Dad's talk in Stake Conf, Adult Session May 2013, Delegation and PH Leader Roles, message to the sisters.

Stake Conference May 18, 2013 Adult Session Delegation and Priesthood Leader Roles. Donald Wall Dear Brothers and Sisters I have been asked to talk to you this evening about a subject that we have been talking about in priesthood meeting earlier today. I would like to introduce this subject by considering an experience we can read about in the Book of Mormon. The Brother of Jared was given a very difficult task. Some times we too are asked to do hard things. The Brother of Jared was asked to build 8 barges to allow him and his family and friends to cross the ocean to a promised land. Have you ever had a job that big Bishop? If you have a job to do in the church, big or small, how do you get it done? I think you are going to need some help. I think you are going to need revelation from God. In the scripture we can read in many different places the simple promise, “ask and you shall receive.” Now the Brother of Jared had already gotten help from the Lord on the specific design of his barges and he had essentially completed the work, the barges were done, however he had three additional questions in his mind. So he returned again to the Lord in prayer. He asked his three questions. 1st, How shall I steer the barges? 2nd, How shall we have air to breath? 3rd There is no light in the barges, surely the Lord will not require that we cross these great wafers in darkness. Which of these three problems do you think is the most difficult to solve? The steering, the breathing, or the light? I don’t know, they are all pretty difficult issues. Solving the steering problem would be pretty tough. To the 1st question the Lord says….I’ll take care of this one. I’ll steer the barges for you. You don’t need to do a thing. That’s my kind of an answer to a prayer. Some how I suspect that such is not always the answer that we commonly get to our prayers. Especially when we are praying about very difficult subjects. And yet, perhaps, an answer such as this one occurs more often than we realize. The Lord loves us and the scripture teaches, “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Thinking of that scripture from James often helps me to increase my faith. To the 2nd question the Lord gives the Brother of Jared a different kind of response. He answers his question directly. He says you need to make a hole in the top and in the bottom of each barge, and when thou shalt suffer for air thou shalt unstop the hole and receive air , and if it so be that the water come in upon thee, behold, ye shall stop the hole, that ye may not perish in the flood………The Lord’s answer included a plan and a total solution to the problem. However, there was still a job to do. The job of making the holes still needed to be done. This “answer type” sort of reminds me of the Church Handbooks or maybe the existing scriptures or the teaching of Church leaders. Some times we can get answers to our prayers simply by following the instructions and teachings that are already available. We don’t really need any new information. A plan and a solution already exist to many of our problems but there is still often a job we need to do to solve the problem. To the 3rd question the Lord says…..This is a tough one. You cannot have windows for they will be dashed to pieces. Neither can you use fire, and I am paraphrasing here, because that’s not going to work.………the Lord says……you figure it out. Why would he do that. Why not just give him the solution like he did for the 2nd question? Well, at the time, I suspect the Brother of Jared probably did not like the answer that he got to this question. But how do you think he feels about it now? Which answer do you think he likes best as he reads his journal of life’s experiences. We all remember the Brother of Jared’s faith filled solution. He went to the mountain and did molten out of a rock 16 clear stones. Then he brought these stones before the Lord and asked if the Lord would touch them so that they would shine forth light. By exercising his faith in this way, the Brother of Jared was blessed to see the pre-mortal Christ. And all this because God chose to not give him all the answer to his prayer when he first asked. Because the Lord ask him to work it out for himself. I think God often deals with us in this way for our benefit. Can we similarly develop our faith when faced with life’s difficulties? How is this story of the Brother of Jared relevant to us? Have answers to your prayers come in any of these categories like the Brother of Jared? Do you have hard tasks to complete where you do not see clear solutions and need revelation from the Lord to help get the job done? As a Stake we have a problem that we are having trouble solving. The Bishops are too busy! Brethren and Sisters, as a church and a people we often ask our bishops for help. And that seems good because our bishops are so capable and are so willing to help. We trust them. We love them. We feel confident in their ministry. But you know it is not fair. The bishops are getting all the blessings. I want to tell you about a dream that Elder Jeffery Olsen, our Area Seventy, had, a dream that became a nightmare. He shared this experience with us a couple months ago in a leadership training meeting in NYC. In his dream he was the acting Bishop. Members of his ward were falling from the sky. Bishop Olsen was running to catch them. But there were too many of them. He could not catch them all, and his dream became a nightmare. When he awoke he realized that he needed to do something different. He could not do it all by himself. The key word for learning that we may get from Elder Olsen’s dream which is particularly important to our good bishops is: Delegation Which category would this fall into when thinking about the Brother of Jared’s prayers? Today in our priesthood leadership meeting we role played some specific examples of how we commonly do our business in our wards and branches with respect to our bishops and how we could potentially do these things differently so that the bishop does not have to always be directly involved. There are, of course, some things that the bishop cannot delegate. For example, his work with the youth as President of the Aaronic Priesthood, or his stewardship and care for the sinner as a common judge in Israel, or is welfare responsibilities. But there are, we believe, many other things that the bishop commonly does do that could be delegated. For example; - a doctrinal question; bishop what’s a Rameumptom? Can we build one at Liahona? I think the HT can field this one. - a personal testimony issue; bishop I’m not feeling the Spirit this week, can you help me? A HT or EQP or HPGL - a relationship problem; bishop my wife and I don’t see eye to eye on some things, I could use some counsel. An EQP or HPGL can serve in such a personal case and provide private counsel, teaching, and support. This type of assistance does not need to come from the Bishop unless worthiness is part of the issue. - a request for a blessing; bishop I’m feeling down this week could you give me a blessing? Surely the Lord will honor the humble petition of a bishop more than any other man in the ward. In this most recent General Conference of the church, in the priesthood session, we received some additional teaching from Elder Tad R Callister of the Presidency of the Seventy that relates to this topic. Now you sisters did not have an opportunity to hear this initially but you can read it now in the Ensign or Liahona magazines. In that talk Elder Callister tells us a story of his Great Grand Father, George F Richards. The year was 1878. George was only 17 years old, but he had recently been given the Melchezidek Priesthood and ordained to the office of elder. This was sometimes the case in those days as Elder Callister explained. One Sunday George’s mother was groaning in intense pain. George’s father was not available. Therefore, the Bishop and several others were invited to give her a blessing. But no relief came. Accordingly she turned to her young son George and ask him to lay hands on her head. George wrote in his diary, “In the midst of my tears for my mother’s suffering and the task of performing an administration such as I had never yet done, I retired to another room where I wept and prayed.” When he became composed, George laid his hands on his mother’s head and gave her a very simple blessing. Later he reports, “My mother ceased her groaning and received relief from her suffering while my hands were yet on her head.“ George latter recorded in his diary this most insightful observation. He said he had always felt that the reason his mother did not get relief from the bishop’s blessing was not because the Lord failed to honor the bishop’s blessing but because the Lord had reserved this blessing for a boy, to teach him a lesson. That the priesthood in the boy is just as powerful as the priesthood in the man when exercised in righteousness. Brothers and sisters, this is a key fundamental truth as taught by Elder Callister. This principle relates directly to our discussion about delegation. As a people we need to receive the servants of the Lord, the very servants that he has called and ordained. This includes our Bishops, yes, as mentioned we are already pretty good at receiving him, but it also includes all those servants that serve with him. It includes our Elder Quorum President and our High Priest Group Leaders and those that serve with them. And it even includes our Home teachers as they seek to magnify the important priesthood calling given to them to watch over the church. Jesus has taught that he who received my servants receiveth me and he that receiveth me receiveth my Father, and he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father’s kingdom, therefore, all that my Father hath shall be given unto him. All this blessing is contingent on if we will but receive the servants of the Lord. So this afternoon we have asked our priesthood leaders, especially our Elder Quorum Presidents and High Priest Group Leaders to lead the way down this inspired path, and discussed several specific examples where they can do this. Taking on what normally would be done by the bishop and redirecting some of the work. Like counseling parents in private interviews, showing support, teaching doctrine, giving blessings, visiting the sick, consoling the downhearted, lifting the hands that hang down and strengthening the feeble knees. This evening we are asking you members to follow them, to receive them and to support them in their priesthood duties and responsibilities. Let’s remember what we learned from Elder Olsen’s dream that we cannot expect the bishop to do it all and that we have priesthood quorums that can help. Let’s remember what we were recently taught in General Conference by Elder Callister that the priesthood in the boy, or in the elder’s quorum president or the high priest group leader, is just as powerful as the priesthood in the man, or in the bishop, when exercised in righteousness. Brothers and Sisters it is my testimony that this is God’s work. I have felt the power of the Spirit through the leaders of the church these last few weeks in a major way. I know with all my heart that they are the mighty servants of the Lord. May we remember the Brother of Jared as we seek to solve the difficult tasks that we face in life and may we receive the servants of the Lord in the Newburgh Stake as the Lord works with them to minister to our needs. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.