Administering effectively
E-mail story
It's easy. Send a link to the story you were just reading to a friend. Just fill out the form on this page and we'll send it along.
Your name and e-mail address are transmitted to the recipient. Otherwise, it is considered private information; see Privacy policy.
In ward and stake administration, "when one deals in generalities he will rarely have a success; but when he deals in specifics, he will rarely have a failure," President Thomas S. Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency, said in his leadership training address.
Deal in specifics
President Monson related an experience given by Elder ElRay L. Christiansen, a General Authority who visited the Canadian Mission in 1959 when President Monson presided there. The example given by Elder Christiansen had guided him earlier as a stake president. In a four-step plan, his stake presidency increased the spirituality of the stake members by motivating them to have family prayer, attend sacrament meeting weekly, pay an honest tithing and honor the Sabbath.
When he served as bishop of the Sixth-Seventh Ward in Salt Lake City, President Monson said, the bishopric published a pamphlet for ward members called to positions. It contained fundamentals for successful teaching, such as "a personality filled with religious quality; a genuine interest in people, a knowledge of the gospel, a wholesome attitude and utilization of good teaching methods."
Reach and teach
"The fact that the ward had a significant number of relatively transient members was not considered a deterrent at all," he said. "Rather, this provided an ideal opportunity to reach and teach more of our Heavenly Father's children. What a privilege!"
Let no boy or girl be lost
As a bishopric, he said, he and his counselors determined to lend every effort "to insure that no boy, no girl was lost. "I wish I could say that we succeeded totally," he said. He then told of Richard Casto, who he noticed one morning was missing from priests quorum meeting. Bishop Monson left the quorum in the care of the adviser and went to the home of the missing priest. Informed that Richard was working at a garage, the bishop went there to find him. Suddenly, he had the inspiration to look into a grease pit. Then he heard Richard say, "You found me, Bishop! You found me. I'll come up." He rarely missed another priesthood meeting. Today he is serving as a bishop.
Obey counsel
To illustrate the need to obey counsel as Church leaders, he spoke of following a directive as a bishop from Church headquarters to write personally to each serviceman in his ward. Only after he had sent 17 letters to one young man in particular did the serviceman respond.
"I still have that wonderful letter written to me from Lawrence Bryson and dated Christmas Day, Dec. 25, 1953," he said. "It was one of the most treasured Christmas gifts ever received by me."
President Monson concluded with referencing President Gordon B. Hinckley as a model to follow. "He is receptive to the spirit of the Lord. He lives in such a way as to merit His direction. He asks nothing from all of us beyond that which he himself exemplifies."
