The June 2024 Come, Ministering Printable ties together Elder Gerrit W. Gong’s 2024 April General Conference talk “All Things for Our Good” with “I must experience—and continue to feel—a mighty change of heart” in the June “Come, Follow Me” lesson from Alma 5.
Download June 2024 Come Follow Me Ministering Printable (4×6)
You can print these printables as 4×6 photo prints. My local drugstore prints them for just pennies. They are also a higher resolution if you want to enlarge them.
June 2024 Come Follow Me Ministering Message
Alma 5 – Song of Redeeming Love
When I was very young, I temporarily lost 80% of my hearing due to chronic earaches. Fortunately, my mom recognized the problem and took me to the doctor. After they surgically placed tubes in my eardrums, my hearing improved dramatically. However, my hearing loss impacted my formative years of language development. When I was older I went to speech classes, but I still struggle with some things like auditory comprehension.
Singing is also particularly challenging. My son has perfect pitch, and when I sing it drives him crazy. I can hear the music in my head, but when I sing it comes out a mess. When I try to keep a beat or sing a melody, I completely lose the thread.
However, I do moderately well when I sing with the congregation at church. It helps when I sit next to a decent alto. I love singing at church because the congregation’s collective voice helps me stay on pitch and on time with the music.
To this day, my hearing is still not great. I have since had two reconstructive surgeries on my left eardrum. I have to watch TV with the subtitles on and large parties with lots of noise are very hard for me. But at church, I know that if I lose the melody, I can rely on the people around me to help me find it.
Sing the Song of Redeeming Love
This is why I love that Alma compares conversion to singing. In Alma 5:26, he asks his people, “And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?”
A testimony of Christ is not only something we know, it is something we feel. And just like singing, it is something that we project out to those around us. Singing the song of redeeming love is a joyous release that connects us to our Savior. It is the joy that comes from the knowledge that we are not alone in our sins, sufferings, or weaknesses.
In his talk, “All Things for Our Good,” Elder Gerrit W. Gong aptly shares that this testimony causes us to, “sing hallelujah and shout hosanna!”
While there are many amazing parallels to conversion and singing, I wanted to focus on what it means to sing with others.
Can Ye Feel So Now?
Just like losing my hearing made it challenging to develop important singing skills, many people’s personal experiences can make “singing the song of redeeming love” difficult. You may have missed out on things in your formative years that would have made living the gospel easier. For example, not having loving and committed parents can make it hard to understand a loving and patient Heavenly Father. For those who join the church later in life, they might need to learn a new way of talking, a new way of thinking, and new habits like going to church, reading scriptures, and praying. Or for those who struggle with mental health conditions like OCD, it can be hard to tell the difference between a compulsion and a spiritual prompting.
Even when we have heard the song of redeeming love, it might be hard to sing it ourselves. Maybe the melody gets lost between what we learn and our efforts to put it into practice. Maybe we look at others and think, “The gospel works for them, but when I try, it does not work for me.”
Singing With Others
Fortunately, we do not sing the song of redeeming love alone. We are sustained by the love and support of those in our church family. We work together to harmonize and blend our unique voices. If I lose the melody, there are others whose unique gifts can help me find it. If I feel like something in the gospel isn’t working for me, sitting next to a decent alto can help me learn the song. Conversion is the act of harmonizing our individual spiritual journeys with those around us. Thus creating a beautiful, collective expression of faith.
Elder Gong shares that when we isolate ourselves from the Lord or His people, we must remember that, “When ‘I choose me,’ I am also choosing my own limitations, weaknesses, inadequacies.”
If we allow our “inability to sing” to keep us from church, then we are denying ourselves the Lord’s empowering help and the support of the voices around us. We also deprive others of our own unique contributions and support. You never know when you might be the alto someone else needs.
Elder Gong teaches, “When trials come, often what we most want is for someone to listen and be with us. … Sometimes we yearn for someone who will grieve, ache, and weep with us; let us express pain, frustration, sometimes even anger; and acknowledge with us there are things we do not know.”
If you are struggling to sing the song of redeeming love, fight the urge to isolate yourself. Instead follow the advice of Elder Gong, “When life is cluttered and purpose isn’t clear, when you want to live better but don’t know how, please come to God our Father and Jesus Christ.”
June 2024 Come Follow Me Ministering Handout
I thought these music pens were perfect for this month’s message. The colors even go well with the printable!
Did you like this June 2024 Come Follow Me Ministering message? Find more Relief Society Ministering Printables for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
These ministering printables are a great way to help families incorporate the “Come, Follow Me” lessons into their own study. They are also perfect for Young Women’s, Relief Society, Sunday School, or Family Home Evening. I hope that these ministering printables will be a simple way to reach out to those we minister to.
