October 9, 2025 • 30 mins
High Council members engaged in a live discussion focused on sharing ideas and experiences to strengthen how councils serve their wards and stakes. This podcast is a portion of the livestream discussion.
Watch the video and share your thoughts in the Zion Lab community
Links
The entire conversation and transcript are available in the Zion Lab community
Highlights
Overview
This episode of the Zion Lab live stream from Leading Saints featured a discussion among several current and former Stake High Councilors, focusing on the practical challenges and opportunities of their calling. The participants shared their experiences, best practices, and innovative ideas for magnifying their assignments, effectively bridging communication between the stake and ward levels, and overcoming feelings of inadequacy.
Key Insights
The Need for Proactivity: The High Council calling can often feel "open-ended," allowing a High Councilor to "do as much as you want" or very little. Leaders are encouraged to be proactive—actively engaging with assigned elders quorum presidencies and ward organizations rather than just attending mandatory meetings.
Equality and Insecurity in Calling: New High Councilors frequently feel overwhelmed or insecure when working alongside more seasoned leaders. Counsel was given to overcome this by recognizing that all callings are equal in the sight of the Lord and that the High Councilor's voice and spiritual insights are vital to the council's deliberations.
Role as a Spiritual Messenger: High Councilors should see themselves as direct representatives of the Stake Presidency, similar to a General Authority visiting a stake. They are encouraged to be visible, bring spiritual knowledge and instruction, and share a spiritual thought when addressing wards, not merely delivering routine announcements.
Mandate to Testify of Christ: Some stakes guide speaking assignments with a General Conference talk, but emphasize that the talk, whether prepared or spontaneous, must be interwoven with a powerful personal testimony of Christ to ensure the Spirit is present.
Training and Dissemination of Principles: A core function of the High Council is to receive leadership principles and instruction in the Stake Council. High Councilors are then responsible for taking that training and counsel out to their assigned ward bishoprics and organization presidencies.Leadership Applications
Foster Cross-Ward Learning: Stake Presidencies can gain valuable insights and enrich their High Councilors by encouraging them to attend the leadership meetings of the wards where they speak, even if it is not their assigned ward. This exposes High Councilors to diverse operational models among ward councils, creating a cross-training effect.
Centralize Administrative Resources: High Councilors should utilize group communication methods, such as shared text threads or digital notes, to quickly share tactical administrative advice, official wording for callings and releases, and handbook references, streamlining the logistical aspects of the calling.
Elevate the Message of Love: High Councilors should consistently make a concerted effort to express the genuine love, thoughts, and prayers of the Stake Presidency to the ward members, ensuring the members feel validated, "seen, and prayed for" by their stake leadership.
00:01:36 - Kicking Off: The "Open-Ended" Nature of the High Councilor Calling
00:04:04 - Overcoming Insecurity and Magnifying the Calling
00:06:06 - Advice on Equality and Being a Visible Representative
00:09:38 - The Role of the Spirit vs. Experience in Calling
00:11:23 - Key Role: Training and Teaching Ward Leaders
00:13:07 - Strategies for Stake Engagement: Ward Reporting and Training
00:14:44 - Unique Assignment: Attending Cross-Ward Leadership Meetings
00:16:37 - Close Relationship with Stake Presidency and Financial Duties
00:18:38 - Tactical Tip: Using a High Councilor Text Group for Logistics
...
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
Hey. If you're a newbie to Leading Saints,
it's important that you know what is this
Leading Saints thing. Well, Leading Saints is a
nonprofit organization
dedicated to helping Latter day Saints
be better prepared to lead. And the way
we do that is through content creation. So
we have this phenomenal podcast, we have a
newsletter, we have virtual conferences,
(00:26):
so much more. Add articles on our website.
I mean, I could go on and on.
Right?
And we encourage you to, jump in, check
out Leading Saints, go to the search bar
at leading saints dot org and and type
in some topics and see what pops up.
We're just glad you're here to join us.
(00:57):
You guys, we are having so much fun
over at Zion Lab. This is our online
community, and it's actually in app form. If
you search Leading Saints on Apple Podcasts
or on Android,
the Play Store, I think that is what
they call it.
You will find a Leading Saints app, which
is takes you and you download it and
you'll have access to Zion Lab, this online
(01:19):
community. People are asking questions.
They're sharing perspectives,
putting the the toughest situations on there that
they're maybe experiencing as a leader and saying,
alright. What did ever anybody else do in
this situation? Just such fantastic
content.
And, part of that is we have these
live streams where we'll take a specific topic,
a specific calling and say, hey. Come one,
(01:40):
come all. Whether you're in this calling or
not, let's talk about it. What are you
learning? What can we share with one another
to, so that we're better prepared to lead
if if we find ourselves in a similar
calling. And, this episode is
a portion of the livestream we did all
about being on the stake high council. Right?
Tricky calling at times. Maybe it's one you
(02:01):
could fly under the radar a little bit.
Nobody notices what you're doing or not doing.
But how do we really magnify our callings
into this,
in as a as a high counselor? So
that person's coming to your mind. Right? The
person you know, the brother, the uncle, the
grandpa who serves on the high council, well,
you need to drop this episode
in a in a text and send it
(02:22):
on to them so they can benefit as
well. A fantastic discussion. Let's jump into it.
The live stream with a bunch of high
councilors and and others.
Hey,
Hey, everyone.
This is the high council livestream.
Yes. I this is good, Jared. So we're
(02:43):
we're we gotta identify the proper term as
high councilor,
not a high councilman.
So that's a let's just let's just argue
about that for sixty minutes. That'd be great.
I think he has a high councilor.
That's I think that's how it is in
the handbook. So
very good.
Who wants to take
take first crack at this as far as
(03:03):
asking a question?
Anybody want to raise your hand,
and
and share? Right now, I'm seeing Jay. Is
that, do you have something to share, or
did you leave your hand up?
Oh, I must have just left my hand
up. Okay. Well well, you're caught. So, tell
where are you from and what your how
long you've been on the high council and
what your experience been like up to this
point? Yeah. I am, as green as it
(03:24):
gets. So I'm on a I'm on a
high council with a few people here who
I can see in attendance. Our our stake
president,
notified of this a couple days ago and
recommended that we join.
So I see a couple of us here.
Nice. Love it. We're in we're in Brush
Prairie, a Vancouver Washington North Stake here in
Washington.
Nice.
I've been on for a role of just
(03:44):
a couple months. I got Okay.
Assigned to serve with the Stake Young Women's
presidency, and that that's been kind of a
fun part of what I'm doing because I
gotta keep working with the youth. I feel
like I've been working with the youth for
several years, and
so I enjoy that part.
Yeah.
But, yeah, this has definitely been a new
calling for me for sure. It seems very
(04:06):
I don't wanna say open ended, but it
it seems like you can do
as much as you want, and there's you
could probably get away with doing very little
as well. But,
Yeah. That's been the, that's kind of been
the ongoing joke, right, that depending on how
a state presidency uses the high council, sometimes
it's like,
it's the, like, the only leadership calling you
(04:26):
can sometimes go inactive. Like, people would not
even know. It's like as long as you
show up to the high council meeting. Right?
But yeah. Because it is it can be
very proactive calling, right, that or you're put
in charge of the buildings or these things
where yeah. There's things that pop up from
time to time, but,
other times, you know, there and there's a
lot of opportunity to be proactive as far
as engaging with the elders quorum presidency, really
(04:48):
be involved if you're assigned to award, things
like that. So,
anybody else want to,
just either
kinda ask a question,
something you're excited about, something you're doing, something
that's helped in in the high council role?
Dan Daniel, go ahead.
Hi.
Yeah. Just just like it was mentioned, I
too am am am semi new.
(05:09):
I'm loving being on the High Council. I
love
working with the individuals, the state presidents, these,
members and all the members of the High
Council. They are amazing individuals.
And,
I'm just curious with, with,
the individuals here. Like,
as a new person, like, the typical,
(05:30):
speaking assignments, I love doing that. Love going
to all the the wards and meeting the
members.
But I'm also kind of looking for,
I feel kind of like the newbie,
in in
in the realm of of of the big
players, if that makes sense. And I'm just
wondering how,
if there's anybody that can share some inspiration
(05:51):
or thoughts, how do you how do you
grow in this calling?
And how
how do you come up with new ideas?
Because in some ways, as mentioned, like,
with with, you know, having to defer to
the stake president,
you know, you you have a lot of
leadership
possibilities.
And to me, it doesn't feel just kosher
(06:12):
or or good enough to just show up
and and,
like, it feels like you really gotta hit
a home run. Does that make sense?
Yeah. So just to clarify, Daniel, are you
saying you feel, like, just new in the
in the world of of leadership, or you
feel new in the ward that you're assigned
to and attending, or what do you mean
by that? Yeah. I I don't know. Like,
I I feel so overwhelmed by the individuals
(06:33):
I work with because the spirit and the
magnitude of what they bring is amazing.
And sometimes I find myself feeling like, how
do I get there? Even though I've already
been a leader in in various presidencies already,
this just feels like a step up, and
I'm wanting to really hit it out of
the park and and and do well for
(06:54):
Heavenly Father and and well for the people
that that I'm supposed to work with.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Alright. Let's go to,
I know you're not Anne Marie, but that
you're it's your wife's account, but go ahead.
Please. No. I'm fast web.
Okay.
Yeah. To answer,
(07:15):
whoops. I don't see it. Yeah. Yeah.
You know what?
I've put
for for I I've been member for forty
four years, and
I've been clerk
for, let's say, thirty years, but
apart. You know? I for a while,
(07:40):
quorum leader,
Sunday school things, but I was always back
to clerk.
And
as a clerk,
I've
been around
all what is
church
leaders or
church
stuff or church callings and things.
(08:01):
I've always put everybody
at the same level as I am,
and that's important. So that way, you don't
feel any lower or any higher.
Yeah. They're
equal as you are.
And to know
what to do with your calling,
(08:24):
not
taking care
of my my English,
not with all
the others.
I read
five times
the instructions of my calling
when I was called
as a council member.
And from that day,
(08:45):
my
state president
told
me two times, have you read your
your your things, your what you're supposed to
do? I said, yes. Five times.
But five times, I would find other always
find things. So that way,
it makes me
(09:08):
decide
what to do
as I feel I should.
I'll give you just one example. Every time
a high council would come to my ward,
our branch ward,
he would just stand up,
do the state callings,
and sit down.
(09:29):
What is this?
So I said
I didn't realize that I would be standing
up there one day. But when I stood
there,
the state
presidency always tell
us to
say, we think about you. We love you.
Tell the members that we, the state presidency,
(09:50):
have think about you and love you.
I would say
a thought
in spiritual
thought. Speaking about the state presidency,
anything.
Just a few seconds.
After do the callings
and sit down.
(10:11):
And people said came to me and said,
what is this? It's beautiful.
They see us. They hear about us. They
hear about the state presidency.
They like it. They have we have to
be visible. We have to give them
a part of what we feel and we
(10:31):
want
to do to them.
Yeah. Yeah. That's that's the point.
Jamie, go ahead.
So, my thoughts, I've been on the high
council for about five years, and I did
it before for about four years. And so
there's a couple of things that I think
are important.
And I would say to the good brother
who asked the question, the truth is sometimes
(10:54):
you will feel the spirit more than somebody
who's a little more seasoned. And the reason
you will is because
you don't understand and you're not taking advantage
of the spirit. Because the spirit does amazing
things with us. And so comparing
one person versus the other,
it's very easy to feel insecure in your
calling. And the truth is we all fake
it well sometimes.
(11:15):
But the truth is the spirit,
touches you.
What I would warn against is just you
get seasoned
in your calling that you have to do
different new creative ways
that will cause you to invite the spirit.
So when you're preparing for a lesson or
or a talk
or to go to that elders quorum,
president or whatever it is that you're assigned
(11:37):
to do,
it's easy to take advantage of the spirit
because we're always preparing talks. We're always doing
certain things, and it's so easy.
And remember,
we are all the same. We all have
the same struggles.
It doesn't matter your calling because one day,
them callings don't matter. And so that's what
I would just share. So I would just
(11:59):
feel comfortable
in knowing who you are and the spirit
is with you. And when you start feeling
that you're losing your edge,
figure a new way to do that, whether
it's doing the Book of Mormon, go to
the temple and preparing talks, whatever it is.
That's what it is. That's what, that's what
I found works.
Brandon, go ahead.
(12:20):
Yeah. I I agree with what's been said
and,
just wanted to add that
I think it's critical
that you view yourself
part of your calling as a high councilor
is to be part of the council. And
you're there because,
your voice matters,
(12:40):
and
you should con you should feel comfortable contributing,
sharing whatever the spirit is inspiring you to
share, and,
hopefully, learning from from that council. And I
think
one of the things that, our state presidency
has emphasized that I've appreciated is whatever your
assignment, whether it's
(13:02):
to award or, an organization,
their hope for us is that we can
actively participate and learn from those state council
meetings and then take what we learned, the
leadership principles and the trainings, and go to
our organizations
to which we've been assigned
and train and teach and help
(13:23):
take, the things that we learn from the
stake presidency and the state council out throughout
the stake and to other leaders throughout the
stake.
So in addition to speaking
on a monthly or semimonthly basis,
I've come to view that as a big
part of my calling on the high council
to,
take those principles that I'm observing and learning
(13:46):
from and the trainings that I'm that I'm
receiving
in those council meetings
to the elders quorum and to the bishopric
and the ward that I'm assigned to and
then to those stake organizations,
that I get a chance to to work
with.
Awesome. Really good. I'm just curious. I'll just
put this out there.
Is it do you, anybody out there sense,
(14:07):
like, is, does your stake
I guess the question comes down to how
does your stake presidency keep you engaged? I
mean, there's always assignments, right, which lead to,
well, you know, those kind of those regular
meetings I go to or I'm assigned to
this ward, so I'm gonna, you know, go
to that ward and, you know,
follow-up with the elders quorum presidency here and
there or whatever. Is there anything unique or
(14:28):
a approach that just kinda keeps you engaged
as a high counselor?
Daniel, go ahead. Yeah. I don't know if
this is unique or not, but, I mean,
our our state presidency definitely,
has our our our PPIs with us.
We have our regular meetings.
But one of the things I've really enjoyed
(14:49):
doing that I think has brought us all
together,
that might be similar to the platform of
what we're doing here,
is we do,
a report on each ward and our stake,
and all of the corresponding members of the
high council
will,
report from the people that they oversee,
and then we'll come together as a high
(15:11):
council and bring that to the high council
meeting
and discuss it.
And then we like to see things that
are working really well
and see areas where we can help bring
in training and increase
the cross the cross training from other wards
of of things that are working well just
to to try and get everything working smoother
(15:33):
and better and and and in a stronger
way. And I find that that that brings
us all closer together as we're working together
as a high council, but also as we're
working with the wards that we're responsible for
connecting with.
Awesome.
Jared, go ahead.
One opportunity that I had serving on the
(15:53):
high council was this particular state presidency
wanted each high councilor
the Sunday that they were speaking in another
ward to attend that ward's leadership meetings as
well even though it wasn't their assigned ward.
Interesting. Logistically, that was a little challenging because
then you had to figure out, okay, I'm
(16:13):
in this ward this week. When are your
leadership meetings? The state presidency has asked me
to come as if I were your normal
high councilor.
I think it was twofold. The first was
to make sure that the appropriate messages and
announcements and things were still distributed. They didn't
miss a week of things from the stake.
But the second thing that I learned and
probably more importantly
(16:34):
was that high counselors could then see how
different wards were doing the work differently to
accomplish the same goals.
And in the course of a year, visiting
depending on your stakes, you know, seven to
12 different wards,
Realizing, wow, it's really fascinating to see how
local leadership works to bring people to Christ.
(16:55):
And in some
times very different ways, but still with that
same goal in mind. And
it just led to a really enriching experience
for me personally to see how different bishoprics
would operate, to see how different word councils
would operate.
And, I just found it to be a
really fun experience even though logistically it was
(17:15):
sometimes a little challenging. Yeah. I really like
that. And and I'm just thinking,
you know, for those maybe stakes that are
more spread out, it's like, I'm already already
driving fifty minutes to go speak in this
ward. And while I'm there, I'm gonna experience
their leadership meetings and things like that that,
you know, that, like I said, maybe takes
a few more texts or coordinating to figure
out when when and where. But, yeah, I
(17:36):
love that.
Is it, Ventois. Right?
Go ahead. Yeah. It's Ventois.
Francois? Okay. I'm sorry. Yeah. I'll follow Frank.
I'll follow Frank.
Okay.
I'm close to
the second counselor in the state, so we
speak to each other very often. He's in
charge of me. So
(17:57):
it's fun.
And
the high council member
of our ward
lives in the ward that I watch over
or I take care.
So
Valleyfield,
Ocelaga,
we so so we switch
(18:18):
messages and callings, and and we
I we we call each other and okay.
Are you where are you? Where will you
be? And so
and the state counselor
knows very well that we're
we get along,
and I get along with the state counselor.
So
(18:39):
he sends
things,
information,
and
so we it's beautiful.
It's fun to
be close to,
and I I'm
very easily,
approachable.
I can be
(19:00):
I can get close to someone very easily.
And and I take care of the financial
the, committee
financial committee for audit
and things like that. So I'm
very often in contact with
so it's it's important to be close
(19:20):
to one of the the
state presidency.
And closer you are,
easier it is to
do your
do your work, do your Yeah.
Yeah. That's great.
Anybody else there,
or or have a a separate question or
direction you wanna ask the group?
(19:43):
Brandon, go ahead.
Hey. I don't mean to share overshare, but,
one thing that I found helpful, it's more
just tactical,
is,
we created a text thread among the high
counselors
that
or a text group that,
we can just ask advice or references.
(20:04):
Like, for example, one of the one of
the other guys on the high council,
shared
a note
in Apple's
notes app,
where he has
the wording for,
callings and releases.
And then if we're asked to do that
in wards, he just updates it,
during the high council meeting or the state
(20:24):
council meeting. And so everybody can just pull
that up quickly, and it's already there to
read.
And,
you know, we've used it for, like,
your
or you need to ordain an elder.
What's the process for that? Who who should
we invite to the meeting? Who leads the
meeting? Like, stuff like that. Very practical
advice
(20:44):
or references in the handbook that are, you
know, shared links just to to make,
the calling easier because there is a lot
of kind of administrative stuff you get a
get pulled into. And so it's nice to
have
a group that you can quickly say, hey.
Can you guys remind me how I'm supposed
to do this? Or if I need to,
(21:04):
extend a calling? Not everybody's been in a
bishopric before or something. And so, like, what
is the process to do that? And,
that's been helpful to have that kind of
built in reference group for us to quickly
check-in with each other and especially the more
experienced
members of the council can chime in and
give advice.
Awesome. Very good.
(21:25):
Very good.
And, of course, you know, you always come
back to some of these questions if you
think of something. But, next question, I'm just
curious with, you know, speaking assignments.
We can insert all your high council jokes
here. And but does your stake do anything
unique? I know a lot of stakes are
becoming it's more typical to have sort of
a speaking companion,
(21:47):
whether it's a, you know, a
stake leader,
from the relief society, stake relief site presidency,
primary presidency,
young women's presidency, those types of things.
Anything that comes to mind as far as
how speaking works or
how you do it, how it's organized, what
helps you prepare.
Michael, go ahead. One of the things that
(22:07):
we started doing, instead of being dependent on
either
because
typically,
a member of the stake in women's presidency,
the relief studies presidency,
and the
the primary presidency, so we've got young those
two organizations get assigned to speak with high
councilors as well. But then you've got, in
our stake, then you've still got four or
(22:27):
five other wards where you've gotta find somebody.
So it's been, let's pull from the the
return missionaries.
But now we've expanded it to,
not only members of the Stake Youth Council,
but youth in general.
And I the last couple of assignments I've
done, I've
I've pulled youth,
I've asked youth in the ward that I'm
(22:49):
going to to yeah. After consulting with a
member of the bishopric or whatever,
and that's gone really well.
Having a a mem a a a youth,
that's been
it's been really,
really good. I you know, I've been a
little bit nervous. You say, okay. You've got
x number of minutes, and you think, okay.
I'm gonna get three minutes out of this.
But they've been really good at fulfilling the
(23:10):
time and and
and really teaching.
So it's been another one of those things
reminding us that the youth,
they'll step up given the opportunity. So I'm
that's been good to see us doing that.
I'm liking doing that.
That's awesome. That's awesome.
Anybody else wanna share?
(23:30):
Yeah. Go ahead.
Don't forget
that we
represent
the state
presidency.
We are exactly
like the apostle or the seventies
when they visit.
It doesn't boast we shouldn't boasting.
(23:50):
We shouldn't
be boasting
ourselves. Anyway,
You know, feel proud. Pride. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
We should
know that we have something to bring to
them.
And they know that we are supposed to
have something.
(24:11):
Like, yesterday, I had,
I I was with the primary I take
care of the primary
in our state. So I was with them
yesterday in their meeting, their their state meeting
bureaus,
meeting.
And I was there, and every time they
wanted information or knowledge, they would turn around
(24:33):
to me and say, hey,
brother, like, what? Do you what do you
think about this?
They asked me to do the spiritual thought
at the beginning. So they know
or they hope
we will bring them something.
We are like
(24:53):
the seventies when they come.
We
are
supposed to bring them.
It's we don't have to be nervous or
feel
an
and and
Like, unworthy? Or
Not worthy, but
capable or Yeah. Yeah.
(25:15):
We should have the spirit and say, okay.
What
do they need?
And and bring them this.
So so we are we are something
someone that they
they not lean on, but they will
read
from us. Yeah.
(25:36):
And you said the fifteen minutes before
between wards, we have an hour Yeah. I
bet. To reach wards.
Yeah. So it's
Leonard, do you wanna go ahead?
Yeah.
Our state presidency assigns us a general authority
talk from general conference
that should serve as our guideline.
(25:58):
But if we feel inspired, we don't have
to stay too closely to it.
And
what our state president has been emphasizing,
pardon me, is that we must speak about
Christ.
We must testify of him. It must be
interwoven throughout our talks. And
he promises us the spirit will be there
(26:20):
when we do that.
And, that has been an interesting change from
other high councils I've served on. And then
finally,
we do,
speak with an auxiliary leader, Sunday school, primary,
relief society, young men's,
and,
they're our counterpart as we go about. And
that's new to our stake here in Saint
(26:41):
George.
But,
it's helped me get to know the leaders
a lot better.
Awesome. Love that.
And go to one comment here.
Matt says, I always feel like I'm supposed
to express the love of the stake presidency
when I'm speaking, but it always feels awkward
because no one has told that to me
(27:01):
specifically. Does anyone feel that?
Yeah. I think that's that's definitely a real
feeling.
And I think it's it's almost become kind
of a rote phrase that we just use
because we've heard so many others, you know,
use it. So,
and then, Jared says, curious if any high
counselors are also serving as either the stake
young men's president or stake Sunday school president
(27:24):
and how they are doing that dual
responsibility.
K. Go ahead. Well, I just I I
like what Brandon how Brandon responded to Matt's
comment, and I
also
felt weird at first
expressing
love from the stake presidency without maybe specifically
having heard that first, but
(27:45):
I guess I have the unique experience of
serving with the stake president and bishopric before
I was called on the high council.
And it it is not a far stretch
for me to to express to them how
I know he feels about them and how
I know the stake presidency
does feel about the members of their stake.
And I've
I didn't do that the first
(28:07):
few talks, and I maybe should have, but
I, especially this this last month, expressed that,
and I felt much better about that having
told them that that they are,
seen
and thought about and prayed about and prayed
over, prayed for.
(28:35):
That concludes this episode of the Leading Saints
podcast. We'd love to hear from you about
your questions or thoughts or comments. You can
either leave a comment on the, post related
to this episode at leadingsaints.org
or go to leadingsaints.org/contact
and send us your perspective or questions. If
there's other episodes or topics you'd like to
hear on the Leading Saints podcast, go to
leadingsaints.org/contact
(28:57):
and share with us the information there.
And we would love for you to share
this with any individual you think this would
apply to, especially maybe individuals in your ward
council or other leaders that you may know
who would really appreciate the perspectives that we
discussed.
Hey. Thanks for listening to this episode. We're
actually gonna cut it short a little bit.
If you wanna listen to the entirety of
(29:17):
this conversation, head on over to the Leading
Saints community. You can, find the link in
the show notes, and you can watch the
extended cut there, and I think you'll benefit
from it. So come join us over at
the Leading Saints community.
(29:50):
It came as a result of the position
of leadership which was imposed upon us
by the God of heaven who brought forth
a restoration
of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And when the declaration
was made concerning the own and only true
and living church upon the face of the
earth,
(30:10):
We were immediately put in a position of
loneliness.
The loneliness of leadership
from which we cannot shrink nor run away,
and to which we must face up with
boldness and courage
and ability.
Hey. If you're a newbie to Leading Saints,
it's important that you know what is this
Leading Saints thing. Well, Leading Saints is a
nonprofit organization
dedicated to helping Latter day Saints
be better prepared to lead. And the way
we do that is through content creation. So
we have this phenomenal podcast, we have a
newsletter, we have virtual conferences,
(00:26):
so much more. Add articles on our website.
I mean, I could go on and on.
Right?
And we encourage you to, jump in, check
out Leading Saints, go to the search bar
at leading saints dot org and and type
in some topics and see what pops up.
We're just glad you're here to join us.
(00:57):
You guys, we are having so much fun
over at Zion Lab. This is our online
community, and it's actually in app form. If
you search Leading Saints on Apple Podcasts
or on Android,
the Play Store, I think that is what
they call it.
You will find a Leading Saints app, which
is takes you and you download it and
you'll have access to Zion Lab, this online
(01:19):
community. People are asking questions.
They're sharing perspectives,
putting the the toughest situations on there that
they're maybe experiencing as a leader and saying,
alright. What did ever anybody else do in
this situation? Just such fantastic
content.
And, part of that is we have these
live streams where we'll take a specific topic,
a specific calling and say, hey. Come one,
(01:40):
come all. Whether you're in this calling or
not, let's talk about it. What are you
learning? What can we share with one another
to, so that we're better prepared to lead
if if we find ourselves in a similar
calling. And, this episode is
a portion of the livestream we did all
about being on the stake high council. Right?
Tricky calling at times. Maybe it's one you
(02:01):
could fly under the radar a little bit.
Nobody notices what you're doing or not doing.
But how do we really magnify our callings
into this,
in as a as a high counselor? So
that person's coming to your mind. Right? The
person you know, the brother, the uncle, the
grandpa who serves on the high council, well,
you need to drop this episode
in a in a text and send it
(02:22):
on to them so they can benefit as
well. A fantastic discussion. Let's jump into it.
The live stream with a bunch of high
councilors and and others.
Hey,
Hey, everyone.
This is the high council livestream.
Yes. I this is good, Jared. So we're
(02:43):
we're we gotta identify the proper term as
high councilor,
not a high councilman.
So that's a let's just let's just argue
about that for sixty minutes. That'd be great.
I think he has a high councilor.
That's I think that's how it is in
the handbook. So
very good.
Who wants to take
take first crack at this as far as
(03:03):
asking a question?
Anybody want to raise your hand,
and
and share? Right now, I'm seeing Jay. Is
that, do you have something to share, or
did you leave your hand up?
Oh, I must have just left my hand
up. Okay. Well well, you're caught. So, tell
where are you from and what your how
long you've been on the high council and
what your experience been like up to this
point? Yeah. I am, as green as it
(03:24):
gets. So I'm on a I'm on a
high council with a few people here who
I can see in attendance. Our our stake
president,
notified of this a couple days ago and
recommended that we join.
So I see a couple of us here.
Nice. Love it. We're in we're in Brush
Prairie, a Vancouver Washington North Stake here in
Washington.
Nice.
I've been on for a role of just
(03:44):
a couple months. I got Okay.
Assigned to serve with the Stake Young Women's
presidency, and that that's been kind of a
fun part of what I'm doing because I
gotta keep working with the youth. I feel
like I've been working with the youth for
several years, and
so I enjoy that part.
Yeah.
But, yeah, this has definitely been a new
calling for me for sure. It seems very
(04:06):
I don't wanna say open ended, but it
it seems like you can do
as much as you want, and there's you
could probably get away with doing very little
as well. But,
Yeah. That's been the, that's kind of been
the ongoing joke, right, that depending on how
a state presidency uses the high council, sometimes
it's like,
it's the, like, the only leadership calling you
(04:26):
can sometimes go inactive. Like, people would not
even know. It's like as long as you
show up to the high council meeting. Right?
But yeah. Because it is it can be
very proactive calling, right, that or you're put
in charge of the buildings or these things
where yeah. There's things that pop up from
time to time, but,
other times, you know, there and there's a
lot of opportunity to be proactive as far
as engaging with the elders quorum presidency, really
(04:48):
be involved if you're assigned to award, things
like that. So,
anybody else want to,
just either
kinda ask a question,
something you're excited about, something you're doing, something
that's helped in in the high council role?
Dan Daniel, go ahead.
Hi.
Yeah. Just just like it was mentioned, I
too am am am semi new.
(05:09):
I'm loving being on the High Council. I
love
working with the individuals, the state presidents, these,
members and all the members of the High
Council. They are amazing individuals.
And,
I'm just curious with, with,
the individuals here. Like,
as a new person, like, the typical,
(05:30):
speaking assignments, I love doing that. Love going
to all the the wards and meeting the
members.
But I'm also kind of looking for,
I feel kind of like the newbie,
in in
in the realm of of of the big
players, if that makes sense. And I'm just
wondering how,
if there's anybody that can share some inspiration
(05:51):
or thoughts, how do you how do you
grow in this calling?
And how
how do you come up with new ideas?
Because in some ways, as mentioned, like,
with with, you know, having to defer to
the stake president,
you know, you you have a lot of
leadership
possibilities.
And to me, it doesn't feel just kosher
(06:12):
or or good enough to just show up
and and,
like, it feels like you really gotta hit
a home run. Does that make sense?
Yeah. So just to clarify, Daniel, are you
saying you feel, like, just new in the
in the world of of leadership, or you
feel new in the ward that you're assigned
to and attending, or what do you mean
by that? Yeah. I I don't know. Like,
I I feel so overwhelmed by the individuals
(06:33):
I work with because the spirit and the
magnitude of what they bring is amazing.
And sometimes I find myself feeling like, how
do I get there? Even though I've already
been a leader in in various presidencies already,
this just feels like a step up, and
I'm wanting to really hit it out of
the park and and and do well for
(06:54):
Heavenly Father and and well for the people
that that I'm supposed to work with.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Alright. Let's go to,
I know you're not Anne Marie, but that
you're it's your wife's account, but go ahead.
Please. No. I'm fast web.
Okay.
Yeah. To answer,
(07:15):
whoops. I don't see it. Yeah. Yeah.
You know what?
I've put
for for I I've been member for forty
four years, and
I've been clerk
for, let's say, thirty years, but
apart. You know? I for a while,
(07:40):
quorum leader,
Sunday school things, but I was always back
to clerk.
And
as a clerk,
I've
been around
all what is
church
leaders or
church
stuff or church callings and things.
(08:01):
I've always put everybody
at the same level as I am,
and that's important. So that way, you don't
feel any lower or any higher.
Yeah. They're
equal as you are.
And to know
what to do with your calling,
(08:24):
not
taking care
of my my English,
not with all
the others.
I read
five times
the instructions of my calling
when I was called
as a council member.
And from that day,
(08:45):
my
state president
told
me two times, have you read your
your your things, your what you're supposed to
do? I said, yes. Five times.
But five times, I would find other always
find things. So that way,
it makes me
(09:08):
decide
what to do
as I feel I should.
I'll give you just one example. Every time
a high council would come to my ward,
our branch ward,
he would just stand up,
do the state callings,
and sit down.
(09:29):
What is this?
So I said
I didn't realize that I would be standing
up there one day. But when I stood
there,
the state
presidency always tell
us to
say, we think about you. We love you.
Tell the members that we, the state presidency,
(09:50):
have think about you and love you.
I would say
a thought
in spiritual
thought. Speaking about the state presidency,
anything.
Just a few seconds.
After do the callings
and sit down.
(10:11):
And people said came to me and said,
what is this? It's beautiful.
They see us. They hear about us. They
hear about the state presidency.
They like it. They have we have to
be visible. We have to give them
a part of what we feel and we
(10:31):
want
to do to them.
Yeah. Yeah. That's that's the point.
Jamie, go ahead.
So, my thoughts, I've been on the high
council for about five years, and I did
it before for about four years. And so
there's a couple of things that I think
are important.
And I would say to the good brother
who asked the question, the truth is sometimes
(10:54):
you will feel the spirit more than somebody
who's a little more seasoned. And the reason
you will is because
you don't understand and you're not taking advantage
of the spirit. Because the spirit does amazing
things with us. And so comparing
one person versus the other,
it's very easy to feel insecure in your
calling. And the truth is we all fake
it well sometimes.
(11:15):
But the truth is the spirit,
touches you.
What I would warn against is just you
get seasoned
in your calling that you have to do
different new creative ways
that will cause you to invite the spirit.
So when you're preparing for a lesson or
or a talk
or to go to that elders quorum,
president or whatever it is that you're assigned
(11:37):
to do,
it's easy to take advantage of the spirit
because we're always preparing talks. We're always doing
certain things, and it's so easy.
And remember,
we are all the same. We all have
the same struggles.
It doesn't matter your calling because one day,
them callings don't matter. And so that's what
I would just share. So I would just
(11:59):
feel comfortable
in knowing who you are and the spirit
is with you. And when you start feeling
that you're losing your edge,
figure a new way to do that, whether
it's doing the Book of Mormon, go to
the temple and preparing talks, whatever it is.
That's what it is. That's what, that's what
I found works.
Brandon, go ahead.
(12:20):
Yeah. I I agree with what's been said
and,
just wanted to add that
I think it's critical
that you view yourself
part of your calling as a high councilor
is to be part of the council. And
you're there because,
your voice matters,
(12:40):
and
you should con you should feel comfortable contributing,
sharing whatever the spirit is inspiring you to
share, and,
hopefully, learning from from that council. And I
think
one of the things that, our state presidency
has emphasized that I've appreciated is whatever your
assignment, whether it's
(13:02):
to award or, an organization,
their hope for us is that we can
actively participate and learn from those state council
meetings and then take what we learned, the
leadership principles and the trainings, and go to
our organizations
to which we've been assigned
and train and teach and help
(13:23):
take, the things that we learn from the
stake presidency and the state council out throughout
the stake and to other leaders throughout the
stake.
So in addition to speaking
on a monthly or semimonthly basis,
I've come to view that as a big
part of my calling on the high council
to,
take those principles that I'm observing and learning
(13:46):
from and the trainings that I'm that I'm
receiving
in those council meetings
to the elders quorum and to the bishopric
and the ward that I'm assigned to and
then to those stake organizations,
that I get a chance to to work
with.
Awesome. Really good. I'm just curious. I'll just
put this out there.
Is it do you, anybody out there sense,
(14:07):
like, is, does your stake
I guess the question comes down to how
does your stake presidency keep you engaged? I
mean, there's always assignments, right, which lead to,
well, you know, those kind of those regular
meetings I go to or I'm assigned to
this ward, so I'm gonna, you know, go
to that ward and, you know,
follow-up with the elders quorum presidency here and
there or whatever. Is there anything unique or
(14:28):
a approach that just kinda keeps you engaged
as a high counselor?
Daniel, go ahead. Yeah. I don't know if
this is unique or not, but, I mean,
our our state presidency definitely,
has our our our PPIs with us.
We have our regular meetings.
But one of the things I've really enjoyed
(14:49):
doing that I think has brought us all
together,
that might be similar to the platform of
what we're doing here,
is we do,
a report on each ward and our stake,
and all of the corresponding members of the
high council
will,
report from the people that they oversee,
and then we'll come together as a high
(15:11):
council and bring that to the high council
meeting
and discuss it.
And then we like to see things that
are working really well
and see areas where we can help bring
in training and increase
the cross the cross training from other wards
of of things that are working well just
to to try and get everything working smoother
(15:33):
and better and and and in a stronger
way. And I find that that that brings
us all closer together as we're working together
as a high council, but also as we're
working with the wards that we're responsible for
connecting with.
Awesome.
Jared, go ahead.
One opportunity that I had serving on the
(15:53):
high council was this particular state presidency
wanted each high councilor
the Sunday that they were speaking in another
ward to attend that ward's leadership meetings as
well even though it wasn't their assigned ward.
Interesting. Logistically, that was a little challenging because
then you had to figure out, okay, I'm
(16:13):
in this ward this week. When are your
leadership meetings? The state presidency has asked me
to come as if I were your normal
high councilor.
I think it was twofold. The first was
to make sure that the appropriate messages and
announcements and things were still distributed. They didn't
miss a week of things from the stake.
But the second thing that I learned and
probably more importantly
(16:34):
was that high counselors could then see how
different wards were doing the work differently to
accomplish the same goals.
And in the course of a year, visiting
depending on your stakes, you know, seven to
12 different wards,
Realizing, wow, it's really fascinating to see how
local leadership works to bring people to Christ.
(16:55):
And in some
times very different ways, but still with that
same goal in mind. And
it just led to a really enriching experience
for me personally to see how different bishoprics
would operate, to see how different word councils
would operate.
And, I just found it to be a
really fun experience even though logistically it was
(17:15):
sometimes a little challenging. Yeah. I really like
that. And and I'm just thinking,
you know, for those maybe stakes that are
more spread out, it's like, I'm already already
driving fifty minutes to go speak in this
ward. And while I'm there, I'm gonna experience
their leadership meetings and things like that that,
you know, that, like I said, maybe takes
a few more texts or coordinating to figure
out when when and where. But, yeah, I
(17:36):
love that.
Is it, Ventois. Right?
Go ahead. Yeah. It's Ventois.
Francois? Okay. I'm sorry. Yeah. I'll follow Frank.
I'll follow Frank.
Okay.
I'm close to
the second counselor in the state, so we
speak to each other very often. He's in
charge of me. So
(17:57):
it's fun.
And
the high council member
of our ward
lives in the ward that I watch over
or I take care.
So
Valleyfield,
Ocelaga,
we so so we switch
(18:18):
messages and callings, and and we
I we we call each other and okay.
Are you where are you? Where will you
be? And so
and the state counselor
knows very well that we're
we get along,
and I get along with the state counselor.
So
(18:39):
he sends
things,
information,
and
so we it's beautiful.
It's fun to
be close to,
and I I'm
very easily,
approachable.
I can be
(19:00):
I can get close to someone very easily.
And and I take care of the financial
the, committee
financial committee for audit
and things like that. So I'm
very often in contact with
so it's it's important to be close
(19:20):
to one of the the
state presidency.
And closer you are,
easier it is to
do your
do your work, do your Yeah.
Yeah. That's great.
Anybody else there,
or or have a a separate question or
direction you wanna ask the group?
(19:43):
Brandon, go ahead.
Hey. I don't mean to share overshare, but,
one thing that I found helpful, it's more
just tactical,
is,
we created a text thread among the high
counselors
that
or a text group that,
we can just ask advice or references.
(20:04):
Like, for example, one of the one of
the other guys on the high council,
shared
a note
in Apple's
notes app,
where he has
the wording for,
callings and releases.
And then if we're asked to do that
in wards, he just updates it,
during the high council meeting or the state
(20:24):
council meeting. And so everybody can just pull
that up quickly, and it's already there to
read.
And,
you know, we've used it for, like,
your
or you need to ordain an elder.
What's the process for that? Who who should
we invite to the meeting? Who leads the
meeting? Like, stuff like that. Very practical
advice
(20:44):
or references in the handbook that are, you
know, shared links just to to make,
the calling easier because there is a lot
of kind of administrative stuff you get a
get pulled into. And so it's nice to
have
a group that you can quickly say, hey.
Can you guys remind me how I'm supposed
to do this? Or if I need to,
(21:04):
extend a calling? Not everybody's been in a
bishopric before or something. And so, like, what
is the process to do that? And,
that's been helpful to have that kind of
built in reference group for us to quickly
check-in with each other and especially the more
experienced
members of the council can chime in and
give advice.
Awesome. Very good.
(21:25):
Very good.
And, of course, you know, you always come
back to some of these questions if you
think of something. But, next question, I'm just
curious with, you know, speaking assignments.
We can insert all your high council jokes
here. And but does your stake do anything
unique? I know a lot of stakes are
becoming it's more typical to have sort of
a speaking companion,
(21:47):
whether it's a, you know, a
stake leader,
from the relief society, stake relief site presidency,
primary presidency,
young women's presidency, those types of things.
Anything that comes to mind as far as
how speaking works or
how you do it, how it's organized, what
helps you prepare.
Michael, go ahead. One of the things that
(22:07):
we started doing, instead of being dependent on
either
because
typically,
a member of the stake in women's presidency,
the relief studies presidency,
and the
the primary presidency, so we've got young those
two organizations get assigned to speak with high
councilors as well. But then you've got, in
our stake, then you've still got four or
(22:27):
five other wards where you've gotta find somebody.
So it's been, let's pull from the the
return missionaries.
But now we've expanded it to,
not only members of the Stake Youth Council,
but youth in general.
And I the last couple of assignments I've
done, I've
I've pulled youth,
I've asked youth in the ward that I'm
(22:49):
going to to yeah. After consulting with a
member of the bishopric or whatever,
and that's gone really well.
Having a a mem a a a youth,
that's been
it's been really,
really good. I you know, I've been a
little bit nervous. You say, okay. You've got
x number of minutes, and you think, okay.
I'm gonna get three minutes out of this.
But they've been really good at fulfilling the
(23:10):
time and and
and really teaching.
So it's been another one of those things
reminding us that the youth,
they'll step up given the opportunity. So I'm
that's been good to see us doing that.
I'm liking doing that.
That's awesome. That's awesome.
Anybody else wanna share?
(23:30):
Yeah. Go ahead.
Don't forget
that we
represent
the state
presidency.
We are exactly
like the apostle or the seventies
when they visit.
It doesn't boast we shouldn't boasting.
(23:50):
We shouldn't
be boasting
ourselves. Anyway,
You know, feel proud. Pride. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
We should
know that we have something to bring to
them.
And they know that we are supposed to
have something.
(24:11):
Like, yesterday, I had,
I I was with the primary I take
care of the primary
in our state. So I was with them
yesterday in their meeting, their their state meeting
bureaus,
meeting.
And I was there, and every time they
wanted information or knowledge, they would turn around
(24:33):
to me and say, hey,
brother, like, what? Do you what do you
think about this?
They asked me to do the spiritual thought
at the beginning. So they know
or they hope
we will bring them something.
We are like
(24:53):
the seventies when they come.
We
are
supposed to bring them.
It's we don't have to be nervous or
feel
an
and and
Like, unworthy? Or
Not worthy, but
capable or Yeah. Yeah.
(25:15):
We should have the spirit and say, okay.
What
do they need?
And and bring them this.
So so we are we are something
someone that they
they not lean on, but they will
read
from us. Yeah.
(25:36):
And you said the fifteen minutes before
between wards, we have an hour Yeah. I
bet. To reach wards.
Yeah. So it's
Leonard, do you wanna go ahead?
Yeah.
Our state presidency assigns us a general authority
talk from general conference
that should serve as our guideline.
(25:58):
But if we feel inspired, we don't have
to stay too closely to it.
And
what our state president has been emphasizing,
pardon me, is that we must speak about
Christ.
We must testify of him. It must be
interwoven throughout our talks. And
he promises us the spirit will be there
(26:20):
when we do that.
And, that has been an interesting change from
other high councils I've served on. And then
finally,
we do,
speak with an auxiliary leader, Sunday school, primary,
relief society, young men's,
and,
they're our counterpart as we go about. And
that's new to our stake here in Saint
(26:41):
George.
But,
it's helped me get to know the leaders
a lot better.
Awesome. Love that.
And go to one comment here.
Matt says, I always feel like I'm supposed
to express the love of the stake presidency
when I'm speaking, but it always feels awkward
because no one has told that to me
(27:01):
specifically. Does anyone feel that?
Yeah. I think that's that's definitely a real
feeling.
And I think it's it's almost become kind
of a rote phrase that we just use
because we've heard so many others, you know,
use it. So,
and then, Jared says, curious if any high
counselors are also serving as either the stake
young men's president or stake Sunday school president
(27:24):
and how they are doing that dual
responsibility.
K. Go ahead. Well, I just I I
like what Brandon how Brandon responded to Matt's
comment, and I
also
felt weird at first
expressing
love from the stake presidency without maybe specifically
having heard that first, but
(27:45):
I guess I have the unique experience of
serving with the stake president and bishopric before
I was called on the high council.
And it it is not a far stretch
for me to to express to them how
I know he feels about them and how
I know the stake presidency
does feel about the members of their stake.
And I've
I didn't do that the first
(28:07):
few talks, and I maybe should have, but
I, especially this this last month, expressed that,
and I felt much better about that having
told them that that they are,
seen
and thought about and prayed about and prayed
over, prayed for.
(28:35):
That concludes this episode of the Leading Saints
podcast. We'd love to hear from you about
your questions or thoughts or comments. You can
either leave a comment on the, post related
to this episode at leadingsaints.org
or go to leadingsaints.org/contact
and send us your perspective or questions. If
there's other episodes or topics you'd like to
hear on the Leading Saints podcast, go to
leadingsaints.org/contact
(28:57):
and share with us the information there.
And we would love for you to share
this with any individual you think this would
apply to, especially maybe individuals in your ward
council or other leaders that you may know
who would really appreciate the perspectives that we
discussed.
Hey. Thanks for listening to this episode. We're
actually gonna cut it short a little bit.
If you wanna listen to the entirety of
(29:17):
this conversation, head on over to the Leading
Saints community. You can, find the link in
the show notes, and you can watch the
extended cut there, and I think you'll benefit
from it. So come join us over at
the Leading Saints community.
(29:50):
It came as a result of the position
of leadership which was imposed upon us
by the God of heaven who brought forth
a restoration
of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And when the declaration
was made concerning the own and only true
and living church upon the face of the
earth,
(30:10):
We were immediately put in a position of
loneliness.
The loneliness of leadership
from which we cannot shrink nor run away,
and to which we must face up with
boldness and courage
and ability.
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