Study Guide for "Ministering—“That Ye Love One Another; as I Have Loved You”"

In this tender and doctrinally rich message, Sister Kristin M. Yee teaches that ministering is far more than an assignment or a checklist—it is the Savior’s way of loving. Using the story of her father’s transformation through the quiet devotion of ministering brothers, she shows how Christlike love can invite healing, strengthen faith, and bless families for eternity. She emphasizes that ministering is part of our covenant identity, that it is guided by the Spirit, and that as we care for individuals one by one, we participate in the Lord’s work of answering prayers, lifting burdens, and helping souls feel seen and loved by God.

Before Reading

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

How does Sister Yee define ministering, and how is it different from simply completing an assignment?
What does her father’s experience teach about the power of consistent, compassionate ministering?
How is ministering connected to our baptismal and temple covenants?
What does the Savior’s Atonement teach us about how we should love others?
Why does the Lord care so much about ministering to individuals one by one?
What blessings come to both the giver and receiver when we minister in faith?
How can ministering help us find healing, peace, and belonging ourselves?

Topics

Minister with compassion and help others come unto God

Sister Yee begins by sharing how two ministering brothers blessed her father at a low point in his life. They did not judge him; instead, they consistently loved him, invited him to the temple, and walked beside him over time. Their faithful ministering helped him change, deepen his relationship with God, and bless his family. Her account shows that simple, steady discipleship can become an instrument of profound spiritual transformation.

Bless this ministering couple for helping my dad. They didn’t judge him for where he was in his life. They walked with him and helped him to develop his relationship with God.

Because these humble and devoted disciples of the Savior quietly ministered to a seemingly lost and dejected man, my family and I have been eternally blessed.

When we choose to minister in our inspired assignments and our daily interactions, we are helping to bless someone’s father, someone’s sister, someone’s son.

When we minister, we are helping to answer each other’s prayers. We are the Savior’s hands.

What specific actions did the ministering brothers take to help Sister Yee’s father?
How did their ministering affect her father’s relationship with God and with others?
Why is it significant that they did not judge him?
What does Sister Yee teach about the wider impact of ministering on families?
Who in my life may need patient, nonjudgmental companionship right now?
How can I help someone draw closer to God rather than simply solve a problem for them?
When have I seen quiet ministering bless an individual or family over time?
What invitation, visit, or act of support could I offer this week?

Choose to love as the Savior loves

A central message of the talk is that even when we cannot fix painful circumstances, we can still choose to love as Jesus Christ loves. Sister Yee points to the Savior’s atoning sacrifice as the perfect expression of divine love—love given even while we are imperfect. She teaches that ministering is one way we obey the Savior’s commandment to love one another as He has loved us.

We may not be able to fix difficult or heartbreaking circumstances as we hope; some changes are not ours to make. But we can choose to love and minister as the Savior would.

This is the kind of love He has for you and me. And this is the kind of love He desires us to have for each other: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you.”

We can demonstrate our love for Him by keeping His commandments and ministering to others while they and we are yet imperfect.

We’ve been sent here to learn to love God and each other as the Savior did—to love in sacrificial and transformational ways, ways that will bring our greatest happiness.

What does Sister Yee say we can do even when we cannot change someone’s difficult circumstances?
How does the Savior’s Atonement reveal the kind of love He has for us?
What does it mean to love others while they and we are yet imperfect?
How is Christlike love connected to obedience and discipleship?
Where am I tempted to withdraw love because a situation cannot be fixed quickly?
How can I show Christlike love to someone who is struggling or imperfect?
What does the Savior’s love for me teach me about how I should treat others?
What sacrifice might the Lord be asking me to make in order to love more like Him?

Treat ministering as a covenant way of life

Sister Yee teaches that ministering is not merely a Church initiative but an expression of who God is and who we can become. It is tied to the covenants we make at baptism and in the temple. Because we have taken upon ourselves the Savior’s name, ministering becomes part of our identity and discipleship. As we minister like Him, we gradually think, feel, and love more as He does.

Ministering is truly loving and caring for others as the Savior would. It is a way of being; it is the way of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

It is not a program or a checklist; ministering is the essence of who God is and who we can become as we follow Him.

We are not called to or released from ministering. It is part of fulfilling the covenants we made at baptism and in the temple.

We covenanted to take upon us the Savior’s name—becoming as He is as we sacrifice and consecrate our lives to Him.

When we minister as He would, we begin to think, feel, and love as He would.

How does Sister Yee distinguish ministering from a program or checklist?
What covenant connection does she make between ministering and discipleship?
What does it mean to take upon ourselves the Savior’s name in relation to ministering?
How does ministering help us become more like Jesus Christ?
Do I think of ministering as an assignment to complete or as part of who I am becoming?
How can I better connect my ministering efforts to my baptismal and temple covenants?
In what ways have I seen ministering change my heart, thoughts, or feelings?
What would it look like for me to make ministering a more natural part of daily life?

Minister to individuals one by one

The talk emphasizes that God works personally and individually with His children. The Savior’s mortal ministry repeatedly focused on “the one,” and He invites His disciples to follow that same pattern. Sister Yee teaches that when people feel seen and loved by God through personal ministering, it changes everything. Blessing one person at a time is not small work; it is how the Lord blesses the whole.

Our Father in Heaven carries out His eternal work by ministering to the individual needs of His children one by one.

The Savior showed us this pattern often during His mortal ministry as He compassionately blessed, healed, and cared for “the one.”

He invites us to do likewise—to minister in individual and personal ways, ways that help us to feel the love of God.

When we feel loved and seen by Him, it changes everything.

And when we bless the one, we bless the whole.

The Savior shows us the ultimate individuality of God’s love through His atoning sacrifice and the divine capacity He has to heal and minister to you and me on an intimate level.

What pattern of ministry does Sister Yee say the Father and the Son follow?
Why is ministering to “the one” so important?
What happens when people feel loved and seen by God?
How does the Atonement demonstrate the personal nature of divine love?
Who is “the one” the Lord may be inviting me to notice right now?
How can I make my ministering more personal and individual?
When have I felt seen and loved by God through another person’s kindness?
How can I help someone feel remembered, valued, and known by the Lord?

Minister by faith and rely on the Lord’s help

Sister Yee acknowledges that ministering is not always comfortable or convenient. It may require sacrifice, vulnerability, and trust. Yet as we act in faith, the Lord goes with us and provides the means to accomplish what He commands. She reassures listeners that the Lord knows both the hearts of those we serve and our own efforts, and He will help us bless others in the ways they need.

Choosing to minister isn’t always convenient or comfortable. It requires sacrifice, faith, vulnerability, and trusting things will work out as we let God prevail.

When we pause and choose to care for someone over something, His Spirit and love can enter in and we can receive the peace and perspective that we really need.

A young sister shared that she often feels nervous about ministering because she doesn’t know how others will respond.

She smiled and said, “I go—and it usually turns out much better than I thought.”

As we minister in faith, we do not go alone. The Lord will be with us.

He will “provide [the] means whereby [we] can accomplish the thing which he has commanded”

The Lord knows the hearts of those we minister to. He loves them and He loves you. He will help you to bless them in the ways they need.

What challenges or discomforts can accompany ministering?
What did the young sister’s example teach about acting despite fear?
What promise does Sister Yee give to those who minister in faith?
How does the Lord help us accomplish ministering responsibilities?
What fears or hesitations have kept me from ministering more fully?
What would it look like for me to simply “go” in faith this week?
When have I felt the Lord help me do something uncomfortable in serving others?
How can I trust the Lord more when I do not know how someone will respond?

Honor inspired ministering assignments

Sister Yee teaches that ministering assignments are significant because they come through revelation. Relief Society and elders quorum presidencies seek inspiration to assign members to represent the Lord in caring for His children. Through these assignments, disciples participate in God’s work of answering prayers, drying tears, and strengthening the weak. Assignments also help ensure that no one is forgotten and stretch our capacity to love beyond our natural circles.

Think of the significance of our ministering assignments.

Relief Society and elders quorum presidencies receive revelation from the Lord to extend inspired assignments to you and me—assignments to represent Him and labor with Him in caring for God’s children.

As President Jeffrey R. Holland taught, we are invited to give “the God and Father of us all a helping hand with His staggering task of answering prayers, … drying tears, and strengthening feeble knees.”

The Savior did not limit His ministering to His family and close associations. He ministered to all and invites us to do the same.

We receive ministering assignments to grow our capacity to love others and to ensure no one is forgotten.

We pray for them, care for their needs, and strengthen their faith in Jesus Christ.

Why does Sister Yee say ministering assignments matter?
Who receives revelation for these assignments?
How do ministering assignments help us participate in the Lord’s work?
Why is it important that the Savior ministered beyond His close associations?
How can I treat my ministering assignment with greater spiritual seriousness?
What can I do to better pray for and understand those assigned to me?
How is the Lord using my assignment to expand my capacity to love?
Is there anyone in my stewardship who may be feeling forgotten?

Find healing, belonging, and joy through ministering

Sister Yee testifies that ministering blesses not only those who receive it but also those who give it. As we serve, we can find peace, clarity, healing, purpose, grounding, and a sense of divine belonging. She teaches that ministering is part of God’s work to bring us the greatest joy possible. In losing our lives in the Savior’s service, we find them—and we find Him.

Ministering by the Spirit invites the Savior’s healing into our lives and the lives of those we minister to.

I often find peace, clarity, healing, and purpose when I minister. I find the Savior when I minister. This is by divine design.

If you want to feel grounded, gain a sense of divine belonging, and make a real difference in the world, I invite you to follow the Savior and minister in His name.

So many of us desperately need to feel of His love.

When we offer His love and belonging to others, we will find it ourselves.

The Savior promised, “Whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”

I believe our Father in Heaven wants you to be happy. He loves you. His work, including ministering, is designed to bring you and me the greatest joy we can experience.

I testify that ministering not only “brings forth the blessings of heaven,” it is the way of heaven.

What blessings does Sister Yee say come through ministering by the Spirit?
How can ministering help someone feel grounded and experience belonging?
What does it mean that when we offer love and belonging, we find it ourselves?
How is ministering connected to joy and the way of heaven?
How has serving others brought me peace, healing, or purpose?
When have I found the Savior while ministering to someone else?
How can I seek greater joy by focusing less on myself and more on serving in Christlike ways?
What experiences can I record that show ministering is part of the Lord’s way of blessing me?