Religious Upgrades

I’ve had a computer for over 30 years. Back in 1988, Chrissie and I got our first Macintosh computer. We used it for work stuff, and a few games. The main attraction was a program for desk-top-publishing called Pagemaker, that revolutionized how we put words on paper. Our first version was Pagemaker 1.2, which evolved into the InDesign that I still use everyday at work. It is ingrained in my brain.

From 1988 to 2018, that application has had more than thirty upgrades, with countless small updates in between. Some of the updates were insignificant, and I actually skipped them, but some of the upgrades represented massive changes in how the application performed, and what it was able to do. On the negative side, sometimes the upgrades were inconvenient, and seriously messed up the work flow that I was accustomed to.

With each upgrade there was a definite learning curve. Occasionally, something I had grown accustomed to suddenly was gone, and I had to learn a new way of doing things. Most of the time, however, the upgrades made things work better by providing more options and more power.

I look back at the last two months and marvel at the upgrade process some of our key church programs have undergone. Specifically the upgrade from Home and Visiting Teaching to Ministering, and the upgrade from Scouting and Personal Progress to the “Yet to Be Unveiled” youth program. It has been a remarkable period of time. There has been a lot of discussion, training and information passed along to members about how these new upgrades will affect us.

One thing that sticks out at me as I observe people discussing the upgrades, is that some think about it in a very different way than I do. I have heard people say things like:

“The new ministering program will be so much easier than Visiting Teaching.”

“I’m so glad that with Scouting gone, it won’t be so time consuming.”

“No more campouts!”

“Hooray! No more Home Teaching!”

When I hear those kind of statements and think, “What in the world are you talking about? Do you not get it?”

I believe that the new ministering program and the new youth program will be harder to carry out than the previous programs. I believe that some underestimate how difficult it will be to incorporate these upgrades into our lives and wards. They will require more effort, not less. They will require more time on our knees, not less. They will require a level of creativity and inspiration that has not been required of us until now.

For good or bad, I am rather resistant to change. I am not an “early adopter.” When my phone or computer needs a software upgrade, I am slow and loathe to do it. Eventually I will, but I do it begrudgingly. I’m sure I am not alone. But…after I finally perform the upgrades, I am glad I did.

In an old talk “Progress Through Change,” Elder Marvin J. Ashton talked about transplanting a “root bound” plant.

“How often in life do we set our own roots into the soil of life and become root bound? We may treat ourselves too gently and defy anyone to disturb the soil or trim back our root system. Under these conditions we too must struggle to make progress. Oh, change is hard! Change can be rough.

The Lord does not want His church to become root bound and stagnant. Constant revelation through the prophets is needed for the growth of His kingdom.

There is nothing so unchanging, so inevitable as change itself. The things we see, touch, and feel are always changing. Relationships between friends, husband and wife, father and son, brother and sister are all dynamic, changing relationships. There is a constant that allows us to use change for our own good, and that constant is the revealed eternal truths of our Heavenly Father.”

The revealed upgrades in our church programs give us an opportunity to improve our service to others, but also enhance our relationships and personal growth. These are changes we should run towards, rather than away from.

I figure that my newly called Elder’s Quorum President has his world revolving around these things, so I asked him if he thought the new changes would be “easy.” Here is his reply.:

“To answer your question, NO it will definitely NOT be easy. Uniting a quorum that is more diverse than ever before, encouraging former home teachers to acknowledge and act on the objective of providing more care; not less than they previously have, with greater license to minister (or slack) and with less regular accountability will not be easier.  I wasn’t a Preach My Gospel missionary, but I view the transition here as similar to the transition from memorized discussions. Sitting on a sofa while paraphrasing President Uchtdorf was easy (and sometimes not all that beneficial to anyone). Ascertaining needs and genuinely caring for, praying for and loving people will take much more effort and may cause us to develop that characteristic which is “greatest of all.” Moroni 7:46.”

Here are a few thoughts about embracing and utilizing the benefits of these new upgrades:

The Higher Law.  I have heard some refer to these changes as being given a “Higher Law.” Yeah, maybe. I guess that depends where we were on the consecration scale when the old program was in place. Some of us might not have actually nailed the “lesser law” in practice. I don’t know that the Lord makes it a habit of giving a higher law when we don’t necessarily excel at the lower law. This could apply for both ministering and youth programs. Either way, it is the new and correct upgrade for us at this time and place. No use turning back towards Egypt.

Starting From Scratch. Scouting has been in place for over 100 years. The requirements for each merit badge and rank advancement are established and easy to follow – a check list. Any new program is not going to be that well defined, as the new youth program will undoubtably be flexible to accommodate a world-wide church, where no two units are alike and no two units have the same needs. It will take serious work, discussion, revelation and experimentation to figure out what works in our individual youth groups. It will not be a one-size-fits-all, pre-determined checklist of requirements.

It’s All New. It is not often in life when there is a wholesale program change. What that means to us is that every youth program, Relief Society and Elder’s Quorum will be required to use the guidelines from the church, and figure out implementation on their level, within their stewardship. How cool is that? While it could be looked at as a scary burden, it is actually quite exciting to figure out how to implement modern revelation within our own congregations and callings.

Ministering by Inspiration. It takes very little inspiration to show up to a home once a month and read an article out of the Ensign. That was the bottom rung of the HT/VT program that many of us didn’t even reach with any sense of regularity. Now we are asked to enhance our relationships with those we minister, and to use inspiration to know how to best help them with their challenges. Again, there is no one-size-fits-all, pre-determined message or program that will turn us into effective ministers. It will require faithfulness, diligence and inspiration to get there.

Precedence. Every youth program, Relief Society and Elder’s Quorum will try new things to meet the needs of those they serve. Some of those things will work, some of them won’t. That is okay. Unfortunately, we in the church are pretty good at institutionalizing things – do something once, and we’ll do it forever. We need to be willing to jettison the things that don’t work, and be open and available to explore new ideas as they are thought of or revealed.

A Fresh Start. One of the best parts of new upgrades is that we get a fresh start. If I was a terrible traditional Home Teacher, I get to try again with a different program that presents more options to help me succeed. Repentance is a beautiful thing. If I found it tough to embrace the Scouting program, then I should be first in line to help make the new program succeed.

It is going to be fun to watch as the upgrades get implemented and start increasing our productivity – if we are willing to change.

In a different talk, Elder Marvin J. Ashton warned us that an “unwillingness to change” can prevent us from being firmly established in the Gospel.

“If we are unable to accept change, in the language of the parable of the sower, we are those with no root.

“Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended” (Matt. 13:21).

If our roots are deep, we will welcome continuing revelation, change, and direction. We will develop the ability to accept releases, callings, and new challenges with enthusiasm. We will be too busy to be offended. We will be too big to be hurt. We will serve wherever we are called with anxious dedication. We will accept people for what they are and what they can and do become. Change will not only drive our roots deeper but cause them to grow into new and fertile soil.” (Link)

Change? Bring it on. But remember, the change comes from us as individuals. It does not matter what the youth or ministering program consists of if we aren’t committed to bringing it to fruition. As Margaret Mead is quoted as saying, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” 

That would be us.

As individual members of Relief Societies, Elder’s Quorums, Young Men and Women’s groups and their leaders, as we embrace the upgrades with “all the energy of heart,” we will see miracles. We will witness the insured upgrades enhance and improve our lives and our service to others, because, frankly, we are all in need of an upgrade.

Here is a veritable buffet of information regarding the new ministering program,, courtesy of lds.org. Here is the LINK.