Introduction
Elder Cook reframes our time as both commotion and privilege: the world shakes, yet the Lord is hastening His work. That means real people—new and returning members—are entering the covenant path in record numbers. Our call: love, nurture, and serve them into enduring covenant belonging.
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Section 1 — Best of Times / Worst of Times: A Disciple’s Lens
“We live in a turbulent time… We also live in ‘the best of times’… The Lord is truly hastening His work in our time.”
10 Deeper Discussion Questions
- What changes when you interpret commotion as context for God’s hastening rather than a contradiction to it?
- Where does your media diet shape your lens more than scripture and covenants?
- If you believed God is hastening His work in your ward, what expectation would you repent of?
- How would a peacemaker (Elder Stevenson’s echo) act online this week in concrete ways?
- Where are you tempted to wait for calmer conditions before you engage?
- What spiritual metric would show your home is aligned with the Lord’s “best of times”?
- How do we avoid triumphalism (naïve optimism) while holding bright hope?
- What would it look like to thank God specifically for hastening you can already see?
- Which gift of the Spirit do you need to ask for to live “best/worst” simultaneously?
- What one practice will help you “hear His voice and respond with open heart and mind” this week?
5 Simple Object Lessons
- Two lenses (clear + tinted): choose which you’ll see through.
- Tuning fork (or phone pitch app): practice “tuning” to Christ vs. noise.
- Scale card: “Headlines” vs “Hastening”—place a bead where your attention sits.
- Thank-you note to God: list current evidences of hastening.
- Peacemaker post-it: write a peacemaking action online you’ll take.
10 Personal Sharing Prompts
- A time God’s work moved in chaos.
- A “lens swap” you made.
- One hastening evidence in your ward.
- A media boundary that restored peace.
- A peacemaking act you’ll do.
- A spiritual gift you’ll seek.
- Where you stopped waiting and stepped in.
- Your gratitude list for hastening.
- An expectation you’ll repent of.
- Your sentence on “best in the worst.”
Section 2 — Gathered Then, Planted Now: From Bands to Belonging
1852 converts “sunburnt and weather-beaten, but not forlorn”… welcomed with joy.
“In our day… [saints] no longer gather to a central location… resources are available to build Zion everywhere.”
10 Deeper Discussion Questions
- What does a joyful reception look/sound like now without the literal marching band?
- Where do we still behave like converts are “visitors,” not kin?
- What’s the spiritual difference between gathering to a place and planting in a people?
- How can your ward mirror your neighborhood’s languages, ages, cultures?
- What unspoken rules make it harder for newcomers to feel “home”?
- What would it mean to become “sunburnt and weather-beaten, but not forlorn” alongside them?
- How do we replace nostalgia for then with stewardship for now?
- Where is the Lord already sending seekers to your path?
- What would be your ward’s “Emigration Canyon moment” of welcome this month?
- What is the sound of joy in your chapel foyer?
5 Simple Object Lessons
- Empty chair with a name card: who belongs there next Sunday?
- Welcome mat (paper): write phrases that signal “kin, not guest.”
- Small map of your ward: mark places to plant belonging.
- Band “cheer” card: create a 15-second welcome script.
- Noise vs. music: shake keys (noise) → hum a hymn (music): turn bustle into belonging.
10 Personal Sharing Prompts
- Your most memorable welcome.
- A rule you’ll retire.
- A culture cue you’ll adopt.
- A newcomer you’ll host to sit with.
- A foyer phrase you’ll use.
- A barrier you’ll remove.
- A joy-sound you’ll bring Sunday.
- A neighbor you’ll invite.
- A place you’ll plant belonging.
- Your kin-not-guest witness.
Section 3 — The Numbers Mean Names: Welcoming 900,000 Souls
“In the last 36 months, nearly 900,000 converts have joined the Church… a clear witness the gospel is touching hearts.”
10 Deeper Discussion Questions
- When you hear “900,000,” who’s the one the Spirit brings to your mind?
- If your ward welcomed just 1 of that number this month, what would need to change?
- What infrastructure of friendship exists beyond programs?
- How will you track care, not just attendance?
- How can youth/primary be trained as first welcomers?
- Where do we unintentionally signal that discipleship equals fluency in our subculture?
- What does it mean to “need” new saints (not just “help” them)?
- How will you ensure “no one sits alone emotionally/spiritually,” not just physically?
- What will your ministering look like in week 2–10 (after baptism day)?
- If the Lord measured our ward by how we treat the newest, how would we fare?
5 Simple Object Lessons
- Name tokens (blank circles): write 2 names to love this month.
- Follow-up ladder: steps for weeks 1–10; assign yourself one rung.
- Culture decoder card: translate a church phrase into normal human words.
- “Need you” sign: finish this sentence: “We need you because…”
- Two jars: “Program” vs “Person”—move a bead where your focus goes.
10 Personal Sharing Prompts
- A newcomer who changed you.
- One week-2 action you’ll take.
- A culture translation you’ll practice.
- A youth you’ll mentor as greeter.
- A hospitality gift you’ll offer.
- How you’ll measure care this month.
- A phrase of genuine “we need you.”
- A person > program decision you’ll make.
- A name on your prayer list.
- Your “the numbers are names” testimony.
Section 4 — Hinckley’s Three: Friend, Responsibility, Nurture
“A friend, a responsibility, and nurturing with the good word of God.”
10 Deeper Discussion Questions
- What distinguishes friendship from assignment?
- How soon can a new member responsibly minister rather than only be ministered to?
- What calling could you co-shoulder with a new/returning member right now?
- How do you nurture with the word without overwhelming with information?
- Where do we confuse familiarity with programs for conversion to Christ?
- What’s your plan when someone misses—graceful follow-up without pressure?
- How do we match responsibilities to people’s spiritual gifts, not gaps on a spreadsheet?
- Which scripture habit fits busy, brand-new disciples?
- How will you make the sacrament the weekly anchor of nurture?
- What does belonging language sound like during the first calling set apart?
5 Simple Object Lessons
- Three cards: Friend / Responsibility / Nurture—assign yourself to one today.
- Gift tag: write the new member’s spiritual gift you see.
- Blank calling card: brainstorm co-shouldered roles.
- Small bookmark: a 10-verse weekly reading plan.
- Sacrament prep card: one thing you’ll do Saturday night.
10 Personal Sharing Prompts
- A friend who stayed when you struggled.
- A responsibility that helped you root.
- A gentle nurture moment you loved.
- A spiritual gift you’ll name out loud to someone.
- A co-shoulder idea you’ll offer.
- Your missed-week follow-up approach.
- Your “first calling” blessing language.
- A scripture rhythm that’s realistic.
- A sacrament prep that changes you.
- Your three-part welcome story.
Section 5 — Counsel to New/Returning Members: Temple-Facing Discipleship
“Receiving ordinances and covenants… Focus on the covenants necessary for exaltation… Preparing for the temple should be an immediate goal.”
10 Deeper Discussion Questions
- What would shift if your home became explicitly temple-facing (habits, décor, calendar)?
- How do we help new members distinguish saving ordinances from admirable extras?
- How do we keep “temple prep” from being a delay instead of a direction?
- What knowledge anxieties keep people from ordinances, and how do we re-teach that the gospel is not a knowledge test?
- What weekly actions make the temple feel like a continuum with Sunday worship?
- How can we walk with those for whom eternal marriage is not yet possible—without softening doctrine or harming hope?
- What covenant promise have you seen God already keep in someone’s first year?
- How will your ministering explicitly include family history/temple?
- Which prophetic messages on the covenant path will you study with a newcomer this month?
- What would it mean to be a temple companion—not just a cheerleader?
5 Simple Object Lessons
- Small temple card: write your next temple date or step.
- Ordinance pathway strip: circle the next saving ordinance.
- Knowledge ≠ ordinance card: list anxieties you’ll release.
- Two candles: Sunday sacrament flame → temple flame (one light, two places).
- Hope stone: gift to someone waiting on eternal marriage blessings.
10 Personal Sharing Prompts
- Your first year covenant miracle.
- A knowledge worry God quieted.
- Your next temple step.
- A family history invitation you’ll extend.
- A temple companion you’ll be.
- A prophetic quote you’ll share.
- A Sunday habit that points to the temple.
- A waiting story filled with hope.
- An ordinance you’re preparing for.
- Your temple-facing witness.
Section 6 — Imperfect Church, Perfect Christ: Repentance as Daily Strategy
“We will make mistakes… His Atonement allows us to repent daily… ‘Press forward… with a perfect brightness of hope.’”
10 Deeper Discussion Questions
- Where has someone’s imperfection obscured your view of the perfect Christ?
- How do you practice repair (apology + action), not just apology?
- What does daily repentance look like without self-condemnation?
- Where do you need “brightness of hope” rather than “brightness of certainty”?
- What’s your plan for staying when expectations break?
- How do you help a new member differentiate doctrine from human error?
- Which part of you resists being ministered to by someone “younger in the gospel”?
- How do you read the Book of Mormon daily in a way that actually brings answers (Pres. Nelson)?
- Where will endurance look like gentleness this week?
- What is your concrete press-forward act today?
5 Simple Object Lessons
- Two lenses: offense lens vs. Christ lens—swap them.
- Repair kit: sticky note apology + calendar reminder for follow-through.
- Repentance arrow: turn toward, not in on yourself.
- Hope lantern: list where you need light.
- Scripture question card: write a question, find one verse today.
10 Personal Sharing Prompts
- A repair you made that healed.
- A daily repentance that relieved you.
- A time you stayed through disappointment.
- A doctrine vs. human error moment you untangled.
- A “young” disciple who ministered to you.
- An answer you received from daily Book of Mormon.
- Your gentleness plan for the week.
- Your today press-forward step.
- A hope line you pray.
- Your imperfect-church/perfect-Christ testimony.
Section 7 — Focus of the Master: Perfecting Saints, Not Politics
“His focus was not on the political challenges of the day; it was on the perfection of the Saints.”
10 Deeper Discussion Questions
- What would your week look like if you matched the Savior’s focus?
- How do we keep the chapel a place for formation, not polarization?
- Where do you confuse urgent issues with your ultimate mission?
- What spiritual formation practice are you avoiding that would actually change your tone?
- How do you speak truth without strife (peacemakers)?
- What would it mean to “perfect the Saints” starting with yourself?
- How does covenant identity anchor you amid civic turbulence?
- Where can you create common ground this week inside the ward?
- What personal discipleship gap deserves the energy you give to headlines?
- What practice will you adopt to redirect debate into discipleship?
5 Simple Object Lessons
- Two calendars: headline time vs. holiness time—rebalance.
- Mission statement card: write your discipleship aim.
- Conversation pivot cue: “How can we follow Christ here?”
- Common ground puzzle piece: name shared values in your quorum/class.
- Tone thermometer: track when your voice rises—practice soft answer.
10 Personal Sharing Prompts
- A time you chose formation over argument.
- A pivot phrase you’ll use.
- A shared value you’ll highlight this week.
- A headline habit you’ll trade for holy habit.
- A tone shift you practiced.
- A gap you’ll address first in yourself.
- A common-ground act you’ll try.
- A Christlike way you’ll “speak truth.”
- A discipleship aim you’re adopting.
- Your witness that His focus works.
Conclusion
The Lord is hastening His work—right here. That means He is trusting us with people who matter infinitely to Him. This week, invite your sisters to choose:
- One name to love (friend).
- One shared work to offer (responsibility).
- One nurture plan rooted in the word (nurture).
Add a temple-facing step and a press-forward action today. As we love, wrap, teach, and walk with new and returning members, we become the Zion people Elder Cook envisions—“of one heart and one mind,” gathered to Christ in every land.
