Ministering as the Savior Does - By Jean B.

Bingham (the application of ministering)

1st Accepting Change! If we believe in Revelation than we must believe in Change –

Read Marvin J. Ashton Quote
Why Change? – For me the missionary program w/ preach my gospel Late 90’s identified problems
1) Convert Retention 2) Returned Missionary Retention 3) Number of Baptisms 4) Quality of Missionary Teaching
(memorization / quenching the spirit) November 1, 2000 - October 15, 2004
(the Lord wants to become stronger, further rooted, and filled with his spirit, so we can stand against
the world)

Why do you minister?

Brother Willmott, wise man once taught me because of fear, blessings, love

How do we get to Love ministering…? Learn to love those whom we serve (converted to Christ)

What are some of your most memorable moments in home teaching / ministering?
Brother Jones, never giving up on me! It was the start to the foundation of my testimony
Read Quote 1

What are some ways in which you minister? Outside perhaps a normal visit…
Lesson learned from my wife – remember birthdays (Williams Family)
Challenges from home teachers to read B.O.M and then following up next month

How did the savior minister?

 He taught doctrine – My Doctrine – (3 Nephi 11:31-35) - Quote 2
 He ministered individually and to all – One by one (3 Nephi 11:15) (Quote 3)
 He used his priesthood – Water to wine (John 2) (Quote 4)
 He loved those whom he served – He healed their sick (3 Nephi 11:17) – Quote 5 – Jason
Williams to Bless Megan at 10:30-11:00
 He sacrificed himself for those whom he served – lay life down for sheep (John 10:11-16)
 He help others increase their faith in him. How can we and How are we?
 How else did the savior minister what stands out to you?
 Quote 6: - example of how the savior ministered (sister in Africa)

Ministering to those outside of our faith and the Less active…

 Less active – how do we reach them and how have you? – Chris Cornelius Came every month!
His lessons may not have impacted my dad but, they did impact me…
 Any stories you have brethren from this past week of ministering? –
 Chad from Twin Falls Teaching Doctrine, how do you keep going? – Word of Wisdom
Compare & Contrast LDS Read Quote 7

Becoming like savior is the Key, when we become like him we begin to see like him, and as we are
able to see like him we can make the difference.
Quote 1:
Sometimes we think we have to do something grand and heroic to “count” as serving our neighbors. Yet
simple acts of service can have profound effects on others—as well as on ourselves. What did the Savior
do? Through His supernal gifts of the Atonement and Resurrection—which we celebrate on this
beautiful Easter Sunday—“none other has had so profound an influence [on] all who have lived and
who will yet live upon the earth.” But He also smiled at, talked with, walked with, listened to, made
time for, encouraged, taught, fed, and forgave. He served family and friends, neighbors and strangers
alike, and He invited acquaintances and loved ones to enjoy the rich blessings of His gospel. Those
“simple” acts of service and love provide a template for our ministering today.

Quote 2:
Literally to “make fat.” New beginnings, not just complete (like 7), but satiated. Becoming “fat” is
having more than enough. Full to overflowing. Moves from natural to supernatural. Transcends natural
time and space to supernatural realm.

Quote 3:
After all is said and done, true ministering is accomplished one by one with love as the motivation. The
value and merit and wonder of sincere ministering is that it truly changes lives!

Quote 4:
Jesus Christ is the fountain of Living Water and prophets and teachers (servants) help bring that water
to us until we are filled to the brim. It doesn’t happen at once, but is a lifetime process. Once we are as
full as we can be (filled to the brim) Jesus Christ changes us—He makes us into something better. BYU
Professor -

Quote 5:
Another mother was concerned one day that her 16-year-old daughter was not home at the usual hour.
When the girl finally arrived, her mother quizzed her with some frustration about where she had been.
The 16-year-old almost sheepishly replied that she had taken a flower to a widow who lived nearby. She
had noticed the older sister looking lonely and felt prompted to visit her. With her mother’s complete
approval, the young woman continued to visit the elderly woman. They became good friends, and their
sweet association continued for years.
Each of these young women, and many more like them, notice someone’s need and work to meet it.
Young women have a natural desire to care and share that could be well directed through ministering
in partnership with an adult sister.

Quote 6:
True ministering is illustrated by an older sister in Africa who was assigned to seek out a sister who had
not attended Church meetings for a long time. When she went to the sister’s home, she found that the
woman had been beaten and robbed, had very little to eat, and possessed no clothes that she felt were
appropriate for Sunday Church meetings. The woman assigned to minister to her brought a listening
ear, produce from her garden, scriptures to read, and friendship. The “missing” sister soon came back
to church and now holds a calling because she knows she is loved and valued.
Quote 7:
When our hearts are open and willing to love and include, encourage and comfort, the power of our
ministering will be irresistible. With love as the motivation, miracles will happen, and we will find ways
to bring our “missing” sisters and brothers into the all-inclusive embrace of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Marvin J. Ashton…
When a choice plant became root bound and began to deteriorate, a young friend of ours decided to
transplant it to a larger container. Carefully he lifted the greenery from its small pot and put it into its
larger home, trying to disturb the roots and soil as little as possible. The novice gardener watched and
waited. To his dismay, the plant still struggled. Our friend expressed his frustration to an experienced
gardener who offered his services.

When the plant was placed in the gardener’s hands, he turned the pot upside down, pulled out the
plant, shook the soil from the roots, and clipped and pulled all the stragglers from the root system.
Replacing the plant into the pot, he vigorously pushed the soil tightly around the plant. Soon the plant
took on new life and grew.

How often in life do we set our own roots into the soil of life and become root bound? We may treat
ourselves too gently and defy anyone to disturb the soil or trim back our root system. Under these
conditions we too must struggle to make progress. Oh, change is hard! Change can be rough.
The Lord does not want His church to become root bound and stagnant. Constant revelation through
the prophets is needed for the growth of His kingdom.

There is nothing so unchanging, so inevitable as change itself. The things we see, touch, and feel are
always changing. Relationships between friends, husband and wife, father and son, brother and sister
are all dynamic, changing relationships. There is a constant that allows us to use change for our own
good, and that constant is the revealed eternal truths of our Heavenly Father.