The following is found on page 13 of the August 2006 Ensign:
President Boyd K. Packer . . . has described an experience he had during a leadership training meeting in which a bishop indicated he couldn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t get anyone to serve as the ward Primary president. The frustrated bishop said he had talked to nine different sisters in the ward, and not one of them had agreed to accept the call.
President Packer told the bishop he knew why none of the sisters had agreed to serve: ?¢‚Ǩ?ìYou asked them?¢‚Ǩ‚Äùyou didn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t call them.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù President Packer said that if the call had been extended properly, it would not have taken nine attempts to get someone to accept the call.
Out of curiosity, if you were in that bishop’s place, how useful would you have found this advice?
I doubt in my lifetime I would ever be Bishop but that is wonderful advice. I know there is a huge difference in our Primary when someone is called of God and that is made known to the members. They get to the point in their lives that they are the last resort.
I am in the bishopric here, and I think that advice would be good. Personally, I wouldn’t have needed that advice, because I already knew that. The way you present something to someone makes all the difference in their acceptance of it. Bishops are regular lay members who volunteer their time. Many don’t have the training they might need–a pro as well as a con–so they have to be reminded at times.