Posted by:
Changed Man
(
)
Date: June 15, 2018 01:21PM
I remember hearing the announcement that the Home Teaching and Visiting Teaching programs were being replaced with Ministering, and ministering wasn't going to have assigned families, assigned companionships, reporting, etc. I thought, wow, that sounds like a great idea where people will act charitably and socially without a corporate mandate. Well, I received the following email last night. Sigh...
"Brethren:
We are going to begin conducting ministering interviews next Tuesday night at around 7:30 pm. Brother [redacted] will be contacting some of you to begin scheduling these meetings. Our intention is to begin holding these meetings fairly consistently, and by meeting with a few of you every few weeks we can slowly work through all the members of the quorum.
We look forward to meeting you, getting to know you better, and to counseling together on ministering. In preparation for these meetings, we ask that you review the church's published guidance on ministering and ministering interviews.
In case there is still any lingering confusion with assignments, please note that if you have not been notified of any changes to your ministering assignment or companionship, then likely no change has been made. The latest version of the LDS Tools app now lists your ministering brothers, your ministering assignment, and your companion. If something does not seem right on your list please let us know. As always, if you have a question on your families, your companion, or the ministering concept in general, please reach out to a member of the Presidency.
Over the coming months, we are all going to have many opportunities to learn more about ministering. It is the subject for our 4th Sunday meetings until October and now we get to counsel together in ministering interviews. However, the greatest teaching tool you have is in following the promptings you receive. I invite you to continue to do what you have always done. Pray and act! Often times that simple formula brings great miracles to the lives of those who follow it. Remember what Nephi teaches us, by small means the Lord can bring about great things."
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He goes on to say how great we are and how this is a wonderful time to be a member of the church.
So, there you have it. The new program is the same as the old program. I read the email to my wife who is still active, and she was disappointed. She said that liked the new program as it was originally announced, and this is just the old program with a new name. I agreed.