Same 10 people (STP)

[mikbone]

If you look online for “same 10 people” & LDS you can go down a rabbit hole.

But in my experience it references the idea that a limited (small percentage) of the ward members are willing to give sacrament talks, prayers, volunteer for service projects, temple attendance etc.

If you want something done or done right, you asks these same 10 people.

What has been your experience?

Can we correlate this to the parable of the 10 virgins?

 

See ChatGPT -  “if you want something done, ask a busy person”  origin and meaning of this quote?

Edited Sunday at 12:22 AM by mikbone

[zil2]

Elder Shumway would like a word. "Participate to Prepare for Christ's Return", specifically, the section of his talk titled "Help Others Receive and Rejoice in the Gift of Callings".

I think there are likely some parallels with the parable ( ), but they may or may not be the obvious assumptions.

[mikbone]

50 minutes ago, zil2 said:

Elder Shumway would like a word.

That was a great talk.  Brother Shumway and I have lots in common.  We both love ice cream.

My favorite is Blue Bell Vanilla Bean.  

“I bless thee that in due time a young woman shall be brought up especially for thee. Thou shalt have the privilege of meeting her through thy activity in the restored church.”  -excerpt from a patriarchal blessing of a guy I know.

Edited Sunday at 01:45 AM by mikbone

[Vort]

We call it the 80/20 rule: 80% of the work is done by the same 20% of the people. Sometimes we call it the 90/10 rule.

[mordorbund]

Is the focus of the ward on getting things done or is the focus on growing people? 

[zil2]

2 hours ago, mordorbund said:

Is the focus of the ward on getting things done or is the focus on growing people? 

When I was called as RSP, the programmer and database developer in me wanted to make things efficient.  I quickly learned that the Lord really doesn't care much about efficient. He cares about individuals.

[Carborendum]

On 4/19/2025 at 8:23 PM, mikbone said:

My favorite is Blue Bell Vanilla Bean.  

Funny story. 

I was introduced to Blue Bell when I first moved to Texas.  I immediately disliked it.  It had the "smell" of skim milk or dehydrated milk.  I figured, oh well, no accounting for taste.  I found it odd that several people I know also did not like skim milk or dehydrated milk for the same reason.  But the had no problem with Blue Bell.

Years later I was at a restaurant celebrating our anniversary.  When the waiter heard, he offered us a free dessert.  I wasn't even thinking about brand, but I asked if I could have one of those "sample spoons" of three flavors.  I immediately noticed they were all Blue Bell.  He was shocked to discover that I don't like Blue Bell.

We ordered apple pie for our dessert.

[zil2]

Häagen-Dazs

[CV75]

On 4/19/2025 at 8:18 PM, mikbone said:

If you look online for “same 10 people” & LDS you can go down a rabbit hole.

But in my experience it references the idea that a limited (small percentage) of the ward members are willing to give sacrament talks, prayers, volunteer for service projects, temple attendance etc.

If you want something done or done right, you asks these same 10 people.

What has been your experience?

Can we correlate this to the parable of the 10 virgins?

 

See ChatGPT -  “if you want something done, ask a busy person”  origin and meaning of this quote?

My experience is, the larger the Church unit, the greater number of people that are willing to give sacrament talks, prayers, volunteer for service projects, temple attendance etc. There are also stages of unit development where a balance between the number of worker, the workload, and the distribution of the workload by kind of work.

[mikbone]

5 hours ago, mordorbund said:

Is the focus of the ward on getting things done or is the focus on growing people? 

It would be lovely if every time you offered a calling or opportunity to give a Sacrament talk to a member, they would accept said opportunity.

Unfortunately, it don't work that way.  Sometimes people refuse to take responsibility or the opportunity for growth.

In my ward, I see the same small group of members volunteer for callings & service projects.

 

[zil2]

1 hour ago, mikbone said:

volunteer

In any given group of people, it's almost certain there are those who will:

• Never volunteer
• Always volunteer
• Volunteer if they believe no one else can / will step up instead of them

Of the first group, a very small number might accept an assignment now and then.  Of the third group, if the second group don't beat them to it, they may volunteer, and most will accept an assignment.

Yes, it's harder to convince leaders to make assignments than it is to pass around sign up sheets, but doing the harder thing might be to everyone's benefit.

Finally, a story...

As an extreme introvert, and one who went to work very early in the morning, I rarely volunteered for things. I got better after I quit working. But one day, I was reading in the Book of Mormon, and came across this:

Quote

Alma 7:23 And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.

(See also Helaman 7:7 and James 3:17.)

...and it struck me what "easy to be entreated" means.  It doesn't mean "always say yes when asked".  It means, "make it easy for people to ask".  If you say no, don't do it with a whine and excuses.  Don't huff and moan about how busy you are, or ask if there isn't someone else who could do it.  Be gracious, be cheerful.  Make it easy on the person whose duty it is to ask you.  Interestingly enough, that simple shift in thinking has also made it easier for me to accept assignments and even to volunteer.  (Though mostly, it's not having to go to work every day that made it easier.)

Anywho, perhaps suggest to your bishop that someone should give a sacrament meeting talk on "easy to be entreated".   All of us can change. Sometimes, we just need help understanding why or how...

[mordorbund]

31 minutes ago, mikbone said:

It would be lovely if every time you offered a calling or opportunity to give a Sacrament talk to a member, they would accept said opportunity.

Unfortunately, it don't work that way.  Sometimes people refuse to take responsibility or the opportunity for growth.

 

Then give them smaller growth opportunities.

31 minutes ago, mikbone said:

 

In my ward, I see the same small group of members volunteer for callings & service projects.

 

Volunteer? Of course you get the same group volunteering.

Some principles for your ward council to consider:

Speakers:

- invite adults to be the youth speaker. Ask them to only speak for 3-5 minutes. Or ask them to just share their testimony. Or tell their conversion story.

- work with your Sunday school teacher to select people to share prepared remarks in class. We’re talking about the Aaronic priesthood in two weeks, will you tell the class what “the gospel of repentance” means to you? Will you share your experience blessing the sacrament?

- work with elders quorum and relief society to learn from the ministers who has had uplifting and interesting experiences who can then be invited to share in Sunday school or sacrament meeting

Service:

- besides the talk @zil2 shared, consider also Elder Uchtdorf’s talk about Alma and Amulek. Invite the Amuleks to clean the church building, mark gravestones, or staff a game booth at the ward party.

- don’t ask for volunteers. Extend assignments

- fail publicly. Game advertisers understand this. If I see the ward Christmas party executed flawlessly with all the decorations and food and events then when you ask me to help out I will say no. I know I show up late and take twice as long with electronics as I should and burn food. That annoying game ad doesn’t show a perfect (or even a near-perfect) run. It shows some idiot playing like an idiot. I can do better than that! Invite me to cook Mac and cheese - I can at least not burn the bottom of dish like that jerk last year (well, I won’t burn a whole inch). This also works with the short talks. If talks are extra short or extra long, that’s okay. It can be absorbed by the other speakers.

[mikbone]

1 hour ago, zil2 said:

..and it struck me what "easy to be entreated" means.  It doesn't mean "always say yes when asked".  It means, "make it easy for people to ask".  If you say no, don't do it with a whine and excuses.  Don't huff and moan about how busy you are, or ask if there isn't someone else who could do it.  Be gracious, be cheerful.  Make it easy on the person whose duty it is to ask you.  Interestingly enough, that simple shift in thinking has also made it easier for me to accept assignments and even to volunteer. 

This!

Im not looking for advice for the Bishopric.  I’m a lowly EQ councilor.

The topic also reminds me of Elder Bednar’s talk: 

Which was seeded by Elder Maxwell ‘s talk:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2001/04/plow-in-hope?lang=eng

I find it interesting that everyone seems to love the 10 virgins parable and the new 5 wise virgins sculpture on Temple Square.

I just perceive 80% of the LDS members shrinking, practicing their excuses, yet thinking that they are maintaining their lamps full of oil…

@zil2 I keep a running list of potential Sacrament talk topics.  Your interpretation of Alma 7:23 just made the list.

Edited yesterday at 01:31 AM by mikbone

[zil2]

1 hour ago, mikbone said:

Im not looking for advice for the Bishopric.  I’m a lowly EQ councilor.

That doesn't mean you can't make suggestions, even if only to the EQP and let him decide whether to suggest something in Ward Council.  There are reasons we council, and among the reasons are that not everyone notices everything, and each may receive distinct impressions on how to resolve a problem.  No reason not to respectfully speak your concerns and suggestions.

1 hour ago, mikbone said:

I just perceive 80% of the LDS members shrinking, practicing their excuses, yet thinking that they are maintaining their lamps full of oil…

Respectfully, you don't know what they're thinking.  Maybe they know full well they're falling short and are content to do so.  Maybe they're two negative experiences away from attempting suicide.  We just don't know what others are going through.  All we can do is extend mercy and generosity, and continue to invite and encourage greater discipleship - preferably in a variety of ways, in hopes that eventually, one of them will "click".  Patience and long-suffering are virtues for a reason.

1 hour ago, mikbone said:

@zil2 I keep a running list of potential Sacrament talk topics.  Your interpretation of Alma 7:23 just made the list.

😊

[zil2]

1 hour ago, mikbone said:

Elder Bednar’s talk: 

He mentions "becoming".  We talk more like this in the church than we did for the first 3/5ths of my life thus far, when we talked about "doing" instead.  It may be that the people in your ward will be blessed by more focus on becoming:  e.g.

• the kind of person who is in the scriptures daily
• the sort of person who communes with God
• the sort of person who loves to God with all their heart
• the sort of person who serves others when they can
• the sort of person who cares for their body as a temple for the Holy Ghost
• etc.

IMO, the minute you start to see things from this perspective, rather than from the perspective of "scripture study" or "prayer" or "service" or "word of wisdom" or whatever, it takes on new meaning. It stops being about tasks and starts being about becoming who God wants you to be.  It's less discouraging when you mess up because you realize you're a work in progress, and giving up wouldn't just be giving up on a task, but giving up on yourself, and few of us want to do that - not really.

Just another thought.

[laronius]

8 hours ago, zil2 said:

When I was called as RSP, the programmer and database developer in me wanted to make things efficient.  I quickly learned that the Lord really doesn't care much about efficient. He cares about individuals.

I remember watching an episode of The Apprentice years ago (rarely watched it but I do remember this one). The challenge was to sell BBQ at a tailgate party, men vs women. The men went all out with the school's cheerleaders, mascot, food eating contest, etc. The women floundered getting any sort of plan together so all they did was sell, sell, sell. The women won. It's the results that matter most.

I would add one modification to your comment though. The Lord loves efficiency and is very efficient Himself. It's the goal itself that often sidetracks us and our definition of success. 

[laronius]

4 hours ago, mordorbund said:

 

- fail publicly. Game advertisers understand this. If I see the ward Christmas party executed flawlessly with all the decorations and food and events then when you ask me to help out I will say no. I know I show up late and take twice as long with electronics as I should and burn food. That annoying game ad doesn’t show a perfect (or even a near-perfect) run. It shows some idiot playing like an idiot. I can do better than that! Invite me to cook Mac and cheese - I can at least not burn the bottom of dish like that jerk last year (well, I won’t burn a whole inch). This also works with the short talks. If talks are extra short or extra long, that’s okay. It can be absorbed by the other speakers.

This screams America's Funniest Home Videos! If you want people to submit their home videos, make them all feel like they can win. At the time though it irritated me to see which videos they nominated. 

[zil2]

9 hours ago, laronius said:

The Lord loves efficiency and is very efficient Himself.

Care to give an example?

[mordorbund]

14 hours ago, mikbone said:

Im not looking for advice for the Bishopric.  I’m a lowly EQ councilor.

I’d say that’s the perfect place to make improvement. Give them opportunities and assignments to get better in front of peers. If that’s too much, work with the ministering brothers.

[zil2]

17 minutes ago, mordorbund said:

I’d say that’s the perfect place to make improvement. Give them opportunities and assignments to get better in front of peers. If that’s too much, work with the ministering brothers.

And if you're thinking, "There are too many. I can't do it."  Pick one, just one, and work on that person until the Spirit tells you to pick another.

[Traveler]

I love the Church of Christ.  However, it is not exactly what many think it is.  One of the first things one learns is that 95% or more of the church functions around dealing with problems and failures.  Even on my mission (my mission at the time was the top producing mission) I would often be asked how many missionaries are serving in our mission.  My response was about half of them.  I personally became very quickly disillusioned with the mission leadership as I discovered that missionary leaders spent most of their time dealing with missionary problem (this could also be said as, problem missionaries).  This was a great disappointment to me personally because I had saved up and was financing my mission.  I felt that I was called to teach the gospel to those that were seeking truth and not yet found it (my patriarchal blessing specifically stated that would be my primary calling and mission).  I did not want to waist my time and finances with missionaries that did not want to be missionaries.   I felt the same about teaching investigators as a missionary.  I had no desire to teach someone that was not interested in seeking light and truth – I still don’t.

I realize that I do not speak for anyone but myself, but I have greatly been disappointed in leadership callings.  I do not like dealing with other people’s problems, especially when they are not interested in dealing with their problems themselves.  I do not mind at all helping those in need of help because they are not capable.  We had a family move into the ward a while back and I went to help.  They had 3 teenage children that disappeared and did not even move their own stuff.  The parents sat in lawn chairs and watched while directing traffic never lifting anything – however so small or light.  All the family members were significantly overweight.   Some of the stuff was obviously loaded by non-family members and was garbage that we were asked to hall off for them.  My general impression was that our service was not really service.  I do not mind helping others, but I do not believe that relieving others of their responsibility is help.

I was taught that taking care of oneself and being independently industrious is the first act of love and compassion.  I realize that there are individuals that do not possess the ability to take care of themselves but that consistently doing for others what they are capable of doing for themselves is not an act of love and compassion and is definitely not helping them.

Back in the day when we had a High Priest group, and I was the group leader – I did not have a signup list for specific service projects.  At the beginning of each year, I had a signup list for the hours one was willing to be involved in and the months they were the most willing to fulfill their service covenants.  Generally, I think our sisters will volunteer but brethren mostly require assignments.  I let the high priests know that my job would be to make sure they had ample opportunity to fulfill their commitments and encourage (cry) repentance.

One last note about callings.  As a brother among the saints – I have learned by sad experience that our sisters, especially our single sisters will or may ask for help once.  If the brethren involved do not fulfill their promise of help – that sister will likely never again rely on the priesthood brethren for assistance, regardless of the need.

 

The Traveler

[LDSGator]

1 hour ago, Traveler said:

would often be asked how many missionaries are serving in our mission.  My response was about half of them. 

When asked how many people work at the Vatican, Pope John XXIII said “Eh, about half of them.” 

[Traveler]

30 minutes ago, LDSGator said:

When asked how many people work at the Vatican, Pope John XXIII said “Eh, about half of them.” 

Wow!  I had no idea that my teachings as a missionary 60  years ago had reached so far.

 

The Traveler

[LDSGator]

40 minutes ago, Traveler said:

Wow!  I had no idea that my teachings as a missionary 60  years ago had reached so far.

 

The Traveler

Lol! 

[laronius]

10 hours ago, zil2 said:

Care to give an example?

Here's an initial list though I'm sure there is more:

Alma 37:6 by small and simple things are great things brought to pass

D&C 90:24 Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good...

D&C 122:7 ...all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.

Alma 34:31 ...if ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you.

Matt 17:20 If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.