The purpose of the set up...

The purpose of sacrament meeting is to worship the Father and the Son and renew our covenants with them.  If we do not speak of them, and just speak only of their commandments or of the church without reference to them, or if we speak of of our experience with their commandments without reference to our experience of seeking Them, in the talks we give there, we have failed.  Our speech here is to worship them, to speak of them, to renew covenants with them, and to rejoice in their hand in our lives as we  seek to be their disciples and follow them.

The purpose of our Relief Society, Priesthood Quorums, Young Women classes and Primary classes are to turn our hearts to the Father and the Son and to empower us to work more lovingly, more wisely, more unitedly, with greater vision, with less anxiety and self-doubt, with more confidence, and with greater focus, with them, in their work of blessing and assisting and lifting all of his children.

Our ministry, that which we accept by invitation, as well as that which we do as we care for and interact with family members, and that which we do free-lance by inspiration, is a God-given opportunity to get farther out of our comfort zones (2 Ne. all is well in Zion) and work more carefully with the Father and the Son and with each other to do and be and understand who the Father sent us here to learn to do, and be, and understand.

Feed my sheep.  What does that mean?   To minister...to be aware of....to love, wisely,  in spite of their, and our, sins and flaws and imperfection

In as much as ye have done it unto the least of these...Matthew 25:31-40.

Who are the sheep the Father has given to me?
Have I made holy promises to someone before God?  That is one of the sheep He wants me to feed in my interactions with him or her.   Has the Father ever sent children to my family (nuclear or extended)?  Those are some of the sheep He wants me to feed in my interactions with them.  Have I accepted an invitation to be a ministering brother or ministering sister to members of my ward?  Those are some of the sheep He wants me to feed in my interactions with them.  Are there people in need in my neighborhood or community?  Those are some of the sheep He wants me to feed in my interactions with them.

Frankly, that sounds absolutely overwhelming and impossible at first glance.  But notice that Jesus did not say “for I had problems and difficulties and you made it so that they were all solved and I became everything you hoped I would become”,  but He did say, “feed”, which is to “love” and to “nourish and strengthen” to use a familiar church phrase in our interactions with them.

Some of the sheep the Father has given us to care for we see and speak to as a matter of course every day.  So it’s easier, once we understand His hope that we will love, nourish and strengthen them, for us to find time to do that.

Others of the sheep that the Father has given us to care for we will never see or speak to unless we actually, purposefully, make the time to do that.  And many of us are afraid, or too overwhelmed, or shy, or feel too lonely, or we love our little kingdoms too much to leave them.  Or we tend to expect that we are incapable,  or that the sheep is trying to avoid us.  And so we don’t make time to care for them.  Or if we attempt to do so, we feel totally inadequate and discouraged and feel guilty and unhappy.

That’s normal.  It’s also one of the reasons why we meet together each week: so that we can encourage, empower, and assist each other to overcome that discouragement, resistance, and sense of overwhelm as we rejoice in the power of the God we worship who gives us the strength and vision we need to work together to feed His sheep.