needs meeting

2007-02-08T23:11:00.000-08:00

i go to the fashion show of my former needs meetee kahri.

2007-02-07T23:11:00.001-08:00

i don't know what to do with my life.

but i ain't quittin' until every one of the sheep are fed.

so i go needs meeting in the freezing cold.

no one is home at the four apartments, so i leave messages, notes, and treats.

then i feed myself a slice of george's pizza, the official pizza of post-priesthood pizza pandemonium.

i go home and do something i haven't done in a long time: i turn on the tv.

and i immediately fall dead asleep.

2007-02-07T23:11:00.000-08:00

released as a leader, i cling to my needs meeting calling.

i see a needs meetee in the subway. she ipods. i read the book of mormon. then we talk. i share a scripture before i exit the train.

i go to inwood good basketball practice. the good shoot baskets. i shoot them shooting baskets for a promo.

the temple president calls me. i will be released as an ordinance worker and called as a veil worker.

2007-02-04T03:00:00.000-08:00

i know the shepherd loves my sheep.

2007-02-01T23:11:00.000-08:00

i have only three weeks left to feed my sheep.

it's challenging to imagine anything better than what i have now, and yet i know something even better is waiting for me.

hillary invites the i3 eq to do another gig in sacrament meeting.

before i notice the topic, the spirit reveals the song, which goes together hamoniously with the topic.

2006-12-11T19:30:00.000-08:00

Inwood 3rd Ward

Scripture Mastery List

Book of Mormon

1. 1 Nephi 3:7 – I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded
2. 2 Nephi 2:25 – Men are that they might have joy
3. 2 Nephi 2: 27 – Men are free to choose
4. Mosiah 2:41 – Consider on the blessed and happy state of those who keep the commandments
5. Mosiah 4:30 – Watch your thoughts, words and deeds
6. Mosiah 5:13 – How knoweth a man a master whom he has not served?
7. Mosiah 14: 5 – With His stripes we are healed
8. Alma 5: 45-46 – I do know of myself these things are true
9. Alma 7: 11-12 – That he may know, according to the flesh how to succor his people
10. Alma 31:5 -- The preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just
11. Alma 32:16 – Blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble
12. Alma 32:27-28 – Experiment upon the word
13. Alma 37:36-37 – Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good
14. Alma 41:10 – Wickedness never was happiness
15. Helaman 3:35 – Sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God
16. Helaman 5:12 – Build your foundation upon the rock of our redeemer
17. Ether 12:4 – Hope…maketh an anchor to the souls of men
18. Ether 12:27 – I make weak things become strong unto them
19. Moroni 7:45-46 – Cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all
20. Moroni 10:3-5 – By the power of the Holy Ghost you may know the truth of all things
21. Moroni 10:32 – Come unto Christ, and be perfected in Him

Doctrine and Covenants

22. D&C 6:22-23 – What greater witness can you have than from God?
23. D & C 6:33-34 – Fear not to do good
24. D&C 19:23-24 – You shall have peace in me
25. D & C 64:33 – Be not weary…ye are laying the foundation of a great work
26. D&C 121: 45-46 – Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly
27. D&C 121: 41-42 -- No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood

Pearl of Great Price

28. Moses 1:39 – My work and my glory
29. Moses 7:61-62 -- Great tribulations shall be among the children of men, but my people will I preserve

New Testament

30. Matthew 5:48 – Be ye therefore perfect
31. Mathew 11: 28 – Come unto me
32. Mathew 14:31 -- O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
33. Mark 5:34 – Thy faith hath made thee whole
34. John 13: 33-35 – Love one another
35. John 21:17 – Feed my sheep
36. Romans 8: 16-17 – We are the children of God

Old Testament

37. Exodus 14:13-14 -- The Lord shall fight for you
38. Exodus 19:5-6 -- Ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people
39. Exodus 31: 13 -- My Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you
40. Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust in the Lord with all thine heart
41. Job 27:5-6 – I will not remove mine integrity from me
42. Psalms 19:7 – The law of the lord is perfect
43. Jeremiah 1:5 – Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee
44. Joshua 24:15 – As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord
45. Malachi 3:10 -- Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse
46. 1 Samuel 16:7 – The Lord looketh on the heart
47. 2 Kings 6:15-17 -- They that be with us are more than they that be with them
48. Isaiah 1:18 -- Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow
49. Isaiah 40:28-31 -- They that await upon the Lord shall renew their strength
50. Isaiah 49:15-16 -- I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands

2006-09-26T23:11:00.000-07:00

i send an email to request september needs meeting adventures from all the shepherds.

doctrine and covenants 81:5

2006-09-17T23:11:00.000-07:00

britney and martin make lunch and feeds one of our needs meetees and me.

martin and i visit another of our needs meetees.

2006-09-17T11:11:00.000-07:00

the i3 eq sings ye elders of israel a capella.

it's a musical miracle.

2006-09-08T23:11:00.000-07:00

i do an endowment session in the chicago temple for mr. evens, an ancestor who was born in illinois.

i fly back to new york and return home at 2 in the morning. with no clean underwear left, i throw my laundry in and do needs meeting calls until 5.

a lot of inspiration arrives.

2006-08-28T23:11:00.000-07:00

bremen and i meet in the subway on the upper east side.

he shows me the townhouse he's housesitting this week, and we eat dang quesadillas.

i say goodbye to lakia.

2006-08-27T23:11:00.000-07:00

lakia, sheila, and nathan speak with the spirit in a memorable sacrament meeting.

my grandpa, one of my spiritual mentors, moves on to the next life five years ago today.

in his honor, i take honeycomb to the four-generation celebration. i honor him with my life.

i spend the evening at collin and richard's with about 24 members of the ward. their apartment is the new place to be.

i walk a sister home after the gathering.

malachi 4:5-6

2006-08-26T23:11:00.000-07:00

ariadna moves from queens to new jersey and throws an epic moving party.

barnhart, petey, and i roadtrip to queens.

brother van de graaff and i roadtrip to new jersey.

we see miracles.

2006-08-22T23:11:00.000-07:00

bremen and i celebrate his stewardship on his roof.

jessica and i subway together.

i have six months to live.

d&c 64:33-34

2006-08-21T23:11:00.000-07:00

i fhe at collin and richard's, my new home away from home.

2006-08-20T23:11:00.000-07:00

isaac inspires our quorum to exercise our faith.

2006-07-31T23:11:00.000-07:00

i try to inspire the brothers to keep journals.

a journal of a thousand pages begins with a single sentence.

alma 37:1-9

2006-07-30T23:11:00.000-07:00

i invite the brothers in the quorum to write in their journals and to bring their journals to elders quorum next sunday.

we celebrate six months of needs meeting success with fruit bars in the front of the church at the end of our meetings.

bob and brittany pose for their farewell photo.

martin and i visit one of our needs meetees. she gives us apples.

2006-07-17T11:11:00.000-07:00

andrew, the big brother i never had, turns 33.

he is a christ figure in my life. he mentored me spiritually and prepared me to receive my current calling.

2006-07-16T15:03:00.000-07:00

sacrament meeting reminds me to sanctify the sabbath.

bremen and i visit the sick, and he shares leviticus 26.

2006-07-05T23:11:00.000-07:00

i call one of my incredible counselors about a summit.

i call david about inspiring the quorum this sunday, and he agrees. i feel relieved because he is the only one fit to give this inspirational message.

i walk the island from one side to the other side searching for a brother's apartment. i decide to give up on a visit and instead send him a letter. until i discover it's his 25th birthday today. as i walk into his building, he walks out of it.

all my new york callings make me walk the streets of new york, and i walk a few new streets tonight. i love my callings.

2006-06-20T17:16:00.000-07:00

i go to the mets game not to watch the mets but to play with the mormons.

i receive a revelation. amy makes me a feed my sheep sign.

many sheep are fed before the game ends.

2006-06-15T23:11:00.000-07:00

my solo elders quorum temple session is joyful and sorrowful.

i realize i can rely on only one being: god.

2006-06-14T23:11:00.000-07:00

to my surprise, ten of my not-quite-member friends request gladys knight tickets for them and their friends.

2006-06-13T23:11:00.000-07:00

i invite some friends to see gladys knight at the church.

2006-06-10T07:50:00.000-07:00

one of my sheep whom i haven't seen in awhile calls me, and i feel joy.

luke 15:4-7

2006-06-09T23:11:00.000-07:00

i send this quorum email.

i invite all the brothers to the quorum to eat with me at the shake shake. only one comes, so we go to an indian restaurant with friends from other wards.

2006-06-05T23:11:00.000-07:00

i deliver needs meeting calls to some brothers in harleman halls.

i stay for family home evening.

martin and britney feed me and meet my needs.

bremen emails and voicemails me about needs meeting.

life is sweet.

2006-06-04T23:11:00.000-07:00

martin receives the aaronic priesthood and is ordained a priest. i ordain him.

doctrine & covenants 84:20

2006-06-03T04:44:00.000-07:00

i send a weekly email to the quorum. this week's is more information than inspiration, and that needs to change next week.

i chat online with a brother from the quorum about needs meeting.

i organize needs meeting calls until 4 in the morning and send them to the bishop for approval.

2006-05-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

martin gets confirmed.

2006-05-20T16:44:00.000-07:00

martin gets baptized.

2006-05-18T23:11:00.000-07:00

i go to the temple for my temple shift and for my elders quorum temple trip.

for the first time, the manhattan temple initiatory is manned completely by an elders quorum: bremen, clay, richard, ryan, stephen, and i.

to celebrate, we eat together after.

exodus 40:12-13

2006-05-17T23:11:00.000-07:00

martin invites me to be a witness at his baptism.

it will be an honor for me to be a witness at the baptism of a brother who is so like christ.

2 nephi 31:6-8

2006-05-14T23:11:00.000-07:00

my counselors and i arrive on time for ward welfare. i'm pleased with and proud of us.

i announce needs meeting sunday and not-yet-mother's day in sacrament meeting.

i eat, nap, and dessert at the frandsen's all afternoon.

i visit and meet needs all evening.

2006-05-13T23:11:00.000-07:00

i find love and make a profit on the stake singles love boat.

i compile needs meeting adventures until 3:33 in the morning.

2006-05-03T23:11:00.000-07:00

in the end, even the weakest part of the needs meeting vineyard did well.

i walk in the rain to the apartment of some sisters who have yet to be visited. i leave them a message, a note, and a treat.

2006-05-02T23:11:00.000-07:00

what was once the center of needs meeting strength in our ward is now the center of needs meeting weakness.

and i'm unsure what more i can do. any ideas?

jacob 5:47

2006-04-26T23:11:00.000-07:00

i debate whether to temple or to meet needs.

i decide to temple. then i can meet needs the rest of the week.

i feel the spirit strongly throughout the temple session. i sit in the third row rather than the first, and the new perspective helps me stay awake.

i'm concerned because so few brothers in the quorum seem to have visited their sheep.

i pray in the temple that the brothers in the quorum will be inspired to meet the needs of their sheep.

i need to meet the needs of one more of my sheep and better meet the needs of another. i call one, and i go to the apartment of the other and leave him a note.

doctrine and covenants 138:38-60

2006-04-22T23:11:00.000-07:00

i have only 10 more months in my quorum.

bremen, stephen, and i sit together to show unity at our stake priesthood leadership meeting. it's the first time both of my counselors are with me at a stake meeting.

president belnap talks about callings and temples. here are a few quotes.

*to magnify a calling is to build it up in dignity, to let the light of heaven shine through it before all men.
*lead in such a way that the people will be glad to follow you.
*what better place to receive revelation than the temple?
*there is safety and refuge in the temple right above our heads. make a habit of going to the temple.

after their after-party, i sleep at stephen and peter's, my home away from home.

doctrine and covenants 107:99

2006-04-20T23:11:00.000-07:00

aaron, bremen, brent, eric, matt, and i take an elders quorum temple trip to the manhattan temple. amanda, e'lle, and leah are coincidentally in the same session.

bremen and brent are proxies for my ancestors.

i officiate for the first time. the session is a revelation for me.

after the session, we pizza at the place with the pass-along cards.

doctrine and covenants 84:2-5

2006-04-18T23:11:00.000-07:00

i temple for a session.

then marcus and i meet to talk about sharing the love.

3 nephi 12:14

2006-04-16T23:11:00.000-07:00

nathan s. oboes and nathan c. pianos i stand all amazed, our quorum's first special musical number: i stand all amazed.

at the end of elders quorum, we feed our sheep easter treats as rewards for our ward's needs meeting success in march.

alma 32:21

2006-04-14T15:45:00.000-07:00

bremen writes and sends this quorum email, with which i am pleased and impressed.

Gents,

As we celebrate what President Hinckley has called “the greatest victory of all time,” there will be opportunities this weekend to share the joy of the gospel with others. Whether you’re traveling or celebrating Easter here in the city, consider the following ways you can share your love and testimony with those around you, submitted by your elders quorum in link-heavy wiki format:

* invite them to church
* visit them and meet their needs
* feed them Easter treats
* send them Easter ecards from mormon.org
* send them a link to an Easter message about Christ's victory over death
* give them a pass-along card with a picture of Christ
* invite them to watch the Lamb of God with you
* invite them to the Passover seder dinner on saturday, april 15, at 8 pm at the stake center

Also, please be aware of the needs meeting message and elders quorum lesson included in earlier emails this week. Seek to be inspired.

Should you chose to explore New York's cultural wealth of Easter and Passover festivities, consider the following piece of etiquette: A gentleman knows how to behave in other people’s churches. If the congregation stands, he stands. He does not, however, have to cross himself, bow, or kneel.

Thank you for your faith and righteous desires. Happy Easter from your quorum.

Respectfully yours,
Bremen

luke 24:1-7
Why seek ye the living among the dead?
He is not here, but is risen.

2006-04-12T23:11:00.000-07:00

i go to the temple and do nine initiatories for belgian and french brothers. i love doing ordinances for french-speaking brothers because french is the celestial language.

on my way home, i deliver needs meeting calls to three brothers and visit briefly with two of them.

2006-04-11T23:11:00.000-07:00

bremen, peter, and stephen move a sister.

2006-04-10T23:11:00.000-07:00

bremen writes and sends the quorum email. it's the first quorum email written by a brother other than me.

he includes a quote from and links to bruce r. mcconkie's last conference talk, one of my favorite talks by one of my favorite apostles.

2006-04-08T23:11:00.000-07:00

i compile needs meeting adventures in the afternoon.

i revisit and edit them late at night.

i send them to the bishop and copy the bishopric and my counselors.

2006-04-06T23:11:00.000-07:00

i gig at the temple on the 176th anniversary of the organization of the church.

i sit at the front desk.

i see bremen after his session. he's leading our quorum's redeeming the dead mission.

i sit in the celestial room and pray and read about jesus.

i feel an overwhelming peace.

i love the temple.

i compile march needs meeting adventures for a couple hours.

luke 24:32

2006-04-05T23:11:00.000-07:00

my gig ends early, so i go to the temple and do seven initiatories.

then i go to beard papa for a chocolate cream puff and to george's for a slice of pizza.

then i visit andre. as always, we talk about girls and church.

then i think about heading home. instead, i decide to visit another brother. he has a pass-along card on the door of his room. he speaks japanese and spanish but struggles with english.

"i thought you forgot about me," he says.

"never," i say.

i give him a message, and we pray together. he says he wants to go out with the missionaries three days a week to improve his english. he also says he wants to go on a mission.

i end the evening at peter and stephen's, my home away from home, where i eat another slice of pizza.

on my way home, i invite clay johnsen of inwood good fame to referee a basketball game on saturday morning.

mosiah 14

2006-04-02T23:11:00.001-07:00

i stay up late doing april needs meeting calls until i fall asleep on my sofa.

i wake up after a couple hours and finish the calls. i pray about them, but i receive no confirmation. i always send them to the bishop by the morning of the first sunday of the month, so i send them anyway.

during the day, i become aware of some needs, and i know i need to change some calls to meet those needs. information precedes inspiration.

i revise the calls, pray, and receive a confirmation. i send them to the bishop, and he approves them.

doctrine and covenants 8:2

2006-04-01T23:11:00.000-08:00

bremen, stephen, marcus, bob, and i sit together during the priesthood session of general conference at the inwood chapel.

i'm pleased to be with my priesthood brothers during the priesthood session.

afterwards, sisters show up at stephen's, and the brothers and the sisters together create post-priesthood pizza pandemonium.

we order four pizzas from george's, and we tip the delivery guy with bills and pass along cards.

before we eat pizza, ryan prays.

after the pizza, stephen gives us pineapple and vanilla ice cream from costco and toll house cookie dough. he has good taste in everything, especially food.

we watch old lingos, and i see myself as i was before my elders quorum call, and i'm happy to have evolved since then.

"this is it," i say.

i never want to leave, but i need to complete april needs meeting calls and send them to the bishop.

2006-03-31T23:11:00.000-08:00

stephen and i drive around and meet needs all evening.

we visit bremen and have an informal meeting about a new word for that one word that makes all the sisters mad.

doctrine and covenants 1:38

2006-03-29T23:11:00.000-08:00

my roommate nate and i visit one of his sheep at our apartment.

as shepherds, we walk her home together.

my counselors bremen and stephen follow up with the other shepherds on their sheep.

mosiah 5:8-9

2006-03-28T23:11:00.000-08:00

brother webb and i visit a brother from the quorum together.

and we have so much fun.

mosiah 3:5-8

2006-03-27T23:11:00.001-08:00

i chat online with a sister from the ward who doesn't want to hang out with me tonight.

so i go needs meeting.

if you're looking for a time to go needs meeting when everyone is home, try saturday evening.

i stop by two apartments on my way to the store to buy needs meeting rewards, and all the members are home: one of them is just waking, one of them is sleeping, and one of them is showering.

2006-03-27T23:11:00.000-08:00

my roommate rich is moving out on saturday, and i need a new roommate.

i pray that the lord will send somebody in his place.

a brother who attends the quorum and may be baptized soon calls me about filling the space.

i meet needs and walk home from fhe simultaneously.

2006-03-26T23:11:00.000-08:00

the inwood 3rd ward elders quorum meets for the 63rd time.

nathan shares an inspirational thought about the sanctity of the body.

brother turley from the high council comes to our quorum to release clay and corey as elders quorum counselors and to sustain and set apart bremen and stephen.

i'm so grateful for great counselors.

clay, bremen, and stephen bear their testimonies.

bremen says that, as a reporter, he stays out of the limelight, observes, and asks questions when necessary.

"i'm grateful to the savior for making me who i am," he says humbly.

"why wouldn't i want to serve a bunch of guys who give me black eyes?" stephen wisecracks.

we have a great presidency meeting that lasts about an hour. i usually try to limit them to a half. fun makes time fly.

stephen shares moroni 9:6: we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of god.

with so little time left, i feel the urgency.

my new counselors are incredible. i dig their ideas about redeeming the dead and sharing the gospel. and they offer to help me with needs meeting.

i go home briefly and leave quickly to visit one of the brothers.

on my way home, collin calls me and tells me a brother who has been visiting our ward is going to get baptized.

on the last sunday of the month, i ask the shepherds to send me their needs meeting adventures by midnight. i receive three emails and one call.

i love my calling.

ecclesiastes 3:1-3

2006-03-25T23:11:00.000-08:00

i feel my savior's love at sheila's baptism.

her friend alejandro baptizes her. it's a beautiful service: short and sweet.

after the baptism, tamara comes with her camera and norris and jennifer come with their fountain.

and we shoot a lingo short with a needs meeting product placement. nate, peter, and stephen from the quorum make cameo appearances.

when i get home, i send some elders quorum emails and chat online with a babe from the ward.

she doesn't want to hang out with me tonight, so i go needs meeting on my way to the store to buy needs meeting rewards.

i buy 120 tiny candy bars: one for each one of the sheep whose needs we met last month.

2 nephi 31:20

2006-03-24T23:11:00.000-08:00

i plan to go to the temple only once a week.

my plans change frequently.

i know of no gatherings tonight, so i go to the temple again. i do eight initiatories.

on friday nights, i need social interaction. there's always action at harleman halls. so i visit friends there until well after midnight.

mosiah 2:17

2006-03-23T23:11:00.000-08:00

i go to my gig at the manhattan temple on elders quorum temple night.

for the first time this year, i'm the only brother from my quorum there. i miss the other brothers who sometimes come.

i see some sisters from my former ward, so those familiar faces sweeten the session in which i follow.

after the session, i enter the celestial room and read abraham 3.

i reflect upon how the lord prepared me for my elders quorum calling in the two years leading up to it. i realize i serve with some of the noble and great ones.

i leave the celestial room last. the lights are out in the temple lobby when i leave the building.

i go to vinnie's to eat pizza. for the last few weeks, i've left a quarter and a pass-along card in the tip jar.

they hang one of the pass-along cards on the wall.

abraham 3:22-23

2006-03-22T23:11:00.000-08:00

i used to go to the manhattan temple on tuesday or wednesday to perform ordinances for the dead.

with so little time left to serve the living members of my ward, i decide to focus on the living this year and to focus on the dead next year.

i still commit to go to the temple every week this year.

tonight i try to visit a brother in the quorum who is in the hospital, but visiting hours are over when i arrive.

i tell the security guard i'm a member of this brother's ward family. i tell him i came all the way from 14th street.

he tells me i'm too late. i've never heard that before.

i write a note on a pass-along card, and someone comes and offers to deliver the card for me.

i give the security guard a book of mormon pass-along card.

"call this number, and they'll bring you this book," i tell him.

it's cold, and i want to go home. but i need to meet needs, and i want to visit all my needs meetees before sunday.

i visit a brother who was baptized into another ward around the time i was called as elders quorum president.

i visit him every month, sometimes in the hall outside his apartment.

he tells me about his big new gig.

i share an inspirational thought, and we pray.

he always appreciates my visit, and he always says he'll come to church the next sunday.

but he never comes.

2006-03-22T01:11:00.000-08:00

i have served as the elders quorum president of the inwood 3rd ward of the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints since november 28, 2004.

i love my calling.

i have only 11 months left to live in my quorum and in my ward.

i want to make a record of my last days in the best elders quorum.

1 nephi 1:1