"To love another person is to see the face of God"
--- Victor Hugo (French novelist, playwright, & poet; 1802 - 1885)
Jesus Christ taught that the great commandment in the law was “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Matt 22:36-40). Said He, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:34-35). As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we believe in doing as Jesus taught, in loving and serving others, in putting our faith into practice, not only in word but in deed too. That's how you change the world. One person at a time.
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THE WORTH OF EVERY SOUL
Sometimes there are people who lose their way for a little while but Jesus taught us to leave the ninety and nine to go rescue the one in need (Luke 15:4; Matt. 18:12). One of my favorite parables is the Prodigal son:
“…When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called they son’. But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: and bring hither the fatted calf and kill it; and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” (Luke 15:20-24)
There is always hope and that's because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ (See "Repentance"). Heavenly Father loves us perfectly. Whenever we feel that we are too lost and beyond hope, remember that “the Son of man is come to save that which was lost” (Matt 18:11; See also "Lost and Found"). That is precisely why we need a Savior, so we can all come back to the presence of God the Father. There is always a way back to the gospel. Believe me, there is much rejoicing in heaven for every soul who embraces the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The worth of every soul is great. God cares much more about who we can become than what we used to be. He sees things we cannot. We are all alike in his eye; individuals who make mistakes, yes, but we are still His children and He is our Father.
THE HISTORY OF MINISTERING
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was organized on April 6, 1830 with six members in a log farm home belonging to Peter Whitmer, Sr., in Fayette, Seneca County, New York. Church membership took off rapidly. Overseas missionary efforts exploded starting in 1837 in England. Within ten years of being organized, the church had gained over 16,000 members, many of whom immigrated from England to join the saints in America. Within another ten years, church membership would be over 50,000 strong. With the rapid influx of people, the church had to create a way to assure the care of the saints by geography. In Illinois, those divisions of the city were called “Wards” (See "Church Organization"). As they moved across the plains, their care was organized in “companies”. The mandate to care for and teach one another continued. Once called "acting teachers" in 1909, the name of the initiative formally changed to "ward teachers" in 1912. Years before that time the effort was informally called "block teaching". In April 1963, the ward teaching program was expanded and renamed "home teaching".
Home Teaching was the program that I grew up knowing until it was revamped after my mission in April of 2018 and is now known simply as “Ministering” with an even deeper emphasis on fellowshipping. One of the big differences I see is the increasing closeness of service: first in companies, then in Wards, then blocks, then homes, and at last to individuals.
The purpose of Ministering has in many ways been constant since the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was organized and it is to fellowship, serve, and teach. All Church members share in a common task to “Care for the One”, to make sure every single person is taken care of and loved, which is especially important in large Wards where a single Bishop or leader cannot do everything alone (See "Bishops and Shepherds"). To each and every person is delegated the duty and privilege of serving in this love-based calling. It has long been a commandment to Love thy neighbor as thyself. Although it may be called by different names, it is nothing new.
Until 2018, the members of the Ward assigned to a family or person were called "Home Teachers" for the men and "Visiting Teachers" for the women. With the introduction of the "Ministering" initiative, we now refer to those people as "Ministering Brothers" or "Ministering Sisters".
I’ve seen the blessings of Home Teaching and Ministering both in the mission and at home. One of the big shifts from Home Teachers to “Ministering Brothers and Sisters” is to not overly preoccupy ourselves in routine house calls and sharing lessons and to focus more on individual needs. Ministering allows flexibility in the way we approach fellowshipping. It's much more personalized now. And this makes sense because everybody is different. I don’t have to look at my “Ministering brothers” as just "doing their job" so to speak. They're friends whom I can rely on and confide in. I know the same can be said of other recipients. There is wisdom in this opportunity to reach out.
I also witnessed the consequences of those who did not fulfill their Home Teaching duties. For many who can’t make it to church for any reason, Ministering brothers and sisters are sometimes the only direct association they have with the Church (even though ideally it doesn't stop there). I have seen many families become distant from Church members because they feel unwanted and unimportant. They feel forgotten and so little by little, they forget the Church. It was infuriating to find beautiful families under this category as a result of lazy Ward members who don't reach out! Sure, sometimes it wasn’t always laziness but it was usually the case in my mission, no acceptable reason why people didn't do more for others. We should always do our best to reach out. As missionaries, we'd try to fill that gap but missionaries can only do so much when they come and go all the time. What people need is consistency. Love can be felt through the smallest of kind deeds and sometimes the small things can make all the difference.
Reaching out doesn’t have to be complicated. Relationships are extremely important in the grand scheme of things. Quality time spent with others is time well spent. Surely, we can find the time to care for those whom the Lord has placed in our lives. He will not judge lightly those who neglect His children (Matt. 25:41-46). To minister as Christ did means to lose ourselves in the service of others. We are commanded to love our neighbor as ourselves. I think it’s a wonderful commandment and it’s as easy as being a friend to everyone.
Ponder Question: How did Jesus Christ treat others? How can we show more love to those that don't reciprocate that love to us?
A FRIEND IS FOUND
Every week, the men of the Buena Vista Ward (Priesthood holders) visited families who were unable to attend church but wanted visits. We'd all meet up at the church beforehand to delegate visiting assignments which usually included an average of 3 families per companionship.
One night, my companion and I were making rounds with the Bishop’s son, Tito (Tee-toh), but none of the families we'd planned on visiting were home. My companion and I didn’t have anybody we were teaching that we could visit that late at night but I believe that the spirit, that still small voice, inspired Tito to call upon one of his old professors and old friend of the family we shall call O.
We went and visited O. (who I had never met before and who was not listed in the Ward directory); he was a member of the church but hadn't attended in years. I had no idea if anyone would open up to us at that hour of the night; especially since some people don't want anything to do with missionaries or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and that's the same for any strangers who come knocking at night. Nevertheless, we knocked and waited. When the door opened, I caught a glimpse of irritation from O., like we had just woken him up and he'd gotten off the wrong side of the bed. But that stern expression reversed instantly once he saw it was Tito. The front door swung open and O. went in for a big hug from Tito. It was like a surprise family reunion. Smiles all around!
O. was a jovial overweight man probably in his fifties or sixties. He had dark brown hair but a silver mustache that draped slightly over his mouth. His shining eyes smiled plenty to know he was happy, even through his glasses. He had a great smile, and a contagious kind. His smile, even his personality, reminded me a lot of my dad. Even in the beginning, when he wasn't quite warmed up to us yet, you just felt a love for him and could tell that he was a good man.
Without hesitation, O. insisted we pull up some chairs on the enormous porch and we just talked for like an hour about life. I guess it had been a while since anyone visited O. so we asked if we could continue coming back every now and then.
His church membership records weren't in the Buena Vista Ward because they were in another city he used to live in (See "Baptism by Immersion"). When he stopped going to church, the records were left where they were, far from the person they represented. Because he'd stopped attending church, I guess nobody knew where he had gone, or if he had moved and couldn't do anything with his records because they'd lost contact with him. What am I trying to say? We never would have found O. were it not for Tito. That’s the power of member missionary work! That night was wonderful. O. felt something familiar and he wanted more.
It didn’t happen all at once but O. started coming back to church. Initially, he had mixed feelings. He was embarrassed to come and often joked about coming back the next Sunday only because we were so persistent, but then he’d lovingly smile so we knew he was only teasing us and it would be alright. We continued visiting him and more than anything, more than simply "teaching" or "making the rounds", we made sure he knew that he was among friends who loved him and wanted him to be happy and healthy.
One of the things that O. had to change in his life was alcohol. As mentioned before, the Word of Wisdom prohibits alcohol consumption because 1) God commanded it through His living prophet, and 2) It harms the mind, body, and spirit (See "Word of Wisdom: Health"). It wasn’t easy and like many who battle addictions, O. went giving it up little by little until he started a solid streak of sobriety. Once he committed to sobriety, it became much easier. We made sure that he prayed and that he started reading the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ again. When his spirits were down, we shared our testimonies and reminded him of the power of God’s grace that enables us to conquer sin and temptation. It was the little things, taking things day-by-day and step-by-step that helped him. Life by the yard is hard. Life by the inch is a cinch.
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