March 2022 RS Newsletter

As our new temple goes up brick by brick, we have been encouraged to prepare ourselves for its completion. I have considered ways to improve myself and my family, but I suggest another thing to build during this time- Unity amongst us.


Bishop Gérald Caussé said in the October 2013 General Conference, “In this Church our wards and our [classes] do not belong to us. They belong to Jesus Christ. Whoever enters our meetinghouses should feel at home. The responsibility to welcome everyone has growing importance...


We all need to work together to build spiritual unity within our wards and branches... It is your duty to reach out to anyone who appears at the doors of your Church buildings. Welcome them with gratitude and without prejudice. If people you do not know walk into one of your meetings, greet them warmly and invite them to sit with you. Please make the first move to help them feel welcome and loved, rather than waiting for them to come to you.”


I often imagine what Jesus would do if He were standing in our foyer every Sunday. He would be thrilled to see each person, regardless of their background, their choices this week, their hidden sins, their unspoken struggles. Each would feel His love. Each would feel welcome. Each would belong. “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God." (Ephesians 2:19)


I know we all are different. We all have our strengths and our weaknesses. Some of us are extroverts; some are introverts. Some have their hands full at church. Some feel new and uncertain, while some of us feel completely at home. But how could each of us add a brick to the unity of our ward? How can we help people feel they are loved

and they belong?


Could you smile at the sacrament speaker? Could you wave at a child? Could you show up to a teenager’s ballgame or concert? Could you text someone just to say you thought of them? Could you drop a card in the mail? How about sharing an experience in a lesson or introducing yourself to a new sister? Or showing up to a baptism or planning a park date? Maybe you could email a beloved recipe or share an inspiring news story. You could sit by someone you don’t normally sit by or give someone a hug. You could just listen to someone’s challenge or offer inspired advice. You could thank a teacher or offer to help someone.


All of us-- old or young, new or established, brave or reserved-- All of us could find ways to assist to build the unity in our ward. I anxiously await the day when our temple is complete. Won’t it be wonderful to visit the Lord’s beautiful house and all feel like “fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God”!

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