talkgreggill

Good morning brothers and sisters, friends. I am so thankful to be able to call you friends.  We have lived here about 5 and a half years now and have been greatly blessed to have all of you in our lives.  As you can imagine, I have felt great anxiety, stress, self-doubt, and a feelings of inadequacy about this call.  I have had 10 days now to self reflect on what it means to be a bishop and feel the weight and importance that it carries.  I am sure that there are so many qualified, faithful, brothers in this ward that would be perfect as the new bishop, you can imagine my shock when President ______ came to my home and told me that he felt impressed to call me as the new bishop.  After he left, I did take a moment to breathe deeply and ponder quietly and feel a calming reassurance that only comes from the Spirit and that it was all going to be ok.  The Lord wants us to stretch, get out of our comfort zones and serve others.  I am so grateful for your sustaining vote, it means everything to me.  We are a ward family and a community in Christ with a common goal to be better disciples of Christ.  I can’t think of a more unifying goal. 

How Firm a Foundation

That night after the call, while lying in bed, my favorite hymn came to mind and it gave me great peace as I repeated it over and over in my mind. It is the 3rd verse of How Firm a Foundation.  Amy Olivas quoted the scripture in her incredible talk last week that inspired this verse.  Fear not I am with thee, oh be ye not dismayed –  so what does dismayed really mean??  I don’t know but it sounds really bad to be dismayed about a new calling.  I actually looked it up – Dismayed means feeling stressed, worried, unhappy or shocked because of an unexpected or unwelcome situation.  Oh be ye not dismayed.  The song continues and gives us the reason to not be dismayed!  For I am Thy God and will still give you aid,  I will help thee and strengthen thee and cause thee to stand.  This line always gets to me… And cause Thee to Stand?   I have this image in my mind of a worn out, tired, beat down, bedraggled individual that has simply collapsed under the weight of life.  And the Lord reaches down and CAUSES me to stand. Not by force or compulsion but with gentle lifting.  I have felt the negative feelings in my mind to shrink from my duties and yet the Lord, even Jesus, reaches out to me and says Come Follow Me, you need to stand up and be willing to serve and I will make up the rest.  The lord calls those who are willing in spite of their weaknesses because he ran out of perfect people to do his work.  And lastly,  in the end of the verse of the hymn.  We are upheld by his righteous omnipotent hand.  What reassurance that brings to me. We are never alone.  

3 Newest Apostles

I have also found quite reassurance from the words of our 3 newest apostles, Elder Kearon, Elder Causse and Elder Gilbert.  I realize that being called as a Bishop does not quite carry the same weight as an apostle of Jesus Christ, but for me, going from an advisor in the Teachers Quorum to Bishop, feels like a quantum leap.  Here are a few excerpts from their first talks as newly called apostles:  Elder Kearon:  You can probably well imagine how humbling this has felt, and it’s been a time of extraordinary upheaval and sobering self-examination.  It is, indeed, a great honor to serve the Savior, in any capacity, and to be engaged with you in sharing the news of His gospel of hope.   Beyond that, it has been said that behind every new Apostle (I am going to add Bishop here) stands an astonished mother-in-law.  I am sure my mother-in-law is proud of me but also a bit astonished.  Greg, as bishop, well that is a surprise.  Elder Gerald Causse stated after being called, speaking for himself and his wife, Valerie: “we have felt the love of God more intensely than ever before in our lives.”   And in response, our own ability to love has grown in ways we never expected.” I have felt this feeling inside myself also.  I do have more capacity to love others and that is a marvelous thing that spirit can inspire in each of us.  And lastly from Elder Clark Gilbert:  “As Christine and I have felt the overwhelming weight of this calling, we have been grateful to know that Christ’s grace makes up the difference in our lives.  We have been grateful for the prayers and sustaining support of so many.”  

I am so thankful for your sustaining vote. Next to confirmations from the spirit,  having the support and love from our friends in this ward is so essential.   I am so thankful for your faith and testimonies, they have truly sustained me while I have been here in this ward.  I am so impressed with each of you getting up here each week and sharing with us how the Gospel of Jesus Christ has changed your life. Last Sacrament meeting, I was so grateful for the faith and stories from Victoria Hale and Ben and Amy Olivas.   I so appreciate your honesty, your sincere faith, your willingness to be vulnerable in front of other ward members.  I know how hard it is to stand up here and bear your soul and share your deepest most cherished feelings that are deep in your hearts.  I love your personal stories of faith and how you overcame your challenges by accessing the atonement of Jesus Christ.  I hope this is always a safe place for all of us to bear our testimonies and be honest and open with how we feel.  I know we say that phrase “bear our testimonies” so many times that we may forget what we are saying.  To bear it, to uncover it, to open up and share something that is so deep inside of us.  We can’t take that lightly because when we share our faith,  it grows. 

Counselors

When president ______ called me, he told me that I will need to select counselors to serve with me.  I went through the list of brothers in our ward that evening and assembled a short list of amazing men that I know the lord would trust to serve.   I woke up at 2 am in the middle of the night and got up and went through the list several more times.  I prayed to know who would be right for me and for the ward at this time.  I had a strong impression that I had not done the spiritual work to know at this time and that I needed to fast and pray and attend the temple.  So, my wife and I set up a time to fast and go to the temple and discuss the list in the temple.  We found ourselves alone in the Celestial room and I knew it needed to be Brothers ____ and ____.  I know it may seem like an easy answer but I want to reassure them and all of you that I felt the spirit guide me in this decision.  The are amazing, humble and faithful men.  I have been with them in bishopric meetings, ward councils, classrooms and even boys camps.  I love and appreciate them and are thankful they accepted the call (for the 2nd time). I have been so blessed to have so many bishops in my life that have helped me along the covenant path.  I sincerely hope that I can become a help to others as I have been helped.  I especially want to thank Bishop ______ and Bishop ______.  The 2 bishops that I have had since we have lived here.  I was called to be a ward clerk just a few months after we moved here from Lehi.  I didn’t know anyone, I didn’t really know what a bishopric did.  I got to be with Bishop ______, Brother ______,  and ______ each week and see their faith in action. I also got to serve for one year as ward clerk with Bishop ______.   These men were truly inspirational to me, they displayed all of the qualities that the Lord asks of us as priesthood leaders to employ:  

How to be a leader

D&C 121:41 No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long suffering, by gentleness and meekness and by love unfeigned.  42 By Kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and with guile.  I can’t think of a more perfect guide to becoming a servant leader and better follower of Jesus Christ.  

Peacemakers:

I love the talk President Nelson gave in April 2023:  Peacemakers needed.  In this talk he stated, “One of the easiest ways to identify a true follower of Jesus Christ is how compassionately that person treats other people.”  I want to let all of you know that I have seen this in all of the leaders in our ward and so many members in our ward.   I feel so comforted and blessed that I will have the opportunity to serve more closely with such great people that do treat others compassionately.  I have been reading through the Handbook on what a Bishopric does. This is not the typical light reading that I am drawn to but suddenly it feels essential and very relevant for some reason.  “The Bishopric cares for ward members with love, helping them become true followers of Jesus Christ.  And help them make the next step along the covenant path.”  I love how pure and simple the purpose of the church really is. I am excited to work with the youth as they prepare to serve missions.  I love our missionary program and cannot think of a better way to prepare us for life.  Missions are hard, they test us and they try us, they require us to learn to trust in the Lord.  

Boys Camp:

I had a great time with the Aaronic priesthood quorums this past summer at boys camp at Green River Lakes.  We heard some amazing talks a few weeks back about their experiences there.  I hope someday to be able to give a full talk without any preparation as ___ did, truly inspiring.  We had a great time fishing, camping, and hiking in the back country.  I got to see Landon catch the biggest fish of the trip, a beautiful rainbow trout.  Several of us canoed across the lake and found a place to jump off of the rocks into the lake.  So many of us will cherish these times.  And for me the highlight of the camp was sliding down ‘Slide Falls’ with all of the boys.  We are thankful that ______ heeded the council of his father and did not do the crazy kamikaze slide from way too high up the falls. I am so thankful for Bishop _____ for organizing such a great camp where we could interact with each other outside our normal church settings.  We have amazing youth in this ward and they are doing “a great work,” I am so excited to see them continue to grow in faith and inspire others along the way. 

I ask for your continued  love and patience while I learn my duties as a bishop.  I know I will need to earn your trust and will strive to do my best at all times.  I heard a talk at education week a few years ago from Hank Smith, he is BYU religion professor and now a podcaster.  He taught a message about Trust.  He used an acronym called the CORE of Trust to emphasize essential components of trust. C = compassion.  Those people that we trust have compassion for us.  We cannot approach someone with trust if we don’t feel that they have love and compassion for us and have our best interests in mind. O = openness.  I have noticed in my life, those people that I trust the most are those that are open about their own experiences and weaknesses.  As we learned in D&C 121, those without hypocrisy, deceit or guile. Openness leads to trust.  R = reliable.  It is indeed difficult to trust someone that is not reliable.  E = Expertise.  This one is a little more surprising and different from the others.  ______ shared an example of an airplane without an incapacitated pilot.  Imagine flying with a small group of people, suddenly the pilot is unable to fly the plane due a medical emergency and everyone starts looking around for a back up plan. It does not matter how much compassion, openness or even reliability everyone else has on that plane if they don’t have the expertise to fly the plane.  We trust people that know what they are doing.  I am happy to admit that I do not have any expertise as a Bishop, but I will strive to learn my duties and in turn hope to gain your trust.  

Family:

I am so thankful for my family, especially my wife.  She is a true example of a disciple of Jesus Christ.  She sees the good in everyone and has such a desire for everyone to embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ.  She has worked so hard to become a seminary teaching since living here in Star Valley, she started off as a sub and is now a part time teacher and is learning how to really teach in the Savior’s Way.  I am also thankful for my son ___, my only child still at home.  He has taught me to slow down and see things in a different way.  When I hike in the mountains, I have a destination and am pushing as hard as I can to get there.  He has taught me to stop and look at what is around you.  He can spend 15 minutes in a small area looking at the plants, flowers, insects and every detail around him, it is truly inspiring.  I want to thank my wonderful parents for teaching me the gospel at home.  We always had the best family nights that were full of love and fun.  

Why do I believe in Jesus Christ?  His gospel has been the only real source of peace in my life.  Believe me, I had looked and tried to find peace in other ways.  I can truly say that I always come back to the peace that I have felt during trials and hard times that can only come from having faith in Jesus and his plan for us.  Elder Kearon recently gave a talk at Education Week at BYU and said this, “Slow down.  Find peace in your actual life right now.  Not in the life you think you would have IF you achieved all of your tasks and goals.  Find peace in the Savior right now in the present moment, we don’t have to wait until all of life circumstances are perfectly aligned to feel peace in Christ.”

My prayer for all of us is to persistently seek, find and embrace the love and peace of Jesus Christ,  and to love and support each other in this journey of life.