4th Sunday - worth waiting for

Because of my new calling in Primary I wasn't in RS on Sunday but still wanted to be able to share a snippet with you one last time. I heard several ladies talking about a video that Sis. Johnson shared with her lesson. Sister Johnson told me how to find it and after watching it I can see why there was so much chatter about it. 

Click play to see this great video!

The message is clear but it can also be applied to more than just chastity and marriage. Think about the things in your life that are worth waiting for...the things we are striving through each day to get that "prize" or present at the end....
thanks Sis. Johnson! 

Chapter #10 - lesson snippets

A big thank you to everyone who helped out in RS today. We had 3 substitutes including Sis. Ovard who taught our lesson today from Chapter 10 - Our Search for Truth. Here's a few sections I'd like to share from her lesson:

Near the beginning of her lesson she asked,
" How can we walk in truth if we do not know it?"

I thought that was a very powerful way to start the lesson. Such a truth on a lesson about truth. She shared a quote from the lesson from Pres. Smith about his fond memories of sitting at his Father's feet and learning about the scriptures and the gospel.  

“All my days I have studied the scriptures and have sought the guidance of the Spirit of the Lord in coming to an understanding of their true meaning. The Lord has been good to me, and I rejoice in the knowledge he has given me and in the privilege that has been and is mine to teach his saving principles.”⁶
 
Which made me think - What sort of examples have I set? What sort of routines do I have in your home? Where can I do better? 

Pres. Smith also said that everyone should learn something new everyday. That we all have inquiring minds and are seeking things in many fields. He said to search the scriptures. How many of us know this as Members but fail to prepare?

Scenario - If you were asked today byt the prophet to pack up and leave for Missouri would you? (raise your hands)Counter that with, "you have been asked/told by the prophet to read your scriptures daily. Now raise your hands if you've followed that council? "

We are told by Pres. Smith to Read, study, seek and gain. We can always find time for the things you want to do.....The good thing is we have today to start anew. Like Sis. Ovard quoted Rifiki from Lion King, "It's in the past". If you haven't done all that you've wanted to do, you have the chance to change and do better.

Lesson Snippet from manual #9

Lesson 9, Witnesses of the Book of Mormon - Sister Irmgard Dixon. Said President Smith of the Book of Mormon, "I have read it many, many times. I have not read it enough. It sill contains truths that I still may see and find, for I have not mastered it, but I know it is true".

Sister Dixon took us to the title page of the Book of Mormon to remind us of the purpose this scripture, "to show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers, that they may know the covenants of the Lord...And also to the convincing of the Jew and the Gentile that Jesus is the Christ."

 In other words, sister Dixon said, "to remember and to come unto Christ." It is important to gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon as the 3 witnesses did. These three men, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris never did recant their testimony of this holy book of scripture, even when they became disaffected from the church.

Some questions sister Dixon gave us to ponder: Which of the prophets of the Book of Mormon would you like to meet, and why? How did you receive your witness of the Book of Mormon? And the most important, What can you do to share this witness with others?

Thank you sister Dixon for another wonderful lesson!

Lesson 7 JFS manual

Sis Dixon taught lesson 7 in the manual today. 

Something interesting she shared was this found at the end of the lesson and is a help for the Teacher: 

"One way to encourage diligent learning is to listen carefully when someone asks a question or makes a comment. Listening is an expression of love. It often requires sacrifice. When we truly listen to others, we often give up what we want to say so they can express themselves."

This quote tells us that it's not all the responsibility of the teacher but that we has the ones in the class we need to be prepared and ready for the lessons and share our thoughts and comments. 

The lesson focused on Joseph and Hyrum Smith. It said,

" We raise our voices in thanksgiving for the lives and ministries of the Prophet Joseph Smith, of Hyrum Smith the Patriarch, and of the prophets and apostles and righteous men and women who have built on the foundation they laid." 

She asked us how we can and do show love for the prophet today?

Teachings for our times - lesson snippet

Sis. Kendall taught today and the conference talk her lesson was created from was Claim the Blessings of the Covenants by Sis. Reeves. 

One interested thing she brought up was she asked us,
"If you were to die today which kingdom of Heaven do you think you would go to?" 

She didn't have us answer but merely to think about the answer. She said in her Institute class lately their instructor has asked this same question in a lessons before. He would pass around slips of paper and have people anonymously write down which Kingdom they thought they would go to. Most didn't put the Celestial Kingdom. This is what he taught them: 

Covenants of Salvation: you need these 4 things -

1. Faith

2. Repentance

3. Baptisnm

4. Gift of the Holy Ghost

5. Endure to the End

How are you doing in this area? 

Then he listed out the Covenants of Exaltation: you need - 

1. Endowments

2. Sealing

To get to the Celestial Kingdom these 2 lists of things is what you have to do. 

There are degrees within the Celestial Kingdom as we know. But looking at the lists.....how are you doing now? It seems a little more attainable right? 

Joseph Fielding Smith said, "It is necessary, not merely that we believe, but that we repent," and he also taught that when we perform good works in faith until the end, we will receive the reward of the faithful and a place in the Celestial Kingdom of God." 

Lesson on the Temple

Sis. Mark taught the lesson this Sunday about the Temple. She mentioned a great interview that Sis. Beck did answering questions about the temple. Here is the link she promised to share: 
 
Episode 17: Temple Covenants
How can we prepare to enter the temple? After we’ve attended a session in the temple, where can we go with our questions? In what ways can the temple bring us closer to the Savior? Join us as Sister Julie B. Beck answers your questions about preparing to enter the temple and honoring the covenants we make there.
 http://broadcast2.lds.org/ldsradio/ReliefSociety/2011-08-0170-temple-covenants-64k-eng.mp3

Lesson Snippet - #3 The Plan of Salvation

Sis. Pressler taught the lesson today from the manual- #3 The plan of salvation. 

I honestly don't know when I have enjoyed a lesson on this so much. We will miss her as she now goes off to serve in Primary but we know there is where she is needed most at this time. 

The lesson had a wonderful story it that was worth sharing: 

 

A man walking along the road happens to fall into a pit so deep and dark that he cannot climb to the surface and regain his freedom. How can he save himself from his predicament? Not by any exertions on his own part, for there is no means of escape in the pit. He calls for help, and some kindly disposed soul, hearing his cries for relief, hastens to his assistance and by lowering a ladder, gives to him the means by which he may climb again to the surface of the earth. This was precisely the condition that Adam placed himself and his posterity in, when he partook of the forbidden fruit. All being together in the pit, none could gain the surface and relieve the others. The pit was banishment from the presence of the Lord and temporal death, the dissolution of the body. And all being subject to death, none could provide the means of escape.

 

The Savior comes along, not subject to that pit, and lowers the ladder. He comes down into the pit and makes it possible for us to use the ladder to escape.

In his infinite mercy, the Father heard the cries of his children and sent his Only Begotten Son, who was not subject to death nor to sin, to provide the means of escape. This he did through his infinite atonement and the everlasting gospel.

Joseph Fielding Smith

Sis Griffin gave this lesson this Sunday. Since we are learning from Joseph Fielding Smith all year from our manual she spotlighted this life. There are 32 pages at the beginning of the manual that talks about his history. She focused on his family, the people who he came from that taught and influenced who he became - especially the women in this life. 

A wonderful quote about him from the manual says this, 

"President Joseph Fielding Smith “used three great words that I can never forget,” recalled President Gordon B. Hinckley. Those words were “true and faithful.” President Hinckley said, “In his public addresses, in his private conversation, in his prayers to the Lord, he pleaded that we might be true and faithful.” President Thomas S. Monson shared a similar memory: “Even in his advanced years, [he] always prayed, ‘May we be true and faithful to the end.^"

“True and faithful.” For President Joseph Fielding Smith, this was more than an often-repeated phrase. It was a heartfelt expression of his hope for all people. It was also a description of his life, from his childhood through his service as President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."

Lesson #2 summary - manual

Sister Melow taught our lesson today - 

Our Savior Jesus Christ

 She read and briefly talked about the 4 main headings in the lesson but Sister Melow put her focus on the attributes of Christ. She reminded us how easy it is to see these attributes in others but not so easy in ourselves. She handed out this Attributes activity paper that can be found on LDS.org

It lists 9 different attributes with supporting "explanations" and scriptures. Instead of focusing where we lacked she asked us to set aside our humility for the reminder of the class and name one thing in each category that we are already doing that displays this attribute. 

Several sisters shared and it was a wonderful way of building ourselves up in a good way and a way to better our self talk. 

Print off the sheet - it would make a wonderful FHE!

2014 - Sending out an SOS - our theme for the year

Dear Adams Park Ward Sisters-

Welcome to 2014! A year we hope is filled with opportunities and blessings for your families!

As we reflect back on our Relief Society theme last year: "Find JOY in your journey", we felt 

like it was important to keep our focus on joy (because counting our blessings should always 

be important in our lives), but narrow our direction to the source of true joy -- Jesus Christ. So 

throughout this next year we hope to support one another in a more concentrated focus on a 

journey to Seek Our Savior. (SOS)

We encourage you to create a personal SOS plan to develop a closer relationship with the Savior this year. All of us face different life circumstances and situations. We all need strength in dealing with them. This strength comes from faith in the Savior's love and in the power of His atonement.If we truly Seek Our Savior -- daily, weekly, monthly, and let it become a part of us -- we will be happier, our testimony will increase, and we will draw closer in our relationship to our Savior.Remember: "When you choose to follow Christ, you choose to be changed." -Ezra Taft Benson

May we each feel of His loving guidance and influence-

Sister Snow