Miracle of Softened Hearts Through Service

The following is an email sent to the Portland Public Affairs Directors, Gene and Arlene Platt, describing our stake's efforts to incorporate more service as part of the Hastening of the Lord's work. This was was written soon after our 3rd annual faith-based, community food drive.

The food drive came about in early 2012. I had just been installed as stake president and a committee was already working on a Day of Service project for September of that year. In the past, we had tried to partner with other churches, but apparently they hadn’t responded to our out-reach letters. The committee was struggling with a worthy project that would include other churches. They had come to the conclusion it was impossible to connect with the leaders of other faiths.

Finally, they came back with a food drive idea. And, because there was a concern that other churches would turn us down again, someone suggested we encourage members to go to their non-member neighbors. Admittedly, my first impression was that this isn’t much of a service project…you don’t even break a sweat! You just pick up sacks and drop them off and you’re done. Now what? But when I heard the idea of taking sacks to our neighbors, I was touched deeply in my heart. It was a stroke of genius and inspiration, whoever came up with the idea. 

I have always been concerned that, because of technology and busy lives, we were all losing contact with our neighbors. For years, we’ve (our family) gone around to our neighbors Christmas caroling and that has kept us tied to them, but there were few other opportunities to connect with them except an occasional wave while driving by. I loved the idea of inviting neighbors to join with us in a worthy, non-denominational cause that would help the less-fortunate and many churches in our community. Then, I thought, what a wonderful idea it would be if every Christian went to their neighbor. These are the last days. Difficult times are coming and when men’s hearts begin to fail, those in every neighborhood will want to know where are the believers, where are those with faith in God?

So I began setting up appointments with pastors throughout the east side (those who would give me an appointment; not all would). Fortunately, I had a number of pastor friends already in the Chamber of Commerce (I’ve been involved in two chambers of commerce for the past 5 years; something i was forced into when I was laid off from my job of 19 years and, because of my age, unable to find work at age 60 I went into a home-based business that requires networking). Those friendships helped me get into other doors and by our first food drive in 2012, we had a handful of churches, who consented to participate. Their participation was meager, but it was a start.

Last year we got more participation and the food drive committee, headed up by Patti Paxson, started meeting at the Greater Gresham Baptist Church. We also pulled off a dinner for 10 that included representatives from the Seventh Day Adventist and the founder of a church in Damascus. Subsequently, the Seventh Day Adventist set up a display at our Preparedness Fair in May of this year and our contact in Damascus has been a helpful ally. We have had he and his wife to our home for dinner; a delightful evening.

This year, we got a few more (still not very many, only 9 churches), but we’re learning a lot and the depth of commitment among the few other churches is beginning to take root. We brought in Joyce and Romeo Betita, as our Stake Service Specialists, to head up the food drive in our own stake (working through the priesthood quorums) so Patti could focus on the other churches. She has done an outstanding job in building relationships with the Baptists, Lutherans, Catholics and a variety of others. A month or so ago I spent two hours with Pastor Russ Baley, of the Sanctuary Church in Gresham, at his church and food pantry and from that visit came a deepening friendship so that he was willing to make the YouTube video with me. He has not told me personally, but Patti says he’s received some pushback from others (assuming other pastors) for doing the video. But he remains my friend. I hope to have he and his wife to our home for dinner one day soon.

Because a food drive really isn’t a lot of work on the members’ part, I asked that we not make it our Day of Service project this year, but encourage the wards to conduct their own projects. Then we held the stake (and community) food drive on Oct 11. We declared Monday, October 6, “Food Drive Family Night” (a terrific Patti Paxson idea) in which all members (and those of other faiths) were to deliver food sacks to their neighbors and notify them when they’d be back later in the week to pick up the sacks. Some of our members really got into it, taking as many as 10-15 sacks. It was a huge door-opener for our members, which we hope will lead to deeper friendships with non-LDS and eventually gospel sharing.

We have decided that in 2015 we really want to focus on our members (and all believers in the community) going to neighbors, to create a loaves and fishes miracle. So we’re going to make the food drive our Day of Service in 2015. For the roll-up-your sleeves service project, we are going to encourage our members to join in the East Hill Church’s Community Care Day, that they have been organizing (never inviting us) for all churches in Gresham for a number of years. They clean up and fix up parks and public schools in the area a couple of weeks before school starts (late August). They get hundreds of volunteers. 

This year I approached East Hill Church (a known antagonist of our missionaries) and asked if they would allow us to join with them in this worthy effort. They turned me down due to "doctrinal issues." However, the member of their church, who organizes the Community Care Day, called me later and asked if we’d still send volunteers, they were in desperate need. We immediately put out the word and explained to stake members that this church, which has not been kind to us over the pulpit, needs our help. Could we please come to the rescue? We sent the same word to President Craft, of the Gresham Stake, and he joined with us in asking his stake’s members to register for the projects, too. We have no way of knowing how many from our stakes showed up, but we know in some of the 20 or so locations where there were projects, LDS accounted for up to half the volunteers. All the full-time missionaries in our stake were involved. The organizer sought me out personally at the project where I was working, with two grandsons, to express her personal thanks. She told me that what looked like was going to be a dismal turnout resulted in the biggest number of volunteers ever (I think 500 in all). While our church got no recognition, those in supervisory positions were well aware of the LDS turnout and were extremely grateful. It was a true blessing for our members to have the opportunity of rolling up our sleeves and rubbing shoulders with those of other faiths.

So that’s our plan for next year, to join with the East Hill Church in late August (officially or unofficially) and make that our roll-up-our-sleeves Day of Service. Then we’ll have our Faith-Based, Community Food Drive on Sept 19, 2015 with a focus on taking sacks to our neighbors.

Regarding Activities that Require Long-Distance Travel

16 November 2014                 

                                                     

TO: All Bishoprics

RE: Activities that require long-distance travel

Dear Brethren,

It has come to our attention that some Young Men organizations want to schedule summer activities that may require long-distance travel.

While Handbook 2 (13.6.24, p.111) authorizes the bishop (or stake president) to make the final decision on this matter, we feel a need to address it as a stake presidency for several reasons:

·   The Handbook specifically discourages long-distance travel;

·   Long-distance travel creates major concerns, including overall cost, burden on families, safety, lodging, etc.;

·   Long-distance travel can cause an imbalance in youth activity expenditures thus perpetuating a perception of favoritism toward the Young Men.

It is also important to note that we do not decide our policy alone, but it must “be consistent among units in the same coordinating council” (see Handbook 2). In other words, all the stake presidents in our coordinating council must agree, with our Area Seventy’s approval, to allow long-distance travel.

While we encourage and support exciting and inspiring outdoor experiences for our youth, please take into consideration the above reasons and keep travel to a reasonable distance of our stake.

We are fortunate to live in an area that has an extraordinary number of facilities and venues to accommodate most any desired outdoor activity. Thank you for taking advantage of this unique opportunity and helping us abide by the directive of no long-distance travel.

Minimizing Church Activities During the Holidays

                                                                           12 November 2014

TO: Stake and Ward Council members

RE: Stake and ward holiday parties

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

As we approach the holiday season, it is natural for every organization to want a holiday party or get-together as a way of unifying members and expressing thanks for everyone’s service during the past year.

While these are wonderful and worthy motives, we request that wards consider holding only one holiday activity or party for all ward members (or adults) in 2014 and into the future. Some wards are already doing this and we thank you.

In place of the other traditional Church-sponsored holiday activities or parties, we urge stake and ward leaders to encourage members to consider holding neighborhood holiday gatherings in their home as a follow-up to our neighbor-to-neighbor efforts during the stake food drive in October.

           

Please know this is not a mandate or policy from the stake presidency, but a recommendation. Our hope is that this letter will resonate with leaders as a way of:

·   Reducing the time demand holiday parties place on leaders and families; and

·   Encouraging members to use the holidays to invite non-member friends into our homes and help them to know of our personal devotion to Jesus Christ.

Thank you for giving this your consideration as we remind everyone that the holidays are ideal for spending time with family, building friendships with neighbors and serving the less-fortunate. Let’s give families the time to do so.

Governing Principles for Stake Activites

7 September 2015

TO: Bishops and Stake Leaders

FROM: The Stake Presidency

RE: 2015 Stake Calendar for the Mount Hood Stake

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The 2015 Stake Calendar is now ready for you to begin scheduling your ward events.  We express a special thanks to the Stake Council members, who spent extra time preparing this calendar to serve as a template for future years.

Attached is a pdf file of the 2015 calendar that you can access online along with a second document listing the stake events in each month. This list may look lengthy but be assured many of the events are for specific groups, not the general membership, and there are few that are outside the stake events you’re already accustomed to seeing.

However, the following will be helpful background information to some of the changes:

• FOOD DRIVE: We ask wards to support the Stake Food Drive as our 2015 Day of Service project. As you will see soon, with the new JustServe initiative, there will be MANY opportunities for wards to provide service throughout the year. We ask that your ward’s focus on Sept 19, 2015 be solely the Food Drive to include a Food Drive Family Night on Monday, Sept 14. Details will be forthcoming.

• TWO STAKE FIRESIDES: We have scheduled two firesides in 2015 in the months of November and December. We realize these are traditionally very busy months. However, with continuing concerns about an understanding of women’s roles in the Church, we have decided to have an annual evening with the stake presidency for all women in the stake. In 2014 this fireside is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 26, at 7:00 pm. Next year this fireside is scheduled for Nov 15, 2015. Please encourage the Brethren to help assure their wife is able to attend.

For the second fireside, please note…

• We have scheduled a Stake Christmas Music program on Sunday, Dec 13, 2015.  First, we hope to remove any obligation members may feel to support such a fireside. Second, our hope is that this fireside will serve as one more way for members to invite their non-LDS friends and neighbors to a Christmas music event further underscoring our belief in Jesus Christ. We ask that you support this by not scheduling ward holiday programs that evening.

FURTHERMORE, we ask that ward organizations (RS, HP, EQ, Primary, YMYW, etc.) to consider NOT holding holiday parties or events in the month of December. If they feel strongly about having such events then hold them in November or January.

• SCOUTING: We draw your attention to the fact that the Boy Scout Council has planned Woodbadge training in 2015 to be on a Thursday-through-Saturday schedule during two weeks in June. They arranged this largely because of our request not to hold this valuable, advanced Scout leader training over Sundays. We encourage all serious adult Scout leaders to register for this training in 2015. Depending on the number of applicants, the stake has made a commitment to help subsidize the registration fee for those who want to attend.

• SEMINARY: You will note that Seminary graduation is scheduled for June 7, 2015. This is nothing new except we wanted you to be aware that we plan to hold our own Seminary graduation—for our stake only—in 2015 and possibly into the future. You will also note we have scheduled an all-stake Seminary fireside for Wednesday, February 25, 2015, to replace your Mutual activity that evening. We continue to be concerned by a lessening support for Seminary among youth and their families.

• ATHLETICS: You will note that basketball games in 2015 are being scheduled on Tuesday evenings in order to avoid conflicts with ward events. We may also have a co-ed volleyball program later in the year.

• CAMP HELAMAN/PRIESTS CAMP: We have added to the 2015 calendar the missionary-themed Camp Helaman for all priests. With this day of hastening, we encourage wards to use this camp as your Priests' High Adventure program in 2015. We will discuss this further with bishoprics.

• WEEKEND USE OF THE STAKE CENTER: In the past wards that meet in the stake center have had a set weekend each month for their ward activities. That has been modified somewhat so the weekend is not always fixed. However, all wards are assured of at least one weekend each month to have priority for their events. Please check the online calendar for your assigned weekends.

Thank you for working with us on this calendar. Your feedback is always welcomed and appreciated.

Teaching the Principle of Assignment as the Lord's Way to Govern His Church

                                                                                              

30 March 2014

TO: All Stake and Ward Leaders

FROM: Mount Hood Oregon Stake Presidency

RE: Teaching the principle of governing the Church through assignments

Dear Stake and Ward Leaders,

Soon after God gave man his agency in the Garden of Eden (Moses 7:32), He introduced ordinances, covenants and commandments to bless us (D&C 58:2), to cleanse us (D&C 76:51-52), to help us know Him (1 John 2:3), to guide us (Proverbs 6:23), to prosper us (Jarom 1:9), and ultimately to bring us back into His presence (D&C 25:15).

This pattern continues today where we as leaders are to administer the affairs of the Lord’s Church by commandment or assignment. That distinction is clearly identified in Alma 5:62. As a covenant people, we serve by accepting assignments or callings, seldom by volunteering.

We draw your attention to two common practices in the Church that run counter to this principle: (1) passing sign-up sheets in classes or meetings and (2) volunteer prayers.

Passing Sign-Up Sheets

The passing of sign-up sheets not only causes a distraction during the class instruction, but it circumvents the use of inspiration and creates peer pressure on members to volunteer for an assignment. It also means many, who could be blessed by the service opportunity, are missed because they’re not in attendance.

The appropriate way is for inspired leaders to make assignments in private so members can exercise their agency by accepting the assignment and receive the blessing or decline without experiencing the undue pressure of embarrassment or guilt; often they have acceptable reasons.

Volunteer Prayers

When leaders or teachers call on others to offer an opening or closing prayer in a class or other public setting, we often do it in one of two ways:

·   We ask, “Does anyone want to offer the prayer?” or

·   We call on someone by name and ask him or her, without notice, to give the prayer.

In the first example, we have all experienced the painful silence when no one volunteers, making everyone feel ashamed for failing to step forward and do something so meaningful.

In the second example, we run the risk of embarrassing someone by putting them on the spot, when it may be painfully difficult for them to pray in public, or where they may not be allowed to offer prayers in public as a condition of Church discipline.

The appropriate way for leaders to obtain opening and closing prayers is through assignment—made privately before the class or meeting—so the member has an opportunity to accept or decline without embarrassment. Having a class president in each Sunday School class, who makes assignments, will help avoid putting teachers in a position of calling on students to offer impromptu prayers.

Please know that this principle is not meant to be a “rule” in our stake. We simply ask stake and ward leaders to teach this principle to those in their respective organizations so that, in time, we can minimize, or even eliminate, these practices that can be embarrassing and hurtful to members.

Objectives of Sunday School presidencies in our stake

Notes from meeting with Stake Sunday School President Michael Miller on November 11, 2014, about the role of the Sunday School presidency in each ward:

First and foremost, the Stake Sunday School presidency is tasked with addressing the substitute teacher problem in the stake. Until that part of the “infrastructure” gets addressed, ward Sunday School presidencies will forever feel overwhelmed and will never get around to doing the following:

1. TEACH YOUTH TO TEACH: Ward SS presidencies are to help teachers of youth understand one of their prime responsibilities is to teach youth how to teach and testify, recognizing that many of them will be in the mission field within a very short time of their graduation from high school. This does not mean teachers simply give a student the manual and have them teach a lesson. Teachers of youth need to be instructed how to teach the students to teach and testify without turning over the class to them.

2. CONSISTENT OBSERVATION: A system needs to be put into place where there is consistent monitoring of youth class instruction so there is accountability and determination of training needs so the once-a-month training of youth is effective and will result in changes in the classroom.

3. EFFECTIVE COORDINATION OF TRAINING: Each ward must become more effective in the training of youth teachers. That will require a more effective coordination that happens between the (1) Implementation of tools in the classroom, (2) effective monthly trainings that result in implementation in the classroom and (3) consistent observation and mentoring to insure the right training is being provided on a monthly basis and that teachers are making the changes, as needed.

4. CALLING OF INSTRUCTORS: The ward Sunday School presidency provides counsel and feedback to the bishopric on how teachers, especially teachers of youth, are called and introduced to their assignment. The Stake Sunday School presidency provides the same counsel and feedback to the stake presidency so they can train bishoprics. It is important that all instructors come to understand what an important role they play in the hastening of the Lord’s work and that any attitude of resistance toward the teacher training they receive and/or one-on-one mentoring by their file leaders, including the ward Sunday School presidency, will not be tolerated for any length of time. It is important for bishoprics to address this at the time of the calling.

High Council training for sacrament meeting talks

High Councilors…

Thank you for your many efforts to bless the members of our stake through your teachings over the pulpit each month.

As you will learn at Stake PEC tomorrow, we have notified the bishops that we are giving high councilors more latitude in choosing their topics for speaking in the wards this year beginning this month. It does not mean you cannot seek guidance from the bishopric, but you have the option to choose your own topic. We want you to have the flexibility to follow the Spirit in determining which message is needed most by your assigned ward.

Having said that, we ask that this new direction does not lead to pulling talks out of a file drawer and using them again. We strongly urge you to make each talk unique, a result of serious preparation, which may include prayer, study, temple worship, fasting, etc.

As you know, we are focusing in ward conferences on the blessing and importance of having a testimony of the Restored Gospel in these the latter days. We ask that you give consideration to this topic for some of your messages this year. 

One source you may want to consider is this outstanding message by Elder Todd R Callister, of the presidency of the Seventy, at the recent CES fireside: 

https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/watch/ces-devotionals/2014/01?lang=eng

However, the most important guidance is to seek the Lord’s Spirit in choosing and developing the topic that will bless your assigned ward.

It is interesting the Church website now has a number of links designed to help members improve their sacrament meeting messages. Here is one that may be especially helpful:

https://www.lds.org/church/news/professor-teaches-steps-for-giving-better-sacrament-meeting-talks?lang=eng

As a way of helping you with this somewhat new responsibility, President Christiansen will conduct training in our meeting tomorrow on this subject. We ask that you come prepared with your thoughts on what you feel are the most effective ways to prepare and present messages in sacrament meeting.

Here are a few guidelines that are meaningful to me personally:

1. Confine your sources to personal experiences and the scriptures, approved curriculum and the words of modern-day prophets.

2. Do not read your talk, even if you have written it out verbatim in advance.

3. Bear your testimony at the conclusion, if not multiple times throughout your talk.

4. If a member of the stake presidency is presiding and you have been given adequate time to give your message, consider allowing 5 minutes before the conclusion of the meeting for him to offer a concluding testimony.

Thank you for giving this your consideration. We look forward to discussing this topic with you tomorrow.

President Lewis

Policy for collection boxes in the foyer

Bishops,

On occasion we will have youth, either Young Men or Young Women, ask if they can put a collection box in the foyer of our meetinghouses as part of an Eagle or service project.

Will you please teach families and especially youth leaders that this is not approved or appropriate for two reasons:

1. It creates a messy look in our foyers where we're trying to make our meetinghouses warm and inviting as a place for worship for members and visitors;

2. It undermines the leadership purpose of the Eagle or service project. For instance, Eagle candidates will learn leadership skills more effectively by organizing and following through with fellow troop members in a community or ward outreach effort, instead of setting out a collection box and waiting for members to donate.

Will you please help teach this to families so we don't offend youth or their parents when we ask them to remove their collection box from the foyer?

Thanks,

Stake Presidency

Change in Stake Presidency Counselors

 In early October 2013, Crismon changed both of his counselors. Presidents Dennis Baird and Charles Allen had served for four years in the previous stake presidency under President Richard Hansen.

Crismon received authorization from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to call Presidents Paul Hansen, first counselor, and Steven Christiansen, second counselor. They were sustained in our stake's fall stake conference.

President Hansen, a former bishop of the Sandy River Ward and younger brother to the previous stake president, was serving as High Priest Group Leader in the Sandy River Ward at the time of the change.

President Christiansen was serving as bishop of the Powell Valley Ward. He was replaced by Michael Hulet, who was his first counselor.

The change in counselors was precipitated mostly by President and Sister Martha Allen submitting their papers for a mission call. They served for 18 months in Norway, where Martha had served in her youth.

How to know when a young person is ready for the temple

The following is an excerpt of an email sent to the bishop the Young Single Adult ward in our stake explaining why a temple candidate he sent to me was delayed. I wanted to save this in case it might form the foundation for a future email:

Here are some key points to consider in preparing and recommending young people to receive their own endowments:

1. Age - the handbook specifically says young people in their early 20's should not receive their own endowments unless they are leaving on a mission or engaged to be sealed in the temple.

2. Motivation - does their interest in going to the temple come from others or from within?

3. Time in activity - a new convert can't receive her/his endowments until a year after baptism; that's a good rule of thumb for those returning to activity; before going to the temple for their endowment, everyone needs time to demonstrate a "Godly walk," as the scriptures describe.

4. Understanding of the gospel - new converts and newly returning members need time to "catch up" on the gospel understanding they've missed out on growing up in the church; spiritual maturity is very important.

5. Love for the temple - the limited use recommends, now available for individuals and not just groups, give young people a chance to demonstrate how much they love the temple; if they don't use their recommend to perform proxy baptisms a number of times on their own, then we shouldn't be surprised if they don't go back on their own after being endowed.

6. Tithing faithfulness - make sure the person has had adequate time to demonstrate tithing faithfulness, one of the true tests of a person's desire to sacrifice and consecrate.

7. Personal devotion - a person's devotion to regular, even daily, scripture study and personal prayers is an excellent indicator of their ability to place the Lord first in their life; without that level of devotion, a covenant to live the law of sacrifice may be pretty meaningless.

Helping Our Stake Use Social Media Wisely

Why social media

We do not pretend that social media is the best way to communicate within our stake. It is simply one more tool that, when used properly, can help us communicate more effectively with our members and even neighbors. If the Brethren have asked full-time missionaries to replace knocking on doors with daily use of social media…and if members of the First Presidency are now on Facebook…then it is time all of us become more familiar with it, too.

How social media may benefit our stake

·   Enhances our ability to publicize events

·   Encourages stake members to use social media in sharing the gospel

·   Offers a repository for links to other stake Facebook pages, such as the Stake Trek

·   Provides a way for our non-LDS neighbors to learn what is happening in our Church,
including ministers and pastors with whom we’re trying to build a relationship

Steps to implementing a stake presence in social media

·   Launch a Facebook page (completed this week)

·   Encourage stake members to “Like” the stake page, accomplishing two things:
1) Members will see posts about stake activities and events
   2) Members’ friends will begin to see posts about these stake events

·   Begin producing content for the stake Facebook page on a weekly basis, including:
   1) Publicity of stake activities
   2) Follow-up reports with photos of major events, such as the trek
3) Inspirational messages from stake leaders

How do we avoid inappropriate content

The stake Facebook page is currently set up so that anybody can comment or post. We now have three page administrators with the potential for more. These administrators will be tasked to monitor content and remove anything found to be inappropriate or not in line with the stake’s goals. If there are any questionable posts by readers, we can restrict posts to administrators only at any time.

Are we an official Church site?

No, because we have a disclaimer stating we are not an official site for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as directed in Handbook 2 - 21.1.22. Many stakes are now setting up pages for publicity purposes. Our Facebook page will be administered by the Stake Public Affairs Council.

Home Teachers assignment for Stake Food Drive in September 2013

Dear Brethren,

In this day of hastening, where we as members are being asked to step up our efforts to reach out and bless those around us, you have a special opportunity to help your assigned families to participate in a very unique, out-reach service project.

Will you please accept the assignment to invite your families to participate in our neighbor-to-neighbor, community food drive as part of our Stake Day of Service on September 14?

This is a very exciting project for two reasons: (1) churches of other faiths are joining with us in this food drive; and (2) the neighbor-to-neighbor element of this food drive gives all of us an easy, non-intimidating way to meet and invite five or more of our neighbors (or friends) to join in this worthy cause to help those in need. Many neighbors or friends do not attend a church and seldom have an opportunity to give or serve. They will give generously!

To help your families, we ask that you do the following:

·   During the first two weeks of August contact your assigned families, teach them about the food drive and invite them to participate, asking them for a count on how many grocery sacks they want for their neighbors and their own personal use. Report your count to a member of your quorum presidency or group leadership by August 18.

·   Around August 25 you will receive from your quorum/group leaders the grocery sacks you requested for your families. Please distribute them to your families no later than Sunday, September 1. Instructions as to what members are to do with the grocery sacks will be included with each sack.

Thank you for accepting this assignment. It’s more important than ever that we become involved in our communities “to be the light of this people.” (3 Nephi 12:14)

Gratefully,
Stake Presidency

Melchizedek Priesthood leaders responsibility in our Stake Food Drive in September 2013

Dear Brethren,

There are two reasons we are very excited about the upcoming Stake Food Drive to be conducted as part of our Stake Day of Service on September 14.

First, other churches, not of our faith, are joining with us to participate in this faith-based, community food drive. The potential for a “fishes-and-loaves miracle” is very real. (See the letter to pastors that is being emailed to you for additional details.)

Second, the neighbor-to-neighbor element of this food drive provides all participants, especially our members, an easy, non-intimidating way to meet and invite their neighbors to join in this worthy cause. Many of our neighbors do not attend a church and seldom have the opportunity to give or serve. They will appreciate this opportunity and give generously.

Last year less than a third of our members participated in this food drive. We desire that many more enjoy this unique, out-reach opportunity of meeting and extending an invitation to their neighbors.

Will you please accept the assignment to insure all families assigned to your quorum or group are invited by their home teachers to participate in this food drive?

Hopefully the attached letter, addressed to home teachers, will be helpful in explaining their assignment. We ask you to distribute copies of that letter to your assigned home teaching companionships. Note this is an excellent opportunity for home teachers to invite less-active families to participate. Please don’t miss this opportunity!

Please take these steps in completing this assignment:

·   During the first two weeks of August, distribute the attached single-sheet letter to all home teachers asking them to contact their assigned families and get a count on how many grocery sacks they want for their neighbors and for their own personal use. We encourage all families to reach out to at least five or more neighbors.

·   By August 18, have the home teachers report to your presidency or group leadership the count of how many sacks each family is requesting. Report these counts to your assigned high councilor, who will give the counts to Ryan Pond, of the High Council.

·   On August 25, when the paper grocery sacks are delivered to you, begin distributing the sacks to the home teachers, based on their requested counts, and ask them to deliver the sacks to their families no later than Sunday, September 1. Instructions as to what members are to do with the grocery sacks will be included with each sack.

For your information, the filled grocery sacks are to be delivered between 8:00 and
9:00 am on Saturday, September 14, to any of the participating churches on the list. Then members are to go to the site of their ward’s service project(s) to continue our Day of Service activities.

In a show of neighborliness, we hope many of our members will deliver their filled grocery sacks to their nearest participating non-LDS church. A list of participating churches, with addresses, will be included in the instructions.

Brethren, please know that this is not just a food drive or service project.

This is an organized effort to provide our members an opportunity to meet and engage their neighbors. We hope lasting friendships will develop from this out-reach that will lead to improved relations with those of all faiths in our communities.

In this day of hastening, it’s more important than ever that we become involved in our communities “to be the light of this people.” (3 Nephi 12:14)

Suggestions for Ward Councils on how to be more effective from observations made by the stake presidency after visits in June 2013

Core Principles: A ward council is most effective when...
(1) agendas are followed to give structure and focus so you don’t try to cover too much in your meeting and yet enough for action to be taken;
(2) every discussion ends with one or more assignments being made;
(3) assignments are tracked by the ward clerk and follow up reports are given before the next meeting; and
(4) the needs of individuals or families are identified through inspiration prior to the meeting so the ward council can focus on seeking prayerful solutions.

Areas of Emphasis: Agendas should include discussions on several, if not all, of the elements of the “Work of Salvation” listed in Chapter 5 of Handbook 2, including (1) Missionary Work,
(2) Convert Retention, (3) Reactivation, (4) Temple and Family History Work, and
(5) Teaching the Gospel.

Use Reports: There is never enough time to discuss everyone. The bishop, or others to whom he delegates, will want to identify, by inspiration, a select number of individuals on each of the three key reports: (1) Investigator Progress Report listing all investigators (WML responsible), (2) Focus Reports listing less-actives (aka Focus Five; RS, HP, EQ responsible); both reports feed into the (3) New and Returning Member Report identifying those who are new members or new into activity (Bishop responsible).

Create a Ward Mission Plan: Every successful ward missionary program begins with a Ward Mission Plan created by the ward council. See guidelines in Handbook 2 - 5.1.8.

Devotionals: We recommend the devotional consist of a brief discussion, led by a member of the ward council, from the following sources: (1) scriptures listed in the 4-page stake document on conversion, (2) Preach My Gospel, or (3) other references from the Standard Works, as directed by the Bishopric.

Training: We recommend you draw from (1) Handbook 2, especially chapters 1-6, with emphasis on chapter 4 about ward councils, or (2) the principles taught in the Youth Curriculum.

Council Environment: Create an environment of discussion and equality of voice by arranging the chairs in a circle, semi-circle or around a table.

Function as a Council: Do not go around the room asking for organizations to report, but require members to contribute to the agenda beforehand and ensure all topics of discussion become the business of everyone.