Study Guide for "About His Business"

In this talk, Elder Patrick Kearon reflects on his early experiences as a new convert receiving and serving in Church callings and uses those memories to teach about common consent, sustaining one another, and the spiritual power of serving in the Lord’s Church. He shows that callings are not merely assignments but sacred opportunities for growth, unity, sacrifice, and discipleship. He also connects these principles to the solemn assembly in which members sustain the President of the Church, inviting all disciples to see their service as participating in the Father’s work.

Before Reading

Before reading or listening to the talk, consider the following questions:

What does it really mean to sustain someone by common consent?
How can Church callings help disciples grow spiritually, even when they feel stretching or unexpected?
Why does the Lord work through imperfect servants in His Church?
How should members think about callings that seem inconvenient, difficult, or less visible?
What is the connection between sustaining leaders and being united as the body of Christ?
How does Elder Kearon connect everyday Church service with being “about [the Father’s] business”?

Topics

Receive callings with humility and faith

Elder Kearon recounts his first calling as a new convert and how unfamiliar and unsuitable it initially felt to him. Over time, he learned that inspired callings can stretch disciples in ways that bless them and prepare them for future service. His experience teaches that members do not need to feel naturally fitted for a calling before accepting it; rather, they can trust the Lord and learn as they serve.

He had prayed—about me—and he told me the calling would be of benefit to me and my future service to the Lord in His Church.

The reaction in my mind was, “Assistant ward clerk? Well, that is not me!”

Fortunately, a little grace intervened, and I responded with a “thank you” and that I would endeavour to learn what was involved.

I came to see purpose and power in each calling I received, and with hindsight, the bishop’s inspiration came to make sense to me.

Callings from the Lord are tailor-made for our growth.

How did Elder Kearon initially feel about his first calling?
What helped him accept a calling that did not seem to fit him?
What did he later come to understand about the purpose of his callings?
According to the talk, why might the Lord give someone a stretching calling?
How have I responded when I have received a calling that felt uncomfortable or unexpected?
What experiences have helped me see the Lord’s wisdom in a calling I did not initially understand?
Is there a current opportunity to serve that I need to accept with greater humility and trust?
How can I better rely on grace as I learn to serve in ways that feel new to me?

Sustain one another through common consent

The talk teaches that common consent is a sacred expression of agency, unity, and faith. Raising the hand to sustain is more than a procedural act; it is a personal commitment to support those who are called. Members sustain leaders and teachers through prayers, patience, love, and faith, helping build unity even when they may not always agree with every decision or action.

Common consent is not a mere formality but a beautiful mix of our agency, unity, and faith.

It is a voluntary, personal commitment to support, uphold, and help the Lord’s called servants in their responsibility.

We sustain each other with our prayers, our love, our patience, and our faith.

Will we always agree with those we are invited to sustain? Will we always think they are doing a good job and serving as the Saviour would? Perhaps not, and we might be right, but as we pray for them and they for us, important bridges of unity are built.

How does Elder Kearon define common consent?
Why does he say common consent is more than a formality?
What are some ways members sustain those who are called?
What should members do when they struggle with those they are asked to sustain?
When I raise my hand to sustain someone, what personal commitment am I making?
How can I more actively sustain my ward or branch leaders this month?
Is there someone I have sustained but not fully supported with prayer, patience, or encouragement?
How can I help build bridges of unity in my congregation?

Let service unite and refine the Saints

Elder Kearon explains that serving together in the Church gives members the chance to develop Christlike attributes while working with people who may be very different from them. Through this service, faith is strengthened and the body of Christ is knit together. The Lord works through imperfect servants who are trying to follow Him, and this shared service becomes a means of sanctification and belonging.

It affords us all the opportunity to pursue Christ and His virtues—such as charity, humility, meekness, forgiveness, and love—with people who may be very different to us.

I clearly saw how faith is fortified and the body of Christ bonded together.

I could see the Lord working through imperfect servants, very much including myself, who were striving to discern His will for those they were serving.

What Christlike qualities does Church service help members develop?
How does serving with different people strengthen the Church?
What does Elder Kearon teach about the Lord working through imperfect servants?
How can service help bond the body of Christ together?
Which Christlike attribute is the Lord helping me develop through my current service?
How have I been blessed by serving alongside people who are different from me?
Am I willing to let the Lord work through my imperfections as I serve?
What can I do to strengthen unity and belonging in my ward or branch?

Trust the Lord in changing and difficult callings

The talk acknowledges that callings vary widely. Some are highly stretching, some seem quiet or less visible, and some changes in service can deeply affect individuals or families. Elder Kearon also recognizes that exceptional circumstances may sometimes prevent someone from accepting a calling. In all of this, members are invited to trust the Lord, and leaders are reminded to act with sensitivity and prayer.

Some callings are highly stretching, while others may leave us wondering, “Isn’t there more I could be asked to do?”

You might serve in a very visible role for a time, only later to be called to quiet, unseen service—or to support those with less experience.

When callings change in ways that deeply impact you or your family, it can require great faith and trust in the Lord while you adjust.

I also acknowledge that there are those who, owing to exceptional circumstances, are unable to respond to a calling at a given time.

Careful leaders will be sensitive to this, and through prayer, the Lord can help you know when the time is right for you to serve again.

What different kinds of callings does Elder Kearon describe?
How can changing callings require faith?
What does he teach about members who cannot accept a calling because of exceptional circumstances?
What responsibility do leaders have when extending callings?
How have I responded when my service has become less visible or different than I expected?
What current change in my life requires greater trust in the Lord?
If I am unable to serve in a certain way right now, how can I seek the Lord’s guidance about future service?
How can I be more understanding of the circumstances others may face in accepting or fulfilling callings?

Offer willing service and receive greater blessings

Elder Kearon teaches that service is a choice and an offering to God, and that in the Lord’s economy disciples always come out ahead. Even when service is inconvenient or tiring, the blessings exceed the sacrifice. He points to the New Testament Apostles, who left their nets to follow Christ and later needed His continued invitation to feed His sheep, showing that discipleship requires both sacrifice and perseverance.

Is it sometimes inconvenient to serve in a calling that asks something of us? Might we become jaded or reluctant? I have learned over and over again that—whatever our offering—in the Lord’s economy we always come out ahead.

When the Saviour called Peter, Andrew, James, and John to follow Him, they instantly dropped their nets.

If a call were ever inconvenient or incomprehensible, it must have been this one on the shore of Galilee, yet with faith they followed.

Even with all they saw, felt, and experienced, those first Apostles needed the Lord’s gentle reminding and His repeated invitation to feed His sheep.

Our service is a choice, an offering to God, and a blessing.

What does Elder Kearon teach about the cost and blessing of service?
How do the examples of Peter, Andrew, James, and John illustrate faithful response to a call?
What does the Lord’s invitation to “feed His sheep” teach about ongoing discipleship?
Why does Elder Kearon describe service as both an offering and a blessing?
What sacrifices has the Lord asked me to make in order to serve?
When have I seen that I “always come out ahead” by serving the Lord?
Where might I be feeling jaded or reluctant in service, and how can I renew my willingness?
How can I more fully “feed His sheep” in my family, ward, or community?

Let callings expand your faith

The talk emphasizes that callings are foundational to spiritual growth, alongside prayer, scripture study, and worship. As disciples humble themselves and look outward, they discover that serving others is serving God. The value of a calling is not determined by its visibility or status but by the heart and manner in which it is fulfilled.

We all know that prayer, study of scripture, and worship at church and in the temple are critical to the development of our faith.

Have we also come to see our callings as having a foundational role in the expansion of our faith?

Callings from the Lord are tailor-made for our growth, as we humble ourselves, look outward, and learn that, indeed, when we are in the service of our fellow beings, we are in fact in the service of our God.

It really isn’t where we serve but how that matters to the Lord.

How does Elder Kearon connect callings with the growth of faith?
What attitudes make callings spiritually transformative?
What principle does he teach about serving fellow beings and serving God?
Why does the manner of service matter more than the position?
Do I see my calling as part of my spiritual formation, or only as a task to complete?
How is the Lord using my current service to help me look outward?
What would change if I viewed my service more consciously as service to God?
How can I serve with greater humility and wholeheartedness?

Sustain the Lord’s prophet in solemn assembly

Elder Kearon applies the doctrine of common consent to the solemn assembly in which members sustain President Dallin H. Oaks as President of the Church. He emphasizes the sacredness of this moment, the sobering weight of prophetic responsibility, and the Church’s united commitment to uphold the prophet with confidence, faith, and prayer. Solemn assembly is presented as a holy gathering in which all members exercise their right to sustain under revealed procedures.

We have had the sacred opportunity to come together to raise our hands in support of President Dallin H. Oaks, to sustain him as the Lord’s prophet, seer, and revelator.

This is a call he didn’t seek or aspire to.

The weight of this responsibility is colossal and sobering.

Now, 42 years later, we joyfully sustain him as the Lord’s chief Apostle, as his whole soul once again responds to a call, claiming no infallibility while trusting in the Lord’s guiding hand.

Since 1880, we have called this kind of moment a solemn assembly, a sacred gathering for a holy purpose such as this.

We have signified our willingness to uphold President Oaks with our confidence, faith, and prayers.

Every individual [has stood] equal with every other in exercising with soberness and in solemnity his or her right to sustain or not to sustain [him] who, under the procedures that arise out of [revelation], [has] been chosen to lead.

What is a solemn assembly according to Elder Kearon?
How does he describe the responsibility of the President of the Church?
What does the Church express when members sustain the prophet?
How does solemn assembly relate to the principle of common consent?
How can I more faithfully sustain the living prophet with confidence, faith, and prayer?
What does my sustaining vote mean for the way I listen to and follow prophetic counsel?
How have I felt the sacredness of solemn assembly or other moments of sustaining Church leaders?
What can I do to better align my life with the revealed leadership of the Lord’s Church?

Join the Savior in the Father’s business

Drawing on the account of 12-year-old Jesus in the temple, Elder Kearon teaches that every calling becomes the Father’s business when accepted with humility and a desire to bless His children. Church service is not merely administrative or routine; it is participation in the Savior’s redeeming work. He concludes by affirming that life is better when disciples are engaged in the Lord’s work.

When 12-year-old Jesus was found by His parents teaching in the temple, He told them that He had been “about [His] Father’s business.” And we can be too.

Every calling, whatever it may be, is “His business” when embraced with a humble and willing heart and a desire to lift and comfort His children and share His good news.

We are not merely filling an assignment when we respond to an inspired call but joining the Saviour of the world in His infinite, redeeming work.

He needs you, and He needs me.

Life is better—everything is better—when we are about His business.

How does Elder Kearon use the example of Jesus being about His Father’s business?
What makes a calling part of the Father’s business?
How does he describe the true nature of responding to an inspired call?
What blessing does he promise to those who are about the Lord’s business?
How can I approach my current calling more as participation in the Savior’s redeeming work?
Who in my life needs to be lifted, comforted, or taught the Lord’s good news?
In what ways have I seen that life is better when I am engaged in the Lord’s work?
What would it look like this week for me to be more intentionally about the Father’s business?