My dear, dear friends (President and Sister Watts)…
I’ve had a few thoughts I wanted to share with you in hopes they might be helpful. Vivienne and I love you very much and will always be grateful for the privilege of serving at your side that enriched and blessed our lives in more ways than we can number.
We both enjoy the blessing of temple service and thank you for your leadership at the temple as it continues to bless all of us. You are both doing a magnificent job!
1. We talked with our son Seth on Sunday evening. He had just returned from a High Priest quorum meeting in the Eugene Stake where the entire meeting was focused on encouraging more HP to serve in the temple. There were just two speakers: a newly called temple worker, who had already had a life transformation through his temple service, and a long-time temple worker. Seth said the topic was as a direct result of your visit to their stake. Nice job!
2. Thank you for recommending a number of brethren in our stake, who are not serving in the temple, to serve in the baptistry. We appreciate the encouragement you gave and the help it will be to those families.
3. Each Wednesday after our shift, we often stay to do ordinances rather than fight the rush-hour traffic. Last Wednesday we performed some sealings. We both came away feeling like Brother Jensen (a sealer on the Wednesday evening shift) was especially effective in his calling. He wasn’t too fast, nor too slow, he was just right (as the nursery story goes). He was very gracious, not a lot of chit-chat or joking and was sensitive to everyone’s time schedules and needs. Thought you’d like to know your sealers are doing a great job.
4. We enjoyed having President and Sister Lundgreen at our stake conference last weekend…and doubly glad that you were able to join us as well. I’m sorry that we didn’t recognize you in the audience. That was my oversight. Please forgive me. I know you’re not looking for recognition, but we want our stake to appreciate the blessing of a having a temple presidency member in our stake.
5. As you well know, there are few things a stake president yearns for more than to make a difference, some how to “move the needle” in a way that measurably impacts the work of the Lord in our area. I’m sorry to report that I haven’t moved the needle in this stake to any extent in this stake. We haven’t grown (we’re the lowest baptizing stake in the mission), our sacrament meeting attendance has inexplicably dwindled to 41%, our endowed with current recommend holders is a disappointing 67% (our goal is 80%) and less than 20% of our young men serve missions.
Some three or four years ago when I realized my leadership was failing in so many areas, I had this thought that there was something I could do that I could control: I had my own sweet experience serving in the temple soon after being released as your counselor, I could recommend more from our stake to serve in the temple. I began working with the bishops and, in a short time, we had more than doubled the number of temple workers (ordinance, veil and volunteers) serving in the temple from our stake. We now have 93 serving in the temple, but I think our high point was 107. With the addition of the baptistry workers you’ve helped bring on, we should be well over the 100 mark soon, so thank you! I believe temple service has been…and continues to be...a true blessing to the stake!
Please know I’m not looking for a pat on the back (I’m just personally grateful that with all my weaknesses, I was able to make a measurable difference in at least one area of the Lord’s work…and I am so grateful there is this opportunity for our members to be so richly blessed by serving in the temple!). What I would appreciate when a member of the temple presidency visits and speaks at our stake conference is for you to recognize and thank the many temple workers in our stake. I believe you will find more of our stake’s members will desire to serve in the temple when they realize so many others among us are reaping the blessings of temple service and how helpful it is to the temple and to each of our families and posterity. (I realize I’m preaching to the choir right now after hearing my son tell what an impact you made in his stake by pleading for more to serve in the temple.)
Elder Costa had a wrap-up meeting following the general session with the stake presidency last Sunday. He invited the Lundgreens and Ballards to join in. At one point, he asked the Lundgreens, “Does this stake provide a lot of temple workers?” Sister Lundgreen replied, “Well, I recognize a lot faces as temple workers and even patrons.” That was nice, but it would have been extra nice if she had numbers or at least a recognition that the Mount Hood Stake had made an extra effort to provide temple workers. When the Ponds visited our stake, they would often say over the pulpit something like, “We realize you are not very close geographically to the temple, but your stake is among the highest contributors of temple workers in the temple district and we appreciate it very much.” That’s all it would take for our members to know their sacrifice is appreciated.
Please know this is not shared in the spirit of criticism, but only as a suggestion. Please do not forward this email to others in the temple presidency, but maybe there will be an opportunity to address this in the future. You can really help our efforts to recommend even more to serve in the temple when a temple presidency member thanks the workers in our stake and expresses added appreciation for their sacrifice in time and distance.
Thank you for letting me share. As you can see, things haven’t changed, have they? You still become the brunt of my L-o-o-o-ng emails :) Sorry!
With love,
Crismon
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