November 22, 2025, 7:00 AM MST
Sister Christine M. Yee, second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, was on assignment in Finland when a woman stopped her as she entered the meetinghouse lobby.
The woman said to her, “Sister Yi, I was going to make banana bread, but I didn’t make it.”
Sister Yi didn’t know how to answer, so she hesitantly and almost doubtfully decided to answer, “Thank you.”
Then the woman said, “I thought eating banana bread would make me feel more at ease, but I thought that was ridiculous.”
In response, Sister Yee echoed the words of Sister Camilla Kimball, wife of President Spencer W.
When Sister Yee gave this talk at the Marriott Center during BYU Education Week in August, she told the audience to understand that what they are offering is good.
“According to the generous impressions of your heart, serve as the Lord desires,” she said. “Don’t worry too much about what others think. And while you never know if the people you serve will accept you or your efforts, that may not be the entire purpose of that impression.”
When people receive a calling or assignment in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they may wonder why the Lord has called or assigned them or what they can offer.
You may even feel fear, anxiety, and inadequacy. I know I do that sometimes. But we are not all alone.
When President Kimball was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, his biography records how he was shocked and confused and struggled to sleep for days.
President Dallin H. Oaks, the current President of the Church, had similar feelings when he was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1984. In Richard Turley, Jr.’s In the Hands of the Lord, President Oaks describes being an Apostle as having “a succession of ‘fear and anxiety'” and feeling “almost unprepared.”
But he writes: “I decided to give my all to what was assigned to me.”
Just four days after President D. Todd Christofferson was called as the new Second Counselor in the First Presidency, he spoke as much to local leaders gathered for training in Las Vegas, Nevada.
President Christofferson said that when he was called as an Apostle, he worried about people’s perceptions and expectations of him and whether he was worthy.
After a while, he received a firm impression from the Spirit to stop worrying and look outward, focusing on what he could do to help the Lord’s cause.
“It all came back to me a few days ago,” he admitted, referring to Tuesday, Oct. 14, when he was appointed as a counselor in the First Presidency. “But the answer is still the same, and it is the same for you. Don’t worry too much about perception or expectations. Focus on what the Lord wants and how we can accomplish it, and how we can call upon His power and His gifts to make it happen.”
Then I remembered when my oldest son reported his mission to the stake high council in August. Another young man from our stake also just returned and came to report Sunday morning. A high councilor asked the returned missionary what he knew now after his mission that he didn’t know before.
“I didn’t need to be so afraid. God wasn’t going to let me fail,” he answered.
As I thought about this, I came across the following teaching by President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency: “Each person is different and has a different contribution to make. No one is destined to fail” (October 2012 General Conference, “Help Us Aim Higher”).
In his address, President Eyring taught that “God knows our gifts.” Jesus encouraged us to pray to know the gifts we have been given, to know how to develop them, and to recognize the opportunities God gives us to serve others.
He concluded with the following promise: “If you ask, you will be blessed to help others and reach their full potential in the service of those they lead and love.”
In sharing her story about banana bread, Sister Yi told her listeners that if you are feeling a little uncomfortable or unsure of what you are being called or asked to do, “know that you are in the right place for the Lord to work with you.”
God will not fail you.
— Mary Richards is a reporter for Church News.
