Brothers and sisters, welcome to this week's
ward council meeting.
We as a bishopric appreciate you being here and on time.
We'd like to start the meeting today by calling on Sister
Jones, our Primary president, who will give
us an opening prayer.
Amen.
Thank you, Sister Jones.
I appreciate that.
Now Brother James has distributed to
you the ward calendar.
It has our dates between now and the end of the year.
And I appreciate you coordinating with him so that
we don't have to spend much time in the meeting
today going over that.
So I'd ask you to quickly look at the calendar and tell me if
there are any corrections or changes that you
would like to make.
Looks good.
Does it look good?
Then we'll accept it as our calendar between now and the
end of the year and we'll move forward with it.
Brothers and sisters, before we start our discussions today
I just wanted to remind you that my impression has been
and having watched us as a ward council, we make better
decisions when we all participate regardless of what
the topic is or our particular calling in the ward.
So please, in our discussions today, feel free to contribute
and make an expression as you feel moved upon by the Spirit.
As you'll remember, we started a discussion about the general
level of spirituality and the commitment level of our youth.
And as we discussed it last week, we found that our
seminary attendance was down a little.
And there was a general sense of the ward council that
perhaps our youth are struggling with their
testimonies a bit and living some of the standards.
And so we decided that we would ponder and pray about it
this week and come back prepared to counsel together.
And so I hope you've had a chance to do that.
So let me just ask this question and throw
it out to the group.
What are some things that we can do to increase the
spirituality of the youth in our ward?
As a mother of teenage daughters, I
worry about that, too.
I wonder if the parents realize some of the challenges
their teenage children are facing.
We could plan a fifth Sunday joint priesthood and Relief
Society meeting and address this topic.
Bishop, if you led the discussion and you shared the
ideas from this ward council today, you could get the
parents participating and their
perspective of their teenagers.
And then with the ideas that we glean, I'm sure we can make
up a plan to strengthen our teenagers and increase their
spirituality as well as ours.
I appreciate that.
Bishop, in addition to meeting with the parents, I think it
would be very important to meet with the youth.
I'm speaking now as a father as opposed to a group leader,
but my children love the Sunday night devotional
meetings that you have. They like meeting with you in a
personal setting, and we haven't had one
of those for a while.
So may I suggest that we think about scheduling one of those
where you can talk about standards, modesty, dating,
studying the scriptures.
I think that would help a lot.
I had the same thought this week.
I know my children love coming into the devotionals and they
love it when there's time for question and
answers with you, Bishop.
They love your input.
Well, brethren I guess we're on.
And Brother Reas, our ward clerk, I'm hoping you're
making some notes here so we remember these commitments and
assignments that we're putting together.
And Brother James, why don't you do this?
If you would look and find the next available fifth Sunday
this has not already been planned for this joint
meeting, and then find us a Sunday evening that we can
have a devotional, and bring that to our bishopric meeting,
and we'll make a decision.
Bishop, may I suggest that we include in that discussion the
benefits and the blessings of both the Duty to God program
and the Personal Progress for young women.
I think if the parents are involved once again then we'll
have a lot more success with our youth.
Bishop, with regard to the young men, there's such a need
to reinforce to live virtuous lives and to learn and
understand their priesthood duties.
I think it would make a huge difference if we could get the
parents to accept the responsibility to take the
lead in these two programs with their youth.
In fact, I think the Strength of Youth pamphlet is the
perfect foundation for a discussion on
testimony and on standards.
These are wonderful ideas, Bishop.
I also feel strongly about missionary work and the
special spirit that it brings.
This spirit also resonates with our youth.
What if we invited the full-time missionaries to come
teach a combined youth meeting where they could talk about
their mission as well as simple ways that the youth can share
the gospel with their friends?
Bishop and brothers and sisters, next week we have a
bishopric youth council.
Perhaps the bishopric can bring this up with the council
before we make final plans.
Let's do that.
Brother Reas, why don't you go through now and remind us from
your notes as the clerk what decisions we've made here and
any follow-up items we need to keep track of.
Yes, Bishop.
Here are the notes I've made so far.
Brother James will check the calendar for available dates
for a Sunday devotional and a fifth Sunday joint priesthood
and Relief Society meeting.
Also, Brother Smith will coordinate with the
missionaries to see if they can participate in the Sunday
devotional or a combined youth meeting on the first
Sunday of the month.
The bishopric will discuss the idea with the
bishop's youth council.
And I've also made some notes for you, Bishop, on the Duty
to God and Personal Progress program.
That's wonderful.
Thank you very much.
That's a good start.
Let's come back in two weeks with a plan and an agenda and
something that we're ready to move forward and implement.
Now our second item on the agenda today follows a
discussion that Sister Todd as the Young Women president
had with her presidency.
And it had to do with the issue of reverence--
reverence in our sacrament meetings, reverence in the
chapel, and reverence in our homes.
And so I thought it would be a good idea for us to discuss
that as a follow-up.
Because last week if you remember, we decided that we
would ponder and pray about it before we continued that
discussion.
So during the week, I asked Brother Glauser, our high
priests group leader, if he would find a scripture that
might serve as a guide and a basis for
our discussion today.
Brother Glauser, what did you find?
Bishop, I really enjoyed studying the topic of
reverence this week.
And I learned that reverence is a profound respect and love
and gratitude for our Father in Heaven for all the
blessings that He has given us.
In the Doctrine and Covenants we learn that reverence is a very
important quality of those that attain
the celestial kingdom.
So if we come to our meetings in the spirit of reverence,
we're coming there to learn about our Father in Heaven and
how we can become more like Him.
And it's this spirit of reverence that leads to
revelation, which leads to personal growth and
development.
Thank you, Brother Glauser.
I think that's a wonderful scripture that you found.
So brothers and sisters, with that as a background, let's
talk for a moment and express the feelings of your heart.
What do you think we could do to increase the reverence in
our ward and in our homes?
Bishop, I think from a Sunday School perspective, we've
noticed over the past couple of months some of our teachers
making last-minute preparations and then hurrying
off to class,
and sometimes even showing up a little bit late.
And that's got to have an impact on the
reverence in the classroom.
So with your permission, we'd like to work with the teachers
and emphasize to them that they have a wonderful teaching
opportunity, but they can't do it unless they're well
prepared and unless they really bring a good spirit of
reverence to the classroom.
I appreciate that, Brother Miado.
Why don't you move forward and do that?
Thank you.
Brother Miado, we're going to take that challenge as a
Relief Society presidency.
We are going to encourage our teachers to have their lesson
preparation complete the night before so that they can attend
Sunday School.
But maybe the solution for the reverence
problem begins with us.
Perhaps we need to be the example and set it by arriving
to church 5 to 10 minutes early with our families and
listen to the beautiful organ music.
The prelude music sets the tone for the meeting and
prepares us to partake of the sacrament and to be
spiritually fed by instruction.
And Bishop, maybe if we as a bishopric set the example and
were on the stand five minutes early and enjoyed that prelude
music ourselves, that might be a good thing.
It's a wonderful temptation for me to spend that time
shaking people's hands.
But I think you're right.
We need to be on the stand and set that example.
It needs to start in the home.
And so I think if we really want to have this increased
level of reverence for our whole ward, we've got to let
the heads of homes know-- the mothers and the fathers--
and tell them what our goals are as a ward.
And if we can have greater reverence with our family home
evening and in our family prayers, I think when it
starts at home it will likely extend once we
walk into the church.
Bishop, I know we can improve with the Aaronic
Priesthood as well.
For example, I think the teachers could get there early
to have the sacrament prepared so they, too, can listen to
the prelude music and not be disrupting the congregation.
Also, I think it would be helpful to have the deacons
and the priests in their seats ready to bless and to pass the
sacrament before the meeting begins.
I think that's a good point.
But I do have to commend you, Brother Webber, as a Young
Men president. I think in general our young men are very
reverent about the way they bless and
administer the sacrament.
I think the Primary children do a great job walking in each
Sunday and sitting reverently.
Last week, I watched the Wallace boys all walk in with
their arms folded.
And they sat and listened to sacrament meeting so
reverently.
I was so impressed.
They are a great example for all of us.
There are.
Brothers and sisters, any other thoughts?
Bishop, I'm conducting a sacrament meeting next month.
How would you feel if we devoted a topic of that
meeting to how reverence can bless our lives?
I think that's a great idea.
Let's plan to do that.
Now we're not going to solve the issue of reverence here in
the ward council today.
So I would recommend that you go back and discuss it with
your leadership groups in your leadership meetings.
And Brother Reas has been continuing to take notes here,
which is good.
If you come up with other ideas, please share them with
Brother Reas.
He will get them on his master list. And then, Brother James,
in another two weeks, let's schedule this on our agenda.
Now looking at our agenda, we have a couple follow-up items
from the last week that we'd like to take care of.
Bishop, I had that assignment to follow up on our rescuing
efforts with the Wood family.
Our visiting teachers have been able to go in and give a
spiritual message to Sister Wood.
She is a delightful lady.
They confided with me last week that Sister Wood and the
children would love to come to sacrament meeting, but that
her husband works long hours during the week and his only
time to be with his family is on Sunday.
And he would prefer that they would stay at home with him.
Bishop, the home teachers were not able to make an
appointment with the Wood family.
However, Brother Kelly in the ward is a friend and neighbor
of the family.
And he told me he invited Brother Wood to attend the
upcoming elders quorum social this month, and he accepted
the invitation.
Brother Kelly also told me the that Brother Wood doesn't seem
to be hostile to the Church.
He's just overrun with work right now.
That's very valuable insight.
I think we need to keep the efforts for
home teaching going.
And the Primary as well could reach out to make sure that
the children are involved in the activities.
Bishop, I feel that if Brother Wood can be taught by home
teachers in his home and the doctrines can be set
in his heart deeply, that his priorities will change and
that he will want to come to church.
That's a wonderful prospective, Brother
Westenskow.
Appreciate that very much.
As our elders quorum president, I think the key's
going to be these home teachers and their
effectiveness.
Thank you.
Let's look at our agenda as well now.
The Madsen family.
Several of you reported last week that there'd been some
sickness in the home and in fact, Sister Madsen had
actually spent some time the hospital.
What have you found out from your respective organizations
regarding the family?
Bishop, I dropped by the Madsen home, and she is home
from the hospital.
The illness was not serious at all.
She's back with the family.
The kids are all doing great this week.
So I think they're back to normal.
Wonderful.
And we invited the eldest child to the Primary activity, and he
came and had a really great time with the other children.
We took in a a few meals, Bishop.
And the children were delighted with the hot meal.
And Sister Madsen was so delighted not to
have prepared it.
My first counselor made a personal visit, and all is
going to be well.
That's good news.
Thank you very much for those reports.
Now our agenda calls for some follow-up as well on some
items that Brother James has been tracking for us, some
individual families and some people.
We can't discuss all of them today because
the list is too long.
So we as a bishopric have made a priority of a few.
First we'd like to mention the Green family, how excited we
are that after six months of working with them, we've now
seen them at church for the past four weeks in a row, which
is wonderful.
Brother and Sister Green have accepted a calling in the
Church, which is great.
And they're even starting to have discussions now and
sending some signals that they'd be interested in
learning more about the blessings of the temple and
how it can help their families.
Bishop, on that note, maybe it'd be helpful if we invite
them to attend the temple preparation
class in Sunday School.
That's a good idea.
Brother Duvall, you know the Greens pretty well.
Would you have a discussion with them both, and if it
feels right, would you extend to them the invitation to
participate in that temple preparation class?
Bishop, I'd love to have that discussion with them.
Thank you.
We'll stay very close to them as they prepare to attend the
temple as a family.
We really appreciate all the organizations of the ward in
helping to make a significant impact in the lives of the
Green family.
Thanks very much.
The next family is the Aoki family, who are investigating
the Church.
And I talked to Brother Smith earlier in the week, who's our
ward mission leader. He said the next Sunday could be the
first week we actually see the Aokis at church.
We sure hope so, Bishop.
That's wonderful.
Now if I remember right, they have two children in the
Primary and they have one young man about--
14 years old.
--about teachers age.
Will the children be coming for Primary?
I'm not sure, but if they do, having someone there from the
Primary to greet and escort them to the class
would help a lot.
OK.
We should do the same thing with the young man,
and with his parents for that matter.
Why don't we have each member of the ward council go out of
your way and meet them?
Learn their names and get to know them a little bit.
That would really be meaningful to them.
Who have we invited to host them for the lessons?
Brother Briggs, the Broadbents have had them and the full-
time missionaries in their home.
But according to our progress record, we have six
investigators that currently do not have families
participating with the full-time missionaries.
Can we ask the high priests and the elders quorum to each
invite three families to participate in the teaching of
these investigators?
Brethren, how do you feel about that invitation?
Can you accept it as an assignment?
Our family can take one of those families, and I'll find
two others.
We'll be happy to help as well.
Will you coordinate, Brother Smith, with the missionaries at
that weekly missionary coordination meeting--
Certainly.
--to ensure we get the families assigned?
And then we let the bishopric know--in fact, why don't you
let Brother Briggs know--
who has been assigned so that we can extend a special
invitation to those families and encourage them to really
catch the missionary spirit that is very powerful in the
ward when our members get involved.
Our next family is the newly baptized Garcia family.
We're excited about having them as members of the ward.
And I've noticed that they've been to the ward now for the
past several weeks.
And I thought it would be valuable for us to discuss as
a ward council just how we think they are progressing.
Well, Bishop, I realize that they're doing
rather well in the ward.
But I did have some concerns that perhaps they could
use a little more fellowshipping.
I actually checked our records this morning, Bishop, and I
didn't notice any home teachers assigned to them yet.
Actually, Brother Reas, we have assigned two very strong
home teachers to the family, which is something we always
do with new converts.
I'll get you those names after the meeting if that's OK.
You can put them on your records.
However, like Brother James said, I also saw that they
were a little bit isolated at church.
I think they just haven't really made any
friends in the ward yet.
Sister Bennion, I was thinking, along with Sister Garcia's
visiting teachers, what if we asked two other sisters to be
friends with Sister Garcia? And maybe that would make her
feel more connected with the members of the ward.
Oh, I love that idea.
We love new converts and we would just be so happy as
sisters to put our arms around her and welcome Sister Garcia.
As a presidency, we'll also consider those two or three
sisters to get to know her and befriend and help her feel
part of the ward.
I'll also assign one of them to make sure that they invite
her to the mid-week activity in two weeks.
Good.
Bishop, their two sons have been coming to priesthood
meeting, but they haven't made it to any Mutual activities.
So this week, the Young Men have planned an activity
especially for them.
We're actually going to go to the park and play soccer.
We've invited them.
They're planning to come, so we're excited about that.
That's a great idea.
Thank you.
Now it seems to me if I remember right, Brother Garcia
owns an auto repair business.
I wonder if there's a way of connecting our young men with
Brother Garcia.
It's a great idea.
Maybe we could have him host or help us participate in a
career night down at his shop.
In fact, I think it would be fun if the young men were able
to go down there and take a tour of his shop and maybe see
what he does for a living and see how cars are repaired.
Wait, Brother Webber.
Don't forget the girls on this one.
What if we made it a joint activity, and the young men
and the young women went down?
I think it would be helpful for every young woman to know
how to change a tire or know a little something about a car.
They should know those skills.
Bishop, we'll make sure that the entire family is also
invited to the elders quorum social later this month.
Thank you.
Bishop, I've gotten to know the Garcia family. They're a
wonderful family.
And I know once they feel the love and affection and support
of the members of the ward council, and when we give them
a calling, they're going to become very strong members of
the Church.
It'll be exciting.
Now Brother Reas has continued to make some notes, so after
the meeting I suggest you compare your notes with his.
Because we have had some good ideas here and some
assignments made.
We want to make sure the follow-up actually happens.
And again, though, these are just a few ideas.
I think the real key's going to be in your leadership
meetings, having discussions about how we can make the
Garcia family feel a part of the ward and become fully
integrated and feel the Spirit of what we have to offer as
friends and as neighbors.
So thank you very much.
Now we have on our list as well several families that
we've been reaching out to and trying to rescue.
We only have time today to talk about the Young family.
And I've been thinking about them.
It was up to about a year ago, they used to be in church
every Sunday without fail.
And now we begin to see a slow drift in their activity level.
A couple of weeks ago, I happened to bump into Brother
Young and I thought I heard in what he had to say a desire to
get his family and himself back on track.
I even sensed that the blessings of the temple could
be something that would inspire him and get him
ignited again about his enthusiasm
regarding the Church.
And so I ask this question:
What is it as a ward council that we might be able to do to
help Brother Young and to make his family feel more
comfortable about returning to us?
Bishop, they have two children in Primary.
Why don't we as a Primary come up with an idea to help them
return to church?
I can help with that.
I live very close to the Young family.
And they are a fabulous family.
I think those children know me well enough from the
neighborhood they'd feel comfortable.
I live so close.
I can drive by and pick them up any time.
Starting with those little girls is
probably a very good idea.
Now their boy who's in high school, I think,
I understand he's not doing too well.
Bishop, my first assistant son is just an excellent student.
He's a top-notch scholar, and I bet he would be willing to
help as well.
Wonderful.
Will you check on that and report back to the council the
next time we meet?
I will.
Thanks, Brother Glauser.
Bishop, does anyone know if he's been
invited to attend seminary?
Let me check on that, Bishop.
I think it's important that he have that experience.
I think that's a good idea.
I would also like to help as well.
We are having a Relief Society activity in two weeks.
And I would like to personally invite Sister Young and pick
her up if I may.
Bishop, I don't know if you're aware that our
husbands work together.
And John and Brother Young had some wonderful gospel
conversations during lunch.
John is amazed at Brother Young's understanding of the
scriptures, dating back to when he was a missionary.
Maybe he needs an opportunity to serve,
perhaps be a teacher.
Brethren, maybe that's something as a
bishopric we could consider.
The idea of a teaching assignment may be a key.
So let's think about it and we'll pray and we'll ponder.
And if we can find the right opportunity, we will move
forward as a bishopric and extend a call.
Thank you very much.
But I think again, the more discussion we can have in our
individual leadership meetings, the more we will
find opportunities to encourage the Youngs.
I believe that when we seek the Spirit, Heavenly Father
will touch our hearts and we will get the Young family back
into full activity.
I have a testimony of that in my heart, as I've listened to
Brother Young express in his own way his testimony.
So thanks again for all the efforts.
And Brother Reas, let's make sure we get this list of ideas
distributed this next week, OK?
Will do.
Thank you very much.
Now one of the other names today that we wanted to
discuss is Sister Turner.
I understand that Sister Turner's visiting teachers
have been there and reported back that her little house is
not in very good repair.
I think it has been hard since Brother Turner has passed away
for her to keep up on that house.
As you know, now the ward council replaces the
discussions that we would normally have in the ward
welfare committee.
And so Sister Turner's given me permission to talk about
her needs with the ward council to see what
it is we could do.
What thoughts do you have?
I think the young women could be of service there.
Just a few weeks ago, we were able to help another sister in
the ward do some cleaning and painting around her house.
We could certainly do the same.
In fact, the young women would love to get to know Sister
Turner and do that for her.
Well, maybe we could make it a joint activity and
include the young men.
Well, if you let us come to the repair shop, we'll let you
you come pull weeds with us.
That's a deal.
All right.
That's good.
I think her biggest problem that was reported to me was
she has a leaking roof.
Bishop, I'm not sure anyone in the high priests group
understands roofing, but I could check on
that and let you know.
Brother Brooks in the elders quorum might be
able to be of service.
We've been looking for ways to help them be a little more
active in the quorum and better understand the duties
of the priesthood.
And I think that an opportunity to serve would be
very helpful for him.
Until just a couple years ago, Brother Brooks
was a full-time roofer.
And it's my understanding that a couple of younger men in the
ward work for him part-time.
I'll be sure to ask him if he'd help.
Good.
And will you coordinate that with Brother Glauser?
Because Sister Turner is assigned to the high priests
group for home teaching.
So Brother Glauser, could we ask you to take that
assignment and oversee what we might be able to do with
Sister Turner and her home?
I think the keys are these.
Let's use as many of the ward organizations as we can and
voluntary labor.
Will you put together a plan and then report back to the
council and let's see what we are able to do for her?
We'd love to organize a coordinated effort.
And we'll get back to you next time we meet.
Bishop, did you know that Sister Sayers fell
and broke her leg?
It was a nasty fall, but she has lots of family around that
are helping her.
But I think she would appreciate if the priesthood
came and gave her the sacrament.
Brother Webber, could you take that assignment and let's get
two young men over there and administer the
sacrament to her?
Yes, we'll do that.
Good.
Oh, Bishop.
I do have two confidential matters that I need to share
with you after the meeting.
Could I meet with you for about five minutes?
Be glad to do that.
Brothers and sisters, this concludes our meeting today.
I would just remind you of two things.
Number one, the confidentiality of what we've
spoken about, particularly as it relates to
individuals and families.
They are sacred to our Father in Heaven, and what we say
here should remain sacred.
And as a bishopric, we just want to extend to you our
great love and appreciation for what you do in serving the
members of the ward and your willingness to speak here in
love and openness and in concern to bless the lives of
our ward members.
Now Brother James, will you give us a closing prayer for
our meeting?
Yes.
Thank you.