Ministering is the term we are using, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to describe our efforts to become more like Him.

I serve as the Relief Society President in my ward, and I expect that some of your challenges with ministering are similar to people I’ve talked with during ministering interviews:

• • Now that there’s no “schedule,” you sort of forget to plan your ministering visits, and when you try, it’s really hard to get everyone together at the same time.

• • You may be assigned to minister to someone who is a lot older or younger than you are and you are finding it hard to connect.

• • You’re struggling to get past the forced, awkward surface contacts and are at a loss to find common ground where you can build the foundation for a real friendship.

• • Maybe the people you are assigned to visit say they are doing just fine and a text once a quarter is fine with them. That means you have the difficult task of figuring out how to serve someone who doesn’t really want to be served.

• • Maybe you serve with a youth as your companion and you are struggling to help them contribute in a way that is meaningful to them.

• Finally, you’re trying to wrap your head around what exactly is meant by “a newer, holier way.”

  

A Path Toward More Personal Revelation

When my ward members share similar frustrations with me, I usually ask them to try to pivot their thinking a little: At its root, the ministering program seems to be the Lord’s plan for helping us each to learn to receive personal revelation. Ministering is our chance to practice following the still, small voice. And if we approach it that way, it might help take some of the pressure off. It’s OK to fail once in a while when you are just practicing.

Elder Rasband said something very reassuring when he reminded us that the Prophet Joseph Smith once taught that if we will listen to the first prompting, rather than second-guessing and third-guessing ourselves, we’ll get it right nine times out of ten (See Rasband, Ronald A. “Let the Holy Spirit Guide.” Ensign. April 2017).

The purpose of this section of the website, is simply to encourage a little more practice by making practicing just a little bit more fun. You’ll find similar ideas and lots of tear-out cards in this small volume:

I hope you’ll use some of the ideas presented here as a springboard to helping you connect more closely with those you care about, and each month during 2019, I’ll include some additional ideas here for fun ways to minister: 

Click the links below for 25+ new ministering ideas each month, plus a printable and downloadable meme you can print out or text to ministering sisters or ministering families.

November

A great month for gratitude, here are more than 25 ideas for ministering in November.

 

December

December is the perfect time to show others you care. Here are a few ideas to try.  

January

Here’s my favorite recipe for kettle corn, plus a few fun ideas for January ministering.