the then Utah Agricultural College—now Utah State University—which was just then being built in Logan. He was hired initially as a handyman, a sort of jack-of-all-trades I guess, and then later as a gardener. And now I’m to the incident I wanted to relate:
“Sickness struck shortly after their move to Logan. All three children became desperately ill. The baby Ernest wasn’t quite 15 months old when he passed away October 21, 1890. Doll and Bill were still very sick children at the time their little brother died. Charles and Eliza were saddened and had a great decision to make. Where were they going to get the money to bury their little son? Charles had not received his first paycheck from the college, and they didn’t know anyone who could loan them the money. Charles decided to go see the undertaker and see what could be arranged. Eliza got on her knees and offered a humble prayer that things would work out.
“Charles went to the Lindquist Mortuary and told Mr. Lindquist of his troubles. He said he would sign a bank note or anything Mr. Lindquist thought best. After hearing Charles’s story of joining the Church in England and coming to America for the gospel, Mr. Lindquist told Charles he would not have to sign a note or anything else. He would take Charles at his word and knew he would pay him when he could. Mr. Lindquist had been a convert himself and had come to America too and knew how Charles felt.
“While Charles was in Mr. Lindquist’s office, a Mr. H. G. Hayball came in. Mr. Lindquist introduced them, telling Mr. Hayball that Charles was one of his countrymen and also a convert to the Church. Mr. Hayball and his brother owned a grocery store in Logan. Mr. Lindquist told Mr. Hayball that the Batt family needed some food. Mr. Hayball invited Charles to come with him and take home some groceries. Charles could pay him anytime.
“Charles was so overcome by the kindness of these two men that he couldn’t talk. Mr. Hayball asked Charles what part of town he lived in. When he found out, he told Charles to go see Mrs. Ross Neil-son and to tell her that H. G. Hayball said to let him have some fresh milk for the sick children and that he’d make it good to her.
“Charles took the groceries and went home. He found Doll feeling a little better, but Bill [he was my grandfather] was still burning with fever and was a very sick little boy.
“Charles took a small bucket and went in search of Mrs. Neilson. He told her who had sent him and why he wanted the milk. After hearing his story, Sister Neilson put a shawl over her, took a larger bucket, and got some milk. She also got some eggs and went home with him. Sister Neilson was not a woman of many words, nor very easy to get acquainted with, but she was a good Latter-day Saint who reached out her helping hand. After she talked to Eliza . . . and gave [her] some words of faith and comfort, she left. A short while later, she returned with her daughter and some material to make the burial clothes for [the baby].”
I’m always moved by this story, perhaps because it happened to my people, but also I think because it is a good example of a need and a heartfelt prayer and Christian service in response.
The second story was told by President Harold B. Lee in a Relief Society conference in the Tabernacle:
“Another matter of importance we call compassionate service. My Aunt Jeanette McMurrin told me this interesting story. She was widowed and living with her daughter. One morning her daughter came to her and said, ‘Mother, we don’t have anything to eat in the house. My husband, as you know, has been out of work. I am sorry, Mother.’
“Aunt Jeanette said that she dressed and worked around the house, then closed the door, knelt down, and said, ‘Heavenly Father, I have tried all my life to keep the commandments; I have paid my tithing; I have given service in the Church. We have no food in our house today. Father, touch the heart of somebody so we won’t have to go hungry.’ She said she went about with a feeling of gladness, thinking all would be right.
“There came a knock at the door in a few hours, and there was a little neighbor girl with food in her arms. Choking back the tears, the widow brought the child into the kitchen and said, ‘Set them here, and tell your mother that this came today as an answer to our prayers. We didn’t have any food in our house.’
“Needless to say, the little girl went back and carried that message, and in a little while she returned with still a larger armload. As she brought the bags to the kitchen table, she asked, ‘Did I come this time as an answer to your prayers?’
“My Aunt Jeanette replied, ‘No, my darling, this time you came as a fulfillment of a promise. Fifty years ago when your grandmother was expecting a little child, she didn’t have anything to eat and she was lacking in strength and nourishment. I was the little girl who carried food into her house so that she would have the strength to bring her little baby—your mother—into the world.’ Then she said, ‘The Lord said, “Cast your bread upon the waters, and after many days it shall return again.” This time you have been carrying back to me the foodstuff that I carried into the home of your grandmother so you mother could be born into the world.’ Compassionate service” (Ensign, Feb. 1972, 55–56).
Notice the common threads running through these two stories: a need, earnest prayer, and compassionate service. As we sang a few moments ago,
More joy in his service,
More purpose in prayer.
Now, if I understand the scriptures at all, we have to serve others if we desire an inheritance in the celestial kingdom. Service is that fundamental. In the fourth chapter of Mosiah we read:
“And now, for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you—that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God—I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visit-ing the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants” (Mosiah 4:26; emphasis added).
And then it continues with this interesting instruction:
“And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order” (Mosiah 4:27).
All things must be done in order. That is why, I think, the Lord in His mercy allowed the Relief Society to be raised up—so that the sisters in an organized way could render compassionate service to the Church, the same as the priesthood quorums for the brethren, and the welfare services program, and everything that helps us to do it in the Lord’s own way (see D&C 104:14–18).
I bear you my own witness that these things are true. Service is essential to our salvation. May we be involved not only in rendering compassionate service but also in living close enough to the Spirit so that when those who need our help pray for such help we may recognize the promptings and go and serve. And if we do, miracles like the ones we’ve mentioned in these stories will happen in our lives. May such be the case, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Friday, April 18, 2008
23. Confess His Hand in All Things
A bishopric message published in the November 1998 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette.
In a few weeks we will celebrate another Thanksgiving. As we think about the Lord’s goodness to us, as we contemplate the abundance He has bestowed upon us, as we marvel at the blessings and opportunities that are ours, we have every reason, as the Psalmist has written, to “enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name” (Psalm 100:4).
With this poetic invitation before us, we are reminded of the everlasting goodness of our God: “For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations” (Psalm 100:5).
Few things, however, bother Him more than the ingratitude of His children: “And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments” (D&C 59:21).
Rather, we are to do all “things with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances” (D&C 59:15). And if we “do this, the fulness of the earth is [ours], . . . for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart; . . . to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul” (D&C 104:16, 18, 19).
“For the earth is full,” the Lord reminds us, “and there is enough and to spare; . . . therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment” (D&C 104:17–18).
The Lord is really quite serious about this matter of our sharing with others. Indeed, if we hope to retain a remission of our sins, we are required to “impart of [our] substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally” (Mosiah 4:26), as many among us do so very well.
At this season of the year, we thank you for the goodness of your lives. We thank you for being the kind of decent, Christian neighbors you are supposed to be. We thank you for all that you do to enrich and bless and lift those about you. May God grant you the joy and peace that come from having grateful hearts, from confessing His hand in all things, from sharing your substance with those less fortunate, and from keeping His commandments.
In a few weeks we will celebrate another Thanksgiving. As we think about the Lord’s goodness to us, as we contemplate the abundance He has bestowed upon us, as we marvel at the blessings and opportunities that are ours, we have every reason, as the Psalmist has written, to “enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name” (Psalm 100:4).
With this poetic invitation before us, we are reminded of the everlasting goodness of our God: “For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations” (Psalm 100:5).
Few things, however, bother Him more than the ingratitude of His children: “And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments” (D&C 59:21).
Rather, we are to do all “things with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances” (D&C 59:15). And if we “do this, the fulness of the earth is [ours], . . . for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart; . . . to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul” (D&C 104:16, 18, 19).
“For the earth is full,” the Lord reminds us, “and there is enough and to spare; . . . therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment” (D&C 104:17–18).
The Lord is really quite serious about this matter of our sharing with others. Indeed, if we hope to retain a remission of our sins, we are required to “impart of [our] substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally” (Mosiah 4:26), as many among us do so very well.
At this season of the year, we thank you for the goodness of your lives. We thank you for being the kind of decent, Christian neighbors you are supposed to be. We thank you for all that you do to enrich and bless and lift those about you. May God grant you the joy and peace that come from having grateful hearts, from confessing His hand in all things, from sharing your substance with those less fortunate, and from keeping His commandments.
22. Bishopric Changes
A bishopric message in the September 1998 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette, which was also published as “A Final Word” in the August 31, 1998, issue of the Family Journal. Larry Young had been released as my first counselor in the bishopric to be sustained as ward mission leader. Kevin Thueson was moved from second to first counselor, and Hyde Frederickson was called as the new second counselor.
Words do not begin to express the love and appreciation I feel for Larry Young, who two weeks ago was released as first counselor in the bishopric to serve as our new ward mission leader. He has been a capable and faithful servant of God. He has ably served the Lord and each of you. I am confident that he and Iris will do well as stake missionaries.
The inspiration behind Larry’s new call came clearly, obviously by surprise, and in a manner reminiscent of the calls to Barnabas and Saul described in the second verse of the 13th chapter of Acts. I relied heavily on Larry in my administration of the ward, and I suspect the Lord had to intervene so directly to overcome my natural reluctance to give up my right arm, as it were.
I am grateful for Kevin Thueson’s willingness to continue his service in the bishopric, serving now as the new first counselor. Kevin is an uncommonly sensible person, sound in his counsel and judgment, devoted to your welfare. He is a faithful warrior, something like a Captain Moroni, who “was a strong and mighty man; . . . a man whose soul did joy in the liberty and freedom of his country; . . . a man who did labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety of his people; . . . a man who was firm in the faith of Christ” (Alma 48:11–13).
And I am thankful that the Lord has called Hyde Frederickson to serve as the new second counselor in the bishopric. I look forward to working with him.
Larry and Iris replace Clyde and Carol StClair, who for the past three years have served with distinction as stake missionaries. The StClairs have patiently, quietly, and effectively gone about proclaiming the gospel and in marvelous ways have touched hearts, blessed lives, and brought souls unto Christ. They are rightly regarded by some as though they were “like unto angels of God” (D&C 42:6).
The gratitude and affection I have expressed concerning these few people is the same I feel for all of you who seek in your respective assignments to magnify your callings and bless the lives of those about you.
My earnest prayer is that each of us may live to merit the Divine approbation, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).
Words do not begin to express the love and appreciation I feel for Larry Young, who two weeks ago was released as first counselor in the bishopric to serve as our new ward mission leader. He has been a capable and faithful servant of God. He has ably served the Lord and each of you. I am confident that he and Iris will do well as stake missionaries.
The inspiration behind Larry’s new call came clearly, obviously by surprise, and in a manner reminiscent of the calls to Barnabas and Saul described in the second verse of the 13th chapter of Acts. I relied heavily on Larry in my administration of the ward, and I suspect the Lord had to intervene so directly to overcome my natural reluctance to give up my right arm, as it were.
I am grateful for Kevin Thueson’s willingness to continue his service in the bishopric, serving now as the new first counselor. Kevin is an uncommonly sensible person, sound in his counsel and judgment, devoted to your welfare. He is a faithful warrior, something like a Captain Moroni, who “was a strong and mighty man; . . . a man whose soul did joy in the liberty and freedom of his country; . . . a man who did labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety of his people; . . . a man who was firm in the faith of Christ” (Alma 48:11–13).
And I am thankful that the Lord has called Hyde Frederickson to serve as the new second counselor in the bishopric. I look forward to working with him.
Larry and Iris replace Clyde and Carol StClair, who for the past three years have served with distinction as stake missionaries. The StClairs have patiently, quietly, and effectively gone about proclaiming the gospel and in marvelous ways have touched hearts, blessed lives, and brought souls unto Christ. They are rightly regarded by some as though they were “like unto angels of God” (D&C 42:6).
The gratitude and affection I have expressed concerning these few people is the same I feel for all of you who seek in your respective assignments to magnify your callings and bless the lives of those about you.
My earnest prayer is that each of us may live to merit the Divine approbation, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).
18. None Other Object
A bishopric message published in the November 1997 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette.
Near the end of his life, after blessing his sons, Father Lehi said, “I have none other object save it be the everlasting welfare of your souls” (2 Nephi 2:30). What a marvelous sermon in only fourteen words!
As your bishopric, we echo that same sentiment: We have none other object save it be the everlasting welfare of your souls.
Would that that would be the desire of every home teacher and visiting teacher in our ward. Just think how we might treat the individuals we are assigned to visit if we had none other object than the everlasting welfare of their souls. Just think of the lessons we might teach them. The service we might render. The love and compassion and tenderness we might show.
Is not our Heavenly Father’s and our Savior’s objective the same? “This is my work and my glory,” the Lord declared, “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:37). Everything They do in our behalf is to help us return home, if we desire it enough, to enjoy immortality and eternal life with Them. Clearly, They have none other object than the everlasting welfare of our souls.
Should not each of us—regardless of where we serve, whether as a teacher or a quorum president, as a pianist or an adviser, as a member of an auxiliary presidency or a secretary—desire the same for the people we are called to serve? Is not that what it means to have “an eye single to the glory of God” (D&C 4:5), as we seek to do the same work the Savior does?
May the Lord bless us so to do.
Near the end of his life, after blessing his sons, Father Lehi said, “I have none other object save it be the everlasting welfare of your souls” (2 Nephi 2:30). What a marvelous sermon in only fourteen words!
As your bishopric, we echo that same sentiment: We have none other object save it be the everlasting welfare of your souls.
Would that that would be the desire of every home teacher and visiting teacher in our ward. Just think how we might treat the individuals we are assigned to visit if we had none other object than the everlasting welfare of their souls. Just think of the lessons we might teach them. The service we might render. The love and compassion and tenderness we might show.
Is not our Heavenly Father’s and our Savior’s objective the same? “This is my work and my glory,” the Lord declared, “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:37). Everything They do in our behalf is to help us return home, if we desire it enough, to enjoy immortality and eternal life with Them. Clearly, They have none other object than the everlasting welfare of our souls.
Should not each of us—regardless of where we serve, whether as a teacher or a quorum president, as a pianist or an adviser, as a member of an auxiliary presidency or a secretary—desire the same for the people we are called to serve? Is not that what it means to have “an eye single to the glory of God” (D&C 4:5), as we seek to do the same work the Savior does?
May the Lord bless us so to do.
17. Remembering the Past
A bishopric message written on Monday, June 23, 1997, for publication in the August 1997 issue of the Newsette, the monthly newsletter of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward. Some of our children, 18-year-old Anna, almost-16-year-old Camilla, and 14-year-old Eliza, represented our family June 11–14 in the stake Pioneer Trek referred to in the second paragraph. (Michael and Rebecca had participated in a similar trek experience six years earlier, when they were 17 and 16.) Our family visited the Wyoming handcart sites mentioned in the third paragraph in mid-July, just a week before the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the first pioneer company into the Salt Lake Valley. And all of us participated in the 150 hours of service our ward donated on July 19 (my 48th birthday) at Bountiful Elementary School, paying back in very small measure for the twenty years the school has benefited the children of our family.
This sesquicentennial year has been a wonderful season of remembrance for us. We have been enriched, strengthened, and inspired by the examples of faith, courage, and perseverance of those who have gone before.
The youth who participated in the stake Pioneer Trek in early June had life-changing experiences that will, if they keep them in remembrance, forever alter the way they think about themselves, their families, their ancestors, and (most important of all) the long-suffering goodness and tender mercies of their God.
Others have had the privilege of standing on the desolate and windswept highlands of Wyoming—at places like Martin’s Cove and Devil’s Gate and Rocky Ridge, places that are hallowed because of what the Martin and Willie handcart companies experienced there in late 1856. Many gave their lives for the cause they had espoused, while the survivors in the hour of their extremity came to know their God.
Many of us also participated two weeks ago, in concert with fellow Saints across the face of the earth, in giving community service as a part of the worldwide Pioneer Heritage Service Day. In the words of the First Presidency, inviting us to this effort, “As modern-day beneficiaries of the sacrifices made by pioneers who have gone before, we [were able to] show our gratitude by unitedly rendering charitable service to others in our community.”
A common theme in all the Lord’s dealings with His people in every age of the world’s history has been the importance of remembering the past and, in particular, remembering Him and His doings.
• For example, from the beginning of time a book of remembrance was kept among those who called upon the name of the Lord (see Moses 6:4–5).
• The scriptures help enlarge the memory of the people (see Alma 37:8).
• From the days from Moses until the coming of Christ the children of Israel were to keep the Passover and the other revealed feasts as a two-way remembrance: The types and shadows and signs, the ordinances and commandments and performances were all designed to remind them, first, of their past deliverance from Egypt, and second, of their future deliverance at Gethsemane and Golgotha.
• In the meridian of time, at the hour of that promised deliverance, the Savior instituted the sacrament as a memorial—in remembrance of His body and His blood—to help us “always remember him” (D&C 20:77, 79).
• Alma posed challenging questions to the church in his day: “And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, you that belong to this church, have you sufficiently retained in remembrance the captivity of your fathers? Yea, and have you sufficiently retained in remembrance his mercy and long-suffering towards them? And moreover, have ye sufficiently retained in remembrance that he has delivered their souls from hell?” (Alma 5:6).
• Helaman gave his sons the names of their ancestors, telling them “that when you remember your names ye may remember them; and when ye remember them ye may remember their works” (Helaman 5:6).
And so in that same pattern of remembrance, stretching from the very beginning of recorded time, we in 1997 have been remembering our pioneer forebears.
“We have been reminded that ours is a great inheritance,” said President Gordon B. Hinckley at the April general conference. “The past is behind us. It is the future with which we must be concerned. We face great opportunities and great challenges. . . . We have nothing to fear and everything to gain. God is at the helm. We will seek His direction. We will listen to the still, small voice of revelation. And we will go forward as He directs” (Ensign, May 1997, 83).
Seventeen years ago—as we celebrated another sesquicentennial, the 150th anniversary of the organization of the Church—another prophet, President Spencer W. Kimball, declared in similar fashion concerning the future, “One of the best ways to celebrate righteous history is to make more of it, make more righteous history!” (Ensign, May 1980, 4).
In a spirit of love and appreciation for all that you already do, that would be our invitation to each of you: Look to the future, go forward, and make even more righteous history.
This sesquicentennial year has been a wonderful season of remembrance for us. We have been enriched, strengthened, and inspired by the examples of faith, courage, and perseverance of those who have gone before.
The youth who participated in the stake Pioneer Trek in early June had life-changing experiences that will, if they keep them in remembrance, forever alter the way they think about themselves, their families, their ancestors, and (most important of all) the long-suffering goodness and tender mercies of their God.
Others have had the privilege of standing on the desolate and windswept highlands of Wyoming—at places like Martin’s Cove and Devil’s Gate and Rocky Ridge, places that are hallowed because of what the Martin and Willie handcart companies experienced there in late 1856. Many gave their lives for the cause they had espoused, while the survivors in the hour of their extremity came to know their God.
Many of us also participated two weeks ago, in concert with fellow Saints across the face of the earth, in giving community service as a part of the worldwide Pioneer Heritage Service Day. In the words of the First Presidency, inviting us to this effort, “As modern-day beneficiaries of the sacrifices made by pioneers who have gone before, we [were able to] show our gratitude by unitedly rendering charitable service to others in our community.”
A common theme in all the Lord’s dealings with His people in every age of the world’s history has been the importance of remembering the past and, in particular, remembering Him and His doings.
• For example, from the beginning of time a book of remembrance was kept among those who called upon the name of the Lord (see Moses 6:4–5).
• The scriptures help enlarge the memory of the people (see Alma 37:8).
• From the days from Moses until the coming of Christ the children of Israel were to keep the Passover and the other revealed feasts as a two-way remembrance: The types and shadows and signs, the ordinances and commandments and performances were all designed to remind them, first, of their past deliverance from Egypt, and second, of their future deliverance at Gethsemane and Golgotha.
• In the meridian of time, at the hour of that promised deliverance, the Savior instituted the sacrament as a memorial—in remembrance of His body and His blood—to help us “always remember him” (D&C 20:77, 79).
• Alma posed challenging questions to the church in his day: “And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, you that belong to this church, have you sufficiently retained in remembrance the captivity of your fathers? Yea, and have you sufficiently retained in remembrance his mercy and long-suffering towards them? And moreover, have ye sufficiently retained in remembrance that he has delivered their souls from hell?” (Alma 5:6).
• Helaman gave his sons the names of their ancestors, telling them “that when you remember your names ye may remember them; and when ye remember them ye may remember their works” (Helaman 5:6).
And so in that same pattern of remembrance, stretching from the very beginning of recorded time, we in 1997 have been remembering our pioneer forebears.
“We have been reminded that ours is a great inheritance,” said President Gordon B. Hinckley at the April general conference. “The past is behind us. It is the future with which we must be concerned. We face great opportunities and great challenges. . . . We have nothing to fear and everything to gain. God is at the helm. We will seek His direction. We will listen to the still, small voice of revelation. And we will go forward as He directs” (Ensign, May 1997, 83).
Seventeen years ago—as we celebrated another sesquicentennial, the 150th anniversary of the organization of the Church—another prophet, President Spencer W. Kimball, declared in similar fashion concerning the future, “One of the best ways to celebrate righteous history is to make more of it, make more righteous history!” (Ensign, May 1980, 4).
In a spirit of love and appreciation for all that you already do, that would be our invitation to each of you: Look to the future, go forward, and make even more righteous history.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
14. A Thanksgiving Message
A bishopric message published in the November 1996 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette.
As we approach another Thanksgiving season, we express our thanks for the Lord’s tender mercies in all our lives. He has greatly blessed us as a people. We are witnesses of His enduring goodness and grace. We feel of His love and peace.
Each of us, of course, experiences our individual share of life’s challenges, heartaches, and disappointments. Sometimes we feel we are hit with more than our share when severe illness strikes or loved ones die or our hopes and dreams and aspirations seem to go unrealized. And yet, through it all, we really know—or can come to know if we don’t already—that it all has purpose, that it’s part of the Lord’s tutoring plan for our growth and development, that it’s a part of the schooling we signed up for before we came here. And so, once again, we have cause to be thankful and rejoice.
With the Psalmist, we can declare, “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalms 118:24).
As your bishopric, we also say thanks to each of you for your support, your prayers, your love, and your friendship. They mean a lot to us. We love you. We pray for you constantly. And we invoke the blessings of heaven upon you as you seek to love and serve one another, knowing full well that “when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God” (Mosiah 2:17).
May God bless you ever and always.
As we approach another Thanksgiving season, we express our thanks for the Lord’s tender mercies in all our lives. He has greatly blessed us as a people. We are witnesses of His enduring goodness and grace. We feel of His love and peace.
Each of us, of course, experiences our individual share of life’s challenges, heartaches, and disappointments. Sometimes we feel we are hit with more than our share when severe illness strikes or loved ones die or our hopes and dreams and aspirations seem to go unrealized. And yet, through it all, we really know—or can come to know if we don’t already—that it all has purpose, that it’s part of the Lord’s tutoring plan for our growth and development, that it’s a part of the schooling we signed up for before we came here. And so, once again, we have cause to be thankful and rejoice.
With the Psalmist, we can declare, “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalms 118:24).
As your bishopric, we also say thanks to each of you for your support, your prayers, your love, and your friendship. They mean a lot to us. We love you. We pray for you constantly. And we invoke the blessings of heaven upon you as you seek to love and serve one another, knowing full well that “when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God” (Mosiah 2:17).
May God bless you ever and always.
12. Each Life That Touches Ours for Good
A bishopric message written on Thursday, April 18, 1996, and published while we were traveling in Brazil in the May 1996 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette, the monthly newsletter of the Bountiful 20th Ward. As bishop, I prepared such messages for the February, May, August, and November issues each year. My two counselors in the bishopric—Larry Young and Kevin Thueson—wrote the messages in the other months of the year.
Three weeks ago—with the peaceful passing of Phil Pack—we lost a good friend and wonderful neighbor. His gentle life reminds us of the poet’s words:
Each life that touches ours for good
Reflects thine own great mercy, Lord;
Thou sendest blessings from above
Thru words and deeds of those who love.
What greater gift dost thou bestow,
What greater goodness can we know
Than Christ-like friends, whose gentle ways
Strengthen our faith, enrich our days.
When such a friend from us departs,
We hold forever in our hearts
A sweet and hallowed memory,
Bringing us nearer, Lord, to thee.
For worthy friends whose lives proclaim
Devotion to the Savior's name,
Who bless our days with peace and love,
We praise thy goodness, Lord above.
(Karen Lynn Davidson, Hymns [1985], 293)
We are abundantly blessed in our neighborhood with many such friends whose lives proclaim devotion to the Savior, who strengthen and enrich us, who reflect in countless quiet ways the Lord’s goodness and love. They are among the angels and ministers of grace the Lord places in our path to help us return to Him.
May each of us, every day of our lives, seek some quiet way to bless the lives of those around us—by helping a neighbor, lifting a burden, sharing a smile, mending a quarrel, visiting one who is lonely, saying hello to a child—little things every one of them, but little acts that show we really are serious about being His disciples.
As a prophet once invited us, may we each “live with ever more attention to the life and example of the Lord Jesus Christ, especially the love and hope and compassion he displayed. I pray that we will treat each other with more kindness, more patience, more courtesy and forgiveness” (Howard W. Hunter, Ensign, Nov. 1994, 8). That would be our earnest prayer for each of us.
Three weeks ago—with the peaceful passing of Phil Pack—we lost a good friend and wonderful neighbor. His gentle life reminds us of the poet’s words:
Each life that touches ours for good
Reflects thine own great mercy, Lord;
Thou sendest blessings from above
Thru words and deeds of those who love.
What greater gift dost thou bestow,
What greater goodness can we know
Than Christ-like friends, whose gentle ways
Strengthen our faith, enrich our days.
When such a friend from us departs,
We hold forever in our hearts
A sweet and hallowed memory,
Bringing us nearer, Lord, to thee.
For worthy friends whose lives proclaim
Devotion to the Savior's name,
Who bless our days with peace and love,
We praise thy goodness, Lord above.
(Karen Lynn Davidson, Hymns [1985], 293)
We are abundantly blessed in our neighborhood with many such friends whose lives proclaim devotion to the Savior, who strengthen and enrich us, who reflect in countless quiet ways the Lord’s goodness and love. They are among the angels and ministers of grace the Lord places in our path to help us return to Him.
May each of us, every day of our lives, seek some quiet way to bless the lives of those around us—by helping a neighbor, lifting a burden, sharing a smile, mending a quarrel, visiting one who is lonely, saying hello to a child—little things every one of them, but little acts that show we really are serious about being His disciples.
As a prophet once invited us, may we each “live with ever more attention to the life and example of the Lord Jesus Christ, especially the love and hope and compassion he displayed. I pray that we will treat each other with more kindness, more patience, more courtesy and forgiveness” (Howard W. Hunter, Ensign, Nov. 1994, 8). That would be our earnest prayer for each of us.
11. Angels and Ministers of Grace
A bishopric message written on Monday, January 29, 1996, the day after I was sustained as the eighth bishop of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward in the Bountiful Utah South Stake. The message was published in the February 1996 issue of the Newsette, the monthly newsletter of the Bountiful 20th Ward. Larry Young and Kevin Thueson were my counselors in the bishopric.
In one of Shakespeare’s immortal plays, Hamlet wisely implores, “Angels and ministers of grace defend us!” (Hamlet, act 1, scene 4, line 39). Angels and ministers of grace! All of us need and in fact receive far more help than we realize in our daily lives from the angels and ministers of grace who surround us—on both sides of the veil.
This last Sunday we released a beloved bishopric. Bishop [Gail] Anger and his counselors were just such angels and ministers of grace in the lives of many ward members. We may never know the countless, quiet ways they went about blessing lives and ministering to the needs of people in our ward, but virtually all of us can think back with gratitude on instances of their love and attention in our own lives and in the lives of our families.
The greatest thanks we can give them, the ultimate tribute we can pay them is the way we continue to live our lives in quiet devotion to the cause of the Master whom they loved and followed while serving as our bishopric.
And now you have a new bishopric. We are grateful for the inspiration that lead to our calls and the sustaining vote of confidence we received from the membership of the ward. Your faith and prayers will mean a lot to us as we move forward with the next chapter in the history of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward.
God lives. His beloved Son lives. This is Their work in which we are engaged. They send angels and ministers of grace into our lives to bless us everlastingly. May we, like all who have gone before us, be as the Book of Mormon writer described, “instruments in the hands of God in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth, yea, to the knowledge of their Redeemer. And how blessed are they! For they did publish peace; they did publish good tidings of good” (Mosiah 27:36–37).
May each of us go and do likewise.
In one of Shakespeare’s immortal plays, Hamlet wisely implores, “Angels and ministers of grace defend us!” (Hamlet, act 1, scene 4, line 39). Angels and ministers of grace! All of us need and in fact receive far more help than we realize in our daily lives from the angels and ministers of grace who surround us—on both sides of the veil.
This last Sunday we released a beloved bishopric. Bishop [Gail] Anger and his counselors were just such angels and ministers of grace in the lives of many ward members. We may never know the countless, quiet ways they went about blessing lives and ministering to the needs of people in our ward, but virtually all of us can think back with gratitude on instances of their love and attention in our own lives and in the lives of our families.
The greatest thanks we can give them, the ultimate tribute we can pay them is the way we continue to live our lives in quiet devotion to the cause of the Master whom they loved and followed while serving as our bishopric.
And now you have a new bishopric. We are grateful for the inspiration that lead to our calls and the sustaining vote of confidence we received from the membership of the ward. Your faith and prayers will mean a lot to us as we move forward with the next chapter in the history of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward.
God lives. His beloved Son lives. This is Their work in which we are engaged. They send angels and ministers of grace into our lives to bless us everlastingly. May we, like all who have gone before us, be as the Book of Mormon writer described, “instruments in the hands of God in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth, yea, to the knowledge of their Redeemer. And how blessed are they! For they did publish peace; they did publish good tidings of good” (Mosiah 27:36–37).
May each of us go and do likewise.
Friday, April 11, 2008
5. We Can't Do It Alone
A pastoral message written on Monday, November 17, 1975, and published in Heaven-11, the BYU 11th Branch newsletter on Thursday, November 20.
In the recent general conference of the Church, Elder Robert D. Hales quoted these lines from the poet Whittier:
Thee lift me, and I'll lift thee
And we'll both ascend together.
Those lines contain an idea that is important for all of us to understand and live: We need each other; we can't do it alone.
The Lord has said it in another way: "Therefore, let every man stand in his own office, and labor in his own calling; and let not the head say unto the feet it hath no need of the feet; for without the feet how shall the body be able to stand?
"Also the body hath need of every member, that all may be edified together, that the system may be kept perfect" (D&C 84:109-110).
We have been given parents and families, the priesthood and the organization of the Church to help us return to our Heavenly Father. "The many missions which we have in life," said Elder Hales, "cannot be embarked upon successfully without the help of others. Birth requires earthly parents. Our blessing as a child, our baptism, our receiving the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, our receiving membership in his church, ordination to the priesthood, going on a mission, being married, having children of our own, blessings during illness and time of need—all require the help of others. And all these are acts of love and service which require the help of others and the giving of help to others" (Ensign, Nov. 1975, 91).
Brother Hales makes it clear that our interdependence works both ways. We need the help of others, and we need to help others. We need to both serve and be served. All of us, it turns out, really are needed.
As a branch presidency we have chosen, from among the many excellent suggestions we received, this message as the theme of our branch conference:
Thee lift me, and I'll lift thee
And we'll both ascend together.
You will likely be hearing more about it this weekend in the various sessions of the conference. In fact, the whole experience of branch conference will help us lift each other, allowing us all to ascend together. We invite you to attend, with a sense of anticipation and preparation, and you will experience a rich outpouring of the Spirit. You will be blessed and be a blessing to others.
In the recent general conference of the Church, Elder Robert D. Hales quoted these lines from the poet Whittier:
Thee lift me, and I'll lift thee
And we'll both ascend together.
Those lines contain an idea that is important for all of us to understand and live: We need each other; we can't do it alone.
The Lord has said it in another way: "Therefore, let every man stand in his own office, and labor in his own calling; and let not the head say unto the feet it hath no need of the feet; for without the feet how shall the body be able to stand?
"Also the body hath need of every member, that all may be edified together, that the system may be kept perfect" (D&C 84:109-110).
We have been given parents and families, the priesthood and the organization of the Church to help us return to our Heavenly Father. "The many missions which we have in life," said Elder Hales, "cannot be embarked upon successfully without the help of others. Birth requires earthly parents. Our blessing as a child, our baptism, our receiving the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, our receiving membership in his church, ordination to the priesthood, going on a mission, being married, having children of our own, blessings during illness and time of need—all require the help of others. And all these are acts of love and service which require the help of others and the giving of help to others" (Ensign, Nov. 1975, 91).
Brother Hales makes it clear that our interdependence works both ways. We need the help of others, and we need to help others. We need to both serve and be served. All of us, it turns out, really are needed.
As a branch presidency we have chosen, from among the many excellent suggestions we received, this message as the theme of our branch conference:
Thee lift me, and I'll lift thee
And we'll both ascend together.
You will likely be hearing more about it this weekend in the various sessions of the conference. In fact, the whole experience of branch conference will help us lift each other, allowing us all to ascend together. We invite you to attend, with a sense of anticipation and preparation, and you will experience a rich outpouring of the Spirit. You will be blessed and be a blessing to others.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
