- Ezekial 33: 6…. But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.
- Mosiah 5:1 -5…1 And now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had thus spoken to his people, he sent among them, desiring to know of his people if they believed the words which he had spoken unto them. 2 And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually. 3 And we, ourselves, also, through the infinite goodness of God, and the manifestations of his Spirit, have great views of that which is to come; and were it expedient, we could prophesy of all things. 4 And it is the faith which we have had on the things which our king has spoken unto us that has brought us to this great knowledge, whereby we do rejoice with such exceedingly great joy. 5 And we are willing to enter into a covenant with our God to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments in all things that he shall command us, all the remainder of our days, that we may not bring upon ourselves a never-ending torment, as has been spoken by the angel, that we may not drink out of the cup of the wrath of God.
- “Many of our bishops and stake presidents are burdened with the personal problems of the Church members for whom they have stewardship. Every resource available must be enlisted to win the battle for the souls of our Father’s children. I feel strongly that the best way to help life the burden is to invite stake and ward council members to assist in finding the answers and implementing the solutions that the gospel of Jesus Christ provides.” Counseling with Our Councils M. Russell Ballard, Page ix
- “President Spencer W. Kimball once pled: “Stake presidents, bishops, and branch presidents, please take a particular interest in improving the quality of teaching in the Church. . . . I fear,” he said, “that all too often many of our members come to church, sit through a class or a meeting, and . . . then return home having been largely [uninspired]. It is especially unfortunate when this happens at a time . . . of stress, temptation, or crisis [in their life]. We all need to be touched and nurtured by the Spirit,” he said, “and effective teaching is one of the most important ways this can happen. We often do vigorous work,” President Kimball concluded, “to get members to come to Church but then do not adequately watch over what they receive when they do come.”” Broken Things to Mend (Jeffrey R. Holland) Kindle Loc. 528-34
- “One important way to increase the unity and effectiveness of our ward and stake councils is to remember that all council members have dual responsibility: not only do they represent the needs and perspectives of the individual organizations they have been called to lead, but each one also serves as a member of the council, sharing equally with the others a sense of stewardship for the success of the Lord’s work in that area. Thus when a subject that pertains to all ward or stake members is discussed, full consideration should be given to the views and recommendations of all council members, both the brethren and the sisters. Such an approach will result in wiser decisions and will generate greater commitment as these decisions are carried out.” Counseling with Our Councils M. Russell Ballard, Page 14
- “Once the appropriate council are in place and energized, leaders can begin to look beyond maintenance and meeting the needs of individuals and can find ways to make the world a better place in which to live. There’s no reason why ward council agendas could not include such subjects as gang violence, urban blight, unemployment, or abuse of any kind. Bishops could ask ward councils, “How can we make a difference in our community and in our families in these important areas?” Such broad thinking and involvement in our communities would not only be exciting and fulfilling, it would also have the benefit of being the right thing for us to do as Latter-day Saints and as Christians. In other words, one of the great strengths of the council system is the flexibility it provides to develop and implement local solutions to local problems. And as the needs and circumstances of individuals, families, and communities change over time, ward and stake councils- operating under priesthood direction and established Church guidelines- can focus their collective wisdom and the inspiration of heaven on such needs, thus blessing and lifting all who come within their influence.” Counseling with Our Councils M. Russell Ballard, Page 15
- Words of Mormon 1:17 -18 …17 For behold, king Benjamin was a holy man, and he did reign over his people in righteousness; and there were many holy men in the land, and they did speak the word of God with power and with authority; and they did use much sharpness because of the stiffneckedness of the people— 18 Wherefore, with the help of these, king Benjamin, by laboring with all the might of his body and the faculty of his whole soul, and also the prophets, did once more establish peace in the land.
- “The hard doctrines…insist that we ask some hard questions.” (Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, May 1994, 89)
- Jacob 1: 19… And we did magnify our office unto the Lord, taking upon us the responsibility, answering the sins of the people upon our own heads if we did not teach them the word of God with all diligence; wherefore, by laboring with our might their blood might not come upon our garments; otherwise their blood would come upon our garments, and we would not be found spotless at the last day.
- Jacob 4: 41… And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard wept, and said unto the servant: What could I have done more for my vineyard?
- Alama 19: 16-31…A Lamanite Woman, Abish, was secretly converted to the gospel many years ago because of her Father’s vision, saw all that the Power of God was in action with Ammon, the Queen, the King and all the servants. She saw this as an “opportunity” could help the people believe in the power of God. So she “ran” from house to house telling everyone about it. Once the people saw what was happening, they began to argue whether it was from God or not. One man tried to kill Ammon, but before his “mission” he was blessed with protection. So that man fell dead when he tried to kill Ammon. The people began to argue even more, causing Abish to be sad and cry, and then she was prompted to go and take the hand of the Queen. As soon as she did this, the Queen arose and began to speak things of God. Her husband, King Lamoni, also rose. He saw the contention going on, and rebuked them, then taught them the gospel. All were converted because of the initial promptings and actions of the Lamanite Woman, Abish.
- “PRIESTHOOD MISSIONARY WORK IN THE CHURCH. 1st Presidency Letter- Oct 29, 1976… 1) Missionary work is: (1) Church Directed. (2) Stake Organized (3) Ward Operated (4) Family & Individually Performed.” From President Albert Farnsworth, Mission President of Ecuador Quito from 1993 to 1996.
- Ephesians 4: 11-13…The Lord organized his church with apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers to perfect the saints, work of the ministry, and edifying of the body of Christ so that members can come in the unity of faith, knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
- January 4, 1996 – Thursday – Quito Ecuador… “This morning Elder Abril & I took off to President Farnsworth’s house. We had a meeting with him to organize the mission, and talk about it’s 3 programs: Activate, Proselyte, Coordinate. President helped me to understand how Missionary work functions. 1st of all, the Stake President is in charge of all Missionary Work. He needs to establish a program in how to find investigators or the chosen in his stake boundaries. His program is the Stake Mission program: Stake Missionary President, Ward Mission Leaders, Stake Missionaries. The Bishop’s in their ward are in charge of fellowshipping and returning the new converts. He should plan activities and assign Home TEachers, give collings and priesthood, etc. The Regular Missionaries are there to just teach. Nothing else. They’re there to support the wards and the Stake Mission. After eating a great breakfast (by Sister Farnsworth) and finishing up the papers to send to the Area Presidency and Apostles, I waited in the office for Herrera. He got me and we took off to our citas. He taught 8 charlas in the morning. Sweet. We had a pretty successful day. Satan is getting all over me. I’m tired of him, his tricks, and his way of getting us.” – Clinton Brown Missionary Journal