July Council Meeting: "No less serviceable"

Captain Moroni was an amazing leader of the Nephite army during many battles against the Lamanites. In Alma 48, we learn that Moroni was "a strong and a mighty man; he was a man of perfect understanding; ... a man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, ... and he was a man who was firm in the faith of Christ." He led by "preparing the minds of the people to be faithful unto the Lord their God. Yea, he had been strengthening the armies of the Nephites, and erecting small forts, or places of resort". But Moroni was not the only good man who served the people. In Alma 48:19, we learn that "Helaman and his brethren were no less serviceable unto the people than was Moroni; for they did preach the word of God, and they did baptize unto repentance all men whosoever would hearken unto their words."

Like Moroni, we sometimes have opportunities to serve others in big and visible ways. However, more often, we are needed for the smaller, less noticeable daily acts of kindness that, like the work of Helaman and his brethren, are no less serviceable to God and our fellowmen.

This month in our council meeting, we discussed ways to meet a few of these smaller needs in our ward:

• Our ward directory on lds.org has space for photographs of individuals in addition to names and contact information. This is a great way to be able to put names and faces together as we try to get to know everyone in the ward. Unfortunately, many of us don't have a picture posted or our pictures are so out-dated that they no longer look like us, which prevents this tool from being as useful as it could be. To alleviate this problem, we are asking that everyone in the ward please add a current photo of themselves to the ward directory. If you need help uploading a picture or you need someone to take a picture of you, please ask for help! Anyone in the RS presidency would be glad to help, or you can reach out to your ministering sisters, another friend in the ward, etc. The church's policy on acceptable photos can be found here. Please upload your photo before the end of the month.
• We have an ongoing need for rides to the stake center to pick up food delivered from the bishop's storehouse. To help with this, you would need to pick up an individual from our ward and give her a ride to the stake center (1050 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Chapel Hill), arriving at 7:00 AM on a Thursday, to receive the delivered food and then provide a ride home and help move the food into her house. Deliveries are made every other week. So far, people have signed up to provide rides for July and August, so the next available dates are September 6 and 20. If you are interested in helping meet this need, please contact a member of the RS presidency, and we can confirm a specific date and provide contact information for a sister who would love your help.
• Occasionally, sisters in our Relief Society have need of a dog (or other pet) sitter and are unsure about whom they can ask for help. If you would like to be added to a dog sitter list, please fill out this brief survey regarding your availability.