“Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?”1
In Ezekiel 34, the Lord commands His people to be shepherds and feed His sheep. If we do so, the Lord promises, “[I] shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live.”2 Wilford Woodruff acted as a shepherd for members of the Church and for those who did not know of it. In 1841, while on a mission in England, Wilford asked the Lord to be “blessed with many Souls as seals of [their] ministry,” and to “remember the outcast of Israel . . . [and] hasten their return also.”3 By the end of 1841 alone, he baptized 21 people and assisted with the baptizing of 18 others, healed 22 sicknesses, and traveled through England, Wales, and the United States preaching the gospel to those who would hear.4 He baptized and preached to many more people in the following years of his life.
We don’t necessarily have to go on a years-long mission to accomplish the gathering of Israel (though it is certainly a wonderful example!). There are many ways to feed the sheep of the Lord. Through serving others, doing small acts of kindness, serving a mission, or doing other good things, we are blessed with the opportunities to help our brothers and sisters feel the love of Christ in their daily lives. So long as we aspire to “hasten [the] return”5 of the Lord’s people, the Lord promises to “seek that which was lost . . . bring again that which was driven away . . . bind up that which was broken, and . . . strengthen that which was sick”6 for His sheep.
— McKenzie Wood, Research Assistant
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