Creation of the Far West Ward

When Heavenly Father calls any of us to serve within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he places in us great trust. He knows our capabilities but even more importantly he understands our hearts and desires. He blesses us with opportunities to stretch and grow as we mold our lives and become the kind of people he wants us to become.

On Sunday, April 18th, 2010 I was sustained as the Bishop of a brand new ward at Far West Missouri. It is always exciting to receive a confirmation that Heavenly Father is pleased with our efforts and testimony, and in this case, it is also very exciting to have the opportunity to organize a new ward from scratch. To my knowledge, there has not been a ward at Far West since the saints were expelled from Far West in 1838. This fact alone makes this new ward historic. But for our ward to become what our Heavenly Father desires, we must strive to become a Zion people.

"The Lord called his people Zion because they were of one heart and one mind, and they dwealt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them." (Moses 7:18)

That is what our Father expects from us.

More important than where the ward is located, is who we are as a people. We all have the opportunity to stretch and grow to become what our Father wants us to be. As we dedicate ourselves to righteous living and service, as we express our love for the Savior and testify through our service, as we strenthen our families and our youth, we will progress towards being a Zion people.

These are exciting times. As always, our first priority should be upon growing our testimonies of the Savior and serving others, as he would have us do.