Jan 2010 Elder's quorum ward newsletter article

On December 27th, Howard Fisher invited a former mission companion, Jeff Porter, to teach a lesson about charity and service.

Brother Porter started out by referencing Matthew 25 where the Lord tells the parable of the sheep and the goats and then asked us why the sheep were chosen when the goats were not. Someone said that the people who were the sheep had given service, and the people who were represented by the goats had not. Bro. Porter agreed and then asked what some of the possible reasons were as to why the goats hadn't given service. Someone else said that the goats had been selfish, unable to see beyond their own wants.

He then asked us to relate an experience when someone had provided service to us that was particularly memorable. I thought about how I appreciated it when Matt Johnson and Dewain Jenkins came over 2 weeks ago to help clear all of that heavy, wet snow off of my driveway!

Bro. Porter then referenced Moroni 7:45, singling out the phrase "...seeketh not her own". He said that this made reference to the natural tendency to seek out those who are like us, or with whom we feel the most comfortable. Conversely, charitable people will seek out those who need help, people whose interests are different, or people with whom they would not normally associate.

Brother Porter then talked about the poor Zoramites in Alma 32 and how they had been refused admittance to the synagogue that they helped to build because of how poor they were. Alma didn't care that they were poor, but he cared that their poverty had helped them to be humble. In chapter 34, Amulek further taught the people that unless they visited the sick and gave of what they had that their prayers were in vain, and that they were "as hypocrites who do deny the faith." (v.28) I thought that this was important, to realize that everyone needs to be giving and charitable, even when they think they have few means to do so.

In conclusion, Bro. Porter came full circle and again referenced the parable of the sheep and the goats; he challenged us to get out of our comfort zones and help those who we know need it, not waiting for our bishops or stake presidents to assign us to assist others, but to do so ourselves.

This was a very good lesson, coming as it did soon after Christmas. The tendency during the season is to be extra helpful, but then we allow our efforts to lessen as the new year goes on. Let's not let our good deeds diminish! I know that as we help others as much as we can, whether it is during the Christmas season or not, we will be blessed with the things that God knows we need, and we will cultivate patience and charity. 

--Jordan Fauver

John Paul the 2nd...

Tuesday 8Dec09  – “An excuse is worse and more terrible than a lie, for an excuse is a lie guarded.”

“Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.”

“As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live.”

These quotes come from Pope John Paul II, who I somehow stumbled upon in my trawling of Wikipedia (it’s amazing to me how all things are interconnected). As I read through the things that he did, the ideas he espoused (not all of which I agree with, but most) and the example he was to millions of people, I was forced to conclude that, as Pres. Hinckley has observed,  there are many people of great faith and excellent works in all places of the world, and that truth is found in all places. A person can believe a lot of truth, not having all of it, and still be a good person who helps others, is charitable and Christ-like in every way that they can.

Now, those who know me well know that this realization doesn’t come easily. Where I went on my mission, the cities were full of people who were the antithesis of the ideas I was preaching. Such behavior on their part made it extremely easy for me to be frustrated and discouraged, and encouraged me to be bitter and hostile towards other religions. I thought of them as receptacles of lies and promoters of deceit who actively tried to keep people in spiritual darkness. As one who was trying (not that I think I ever completely did, or even came close [I was too afraid, I think, to have the faith necessary to ‘lose my ‘life...in order to gain it’. But that is another topic entirely!]) to dedicate their time, effort and life completely to preach the truth as I knew it is, these others who were, in my opinion, keeping souls from coming to the truth. I didn’t like that. I also thought the reference of the ‘great and abominable church’ referred to specific religions.

But I think that now I begin to understand just what the Prophet Joseph was saying: these people (even the ones who I think are trying to sabotage the truth and/or keep others from it) are looking for truth, but don’t know where to find it. All they need is someone with patience to help them feel the Spirit sufficiently to help them make the transition from their truth to the place where the fullness of all truth is- the LDS church.

            Truth is found everywhere and is with all people; some have more than others, and thus makes those with more truth responsible to help those with less. Good people are everywhere and are doing good things to help others. Some are closer to God and Christ than I am (which sadly, doesn’t hurt me as much as it should because I don’t think of myself as a very valiant, upstanding latter-day saint in the first place  :c ).

I also realized that the ‘great and abominable church’ refers to the general apathy towards things religious and spiritual, the nullification of God, and the necessity of faith in our lives; it doesn’t refer to any specific entity or organization.

            I begin to realize that I could take examples from John Paul’s life and do better myself: that someone who I didn’t think was worth emulating indeed has Christ-like attributes that I need to develop.