Things I Learned While Serving as a Bishop

THINGS I LEARNED AS A BISHOP

1.    The Lord Jesus Christ is the head of His Church. He is intimately involved in the details of running His Church. He is generous in guiding His Church leaders with their ecclesiastical responsibilities in spite of their personal imperfections and shortcomings. He is intimately involved in the lives of His sheep. He still performs miracles according to the faith of His children, and His miracles happen more frequently than we realize.

2.    All life’s problems, all life’s challenges, all life’s disappointments can be answered through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God knows the eventual goodness and blessings that await the faithful, blessings that are derived from all of life’s experiences – good, not so good, and otherwise. Have faith and be grateful for everything – everything!

3.     It is of critical importance to continuously help God’s children progress through the primary events of Gospel participation, assisting and encouraging along the ‘coming unto Christ’ pathway – the pathway that will eventually return us back to our Heavenly Father. Those events include: baptism, receiving and following the Holy Ghost, regularly renewing baptismal covenants through the Sacrament, accepting the Aaronic Priesthood, receiving a Patriarchal Blessing, accepting and magnifying the Melchizedek Priesthood, accepting and magnifying callings to serve, preparing and fulfilling a full-time mission, receiving the Endowment from the Lord in His holy temple, being sealed as families at an altar in the Lord’s House, and enduring to the end (see ‘Top 10 Events That Help Us Come Unto Christ’).

4.     Stand in holy places. A commitment to, and frequent and regular participation in the Temple of the Lord will help more of Heavenly Father’s children: ‘to know God the Eternal Father and His Son Jesus Christ’; to solve and manage the trials of life; and in keeping our feet firmly planted on the path that leads us back to our heavenly home.

5.   Prayers work. Prayers combined with fasting work better. Prayers combined with fasting and faith work even better. Prayers combined with fasting and faith and the Priesthood work even better. Prayers combined with fasting and faith and the Priesthood and covenant making work the best of all.

6.     The Lord loves every person regardless of their personal worthiness. One of bishop’s prime responsibilities is to convey the Lord’s love to each of His children. One way the Lord shows His love is by being quick to forgive the sincerely repentant. Loving others will help them make course corrections faster and more effectively than any other methodology or technique.  Sharing His love also helps others learn to love Him and want to serve Him. Focus on ‘the least of these’ – miracles will happen more frequently. Would you rather be right, or would you rather be loved? Choose love, every time!

7.     Religiously seek and follow spiritual promptings – it is the key to righteousness and working out our salvation. There is wisdom in waiting on the Lord and having faith in His timing. Patience will prove itself out as we trust the Lord. He is in control and knows what’s best for His children in every situation. The Lord never gives up on His children. Never!

8.     Every interaction – every communication with every person or group is an opportunity to teach, to lift, to compliment, to thank, to inspire, to encourage, to befriend, to help envision potential – as the Lord sees them, to remind them of their divine heritage, to testify, to love, to heal, and to bless. Don’t miss a single opportunity – there is almost always capacity to do something more. Smile as often as humanly possible.

9.  Focus on the youth and providing them with frequent opportunities for spiritual experiences. Help them develop a relationship with the Savior that will sustain them through the tests and trials of life. Allow them to lead now as they will lead the Church in a few short years. Show them how the Savior is incredibly forgiving, how universal is His Atonement, and how applicable it is to all as well as to them individually. Help them see the wisdom in staying close to the Church.

10.  God wants a pure and holy people. Why? As we choose to be pure and holy, we are then correctly positioned for the Lord to invoke ALL blessings, and for us to experience ALL happiness – the scriptures refer to it as ‘the fullness of joy’.

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A bishop is only as good as the congregation he serves, as effective as the Bishopric he serves with, and as capable as the Ward Council that sustains him. A great congregation, Bishopric, and Ward Council is what makes a good bishop. It has been a privilege to serve with the incredibly wonderful members of the loving Lake Elsinore Ward, a loyal and faithful bishopric, and a devoted and loving Ward Council.  May the Lord continue to bless the loving Lake Elsinore Ward.    

– bishop Wm. Calvin Hughes  (7-AUG-2007 to 10-MAR-2013)

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Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me (Matthew 25:34-40).