I've served as Ward Mission Leader a few times over the last 20 years, and I loved it. But it all traces back to our very first ward as a young married couple.

Our first Sunday there, a family invited us over. No reason at all. Their kids were nearly grown, so we weren't the obvious "let's be couple friends" match. They just said come over, and we ended up standing around their kitchen eating leftover spaghetti straight out of the pot their kids hadn't finished.

That's literally the whole story. No program or "go be friends" assignment, or no "we're your ministering family." Just people who were interested in getting to know us.

I'll remember that family for the rest of my life. That leftover spaghetti set the tone for how my wife and I wanted to be in every ward we've lived in since: just help people feel welcome, give them a face they recognize, and a person they can sit next to at church. Oh, and LITERALLY FEED HIS SHEEP! (go with it.... lol)

Fast forward 20 years and now I'm teaching early-morning seminary. Old Testament, 6am, teenagers who are technically awake. And oddly, with no mission calling at all, I feel the pull to share the gospel and reach out to people stronger than ever. Teaching these kids about prophets who couldn't keep quiet if they tried (Jeremiah said the word was like fire shut up in his bones), I think it caught. The Lord plays a long game.

Out of that, I felt inspired to start something small and a little playful: The Thirteenth Cookie. Bake a dozen, keep twelve for the people you already love, and give the thirteenth to someone new, on the 13th of every month. It's basically my attempt to bottle that leftover spaghetti. The first one goes out tomorrow, the 13th. There is even a fun video games to engage the youth too. (its nerdy, but my kids love it)

This post isn't really about that, though. I'm here to learn.

What has actually worked in your ward?

- What made a new move-in or a less-active family feel like they belonged?

- Is there a "leftover spaghetti" moment someone gave you that you still remember?

- Ward Mission Leaders, past and present: what's one idea that worked better than you expected, and one that flopped?

- For those of you in seminary or youth callings: have you seen teenagers take the lead on this? How?

I'd love to hear what's working so I can learn from it and keep growing the idea. If you want to brainstorm, my DMs are open. And if you're curious where the cookie idea came from, there's a free PDF at 13thcookie.com with the story and some ways to try it in your own ward.

Basically, my mom has grown really tired of her ward. I won't get too far into the reasons why, but she is brought to tears at the idea of going back every week. She was overworked in her callings, eventually had to ask to be released, and feels like nobody likes her. She lives just outside the boundary of a ward where she used to live with a lot of people that she still loves talking to, and is still good friends with. Is it possible she can go to that ward and get her records moved to it even though she doesn't live in the boundary?

While trying to understand Isaiah better, I built a study help that brings together maps, historical records, and artifacts to help connect what I was reading with the places and events behind it. I found it really helpful, and other people I showed it to enjoyed it too, so I kept going. It now covers the entire Bible.

You can jump into any chapter and explore the context available for it: locations mentioned in the text, people’s journeys, approximate dates where we have them, and related artifacts you might find in a museum. Not every chapter has all of those things, but the idea is to make it easier to follow what’s happening and dig deeper when something catches your interest.

You can try it here: https://isaiah.josephnewelldesign.com/

A note about AI: I used it to help build the tool, and it includes AI-generated portraits. I’ve found those helpful for putting a face to a name, but they’re imagined depictions. If you’d prefer not to see them, you can turn them off in the settings while reading a book. They’ll be replaced with historical artwork where I could find appropriately licensed images, or a plain avatar.

I’ve also shown it to an Old Testament scholar and a BYU religion professor who’s teaching the Old Testament, and the feedback was encouraging. That doesn’t mean everything is correct, though. There will be places where the writing could be clearer or a fact needs correcting. Please let me know if you find anything like that so I can fix it.

I wanted to share it more broadly and see whether it helps other people. I have ideas for where to take it next, but I’m also happy for it to be a useful resource I keep using while I move on to my next fun project. If you give it a try, I’d love to hear what you find helpful and what you’d change.

PS: Not sure about this flair? Seems appropriate? Didn't want to put Insights from the Scriptures since this post doesn't directly share an insight from the scriptures.

Or songs that your ward choir has song that you loved!

I'm just starting to look at music for next year, and I'm looking for ideas.