 What is the doctrine of ministering? Well Christopherson for me. It's simply a discipleship We're following the Savior. We're Trying to do what the Good Shepherd did and the follow the example that he set You know our doctrine is to follow Christ and be his disciples in every way He gave his life and to a degree. We want to give our lives and serve us to one another As we follow him to me, that's the doctrine We're looking to be of service to our fellow man This is from the book of Mormon in Mosiah chapter 23 verse 18 therefore they did watch over their people and did nourish them with things pertaining to righteousness in our Extra focus on ministry now. It would be wonderful if we kept that in mind We're here to save souls. We're here to get Families to the temple. We're here to Get a united Family the children of God back home How precious is one soul? When we when we really understand the atonement doctrinally How precious is one soul? the Lord made it Clear over and over to bring souls unto me on conditions of repentance and that's what he's called us to do What God wants is Immortality and eternal life for his children eternal life with him is a conditional gift Conditioned upon faith repentance baptism the gift of the Holy Ghost and Covenants weekly made it the sacrament Experience and the covenants of the temple And the sealing ordinances of the temple and then being faithful to those covenants made so Keep that objective in mind as you teach How to minister? Minister for what purpose? So that they can be reunited with God and with Christ and with their families forever For ministering to be the most effective it needs to be individualized when we think about Ministering the best of course we start out prayerfully seeking guidance. That's how we know how to individualize is when we have that that affirmation of the Spirit What each person needs then we can truly minister we know that we know their needs Do what works best we've got lots of tools we have visits We have many means of contacting people to look after their their welfare and help them In this path of return to their father in heaven and eternal life What what works what's needed and it's I Hope the focus will be on outcomes not just on tasks or things that are done In a given moment to to fill time or something there there is an outcome we're looking for there's hope and help We're trying to convey Ministering is led by the Spirit. It is flexible and it is customized to the needs of each member Every form of communication is available to respond to the promptings of the Spirit and meet the needs of those we serve The voice of caution that I would say is be very very careful that we keep this simple We have a tendency in the church when we get something to hold some meetings and then start Put putting a lot of things around it This doesn't need that all this needs is the power of the Spirit of God All this needs is to have us see who we are and what it is. We're trying to do in a loving way without putting Program around the simplicity of understanding what it means to be a minister Serving the Lord Jesus Christ ministering brothers and sisters will have a ministering interview with their local leaders at least once each quarter These quarterly interviews will be focused on individuals and families the purpose of the interview as President Russell M. Nelson has explained it this morning Is to counsel together about the well-being of assigned families and individuals President Elson again has stated Something of what the agenda might include I copied off The questions he said would typically be raised in a ministering interview How are the families and their individual members getting along? temporally and spiritually What are their challenges? How are those challenges being met and how can we help? Are there current efforts and long-range plans moving them closer to the Lord? That really distills the essence of what we're wanting to talk about counsel together about in this ministering interview So the focus will be on individuals. It'll be on that kind of Issue or progress I guess we could say in their lives and the challenges they face and what we can drop on What resources can we drop on to to help them move forward? It's it's really an effort to seek divine guidance together on how best to minister in the Lord's way Simple as that sounds my friends those interviews are absolutely crucial Without that information The bishop will have no way to receive the information he needs Regarding the spiritual and temporal conditions of his people one of the other benefits is the opportunity to Encourage ministering brothers and sisters to teach them to help them to see ways that they can The minister differently and more effectively. That's an opportunity that the leaders have they can also Benefit everyone the frequency of ministering interviews will vary considerably but they Should occur as often as needed and as circumstances reasonably permit Once per quarter is a floor Not a ceiling brothers and sisters. I fear that if ministering interviews are not held Routinely and as envisioned we could well end up making the situation worse and That the added flexibility and scope that we envision for ministering Could result in less attention rather than more Have you done your home teaching could be replaced by Did you have any contact what oh sure a text is good enough? Those ministering interviews when quorum and release study leaders here Reports and provide counsel may come to seem to you like the return of the sons of Mosiah When they shared joy and seeing what the Lord had done in their missionary service those periodic reports Can be sweet highlights in the leaders service Brother and sisters the strength of this enhanced ministering effort is that it is one work To minister to and care for the families and individuals of the wards and branches Combining such really society efforts with the now restructured elders quorum will bring a unity that can yield astonishing results ministering becomes one Coordinated effort to fulfill the priesthood duty to visit the house of each member and to watch over the church always and Be with and strengthen them as well as to achieve the release of a purpose to help one another Prepare for the blessings of eternal life Perhaps for the first time It may be possible for the bishop of the ward to find relief From most of the Melchizedek duties. He has had the shoulder in the past Leaving him free to attend to those bishopric duties, which cannot and should not be delegated Thus while the bishop is freed up to preside over the Aaronic priesthood and the young women to be a common judge To watch over the finances and temporal affairs of the church and to care for the poor and the needy the elders quorum leadership and auxiliary presidencies, especially the Relief Society president can take primary responsibility for missionary work Temple and family history work the quality of teaching in the ward Watching over and ministering to the members of the church The bishop remains of course the presiding high priest of the ward But this new alignment should let him preside Over the work of the Melchizedek priesthood and the Relief Society Without requiring him to do the work of either of those bodies Brethren and sisters, we must be united if we are united We are unstoppable If we're divided Lucifer can create havoc in this work The uniting of priesthood quorms unifies priesthood holders The ward council unifies ward leaders So these adjustments will help elders quorms and relief societies Become united in their ministries I invite you to study third Nephi By identifying every reference to the word minister In any of its forms and every reference To the phrase one by one Once you have thoroughly identified these words and phrases Please consider what the book of Mormon teaches about ministering I also invite you to seek the Lord's help to understand how to ministering applies All leaders and members of the church need to be careful Not to just minister to those names on a list But to minister to all of heavenly fathers children My brothers and sisters I testify that this is the work of the Lord May he bless you To implement with power the council from the first presidency I have prayed and have been assured that our heavenly father And his beloved son jesus christ intend to bring to pass a great change That will come in the hearts of the shepherds of israel And that we all have opportunities to help Indeed our help will be at the heart Of the coming miracle of improved ministering to our members In all of this our ministering brothers and ministering sisters will be following President brigham young's inspired teaching that quote The building up of the kingdom of god is to be done by little acts And to quote Brothers and sisters, let us remember these vital words spoken by president rustle m. Nelson in his concluding remarks this morning I testify he said that these adjustments are inspired of the lord I pray that each of us will have a witness of that I have that witness This general conference marks the beginning of a new era of ministering The lord has made important adjustments in the way we care for each other Sister's and brothers old and young will serve one another in a new holier way Our message to the world is simple and sincere We invite all of god's children on both sides of the veil To come unto their savior Receive the blessings of the holy temple Have enduring joy And qualify for eternal life