Tag Archives: Service

OT 1: The Unexpected Guest

Posted in Old Testament 2022 by

In Genesis 18 Abraham discovers three visitors approaching his tent and immediately recognizes them as holy people. The language in this chapter alternates between identifying the strangers as “they/them” and “the Lord.” This interplay might find explanation in Leo Tolstoy’s short story “God is Love” but mostly the chapter reminded me of my childhood.

Whenever new families showed up at church (especially if they had children my age), I would run to my parents and ask if we could invite them to dinner. With eventually eight children to feed and tight resources my parents’s answer was usually no. I dreamed of one day having my own home and being able to welcome guests at a moment’s notice with plenty to share.

I am moved by Abraham’s determined hospitality. He begs the strangers to stay, to rest, to have their feet washed. He engages his entire household in serving the strangers and attending to their needs. Not only does Abraham produce plenty of food and drink, but he welcomes them as honored guests.

In my first mission area my trainer encouraged me to listen to the women at church and find someone whose language skills I could learn from. My trainer invited me to make an appointment with the sister for us to visit her and share a message. As a new missionary I found this daunting but proceeded as instructed. The sister was overjoyed to make an appointment, offering to feed the three of us dinner. We set the appointment and I looked forward with great anticipation. In truth I had little to look forward to that first transfer with the freezing temperatures spent daily riding a bicycle through a strange city with women I didn’t know very well.

On the appointed day we worked through our schedule until it was time to set out for the sister’s apartment. We biked for what felt far too long, the minutes ticking by. Our appointment drew near then passed us. My trainer was lost. Finally consulting the maps we always carried with us, she reoriented and eventually got us to the right apartment building. Cold, exhausted, and embarrassed by our tardiness, I sheepishly entered the apartment. The lights were dimmed. As my eyes adjusted I spotted the dining table laid with candles, covered in dishes full of hot food. The sister welcomed us, brushed aside our apologies, and took our coats. We feasted with her comfortably, all embarrassment forgotten, warmed by her hospitality, and feeling like honored guests.

In Matthew’s record of Christ’s ministry, the Lord told his followers “in as much as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40, NT). Abraham seems to have understood this important truth—when we serve our fellow men and women, we are serving our brothers and sisters, children of God, and He counts it as if we have served Him.

May we all look for the unexpected guests among us, ready to welcome them as if they were the Lord Himself.

BoM 2: Supporting My Spouse in a Demanding Church Calling

Posted in Book of Mormon 2020, Come, Follow Me by

Now I know of a surety…that the Lord…hath given [us] power whereby [we] could accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded [us]. (1 Nephi 5:8, BoM)

Several years ago my husband was asked to serve as the leader of an inner-city branch. We loved our branch and the wonderful people we served and served with.

Soon after the stake set apart my husband, I had a dream one night. We were driving our Jeep in a foreign city that I recognized from my mission. My husband was behind the wheel and our one-year-old daughter was buckled safely in her car seat in back. In the dream I became increasingly worried about my husband’s driving. He was driving carelessly, looking at everything but the road and the traffic around us. We found ourselves approaching a set of traffic lights with multiple crossings of one-directional traffic. Just ahead and perpendicular to our line of traffic I could see a barrier and a harbor immediately beyond. My husband drove straight through the light, crossed traffic, and broke the barrier, plunging us into the water. I struggled to free myself from the seatbelt and, remembering our daughter, I turned to try and free her. My husband by this point had already freed himself and was swimming for the surface. My daughter and I could not get out.

I awoke, terrified, but not at a loss for the meaning of the dream. In waking hours I had begun to worry about the amount of time my husband was spending on his church calling and not on his school work or with our family. I expressed my concerns to my husband following the dream, relating its events and my interpretation. I was legitimately afraid for our family’s future.

Sariah expressed similar concerns to her husband, Lehi, about the safety of her children and health of her family. “[S]he…complained against my father, telling him that he was a visionary man; saying: Behold thou hast led us forth from the land of our inheritance, and my sons are no more, and we perish in the wilderness” (1 Nephi 5:2, BoM). They had taken a huge step into the unknown by obeying the Lord’s commandment to leave Jerusalem. They were also taking a huge risk sending their sons back to Jerusalem to obtain a sacred record from a dangerous man at the Lord’s command.

Lehi, ever confident in his calling and the instructions of the Lord, comforted Sariah the best he could, bearing his testimony of the goodness of God. When Nephi and his brothers returned to the family camp safe and with the brass plates in hand, Sariah exclaimed: “Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath commanded my husband to flee into the wilderness; yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons, and delivered them out of the hands of Laban, and given them power whereby they could accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them” (1 Nephi 5:8, BoM).

I similarly learned an invaluable lesson about supporting my spouse in church service. Rather than let preoccupation with my dream feed my fears, I turned my attention to serving our branch with equal love and diligence. Rather than complain when my husband informed me he would be gone all day Sunday or had to step out unexpectedly on church business, I learned to say, “good luck, be safe; I will see you when I see you.” As I supported my husband in his responsibilities, I witnessed the same truth Sariah learned: the Lord protected, blessed, and prospered our family.

A few examples that taught me the goodness of God and demonstrated His willingness to bless when we serve Him and follow His commandments:

  • While driving between my parents’ home and my in-law’s at 6 months pregnant, with my one year old in the car, I was struck by a tractor trailer. Not only were we able to walk away from our totaled car merely shaken and without a single physical injury, the company paid us generously for our totaled vehicle and gave us extra money.
  • The minivan we purchased after the accident ran perfectly at over 250,000 miles for 3.5 years (until my husband was released…then it started falling apart).
  • We had two healthy children born while serving and they rarely got sick.
  • Despite the terrible quality of roads everywhere we drove on church service, we only ever had one flat tire on each of our cars in 4.5 years, and both flats manifested conveniently at our home.
  • I was handed multiple opportunities to hone my musical talents through music service which provided me with a creative outlet, increased my personal joy, and resulted in significant spiritual growth as well.
  • When a promised job fell through just before my husband graduated with his doctorate (and we had no back up plan), the Lord sent us a friend who recommended a totally different career path. My husband’s church service became some of the most impressive parts of his resume and he successfully got a (much better) job less than five months after our initial disappointment.

The wonderful thing about church service is that the whole family can participate, not just by being supportive in word. As I participated in our branch, serving in multiple callings at the same time, doing informal service, with my young children in tow, I witnessed first hand how God strengthened, protected, and blessed our family. I will forever preach to friends, family, and strangers that the Lord blesses and prospers individuals and families when they lose themselves in church service.

NT 13: Finding the Faith-promoting Narrative

Posted in Come, Follow Me, New Testament 2019 by

As I read the story of the Gentile woman in Matthew 15 last week I felt tempted to approach the scriptures from a feeling of indignation. But that did not seem like a productive effort. To read the Gentile woman’s experience in Matthew 15:21–28 as solely an example of victimization is to perpetuate the historical narrative about women and reaffirm women’s victimhood––all without providing any deeper, faith-promoting insight. To only focus on one side of the story is to miss the beauty of the exchange. To only see the woman as a victim is to miss the manifestation of a strong, inspiring character.

There is so much good to learn from this story! The Gentile woman demonstrates incredible determination in pursuing a miracle from Jesus, even after the disciples have tried to get rid of her. She shows amazing faith by pursuing healing at the hands of someone with whom she had no social, cultural, or religious intercourse. Her motherhood shines as she pushes against socio-cultural norms to save her daughter’s life. Her wit excels as she accepts the appellation “dog” without reaction and turns it back to Jesus to again request the miracle within the context of His analogy. And you know how the story ends…she gets her miracle.

Though stories about women are comparatively few in the scriptures, the Gentile woman stands out to me as a story of strength and resilience. Over the years, women of faith, wit, and goodness have blessed my life in countless ways. Maybe that’s the new narrative we can write, one of women uplifting others, women carrying others’ burdens, women strengthening each other, women blessing humanity.

Can you think of time when your life has been blessed by a woman?
Can you think of opportunities in which you might be able to bless humanity?

 

Day 73: The Dearest Souls

Posted in Book of Mormon Insights by

3 Nephi 17:5, 17

Have you ever met someone or had a friend in whose presence who feel really good? Good in the sense that you feel perfectly comfortable, your best self, and at home? There have been several people in my life for whom this was true, and I made myself annoying on more than one occasion when I tried to spend as much time as possible with them.

Jesus announces in 3 Nephi 17 that He needs to leave for a short time to fulfill other assignments but that He will come back. He looks around at the crowd of people to discover they are distraught. He “beheld they were in tears, and did look steadfastly upon him as if they would ask him to tarry a little longer with them” (v. 5). In this brief space of time, the people have formed a close bond with the Savior and they don’t want Him to leave. They love how they feel in His presence and they don’t want it to end, even just for a few hours.

The Savior stays a little longer healing the sick and afflicted, praying for and with the people, ministering to the children. Christ is filled with the truest, purest form of love that exists. That love infused His being as well as everything He said and did while visiting the Nephites and Lamanites.

And no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father. (3 Nephi 17:17)

The response of the people to Christ’s ministrations, prophecies, and prayers makes perfect sense: people can feel the love you have for them. They can also sense dislike. If you are having trouble loving the people you serve, pray for your heart to be filled with love. Nothing communicates God’s reality more effectively than one of His children sent to serve another. Nothing communicates God’s love better than service offered with love and selflessness.

As a disciple of Jesus Christ I hope that I can communicate just such love to those I serve and to my fellow persons in everything I do and say and feel.

Day 47: Live in Thanksgiving Daily

Posted in Book of Mormon Insights by

Alma 34

Celebrating Thanksgiving today put me in mind of gratitude and its supreme importance to this life. When a person is grateful, s/he humbly acknowledges the contributions others make and genuinely appreciates them. King Benjamin taught his people that gratitude constitutes one of the most important ways we can try to repay God for everything He does for us. As I read through verse 38 in Alma 34, I realized that Amulek shaped much of this sermon to the Zoramites around being thankful––why we should be grateful to God and ways we can appropriately show our gratitude.

First, why should we be grateful to God? King Benjamin instilled in his people a sense of their indebtedness to God. At the heart of our debt to God is the willing sacrifice of His Only Begotten Son to “atone for the sins of the world” (Alma 34:8). Jesus’ earthly ministry and “great and last sacrifice” give our lives meaning and preserve the purpose for which we were created: we cannot reach our divine potential and inherit God’s kingdom without access to repentance and forgiveness (v. 16). The Great Plan of Redemption comes as a gift from Christ, for “he shall bring salvation to all those who shall believe on his name” (v. 15). Jesus encircles us “in the arms of safety” through His Atonement, saving us from the harsh demands of justice by satisfying them Himself (v. 16). God pours out “mercies and blessings” upon us (v. 38).

We are truly indebted to our Heavenly Father and Jesus for everything they do for us! Our existence is only made possible through them. Rightly did Amulek counsel the Zoramites to “live in thanksgiving daily.” He provides specific instructions for how we can appropriately show our gratitude. We need to believe in Jesus Christ for starters and “exercise [our] faith unto repentance” (v. 15, 17). We need to call on God in prayer everywhere, all the time, every day for mercy, for protection, for strength (v. 17-26). We need to pray for others and deliberately and compassionately serve the poor and needy (v. 27-28). We need to soften our hearts and “prepare to meet God” (v. 31-32). We need to repent, cleanse our souls, and fear God (v. 35-37). We need to be patient and develop “a firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions” (v. 41).

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said in a 2000 Brigham Young University devotional, “Gratitude turns a meal into a feast and drudgery into delight. It softens our grief and heightens our pleasure. It turns the simple and common into the memorable and transcendent. It forges bonds of love and fosters loyalty and admiration” (Wirthlin, “Live in Thanksgiving Daily,” BYU Speeches [Oct 2000]). As we follow Amulek’s counsel to continually demonstrate our gratitude to God, the quality of our lives will improve, our spirits will be strengthened, and our love for God and His children will grow immeasurably.

 

Day 43: Journeying Back to Our Heavenly Home

Posted in Book of Mormon Insights by

Alma 26:35-37

Several years ago I accompanied a set of sister missionaries to a first teaching appointment. The man we were teaching had been referred by a friend of mine. He and his wife had moved from China, earned college degrees in the US, and recently purchased a home. As we made introductions, the man mentioned that he and his wife were still settling into life in America and often felt out of place. I remembered Ammon’s words from Alma 26:36  and felt a kinship with this man––are we not all “wanderers in a strange land?”

Earth is not our first home and it will not be our last. We were spiritual beings first, children of heavenly parents who sent us out from their heavenly home so that we could have the opportunity to become like them. They sent us to earth to provide us with a mortal experience necessary to prepare us for returning to our heavenly home. Earth is not the final destination on our journey: It is a stopping point where we learn how to use our agency, choose to follow Jesus Christ, make mistakes, repent, participate in the saving ordinances, serve others, and develop godly attributes. Only through the Atonement of Christ can we qualify to return to our first and real home.

The kinship I felt that day as a fellow wanderer in this “strange land” we call earth reinforced to me Ammon’s words “that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth” (Alma 26:37). God loves each of His children regardless of the distinctions so peculiar to mortality. Culture, creed, race, education, language, political affiliation, geographic location, nationality are mortal constructs, purely temporary and secondary to our shared eternal identity as children of God. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is available to all people, for we are each numbered and known to God; He wants each of us to qualify for and receive the greatest gift He can bestow––a place in His house to dwell forever.

Day 16: For what shall you be known?

Posted in Book of Mormon Insights by

2 Nephi 22:5

Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things; this is known in all the earth.

The invitation to sing out and tell the entire Earth about the Savior causes me to reflect on my own deeds. Have I done “excellent things” while here on Earth? If you asked my kids, husband, extended family, and friends to summarize my life, what would they report? I know some days my children would probably tell anyone who asked that I yelled too much or I was a mean mommy.

In my quest to be more like the Savior, I not only want to celebrate the excellent things He has done, but I also want to do excellent things that point others toward Him. The most “excellent thing” He has done is provide for humankind the Resurrection and the opportunity to gain eternal life—collectively summarized in this chapter as “salvation.” The most excellent thing I can do is raise my children to follow Jesus Christ, lift my neighbors, and bring others to Christ so that they, too, can qualify for salvation.