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Monday, November 25, 2013

Pinterest Group ~ September & October


For the month of September


We made these cute little Turkeys 
and this Burlap Banner.
Some of them said,
 "Grateful and some said, Give Thanks"


Perfect to put out for any time of the year!

Thanks to Trisha T. for hosting!!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In October 

We made these fun felt Hombre Trees

 

These are going to be great not only for Christmas decorating but for boring old January too.
Might as well have something fun for 
January don't you think!

Thanks to Kerri H. for hosting!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
If you want to join we meet on the 
2nd Thursday of the Month.
Contact Sydney @ 801-597-0431 for info

Even if you don't want to make the months project you can come just to get some girl visiting time in!!! 



Thursday, November 21, 2013

Helaman chapter 12 ... continued (#2)

Taught by Sue G.
(click on the scripture reference to read it)





Elder David Bednar expounded on the power of 
God's Grace
(click to read full talk)


"In the Bible Dictionary we learn that the word grace frequently is used in the scriptures to connote enabling power: The main idea of the word is, divine means of help or strength, given through the bounteous mercy and love of Jesus Christ.

It is likewise through the grace of the Lord 
that individuals, through faith in the atonement 
of Jesus Christ and repentance of their sins, 
receive strength and assistance  to do good 
works that they otherwise would not be able 
to maintain if left to their own means.
This grace is an enabling power that allows men 
and women to have eternal life and exaltation 
after they have expended their own best.
    
Elder Gene R. Cook discussed the personal nature of the Saviors Grace.  "The grace of the Lord through the Atonement can both cleanse us of sin and assist in performing ourselves through out trials, sicknesses and even character defects... Christ can repair our flaws and failing that otherwise are not reparable.

That great truth ought to 
fill us with hope!

David Bednar said, "Grace is the divine assistance or heavenly help each of us desperately needs to qualify for the celestial kingdom. Thus, the enabling power of the Atonement strengthens us to do and be good and to serve beyond our own individual desire and 
natural capacity." 
"I declare my witness of and appreciation for the infinite and eternal sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know the Savior lives. I have experienced both His redeeming power and His enabling power, and I testify that these powers are real and available to each of us. Indeed, "in the strength of the Lord" we can do and overcome all things as we press forward on our journey of mortality."

The 
REDEEMING power of the ATONEMENT 
is given to us all without any effort on our part.

The 
ENABLING power of the ATONEMENT 
requires us to act to use it.

  • How are you partaking of the enabling power of the atonement in your life?



Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Helaman chapter 12 ... continued (#1)

Taught by Sue G.
(*click on a scripture reference to read it)




As soon as we talk about prosperity we immediately think of "The Cycle of Apostasy".  We keep hoping that a group of people will come along who don't go throughout this cycle of prosperity, pride and destruction.  Unfortunately, this group will. 

The points of doctrine in verse 22 of the true gospel set the true Church apart from all other religions.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the church which answers questions. 

In the early days of the restoration through the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord told the Saints that he would restore the true points of my doctrine, Doctrine and Covenants 10:62which had been lost to the world with the loss of many plain and precious things.

1 Nephi 13:29 - Satan does his best to make religion vague, indefinite, mysterious and distant, but the Lord wants his people to have much by way of facts and doctrinal details upon which to base wise and informed decisions.

Faith leads to obedience, obedience leads to additional revelation and knowledge of doctrine.  Moses 5:5-11 - Knowledge of true doctrine leads to perspective and purpose.  Perspective and purpose lead to humility spiritual strength and reliance upon God.  Consistent reliance upon God leads to exaltation.



There is great power in these points of doctrine this wonderful Gospel doctrine. D&C 131:6 - In fact, the Lord said   in this context "ignorance" refers to gospel knowledge. As members of the Lords true Church, we are blessed with a great number of points of doctrine of the plan of Salvation, which doctrines stretch all the from way our pre-mortal life with our Heavenly Parents, to the opportunity for exaltation in the highest degrees of glory in the celestial kingdom.  Thus, we have a finely turned sense of purpose of every stage of progression along the way.

Repentance leads us to Christ's Church.






Sunday, November 17, 2013

Book of Mormon Class ~ Helaman chapter 12

Taught by Sue G.
(*you can click on a scripture to go to link to read it)



Chapter 12 is a "Thus We See" chapter in which Mormon explains the cycle of apostasy to us.  He also teaches us about the power of God and how foolish is to leave him out of our lives.  He even gives us a brief coarse in astronomy as he explains that it is the Earth that rotates rather than the sun's going around the earth as many believed in his day.

Elder Neal A Maxwell explored some possible reasons for spiritual unsteadiness.  

"It is simply unintended forgetfulness by our refusing to review and to acknowledge the repetition of such stern lessons, because we neglect the milder to gentler signs beckoning us to 
remember him"

We need the spirit daily, to help us remember daily.  Otherwise memory lapses will occur when we are most vulnerable .  It is not natural to the natural man to remember yesterdays blessings gratefully, especially when today's needs of the flesh press steadily upon us.

Pres. Henry B. Eyring added this insight about why we might be unsteady... "Dependence upon God can fade quickly when prayers are answered. When the trouble lessens, so do the prayers.  The book of Mormon repeats that sad story over and over again"

Helaman 12:1-6
From these verses what role does remembering or not remembering play in helping us avoid the pride cycle?

Mormon warns us that prosperity can be dangerous.  It doesn't have to be. Remember the 200 years of peace among the people in Third Nephi after the Saviors appearance to them, 
and the 225 years of wealth prosperity, 
righteousness and peace in Ether 9:15-25?  
Remember also what is said about wealth in Jacob 2:18-19.

Helaman 12:7-19

President Joseph Fielding Smith helped us understand that the phrase "the nothingness of the children of men" is not a reflection of man's worth.  Now this prophet did not mean to say that the Lord has greater concern for and loves the dust of the earth more than he does his children... the point he is making is that the dust of the earth is obedient.  All things are in harmony with his laws.  Every thing in the universe obeys the law given unto it, so far as I know except man.  Every where you look you find law and order, the elements obeying the law given to them true to their calling.  But man rebels and in this thing man is less than the dust of the earth because he rejects the counsels of the Lord.



Helaman 12:14-15 shows that Mormon had a basic understanding of the physical laws of the universe.  

These verses provide a subtle but certain assurance that the prophet educator Mormon like many of the ancient spiritual leaders, was anything but primitive in his understanding concerning God, man, and the universe.




Wednesday, November 13, 2013

The What Why and How of General Conference

Taught by Jeaneen M.


I was introduced to the author Chaim Potok in Jr. High. I instantly fell in love with the book "The Chosen" and continued to read other books written by this author. I was always fascinated with the Jews and their study of the Talmud.  Hours of a school day were devoted to studying this scripture.  I wondered back then and I still wonder today what Mormons would be like if they studied the gospel with the same fervor as the characters in his books.

One thing that sets us apart from other religions is the practice of holding a General Conference twice a year.  In Elder Hales' October conference talk, he refers to this as being the Lord's conference. (see Doctrine and Covenants 124:88)

There are many scriptural references to conference where the Lord's prophets gathered his people. (Adam, Moses, Jesus, Paul, Peter, King Benjamin) In Latter-days the first one was held in June 1830 with 27 members.  It has been held semi-annually since 1840 with a few exceptions such as WW 2 when travel was restricted.

What is your earliest memory of conference?  Have you had an unusual experience watching conference (such as watching in a different country, etc.)?

Why do you think we have conference?  See Ephesians 4:11-13.  So we can be perfected, unified in faith, come to a knowledge of the Son of God and to be edified.  To be edified means to be built.  Each person has capacity for growth and potential to reach perfection. The Church as a whole is also being built.

I found it interesting that Elder Hales says they are not assigned a topic, but they fast, pray for weeks even months, to know what the Lord would have them say.  He was the first speaker after Pres. Monson welcomed us.  His talk prepared us to listen to conference with a desire to strengthen our faith and testimony.


Elder Packer gave an address at BYU where he explained that we all have a tendency to resist instruction.  We are more ready to say after a sermon, "I wish Sister so-and-so were here, she really needed to hear that." He then describes the scene of the Last Super where Christ says that one of them will betray him.  The disciples asked, Lord, is it I? (Matthew 26:22)  He then pleads with us to overrule the tendency to resist and ask, "Is it I/, should I take this counsel to heart and act upon it?"

Often there are experiences where people feel that a specific talk was meant just for them.  In April of 2007, just three months after my father passed away, President Monson said, "through tears and trials, through fears and sorrows, through the heartache and loneliness of losing loved ones, there is assurance that life is everlasting.  Our Lord and Savior is the living witness that such is so."  This brought comfort to my mother who had been living in a daze for 3 month.  She needed to hear those words and I was grateful they were said.


Elder Hales said, "What is said is not as important as what we hear and what we feel.  That is why we make an effort to experience conference in a setting where the still, small voice of the Spirit can be clearly heard, felt, and understood.


Oh, how we need General Conference!  Through conferences our faith is fortified and our testimonies deepened.  And when we are converted, we strengthen each other to stand strong amid the fiery darts of these last days."

What traditions do you have that help your families feel what is being said?  A few years ago, we started going on Conference hikes in October.  We listened as we walked and there are certain talks or songs that I can still picture where we were on the trail.  What a gorgeous setting to be in to hear the words of the prophets!

There are many challenges as to the HOW of watching conference.  It is easier than ever to watch talks from places other than home.  We can watch and listen to them shortly after conference is over.

President Harold B. Lee taught:  "The only safety we have as members of this church is to... give heed to the words and commandments that the Lord shall give through His prophet.  There will be some things that take patience and faith.  You may not like what comes from the authority of the Church.   It may contradict your (personal) views.  It may contradict your social views.  It may interfere with some of your social life.  But if you listen to these things, as if from the mouth of the Lord Himself, with patience and faith, the promise is that "the gates of hell shall not prevail against you;... and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his name's glory"  The only safety we have is to give heed to the words of the prophet?  That sounds so simple.  Who doesn't want to be safe?

In 3rd Nephi 17:3 Christ tells the people to go home and ponder.  Elder Hales issued the same challenge to us, "We accept the Savior's invitation when we ponder and pray to understand what we have been taught and then go forward and do His will."

"The greatest blessings of general conference come to us after the conference is over.  Remember the pattern recorded frequently in scripture: we gather to hear the words of the Lord, and we return to our homes to live them."

"In addition to inviting us to hold personal and family scripture study, Heavenly father wants us to regularly study and apply what we have learned in conference.  I testify that those who put their trust in the Lord and heed this counsel in faith will gain great strength to bless themselves and their families for generations to come."

Please accept this challenge by creating your own personal Conference commitment.  Do something between now and the next conference that is just a little more than you usually do.  Some ideas are: Use the online resources, listen to, re-read, use talks in Family Home Evening, come prepared to Relief Society having already read the talk we will discuss, read the footnotes or choose one talk to read several times as you try to improve and edify yourself.  I will have a box each month where you can write your name to say that you accepted and fulfilled this challenge.   You can also e-mail me.  You do not have to share what you did (unless you want to), I just need your name.



"Human beings do not live forever, Reuven.  We live less than the time it takes to blink an eye, if we measure our lives against eternity.  A span of life is nothing.  But the man who lives that span, he is something.  It is hard work to fill one's life with meaning.  A life filled with meaning is worthy of rest.  I want to be worthy of rest when I am no longer here." - Chaim Potok, The Chosen

Let's make meaning in our lives by making a Conference commitment to be just a little closer to finding rest and peace in the 
Gospel of Jesus Christ.







Sunday, November 10, 2013

November Calendar



November is such a wonderful month of grounding. 
It is the time we begin to slow down a little, start to get 
out our cozy clothes and nestle in a bit. 
 
It is filled with glorious sunsets, pleasant days, crisp evenings, 
wonderful soups, warm bread, hot chocolate 
and pumpkin flavored everything! 
 
It is a month we take time to reflect on all of our blessings and give thanks for all we are grateful for.
 
Take time each day this month to think of something you are grateful for. Make a list on your fridge, your bathroom mirror or your cute chalkboard. 
Add something to it everyday. 
 
Share your list with your family on Thanksgiving and ask each of them what they are grateful for.
 
HAPPY THANKSGIVING MONTH!! 



Calendar

Womens Region Volley Ball - TBD, 
Contact Tenneal @ 801-864-1619

Wednesdays - PLAY GROUP @ The Church, 10am 
Contact Shannon for more info @ 801-510-7465 

14th - Thursday, Pinterest Group, 9-11am
Kerri H. is in charge this month

16th - Saturday - The Ward Talent Night, 6:30pm

21st - Thursday - Relief Society Service Activity 7pm at the Church

MARK YOUR DECEMBER CALENDAR 
Thursday, Dec 19th - 7pm
For the 
Relief Society White Elephant Christmas Social




Monday, November 4, 2013

Helaman Chapter 11 continued.....


Those who serve faithfully and quietly:


Why do we hear more about Nephi than Lehi. Helaman 11:19... And behold, Lehi, his brother, was not a whit behind him as to things pertaining to righteousness.  Lehi also decided to preach the word of God all the remainder of his days (Helaman 5:4) and served as Nephi's companion on missions to different lands, yet we have heard little about him.


What kind of a man do you think Lehi must have been?
Why don't we hear more about him?
Can you think of any other brothers who have been in a similar role - Sam to Nephi, Hyrum to Joseph

Elder Howard W Hunter said, "Not all of us are going to be like Captain Moroni catching acclaim of our colleagues all day every day.  Most of us will be quiet relatively unknown folks who come and go and do our work without fanfare.  To those of you who may find that lonely or frightening or just unspectacular, I say you are "no less serviceable than the most spectacular of your associates"  "you too are part of God's army". Consider, for example, the profound service a mother or father gives in the quietness of a worthy Latter-day Saint home.  Think of the Gospel Doctrine teachers and Primary choristers and Scout Masters and Relief Society visiting teachers who serve and bless millions but whose names will never be publicly applauded or featured in the nations media.

Why should we be willing to serve even if we don't get much attention for it? (Matthew 6:1-4)




Friday, November 1, 2013

Book of Mormon Class ~ Helaman chapter 11

Taught by:
Sue Green

Prophets pray for the people.
Helaman 11:1-16
Nephi's prayer on behalf of his people illustrates the concern of a prophet for the people.  As well as representing God to the people, at times prophets also seek to intervene on behalf of their people. 


When plagued by poisonous serpents, the children of Israel went to Moses and pled, "pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us, and Moses prayed for the people" (Numbers 21:7)




In the Americas, Nephi, the son of Lehi, wrote: "I pray continually for (my people) by day, and mine eyes water my pillow by night, because of them, and I cry unto my God in faith" 2 Nephi 33:3

Our current prophets continues to pray for us.  

In the general conference following the tragic terrorist events n September 11, 2001,  
President Gordon B. Hinkley prayed:

"O God, our Eternal Father, ... whose children we are, we look to Thee in faith in this dark and solemn time.  Please, dear Father, bless us with faith  Bless us with love.  Bless us with charity in our hearts.  Bless u with a spirit of perseverance to root out the terrible evils that are in this world.  give protection and guidance to those who are engaged actively in carrying forth the things of battle.  Bless them, preserve their lives, save them from harm and evil.  Hear the prayers of their loved ones for their safety...  "O Father, look with mercy upon this, our own nation, and its friends in this time of need.  Spare us and help us to walk with faith ever in Thee and ever in they Beloved Son, on whose mercy we count and to whom we look as our Savior and our Lord.  Bless the cause of peace and bring it quickly to us again, we humbly plead with Thee, asking that Thou wilt forgive our arrogance, pass by our sins, be kind and gracious to us, and course our heats to turn with love toward Thee.  We humbly pray in the name of Him who loves us all, even the Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and our Savior, amen" (Conference Cot 2001)


Cycles of Righteousness and wickedness.

Several times in the Book of Mormon history the people passed through a cycle of righteousness, prosperity riches pride wickedness destruction humility and righteousness again.

We see it cycle up and down again and again in this chapter. 

Elder Tom L. Perry talks about mankind failure to break out of negative cycles.  "I guess one of the greatest mysteries of mortality is why mankind fails to learn from history.  Surely the Lord has placed these obvious patterns of behavior in scripture for our own lives to help us avoid the same problems in our own lives (D&C 14-19)

Helaman 11:22-23
Elder Bruce R. McConkie indicated what comprised the true doctrine of Christ.  The true doctrine of Christ is that all men must come unto him, showing faith, repent, be baptized receive the Holy ghost and endure in faith to the end in order to gain salvation. (2 Nephi 31:17-21, 3 Nephi 11:29-41, D & C 10:67-68)

President Boyd K Packer "True doctrine, understood, changes attitude and behavior.  The study of the doctrines of the Gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior...that is why we stress so forcefully the study of the doctrines of the Gospel.

Helaman 11:24-38
The prophet Joseph Smith taught that the devil always sets up his Kingdom at the very same time in opposition to God.  Whenever the Saviors Church is established or strengthened the adversary seeks to create resistance in one form or another to battle the progress made by the Saints of God.  We see an example of Satan's opposition emerge in Helaman II

The Gadianton robbers had been swept off the land. The righteous Nephite and Lamanite members of the Church had great peace.
Helaman 11:21
Only a few years passed however before Satan's influence on the people led them to return to iniquity and allowed the Gadianton robbers to regain their power and influence.

Comparison to our own day can be found throughout this period of Nephite history.  While our earth becomes infested with dangerous and violent terrorists, the proud and increasingly secular government of the World continue to uphold evil and forget God.  Our societies are badly divided between those who would do nothing the evils of these terrorists and those who feel compelled to challenge them.

The prophet Moroni spoke plainly of the seriousness of our situation Ether 8:23-26

We may also see in our own society, how quickly a people can turn from humility and trust in God to a divided and prideful state of complacency.  In Sept 2001 the United Sates was attacked by terrorists in what turned out to be the worst attack on American soil in history - eclipsing Pearl Harbor in the number of deaths that resulted.  It took only 3 years for the world to forget the way they felt on that terrible day and to begin to argue with each other as to whether we are even at war with terrorists. Members of all political parties engage in political games while the threat grows around us.  It will likely not cease until we are again humbled by a violent attack from modern-day Gadiantons.



Can there be any doubt that the Book of Mormon was written for our day?



Thanksgiving


Count your blessings instead of your crosses;
Count your gains instead of your losses.
Count your joys instead of your woes;
Count your friends instead of your foes.
Count your smiles instead of your tears;
Count your courage instead of your fears.
 Count your full years instead of your lean;
Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.
Count your health instead of your wealth;
Count on God instead of yourself.
Author Unknown