In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes mistakenly called the “Mormon Church”) everyone serves. With no professional, trained clergy, members are “called” through inspiration of God by those in authority over them (who also have been called) to serve in various capacities throughout their lives. These summons to serve begin very early in the life of a Latter-day Saint, even in early childhood, when children are asked to participate in church services and in leadership capacities in their age groups.
We all are born with talents, and these are magnified through our callings. Spiritual gifts may also come with us into mortality, or they may be bestowed upon us by God from time to time in order to better serve His other children. In fact, we can pray for spiritual gifts and the stretching of our talents, and these requests are more likely to be honored when we plan to use them for service.
Most “callings” are temporary. Only the General Authorities—the prophet and apostles and some members of the Quorums of the Seventy—serve in their callings until they pass from this mortal sphere. Some callings take little time and energy, while others may be very demanding. The calling of bishop is one of these, and a bishop—like a priest or pastor over a congregation—may invest 30 hours a week in his Mormon church calling, as he continues to work in his professional vocation and care for his family. Bishops typically serve for about 5 years, but sometimes much longer.
Currently, I hold two callings, both in a small congregation (too small to be a “ward”) of the LDS Church. I am an American living in Penang, Malaysia, and I serve both as the Gospel Doctrine teacher in the Sunday School, and as the Relief Society President. Gospel Doctrine classes focus on the scriptures in a four-year cycle: Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants/LDS Church History. The Pearl of Great Price is incorporated into the Old Testament year, since it deals with the writings of Moses and Abraham and has several accounts of the Creation. Thus, all the “standard works” or canonized texts of the Church of Jesus Christ are covered. At the end of four years, the cycle begins again. Church members have a study guide, and the teacher has a manual, and these are the same all over the world. Teaching this class takes much preparation, but as with all callings in the LDS Church, brings great blessings of knowledge and understanding to the teacher, as well as the class.
The Relief Society is the women’s organization of the Church of Jesus Christ, and it is the oldest and largest in the world, with nearly 6 million members. Everything we do in the LDS Church is meant to bring members closer to the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen families, and the Relief Society blesses women to this end. They in turn bless others. Through a program called visiting teaching, every sister (female member) should receive a personal visit from assigned Relief Society members each month. A spiritual message is provided, but most importantly, visiting teachers act as earthly guardian angels to that sister, and organize service for her in her individual time of need. Relief Society also provides gospel education, homemaking education, preparedness education, literacy education, help for the poor and needy and afflicted, and humanitarian aid and welfare as needed.
As a Relief Society President, I have been “set apart” through the laying on of hands by men who hold priesthood power in order to receive God’s help in my calling. I have received a “mantle” for this calling, and this has included the power to love the women I serve. All those called to serve in these ways note the love they feel that comes with the mantle of the calling. I am privileged, also, to receive revelation to help me in my calling. This revelation includes knowing whom to call to positions under my stewardship. I have two counselors to help me, and they were called through revelation. We also have teachers, music specialists, humanitarian aid specialists, visiting teachers, visiting teaching coordinators, compassionate service specialists, activities people, the list goes on. In our small branch, we haven’t the sisters to fill all these callings, so we have a skeleton crew filling many roles.
Part of my calling is to assess welfare needs, so that a family in need can tap into the extensive welfare program of the LDS Church. This program is anchored upon the idea of self-sufficiency, so help is expected to be temporary, but it must be sensitively and discretely extended, in just the right measure.
Recently, we held a District Relief Society Conference, combining the sisters from four far-flung branches of the LDS Church. Women from Ipoh, Sitiawan, Butterworth, and Penang gathered in Penang for a spiritual meeting, a nice dinner, and a humanitarian aid project. We assembled hygiene kits for an orphanage on the south side of Penang Island, and collected used clothing for our poorer sisters in “East Malaysia” on the island of Borneo. Donated clothing was packaged in such a way that each item looked new. A few of us visited the orphanage to deliver the fruits of our labors, and then passed information along to senior Mormon missionaries who specialize in humanitarian aid. They in turn will pass information about the needs of this orphanage to the philanthropies department of the Church of Jesus Christ for a future possible project or donation to help. Many such projects have been completed in Malaysia, with a recent one bringing electricity and clean water to a village that had none, changing the lives of the villagers.
My own life has been transformed through my service in the Kingdom of God on earth. I have taught Gospel Doctrine for many years; I have been a leader in the children’s organization (Primary) and the organization for teenaged girls (Young Women’s Organization); I have served in many Relief Society Presidencies and have taught many classes, participated in many humanitarian aid projects, and learned many homemaking skills; I have sung in a myriad of choirs and written plays and musicals for the youth. All of these things have honed my talents and expanded my compassion and brought me closer to the Good Shepherd, our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Additional Resources:
Basic Mormon Beliefs and Real Mormons
Learn more about what Mormons believe
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