A collection of personal experiences and impressions received while serving as an elders quorum president — recorded so they aren't lost, and shared in case they help someone else.
Introduction
The calling, and the preparation
On the 15th of September 2024, my wife Rebecca and I went to meet with President Bryan Gene Hopkins in his stake president's office at 8:30 a.m. During our conversation he invited me to accept the calling to preside over the 2nd quorum of elders in the Slate Canyon 10th ward.
Several months earlier, on Saturday, June 1st, 2024, I got up and asked the Lord in prayer what I could do for Him. I had gotten into a habit of asking that question. Often I would get thoughts back as words or short phrases dropped into my mind — love, work, worship, temple, clean, fun, build.
That morning the answer was unexpected: go fishing. I had not had a thought like this before. I was surprised. But I like fishing, so I went.
It was during the white bass spawn season in Utah County, which generally lasts for about three weeks near the end of May each year. I went to an area of the Utah Lake inlet near my house. I was having a great time pulling in and letting go many fish. About an hour into it, feelings of communication from the Lord inviting me to make some personal changes in my life came to me. I was overwhelmed. I was all alone.
For me, those waters became my Waters of Mormon. In hindsight, it was part of the preparation for a future calling.
Lesson 1 · Ministry is personal
The visit to the resting home
Shortly after being called as elders quorum president — I was sustained on a Sunday, and I think it was the following Wednesday — I had a distinct thought to visit a friend in a resting home.
This wonderful, faithful sister had been going downhill. Her decline started during the COVID-19 period. She played the cello — in fact my son Daniel had taken private cello lessons from her. At the end of one of her concerts she went to stand and, to her surprise, she couldn't. She used an electric chair for about a year, and then mostly stayed in bed.
My first thought was that this sister was not in my ward or quorum. But I was powerfully taught that my ministry was different from my duties as quorum president. My ministry is personal, and is not limited to any geographic location.
In one of our final visits she showed me a personal letter she had received from President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. She could no longer read it, so she asked me to read it to her. It was personal and compassionate and meant a great deal to her.
My ministry is personal and is not limited to any geographic boundary or calling.
Lesson 2 · Every member is on a personal journey
His work is one and one
Early in my service, when looking out at our congregation, I received a powerful impression: every member of the ward was on a personal journey with the Lord Jesus Christ.
I could help the Savior in His work, but it is a personal work. Church activities, elders quorum presidents, families, and temples are helps — but the work itself is Jesus loving the one, and the one receiving that love and coming to Him.
The work is Christ loving each individual, and the individual receiving that love and coming to Him. Everything else is a help to that.
Lesson 3 · Speak well of His servant
Don't disparage the calling
During some of my first interviews I would sometimes say things like, "Jesus is great — not like me, who makes mistakes." One time, after saying something self-disparaging like that, the Lord powerfully brought it to my mind that this was NOT the way He wanted me to talk about His elders quorum president.
I stopped doing that, and I try to catch myself when I am tempted to do it again.
When called of God, speak respectfully of the calling — even when speaking of yourself. He doesn't want His servants disparaged, including by themselves.
Lesson 4 · Set judgment aside
Not here to judge
Somewhere along the line I learned that I was not to make judgments under the pretext of trying to help the members of the quorum. I was not to take a situation and judge it good or bad and then teach by saying "this is bad" or "this other behavior is good."
Judgment gets in the way. It is not my role or my prerogative, and it literally needs to be taken out of my problem-solving toolbox. I sometimes tell people: I am not here to judge you.
Judgment is not part of ministering. It belongs to the Lord. My role is to love, listen, and help.
Lesson 5 · Revelation through counselors
Even when they don't say much
I like to talk a lot and sometimes dominate my presidency meetings. I have learned that even when I ask my counselors questions and they don't respond much, I can still feel the revelation that comes from including them.
I am grateful for my wonderful, God-called counselors.
Counselors don't have to talk much to bring revelation. The act of inviting them into the question opens a channel.
Lesson 6 · It's OK to take a nap
Woken up with something to do
I usually get up early. For about eighteen months in my life I got about three hours of sleep a night. Then for a while I was up to four. The last few years it has been about five.
Most Sunday mornings I generally study the gospel and prepare for ward council and elders quorum meetings that start at 9:00 a.m. One Sunday, after being up for several hours — I think it was about 6:30 a.m. — I thought, "I'll take a nap." I dozed off, and after a bit I woke with the thought to contact one of the quorum members about an assignment. I went back to sleep and woke again with something else I needed to do.
Lesson 7 · Neighborhood cleanup service
An easy door, opened
Three times now we have sponsored a cleanup service for the ward. Provo offers several weeks in the fall and the spring when residents can take large items or branches and dispose of them for free. The transfer station is very near our house — only about 1.3 miles, which I didn't realize for a long time. Before I knew about the central station I had driven to the remote drop-off sites the city sets up around town, which change locations each week. One day a worker mentioned the central station to me, and I was surprised at how close it was.
We try to reach out to each house in the neighborhood — we have about 190 — and offer to pick up items and dispose of them for free. This last time I took my truck out from about 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (Provo closes at 3:00 and I wanted a buffer.)
We have met many people doing this — non-members, less-actives, actives. No one has been offended by the offer of help. It is an easy way to contact everyone in the neighborhood, and people are very grateful. Some could do it themselves; many don't have an easy way to do it; for some it is a tremendous help.