While Sister Kristin M. Yee, second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, was on assignment in Finland, a woman stopped her just as she walked into the lobby of a meetinghouse.
The woman told her, “Sister Yee, I was going to make you banana bread, but then I didn’t.”
Sister Yee wasn’t sure how to reply and settled on a tentative, almost questioning, “Thank you.”
The woman then said, “I thought banana bread would make you feel more at home, but then I thought that would be a silly thing to do.”
In response, Sister Yee echoed the words of Sister Camilla Kimball, the wife of President Spencer W. Kimball, who said, “Never suppress a generous thought.”
When telling this story in the Marriott Center at BYU Education Week in August, Sister Yee told the audience to realize that what they have to offer is good.
“Follow the generous impressions of your heart, and minister as He would,” she said. “Don’t worry so much about what others will think. And those you serve may or may not receive you or your efforts, but that may not be the full purpose of that impression.”
When people receive callings in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and assignments like ministering, they may wonder why the Lord has called or assigned them or wonder what they can offer.
They may even feel some fear, anxiety or inadequacy. I know I do sometimes. But we are all not alone.
When President Kimball was called to be a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, his biography explained that he was shocked and baffled — he couldn’t sleep and agonized for days.
Similar feelings happened for President Dallin H. Oaks, now President of the Church, when he was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1984. In the book “In the Hands of the Lord,” by Richard Turley Jr., President Oaks said he felt “a flurry of ‘fear and apprehension’” and “almost totally unprepared” about being an Apostle.
But, he wrote, “I decided that I would focus my efforts on what I had been called to do.”
Just four days after President D. Todd Christofferson was called to be the new second counselor in the First Presidency, he told local leaders gathered for training in Las Vegas, Nevada, something similar.
President Christofferson said when he was called as an Apostle, he worried about people’s perceptions and expectations of him and whether he would measure up.
After a while, he got a firm impression from the Spirit to stop worrying about it and look outward, focusing on what he could do to help in the Lord’s cause.
“That all came back to me a few days ago,” he admitted, referring to Tuesday, Oct. 14, when he was named a counselor in the First Presidency. “But the answer is still the same, and it is the same for you. Do not worry so much about perceptions and expectations. Focus on what it is the Lord wants and how it can be achieved and how we can call upon His power and His gifts to do it.”
That made me think of another moment in August, when my oldest son reported to our stake high council about his mission. Another young man in our stake had just returned as well and was also there to report that Sunday morning. A high councilor asked that returned missionary what he knew now after his mission that he didn’t know before.
He responded: “I didn’t need to be so scared. God was not going to let me fail.”
Pondering on this, I found the following teaching from President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency: “Every person is different and has a different contribution to make. No one is destined to fail” (“Help Them Aim High,” October 2012 general conference).
President Eyring taught in that address that “God knows our gifts.” His invitation was for us to pray to know the gifts we have been given, to know how to develop them and to recognize the opportunities to serve others that God provides us.
Then, he closed with this promise: “I promise you that if you ask, you will be blessed to help and lift others to their full potential in the service of those they lead and love.”
In sharing the story about the banana bread, Sister Yee told those listening that if they feel a little uncomfortable and unsure in what they are being called or asked to do, “know you’re in the perfect spot for the Lord to work with you.”
He will not let you fail.
— Mary Richards is a reporter for the Church News.
