I gave a talk in church a few months ago and keep thinking that I should put it up on the blog. Basically a “talk”–as we Mormons call it–is a speech we are asked to give to the congregation in a our Sacrament Meeting at church. I felt like I should focus on the topic: serving members of our ward. (We Mormons have a lot of lingo… Simply put, a “ward” is a church congregation that meets together.) With that said, here’s my prepared talk (without my personal intro).

The topic question: “How can I serve more like the Savior in my day-to-day life?”

My focus: Serving members of the ward

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The Little Blue Truck & Serving Ward Members

The Little Blue Truck

I’d like to begin today by sharing a children’s story that our family is fond of, The Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle.

“Horn went ‘Beep!’ Engine purred. Friendliest sounds you ever heard. Little Blue Truck came down the road. Beep said Blue to the big green toad. Toad said croak and winked an eye when Little Blue Truck went rolling by. Sheep said Baa, cow said moo, oink said piggy, beep said Blue. Cluck said a chicken and her chick said peep, maa said a goat, blue said beep. Naa said a horse, quack said a duck, beep said the friendly Little Blue Truck.

“HONK! Yelled a dump truck coming through! I’ve got big important things to do. I haven’t got time to pass the day with every duck along the way. Roooom went the dump around a curve. He saw a puddle and tried to swerve. But into the mud rolled the big fat truck, and his big important wheels got stuck! His heavy duty dump truck tires were sunk down deep in muck and mire. Honk cried the dump and he sounded scared but nobody heard, or nobody cared.

“Then into the mud… bump, bump, bump… came the Little Blue Truck to help the dump. Little Blue pushed with all his might, now Blue and the dump were both stuck tight. Help! Help! Help! Cried the Little Blue Truck. Beep beep beep I’m stuck! I’m stuck! Everybody heard that beep, beep, beep. The cow came running, and the pig, and the sheep. Up at a gallop ran the big brown horse, goat jumped over the fence of course. The hen came flapping with the chick and the duck, and everybody pushed the Little Blue Truck. 

“Head to head and rump to rump. They all pushed Blue who pushed the Dump.They couldn’t quite budge that heavy load, then who hopped up, but the Big Green Toad. All together now, 1, 2, 3! One last push and the trucks were free. 

“Thanks little brother, said the dump to blue. You helped me and they helped you. Now I see a lot depends on a helping hand from a few good friends. Beep! Said blue, who wants a ride? Everybody scrambled to jump inside. Oink, quack, baa, moo, cluck, peep, neigh, croak, maa. Beep beep beep!”

This is a family favorite for a few reasons. The illustrations are top notch, it rhymes, there are plenty of animal and truck sounds. But most importantly, it teaches some key lessons:

1. Sometimes a few friendly beeps can make a big difference.
2. Sometimes it takes a little slowing down to help someone.
3. Sometimes it takes teamwork to serve.

The morals in this story of cute trucks and farmyard animals can be likened to this ward and how we can be serving each other with Christ-like love.

1) Sometimes a few friendly beeps can make a big difference

Just like the Little Blue Truck, we should be finding opportunities to say hi to, talk to, and befriend each other.

Jesus is the ultimate example of this. If he even had a comfort zone, I’m sure he was constantly pushing its boundaries. He spent time with sinners, the sick, the poor. And there’s the story of the woman at the well.

In John 4 it says:

“Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well…There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink….Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.”

Jesus proceeds to tell her that he can give her the living water of eternal life and later in the chapter Jesus ministers to her. The woman was surprised because Jews usually do not talk to Samaritans, but Jesus did.

Are we doing as the Savior did? We’re all brothers and sisters in the same church and it may sometimes still feel uncomfortable to start a conversation with someone outside our typical circles, to reach out to our visiting teachees/home teachees (people in the ward that we are specifically asked to watch out for), or to greet an unfamiliar face. But Christ would.

In her church-wide General Conference talk a few weeks ago, Bonnie Oscarson hit the nail on the head. She said…

“Occasionally our children would ask us the question, ‘Why do I have to go to Mutual? [[a weeknight church activity for the youth]] I just don’t get very much out of it.’ If I was having a good parenting moment, I would reply, ‘What makes you think you go to Mutual because of what you get out of it?’ My young friends, I can guarantee that there will always be someone at every Church meeting you attend who is lonely, who is going through challenges and needs a friend, or who feels like he or she doesn’t belong. You have something important to contribute to every meeting or activity, and the Lord desires for you to look around at your peers and then minister as He would.

“It is true that we attend our weekly Church meetings to participate in ordinances, learn doctrine, and be inspired, but another very important reason for attending is that, as a ward family and as disciples of the Savior Jesus Christ, we watch out for one another, encourage one another, and find ways to serve and strengthen each other. We are not just receivers and takers of what is offered at church; we are needed to be givers and suppliers. Young women and young men, next time you are at Mutual, instead of picking up your phone to see what your friends are doing, stop, look around, and ask yourself, “Who needs me today?” You may be the key to reaching out and touching the life of a peer or to giving encouragement to a friend who is quietly struggling.”

I think that challenge should not just be for the youth, but to all of us at our various church meetings. Let’s be like the Savior and take advantage of the opportunities that we have at church and elsewhere to give a few friendly beeps to each other.

2) Sometimes it takes a little slowing down to help someone

The dump truck in the story was busy, important, and self-centered. We are all busy doing great things, but I think reminders to slow down and help others is good.

Christ is the creator of the earth, a performer of miracles, and our Redeemer.

I love that before His biggest moment and act of service on this earth–His Atonement and Crucifixion–that he slowed down to perform a small act of service: He took a towel, poured water in a basin, washed His disciple’s feet. This was something usually done by a servant. After washing their feet, He said, “If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14). I take that to mean that we should be slowing down to humbly serve each other with Christ-like love.

One of my favorite stories of Jesus is the one where the woman touches Jesus’ clothes. Starting in Mark 5:25…

“And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”

What is remarkable to me is the three verses proceeding this passage…

“And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw [Jesus], he fell at his feet, And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live. And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.”

Jesus was busy on his way to help the daughter of an important man. She was a young girl who was at the point of death! Surely this deserved some urgency! Not only that, but he had a big crowd of people following him on this important errand. BUT when the woman with the blood issue touched his clothes, Jesus stopped, turned around, sought out the woman, and blessed her.

In all of our busyness, are we taking the time to slow down at times to check in with or help members in our ward? Or are we like the dump truck in the children’s story who had big important things to do and was unwilling to slow down and notice others?

Luke 9:24 says, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.” President Thomas S. Monson explained:

“I believe the Savior is telling us that unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives. Those who live only for themselves eventually shrivel up and figuratively lose their lives, while those who lose themselves in service to others grow and flourish—and in effect save their lives.”

3) Sometimes it takes teamwork to serve

Let’s remember that even the Little Blue Truck needed rescuing. It took all the animals–even the green toad–to push the trucks free. Our ward family is called “family” for a reason. We are here to lift, strengthen, and support each other like our own family units should be doing.

I love this quote from one of Cheryl Esplin’s General Conference talks…

“When we reach out in love and service even in the smallest ways, hearts are changed and softened as others feel the love of the Lord. Sometimes, however, because of the countless people all about us who need help and relief from burdens, it can be difficult to meet the many pressing needs….some of you listening may feel stretched to capacity ministering to the needs of family members. Remember, in those routine and often mundane tasks, you are “in the service of your God.”

I believe that there are times and seasons in our lives when we should serve and those when we need to call for help and be served. When we feel stuck in the mud and need some pulling out.

I also think we can serve each other more and better than we think we can. Our service can be simple but impactful. We don’t need to perform grand gestures to be engaged in Christ-like service. Sometimes it only takes a few friendly beeps or a little slowing down to make a difference.

Conclusion

I’m grateful for our ward family. I know that as we make an effort to reach out and befriend each other, to slow down and help, and to think of our ward as a ward family/team, that we will become more like the Savior as we serve with Christ-like love.

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Serving Others & Lessons I Learned from the Little Blue Truck

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