Moments that matter most

Loved this Mormon Message and thought I'd share it here. It's always a good idea to take a look and possibly re-set our perspective.

The Prophet Joseph Smith...lesson summary

Sis Crouch gave the lesson today on chapter 4 (pg. 33) The Prophet Joseph Smith, God's instrument in the restoring the truth. 

President George Albert Smith in the manual stated: “Many of the benefits and blessings that have come to me have come through that man who gave his life for the gospel of Jesus Christ. There have been some who have belittled him, but I would like to say that those who have done so will be forgotten and their remains will go back to mother earth, if they have not already gone, and the odor of their infamy will never die, while the glory and honor and majesty and courage and fidelity manifested by the Prophet Joseph Smith will attach to his name forever.”

Joseph Smiths 1st vision demonstrated that the heavens are not sealed. We then watched a video of the 1st vision and were asked to write down what we have/know today because of that occurrence. Some of the answers given were:

We know that Heaven Father and Jesus Christ are 2 seperate beings 

They had bodies

We are created in their image

They knew Joseph by name

That He answers prayers

The adversary is real

The gospel was not on the earth yet but the fullnes would be made known

The Lord chose an innocent young man to be his voice - not an established/educated person

2 other points that the manual focused on were - 

The truths restored through Joseph Smith being peace and joy

and

Though young, Joseph Smith was called to restore the true church of Jesus Christ. 

Sis. Crouch asked again, "What did Joseph Smith do in his lifetime that we enjoy/blessed by today?"

Some of the answers were:

Temples

The Priesthood

Book of Mormon

Revelation 

Relief Society

Organized the church

endowments

missionary work

Word of Wisdom

knowledge of the 3 degrees of glory

The last point the manual talked about was that 

Joseph Smith was willing to give his life for his testimony

In the manual is says: In the year 1830, the Church was organized with six members. The adversary of all righteousness has from that day to the present sought to impede its progress and destroy it. I wonder if that great man, Joseph Smith, who gave his life that the Church might be organized and carried on as the Lord intended, can see the Church as it exists today, with its branches established in all parts of the world, and realize that each day since he was martyred, since he laid down his life and sealed his testimony with his blood, the Church has become stronger than the day before. 

Thank you Sister Crouch for sharing your knowledge and testimony with us! 

- Sis. Pyrah

Feb RS Meeting - Baby it's Cold outside!

February kicked off with our RS Meeting! 

We started the evening by assembling the education kits to send to Honduras. 

Then we all got our "scarf on!" Sis. Jolley and Sis. Nolan demonstrated how to make some different scarves. 

And then we opened it up for all the sisters in attendance to share their ideas of how to wear and tie scarves. We all came away with lots of new ideas! 

and thanks to Venna there were plenty of scarves to go around to practice with! Thank you Venna! mwah!!

It was a wonderful night and I loved hearing the the room erupt with laughter! It was great to see so many smiling faces that night! Not to mention the decadent Hot Chocolate Bar and cookies to top off the night! Heavenly!!!  

Thank you Sis. Griffin and the RS committee for all the preparation that went into the night! It was enjoyed by all!

Random Acts of Kindess week

Sis. Mark brought it our attention that it is Random Acts of Kindness week! Which goes perfectly with the VT "challenge" this month! You can find the details about that on the right lower sidebar.

We love all the service that we see you doing in the ward, the service we hear of and all the service that goes on that we don't see but the one person it matters to does know. Thank you! You are wonderful!

Our Testimony of Jesus Christ - Lesson Summary

Sis. Kirksey gave the lesson this week from Chapter 3 - Our Testimony of Jesus Christ. 

She passed out some books to some of the sisters in attendance. The books varied from golfing techniques, to scrapbooking and photography. She asked each sister to look through the book and find 1 thing they could learn from it. The sisters shared the things they found that were relevant to them. 

Sis. Kirksey said all these books give us knowledge but there is no book that we can pick up that says " How to gain a testimony. Just follow steps 1, 2, 3...."

A testimony is gained and different for each person. It is like knowledge for the soul. 

A testimony is a sure knowledge received from the Holy Ghost. 

On page 21 of the manual it says: "On one occasion he (president smith) spoke at a Church meeting in Cardston, Canada, about the life and mission of Christ. The next morning he went to the railway station to buy a train ticket. While he waited in line, he overheard a conversation between a woman and the ticket agent. The woman mentioned that the evening before she had decided to attend a Latter-day Saint worship service.

The ticket agent looked surprised. “My goodness,” she said. “You do not mean to say you went to church there.”

“Yes, I did,” the woman answered. “Why not?”

The ticket agent said, “They do not even believe in Jesus Christ.”

Then the woman replied, “Only last night I listened to one of the elders of the Church speaking of the life of Jesus of Nazareth, and I have never heard anybody who seemed more profoundly impressed with a knowledge that Jesus was indeed the Christ, than the speaker on that occasion."

 

The manual listed out 3 parts of our testimony:

1. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and He lives today as our resurrected Savior. 

2. We accept the Bible's testimony of Jesus Christs divine mission.

3. The Book of Mormon and the testimony of Joesph Smith give us additional evidence of Christ's divinity. 

Each of us can gain our own personal testimony and our mission is to share it. 

Sometimes it's hard to share our beliefs with others. 

Sis Laraway commented that one of the best places to share our testimony and start practicing is in our homes with our family. 

 

The manual says: The happiest men and the happiest women that you know in the world are those who are conforming their lives to the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are those who have the assurance of eternal life; they are those who understand the purpose of our being. … As I have traveled to and fro in the world bearing this message, my soul has been filled with joy, and my eyes have been dimmed with tears, when I have seen how perfectly men’s lives may be transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have seen those who were discouraged, those who were in darkness, those who questioned the purpose of their being, and when they have had taught to them the glorious truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ, they have changed, they have learned to be happy, to be contented, to be satisfied, to be enthusiastic in believing and teaching the gospel that was proclaimed by Jesus Christ when he dwelt upon this earth and traveled in Galilee.

There were so many wonderful bits of wisdom from President Smith in this lesson. Please take a moment to read the full lesson this week. 

Thank you Sis. Kirksey! 

- Sis. Pyrah

Our daily bread - lesson summary

We had the privilege to hear from Sis. Griffin of the RS presidency this week. She taught her lesson from D. Todd Christofferson's article from the January 2012 Ensign - Recognizing God's hand in our daily blessings. 

The days are what make the future come about just one day at a time, enduring, raising a family, etc equals a full life made up of days. 

In the New Testament one of the disciples asked of the Lord how to pray. He then gave us the Lords prayer in which is says - "give us this day our daily bread." What does that mean? 

Sis Griffin went on to recount the story of the Children of Israel leaving Egypt and how the Lord provided Manna for them. What was the Lord trying to teach them?.....TRUST.

We can learn this same lesson of trusting in the Lord to provide the "daily bread" we need or ask for in our lives. 

The next point Sis. Griffin brought up was to Work through our problems 1 day at a time. Bro. Christofferson shares a story about his mother: 

In the 1950s my mother survived radical cancer surgery, which was followed by dozens of painful radiation treatments. She recalls that her mother taught her something during that time that has helped her ever since:

“I was so sick and weak, and I said to her one day, ‘Oh, Mother, I can’t stand having 16 more of those treatments.’

“She said, ‘Can you go today?’

“‘Yes.’

“‘Well, honey, that’s all you have to do today.’

“It has helped me many times when I remember to take one day or one thing at a time.”

The Spirit can guide us when to look ahead and when we should deal just with this one day, with this one moment.

The other 2 points that were brought out in her lesson were

~ Partake of divine bread daily - let us establish righteous reflexes - (i.e. the reflex to bend our knees before we get into bed, etc)

~Realize that daily choices matter

Bro. Christofferson said a steady stream of simple kindness is better than a grand gesture. He also went on to say: 

In reality, there aren’t many things in a day that are totally without significance. Even the mundane and repetitious can be tiny but significant building blocks that in time establish the discipline and character and order needed to realize our plans and dreams. Therefore, as you ask in prayer for your daily bread, consider thoughtfully your needs—both what you may lack and what you must protect against. As you retire to bed, think about the successes and failures of the day and what will make the next day a little better. And thank your Heavenly Father for the manna He has placed along your path that sustained you through the day.  

Thank you Sis Griffin for your wonderful lesson and to all the sisters who shared their comments, personal stories and their spirits with us. 

- Sis. Pyrah