Are You Willing to Re-Gather Precious Souls?

Aleisha Petersen has been married 14 years and is a mom to 4 young kids. Life took her family on an adventure through BYU-Idaho, NYC for grad school, Oklahoma for a residency, and Alaska for Military Service (she being the lucky passenger). They now reside in Colorado trying out what a quiet life in the country feels like on a 40-acre farm. Some of the most notable life experiences to date are watching the Iditarod, going to church in -40*, standing in the Arctic Ocean {ouch!}, and experiencing stake conference in a Jewish Synagogue that was done in 3 languages while passing around headsets. Her current calling is Relief Society 1st counselor over Education and Gathering Israel.

Enter Aleisha…

“And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.” 2 Nephi 25:26 ~

Life can be exhilarating, exciting, exhausting, demeaning and confusing. So many open possibilities for life that one hardly knows what direction to try first; mission, college, jobs, travel, marriage, family, or homeownership. The possibilities are endless; the consequences, both good and bad, are also just as long-lasting.

Many members in the Church are trying to do what’s right by checking all the boxes they are told are important, but are the boxes they’re checking (that are good and wonderful) really the biggest priorities of their earthly experience? Many may likely argue “of course!” especially if you are in a Young Single Adult ward and hear marriage being brought up every week. But that would be false, and a good indication that we have failed this generation. By overemphasizing the wrong priorities, it’s easy to get the impression that a mission, marriage, and kids are the checkboxes to heaven.

Harnessing the Power of the Atonement

The biggest priority in this earthly life is gaining a testimony of our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ, learning to harness the power of the Atonement and to strengthen ourselves and others through ordinances and covenants. Do our Sacrament meetings (including Fast and Testimony Meetings) and classes always teach this? Do our organizations, activities, and membership always reflect this?

Connecting with Christ

When people take what I like to refer to as “the scenic route of life” and make decisions (whether minor or major) that are contrary to what they’ve been taught, it’s not automatically an indication of serious sin. But regardless if it is, it points to the same issue – they lack a connection with Christ.

Culturally we look to our church leaders as individuals set apart to help us in our times of need, both temporally and spiritually, but our interpretation of needing help spiritually often takes our minds straight to repentance. But what if it’s not a repentance issue? What if you just want to meet with the bishop for help with feeling God’s love for you? I’m convinced there are more members than we realize who are not willing to admit that despite their years of membership, they aren’t fully aware of how to fully connect with our Savior or with God and need help getting there.

Church leaders are often so busy with addressing the downsides of agency, it’s possible that many might be unaware of what that bigger issue actually is. Is it possible that we’ve become too busy preaching righteous behavior that we don’t hear the spiritual cries for help before members inevitably turn in another direction? In a recent Leading Saints podcast interviewing Rob Ferrell, Brother Ferrell addresses this point beautifully while describing his experience as a YSA stake president where he created monthly forums for his members to come and have deep doctrinal discussions. He also shares how he addressed repentance by first addressing their spiritual connections with Christ and by telling them, “there is time for all that other stuff later.” His approach was nothing short of inspiring.

President Nelson has been imploring us for the last year and a half to deepen our testimony of the Savior Jesus Christ, challenging us to find Christ in our scripture study and emulating Him in our daily lives. Is it possible that the New Testament was a good starting point for the new home centered and church supported curriculum, Come Follow Me, because it takes us right to Christ himself, the focal point of our beliefs?

We, the members of the Church, need to find and connect with the gospel of Jesus Christ again and re-center our focus on what is most important. By doing so, we are then prepared for our prophets next challenge, which he has stated is “the greatest work on earth today” -the work of Gathering Israel and Ministering.

Gathering

It is natural once we discover and experience something powerful and moving personally that we can’t help but share it with everyone around us. By sharing the message of the restoration and giving them another written testimony through the Book of Mormon, we are providing people with an opportunity to accept the gospel and to experience the light and joy it brings. It also provides an opportunity for further spiritual progression in this life through ordinances and covenants, paving the way for eternal salvation and exaltation with God.

Ministering

But what about those precious souls that have already been gathered once yet keep pursuing the scenic route? Is it the bishop’s job to chastise people for their recurring porn habit? Is it the Relief Society presidents’ job to have a discussion with a sister about modesty, or a recent tattoo? What about a ministering brother or sister inadvertently dismissing someone’s doctrinal questions or being overbearing about a lack of Sunday attendance? No! Can I say that again? NO! None of those examples reflect the love of our Savior. Love always needs to be the highest priority. As we demonstrate Christlike love, it naturally leads to Christlike changes within ourselves and others.

As members of Christ’s restored Church, why do we tend to focus on each other’s behavior rather than focusing on giving Christlike love that naturally leads to personal spiritual changes in behavior? After all, Christlike love is what connects all of us to Him. Elder Packer said it beautifully,

“True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the gospel [of Jesus Christ] will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior.”

The doctrine we all need to understand is simply giving Christlike love.

Personal Change

Sometimes, the person who needs to change might be ourselves. In the summer of 2008, my husband and I and our 11-month old baby daughter left the life we had as undergraduate students at BYU-Idaho for my husband to pursue a graduate degree at NYU in New York City. We were scared but really excited about this new adventure, and I just knew I’d settle into my new life easily once we were able to go to church and meet our new ward family. I had been raised in St. George Utah and had gone to school in Rexburg Idaho, and really hadn’t experienced life very much outside of what is very lovingly referred to as “the Mormon bubble”.

When we walked into church our first Sunday, we were warmly greeted and practically pounced on by the elders (sorry guys- already members), we quickly observed the bishopric’s average age was 30, and in looking around, there was so much diversity looking back at me, it looked like a meeting of the United Nations.

One woman, I remember noticing, was wearing a nice pantsuit (I’m sure she wasn’t alone) and I remember thinking “Oh neat! She must be a newly baptized member, and I’m sure she’ll figure out soon that we actually wear dresses to church” (cue my present-day blushing horror that still exists at the mere memory of this day- please forgive my youth and naivety). Eventually, I found out that this sweet lady had been raised Catholic, but had joined the church the year I was born while in her 50’s. She was one of the ‘anchor’ members of the ward that everyone knew they could count on, who came prepared to do her calling every week and taught me by example about Christlike love in how she served and unconditionally loved everyone around her. She wasn’t the only one, this ward was full of some of the most Christlike people I’ve ever met who looked past your race, background, socio-economic status, what you were wearing, tattoo count, or gospel understanding.

You were there, wanted to feel the spirit and connect with the Savior, and that’s all that mattered. Everyone it seemed, had a story of previously being raised Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, etc, and had come to New York from all corners of the world. I am still in awe and respect so deeply what level of commitment it must have taken to leave their family faith traditions and to embrace a new faith and unknown culture that comes with it. Our Stake was an even bigger reflection of this and I loved how much they loved each other.

We genuinely thought we were headed to NYC to help strengthen the church, but in reality, our experience was that while there, we were taught the true doctrinal meaning of Christlike love, and what really matters at church.

Ministering One by One

To love like the Savior does is what we have been called to do; to minister as He did by forgiving, understanding, listening, and serving. It is experiencing Christlike love that compels the sinner to turn away from sin, the lost to come back, and those accepting of the restoration to be gathered into His fold. By learning to see and love others as eternal souls, we will help them come closer to Christ and feel a witness through the Spirit of their divine worth as a child of God. This witness is far more significant than anything we mortals can say or do and is so much easier to obtain with the help of someone being there to love and support along the way.

Everyone needs to be ministered to, as well as to minister as an extension of the Savior Himself. Through my experience of currently being involved in the Relief Society Presidency, I’ve learned the valuable difference between visiting teaching and ministering. Visiting Teaching visits generally felt like a conversation of updates on positive superficial happenings in a sister’s family, then you share a short message, and repeat the next month. As a presidency member, it’s different. I’ve gone with my fellow presidency sisters to minister to those who are contemplating divorce, having suicidal thoughts, struggling to feel a spiritual connection, battling significant mental illness, mourning wayward children, or are just lonely.

I am the same person I was before my calling, so why have these visits changed? We don’t even have to dig, it’s been our experience that they very willingly skip the superficial white picket fence and get straight to the point of opening up about what their struggles are. I realized that in holding this calling, they are trusting us to help them find the connection they feel they have lost. I know anyone with Christlike love has this ability, you don’t need to be in a leadership role, but it’s helped me see how I can personally be a better ministering sister from now on. Every soul is precious to God, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone with a knowledge of the Plan of Salvation that we were sent here to be tested, which often means… they are probably struggling!

Your brothers and sisters need you! If you haven’t developed a relationship of trust where they feel they can share their burdens with you, figure out how to get there through Christlike love. Most likely your Relief Society or Elders Quorum president has prayed fervently over those assignments and trusted the answers they received. What can you do for those to whom you’ve been assigned? Especially in regards to those who work so hard to appear unreachable, remember that at one time they did accept the gospel, so just meet them wherever they are. It might be as simple as “How is your connection with Christ lately?” or even just remembering them consistently in your prayers.

The Church isn’t about checklists, church dances, food storage, beautiful wedding venues, and babies. It’s not about high attendance reports and a sinless perfect congregation. It’s about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the eternal salvation of souls, staying connected to heaven personally, and helping others to stay connected by ministering with Christlike love. I have learned through my church service that how I respond to others in their times of need (whether spiritually or temporally) says more about me and my spiritual connection to Jesus Christ than it does about those to whom I minister.