Tag Archive for: united

Aligned

Over the course of the last 10 days, I have met face to face with each of the Stake Presidents serving in Belgium and the Netherlands.
I’ve travelled from the most southerly, to the most northerly part of the mission, meeting…
Angelo Leman in Gent
Eelco Scheltinga in Den Haag
and Jerry Bletterman in Groningen
What is the role of a Stake President?
A stake president is the lay leader of a stake, which is a geographic subdivision similar to a Catholic diocese. A stake president is a man who is asked to serve as a volunteer in this position. He oversees Church programmes in a defined geographic area composed of individual congregations called wards and is responsible to help the members of his stake in their efforts to follow Jesus Christ. He also oversees the activities of the bishops or ward leaders, counselling them as needed.
As I met with each of them, I discovered something.
Frequently, in our discussions together, we used the word ๐’‚๐’๐’Š๐’ˆ๐’๐’†๐’…, or ๐’‚๐’๐’Š๐’ˆ๐’๐’Ž๐’†๐’๐’•.
๐€๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐ž๐: โ€œsupporting or agreeing with another person, to match behaviours, thoughts or views, harmonize the aims or practicesโ€
It was a marvel.
Whilst living here, in two countries where bicycles are everywhere, Iโ€™ve learned the importance of wheel alignment.
To keep your bike running smoothly, truing a wheel involves tightening and adjusting spokes from time to time to keep your wheels aligned.
Similarly meeting together from time to time with each Stake President, ensures that we are in full alignment.

Staying aligned

We are spiritually aligned through our faith in God, our testimonies of the truth, plus the knowledge and wisdom that each of us have gathered, as we study the holy scriptures and follow living prophets.
Quentin L. Cook recently said โ€œOur Heavenly Fatherโ€™s plan for safely gathering His children to our heavenly home is not based on worldly success, economic status, education, race, or gender. Fatherโ€™s plan is based on righteousness, keeping His commandments, and receiving sacred ordinances and honouring the covenants we make.โ€
I love these men.
They have become true friends.
I feel united and aligned with each of them as together, we boldly declare the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and invite all to come unto Him.

United we stand, divided we fall

โ€œ๐”๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐ฐ๐ž ๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐ง๐, ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ž๐ ๐ฐ๐ž ๐Ÿ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅโ€
It is a familiar phrase, used to express unity and collaboration.
Meaning โ€“ if we donโ€™t stand together, ultimately, we will not succeed.
It is a phrase that has been used throughout history to inspire and lift couples, groups, teams, political parties, countries and many more.
Biblically, in Matthew 12:25 and also in Luke 11:17, the scriptures convey the common message that a house divided against itself will not stand.
In modern culture, J.K. Rowling uses a variation of the phrase in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, when Albus Dumbledore says, โ€œWe are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.โ€
The Bundle of Sticks
I love the moral of this story.
โ€œAN OLD man on the point of death summoned his sons around him to give them some parting advice. He ordered his servants to bring in a bundle of sticks and said to his eldest son: โ€œBreak it.โ€ The son strained and strained, but with all his efforts was unable to break the bundle. The other sons also tried, but none of them was successful. โ€œUntie the bundle,โ€ said the father, โ€œand each of you take a stick.โ€ When they had done so, he called out to them: โ€œNow, break it,โ€ and each stick was easily broken. โ€œYou see my meaning,โ€ said their father.โ€
๐‘ผ๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’†๐’… ๐’˜๐’† ๐’”๐’•๐’‚๐’๐’…, ๐’…๐’Š๐’—๐’Š๐’…๐’†๐’… ๐’˜๐’† ๐’‡๐’‚๐’๐’.
Recently D. Todd Christofferson said regarding unity, that โ€œโ€ฆwe cannot be one unless we all bend our efforts to the common cause.โ€
The common cause could be in the home, in our marriages, in our missionary companionships, in our workplaces, or in our teams.
He went on to say that โ€œโ€ฆ unity does not require sameness, but it does require harmony.โ€
David O. McKay taught โ€œUnity, harmony, goodwill are virtues to be fostered and cherished in every home.โ€
I accept that unity of ideals and purpose is often hard to achieve.
So how do we build that unity, that harmony with one another?
My favourite piece of counsel and direction comes from Gordon B. Hinckley, he said โ€œsomehow forgiveness, with love and tolerance, accomplishes miracles that can happen in no other way.โ€
For all of us in life, there comes a time to confront ourselves with ourselves โ€“ it is a compulsory part of learning and growing.
A time when each of us may have to concede the error of our ways and pride gives ways to humility.
We move forward by standing together, talking together, listening together, working together, serving together, sharing together and by doing good together.
Amid all the hardships of human life, if we can understand a little more of the principle of unity and establish it in our heartsโ€ฆ then our homes, our marriages, our communities and our workplaces, will be much more harmonious.
If you were to explain unity to someone, what would you say?

Being one.

Manchester, Dundee, Leeds, Newcastle, Carlisle, Torquay and even West Ham all have something in common….. do you know what it is?
The answer…
……Football teams with the word “๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ž๐” in their title.
Historically, football teams were often amalgamated from more than one smaller club, and then became united.
United – made into or caused to act as a single entity, agreed, in harmony, when people are united, they agree about it and act together.
How united are you – at home, with your neighbours, in your community or in your workplace?
Being united, does not mean being the same.
I know that listening closely to and learning from the perspectives and experiences of others can sometimes be very uncomfortable.
Yet doing so, helps us recognise just how much we see the world as we are rather than as it is.
It may require a change in attitude, building on our many shared common interests, but we must learn to appreciate the differences in others.
Our differences enhance our ability to work together in harmony to accomplish the most difficult of challenges.

Being United…

I have learned that we must constantly work hard at creating unity in diversity.
Working to achieve your goals all alone can be difficult, frequently you need the support of people around you to help – that is what diversity and unity is all about.
Staying united can provide us with a sense of security, support and inner strength in times of difficulty and can allow us to achieve great things.
If ever there was a time for people to stand together it is now.
There is a great power that comes as we work together with others as one.
United we stand, divided we fall.
Unity, harmony and goodwill are virtues that we can all foster in our homes, communities and business organisations. It is essential for any family, community or organisation to thrive.
J.K. Rowling said “We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.”
What can you do to build unity?

Unity

โ€œLeadership is influence – nothing more, nothing lessโ€โ€“ John Maxwell.
Yesterday, I used this quote in a pre-conference short leadership team meeting.
Influence – โ€œthe power to have an effect on people or things, or a person or thing that is able to do this.โ€
Then we started our mission conference.
We shared articles, beliefs, doctrines, ideas, music, principles, quotes, scriptures, standards, stories, and many truths were told.
Then, we laughed together, we cried together, we spoke in English and in Dutch together, we prayed together, we bore testimony together.
We influenced one another.
We were united, we were ๐’๐’๐’†.
In my own mindโ€™s eye, all day long I had another definition of leadership running through my head.
“Leadership is communicating to people their worth and potential so clearly that they are inspired to see it in themselves.” Stephen Covey
Yes โ€“ we even inspired one other.
Serving as mission leaders is one of the most arduous, challenging, rewarding, and uplifting (all at the same time) things that we have ever, ever done.
But it is truly majestic to see, hear and witness the development of the rising generation.