“See the Good in Them,” Liahona, Oct. 2025.
Covenant Women
See the Good in Them
Ministering is not just a program; it is a divine process through which God blesses and changes the hearts of His children.
Have you ever felt truly seen? There is powerful motivation that comes when someone really sees you, loves you, and believes in you. I became an artist because my mother thought I was talented. She didn’t just believe in me only when I did good work. When I made a mistake, she still saw the good in me.
Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught that “discernment at its highest level of manifestation is seeing the good in someone else that he or she has never seen in himself or herself and the ability to help them identify and develop it.”
This is what our Father in Heaven does for us each day. He sees the good that perhaps we don’t see in ourselves and lovingly and patiently helps us to develop it and helps us become as His Son. The Savior shows us how to see the good and help others develop it. He lovingly and intentionally tutored Peter and His new Apostles. He ministered to and lifted individuals that society considered to be sinners, outcasts, or impure. He saw the worth and hope in those that were considered hopeless. He responded with compassion to the pleas of desperate lepers. He not only came near to them but also touched them and healed them. (See Mark 2:15–17; Luke 5:12–13; John 4:4–26.)
He knew the worth of each soul, and He loved them. He saw so much more in them than their weaknesses, sins, sickness, and infirmities. He saw their souls and all that they could and would become. He taught them, healed them, encouraged them, and invited them to rise to their potential by following Him.
As covenant women of His Church, we have the blessing and charge to “go, and do thou likewise” (Luke 10:37). “For the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do” (3 Nephi 27:21). We have the covenant privilege and blessing to help those to whom we minister feel of the Savior’s love and to see the good that God sees in them and help them to develop it. This is loving others as the Savior would (see John 13:34).
Our Father in Heaven often helps us to grow and become by sending special people into our lives—people that bring His love and relief and help us to rise to our potential.
Ministering brothers and sisters have the sweet privilege and covenant responsibility of being those special people on the Lord’s errand. We can help those to whom we minister see the good qualities, talents, and attributes of Christ in themselves and help them to grow.
The more we help others fulfill the measure of their creation, the more we will realize our own potential as children of God. We need to rely upon the Lord to know the needs of His children.
Sisters, you have the resources of heaven available to carry out this righteous and exalting work, including the blessings of the Lord’s priesthood power through keeping your covenants and delegated priesthood authority through your callings and ministering assignments. These blessings help provide the revelation we need to minister in His way.
The Spirit can help soften our hearts to see others “as they really are” (Jacob 4:13) and not have our vision obscured by assumptions, casualness, or even weariness.
“Ministering Sisters Are Sent from God”
Karen is now a dear friend of mine. But I didn’t know her until I became her ministering sister. My ministering companion was a kind young woman named Ella, who was a senior in high school. We received the assignment to minister to Karen when she was just starting to return to church.
As we ministered to Karen and learned her unique story and needs, Ella and I felt impressed to invite her to come to the temple. This effort enlisted Ella’s tech-savvy skills to fix issues with Karen’s online Church account so she could pay her tithing and make a temple appointment. And I took her to get new temple clothing and helped her feel comfortable going. Karen seemed to glow and be filled with peace and happiness as she and I sat together in the celestial room following the session.
Karen experienced major health issues but also incredible miracles during the time we ministered to her. Supporting her during this time strengthened all of us in the Lord.
We invited her to join us for Relief Society and Sunday School and spent time with her in her home. She has grown beautifully confident in who she is and who she wants to become. She has started to see the good in herself.
When I asked Karen if I could share this special experience of being her ministering sister, she said, “Go for it! Let them know there is a Heavenly Father who loves [them]!” She said the love and concern Ella and I had for her taught her that she needed someone in her life. She said, “They will never know how much I needed them. … Ministering sisters are sent from God.”
The Lord is very purposeful in His placement of where you and I are. He knows who we need in our lives and why. If we exercise faith in the Lord and fulfill our ministering assignments from Him, He will show us the wondrous blessings of His love and His divine orchestration in our behalf.
Ministering Changes Our Very Natures
As children of God, we are meant to grow and change and to become like our heavenly parents. And ministering in love is a catalyst to that end. Ministering is not just a program; it is a divine process through which God blesses and changes the hearts of His children from hearts of stone to hearts of flesh (see Ezekiel 11:19).
Ministering is loving and caring for others as the Savior would. It is a way of being; it is the way of our Savior Jesus Christ and all those who covenant to follow Him. He said, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you” (John 13:34).
Acting as the Savior would and relying upon Him changes our very natures to become as He is, making us eventually fit to return to the presence of our Father in Heaven.
President Russell M. Nelson taught that “as we strive to live the higher laws of Jesus Christ, our hearts and our very natures begin to change. The Savior lifts us above the pull of this fallen world by blessing us with greater charity, humility, generosity, kindness, self-discipline, peace, and rest.”
Covenant Women Bring the Savior’s Relief
I remember one evening driving straight from work to visit one of the sisters I ministered to. It had been a rough day, and I wasn’t feeling particularly well. I felt like I had nothing left to give and didn’t feel entirely charitable. I felt to say a little prayer with faith in my heart as I drove that this sister would somehow be blessed with what she needed despite my lack. As my companion and I talked with this sister about her family, her busy life, and what we could do to help, I felt the Lord’s love pour into me. I felt of His love for her, for her family, and for me.
We played with her little children as we visited. And I left that night feeling like a different person. I knew I had energy and strength given to me. I knew I had felt a bit of heaven in that home. We all felt lifted by His love.
I found joy in loving this sister and in bringing her the Savior’s relief. Our experiences leading up to ministering aren’t always convenient or joyful. Just like anything that is important, there are usually some hurdles. But when you do minister, you don’t regret being His hands and ears. You don’t regret bringing His love and relief.
President Nelson said, “Sisters, please never underestimate the extraordinary power within you to influence others for good. It is a gift with which our Heavenly Father has endowed every covenant woman.”
You are the covenant women of the Lord’s Church. All around the world, you love God and strive to live your covenants and give your very best to Him. You step in to minister to the one and to the many to bring the Savior’s relief.
And oh, dear sisters, if there ever was a need for relief upon the earth, it is now. The need is great on all levels and in all places. And the Lord has planted you in your specific part of the vineyard to bring His love and relief to His children. Every act of kindness matters; every willing heart and hand matters; every expression of love and patience matters. What you do really matters.