Becoming a Ward Family

While I was bishop several years ago, an elderly woman in our ward, Sister Wanda White, was diagnosed with cancer. Later that year, as her condition grew worse, she was confined to a hospital bed in the middle of her living room. Thanks to medication and priesthood blessings, her pain was bearable, but her days seemed terribly long. She had only one relative and an occasional nurse to give her assistance. Our ward council discussed her plight of loneliness and laid out an ambitious plan for ward members to help.

The priests quorum volunteered to take the sacrament to her home each Sunday afternoon, along with a spiritual thought. The other priesthood quorums, Relief Society sisters, and Young Women classes took turns seeing her at various hours throughout the rest of the week, along with watchful home teachers and visiting teachers. As a result, she had someone call on her at least once a day for the last four months of her life.

I knew something special was happening when the deacons reported after their first visit that she was a cool lady and had made them laugh. The Mia Maid class president asked if the girls had to wait until their next turn before they could go see her again. Of course, the answer was to go back as often as they could be helpful to her. Suddenly youth who had barely noticed this elderly sister a month before were sharing inspirational stories of their experiences in her home and were including her in their prayers.

Sister White told us repeatedly that we were earthly angels, a wonderful blessing in easing her burden of long, lonely days. The whole ward grew spiritually from giving her loving service. We came to understand more fully Christ’s compassion for the sick and downhearted.

Through our humble efforts in reaching out for a common goal that year, we had truly become a ward family. Those feelings still exist to this day, though many members have come and gone. New families and individuals are welcomed with open arms. They feel acceptance and love and then readily pass it on.

A strong ward family is easy to recognize. The members are warm and friendly, testimonies are borne with conviction, charity abounds, activities are well attended, and dedicated home teachers rarely miss a visit. The chapel is not just a place of worship; it is a safe harbor from worldly cares, a place of belonging, of friendship and compassion. It’s a place where people who are different can come together to be as one.

Christ commanded us to love one another. Simply showing up for church at the appointed time doesn’t suffice. Love of others is not a gift bestowed upon us without effort—it is something we learn a little at a time through consecration and sacrifice.

No matter what our circumstances might be, we all have an inherent duty to reach out to fellow members and include them in our circle, making each ward and branch a family. That is why we call each other brothers and sisters. After all, there is no such thing as an only child in the kingdom of God.

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“This Church … is far more than a social organization where we gather together to enjoy one another’s company. … It is the kingdom of God in the earth. It behooves us to act in a manner befitting membership in that kingdom.”
President Gordon B. Hinckley, “An Ensign to the Nations, a Light to the World,” Ensign, Nov. 2003, 84.

For more on this topic, see Virginia H. Pearce, “Ward and Branch Families: Part of Heavenly Father’s Plan for Us,” Ensign, Nov. 1993, 79.

Most Ensign articles can be used for family home evening discussions, personal reflection, or teaching the gospel in a variety of settings.

1. Draw a circle. Ask family members to name as many ward members as they can and write these names inside the circle. Using a ward list, if one is available, note some of the members who were not included. Refer to the conclusion of the article and discuss how the family can reach out and enlarge their ward family circle.

2. Read the article’s opening question and ask family members to respond. Relate a story from the article to illustrate how a ward is a large family. Invite individuals to share experiences they have had as members of a ward family.