Meridian Magazine : : Print

Leveraging Our Gifts and Talents

by Rodger Dean Duncan and Ed J. Pinegar

Challenge:

There are things I’d like to do as a leader, but I honestly feel that I don’t have the talents.

Opportunity:

There’s a story that my father used to tell. It’s become somewhat of a legend in the Duncan family, and it makes a good point about personal talents and gifts.

Many years ago Dad was driving on a highway out in the Oklahoma Panhandle and stopped in a little town called Slapout. Slapout apparently got its name back in the Indian Territory days when settlers drove their wagons to the general store there to shop for provisions. The proprietor invariably said “We’re slap out of bacon” or “We’re slap out of flour.” The name stuck.

My Dad stopped in Slapout to gas up his car and have breakfast at a small diner. There was a waitress in the diner that the patrons good-naturedly called “Stingy Myrtle.” It was unclear to Dad why the woman had that nickname, until she served him a bowl of oatmeal. Dad tore open the last small packet of sugar in front of him and sprinkled it on his oatmeal.

“May I please have some more sugar,” he asked Myrtle.

“Nope. Ya ain’t gettin’ no more ‘til you stir whacha got.”

“Excuse me?”

“I said ya ain’t gettin’ no more ‘til you stir whacha got.”

Dad obediently stirred his oatmeal, he was served more sugar, then he enjoyed a good laugh with Myrtle and everyone else in the diner.

When Dad retold that story he always related it to personal gifts and talents. Few of us have all the gifts and talents we would like, but all of us do have gifts and talents. When we work hard, we can refine and improve the ones we already have. We can ask for additional gifts and talents, and they can be within our reach. But “we ain’t gettin’ no more ‘til we stir what we got.” I believe that is much more than pop psychology. It is pure doctrine (see D&C 46).

Sometimes we may lack certain gifts that we wish we had. In those cases, we often can make what’s “lacking” less relevant by refining what we do have. For example, some people make their “lack” of speaking skill less relevant by loving and caring for others in ways that speak more eloquently than words ever could.

A key is to “stir” the gifts and talents we already have. Of course another key is to trust in the Lord. Remember the words of Nephi. The Lord never asks us to do anything without also granting us the things (direction, resources, gift, talents, etc.) to accomplish what he asks (see1 Nephi 3:7).

There’s one more thing to bear in mind. When we “argue for our weaknesses” they are ours. When we invest energy in bemoaning our perceived shortcomings we rob ourselves of the strength to overcome them. On the other hand, when we focus on what we can do, and consistently do our best, our best gets better and better.

There was once a young man who was shy and lacked confidence in his ability to express thoughts in a clear and compelling way. He worked for a university and deliberately placed himself in situations that required him to practice the very skills he felt he lacked. As he matured, he practiced more and more. He worked hard. He “stirred” what he had. He increased in capacity. That man is Neal A. Maxwell, today a member of the Quorum of the Twelve and known throughout the Church as a gifted thinker, teacher and speaker.

– Rodger Dean Duncan

Challenge

When people have questions about their callings they sometimes want immediate answers . . . so they telephone the General Offices of the Church for information.

Opportunity:

I served for seven years on the General Board for the Young Men organization and when the calls came in we would suggest first that together we could review the manual and see if it could help us. Ninety percent of the time the answer was there. We would chat for a moment and then say how wonderful the manuals were in that they usually had an answer for our questions. The other ten percent of the questions were local Priesthood leader decisions that a Presidency or “Council” could decide.

Sister Pinegar found the same thing to be true when she served for two and a half years in the General Presidency for the Young Women and then five years as General President of the Primary. The manuals and policy statements by the Brethren really do answer most all of our questions.

– Ed J. Pinegar

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