[MUSIC PLAYING] Under the direction of the bishop and as a member of the ward council, the ward mission leader coordinates the efforts of members and missionaries in the work of salvation. All ward council members have an opportunity and a responsibility to seek inspiration in their callings. In this example, an assistant ward mission leader is inspired to seek revelation and counsel with his leaders about implementing an effective missionary tool in his ward. It's a funny one, really, because never having been an assistant ward mission leader, I wondered, what did the Lord want of me? What was my role in all of this? As he sought to understand the Lord's will for him in his calling, Brother McEwen sought revelation by preparing spiritually. He studied the scriptures and Preach My Gospel. He prayed, sought inspiration as part of his monthly fast, and humbled himself before the Lord. The Savior's promise in the scriptures was fulfilled: "Seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." My mind caught hold of something that happened to me when I was on my mission back in 1980, when I was serving as a missionary in northern Manchester, one of the happiest times of my mission. The ward mission leader had tried to organize missionary cottage meetings within that ward. And I just thought, "Ever since I've been home from a mission, I've never really seen, in any of the wards where I've lived or served in, this happening." And I just thought, "That is what I'm going to do. That is what I believe the Lord wants me to do here in Sheffield." Brother McEwen followed the prompting he had received through his spiritual preparation. He counseled with the bishop and the ward mission leader about inviting those being taught by the missionaries into the homes of Church members.

The Spirit witnessed to all of the brethren that this was the Lord's will for their ward. They put the plan into action immediately, scheduling meetings in members' homes and praying for the Lord to help them find people to attend. The amazing thing was, we never had, ever, a time where we didn't have investigators to take to these cottage meetings. In the first year, the ward saw 30 people come into the Church. In the second, another 20 souls received the gospel of Jesus Christ. Ward missionaries, full-time missionaries, and the ward council were united in purpose as they prepared spiritually and sought revelation. Because of their spiritual preparation, they were guided and blessed in their efforts to bring many souls into the Lord's Church.