Love, the Essence of the Gospel ~ President Thomas S. Monson

Taught by Jeanine M.

President Monson reminded us last conference of the two greatest commandments: 

To Love God and To Love Each Other

He said, "Usually our love will be shown in our day-to-day interactions one with another. All important will be our ability to recognize someone's need and then to respond.  Every day of our lives we are given opportunities to show love and kindness to those around us.  President Spencer W. Kimball said: "We must remember that those mortals we meet in parking lots, offices, elevators, and elsewhere are that portion of mankind God has given us to love and to serve.  It will do us little good to speak of the general brotherhood of mankind if we cannot regard those who are all around us as our brothers and sisters." 

We can express our love for God by the way we interact with His children.  

This includes ALL His children.

While it is important to view others with less judgment and more charity, President Monson made it clear that we should start within our own homes. He said, "...some of our greatest opportunites to demonstrate our love will be within the walls of our own homes.  Love should be the very heart of family life, and yet sometimes it is not.  There can be too much impatience, too much arguing, too many fights, too many tears." Often it is hardest to be our best selves in front of those that we know will love us unconditionally. Having an eternal perspective will help us with this.

President Monson reminds us who to look to for an example: "Actually, love is the very essence of the gospel, and Jesus Christ is our Exemplar. His life was a legacy of love. The sick He healed; the downtrodden He lifted; the sinner He saved. At the end, the angry mob took His life. And yet there rings from Golgtha's hill the words: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" -a crowning expression in mortality of compassion and love." 

Here is a 30 day 


for all of us. 

Click on this link to view and print the:

30 Day Charity Challenge 

As we practice love in our day to day interactions, maybe we will begin to feel more Christ like love toward others.  Check off the items on the calendar and when you have 30 boxes done, email Jeanine at jeaninemcf@yahoo.com and let her know. You can do them in any order  Start today and go for 30 days!

"You are good. But it is not enough just to be good. You must be good for something. You must contribute good to the world. The world must be a better place for your presence. And the good that is in you must be spread to others... --Gordon B. Hinckley

*Graphics taken from Pinterest

Know Your Neighbor ~ Rachel Cox

Rachel Cox lives in the Willow Circle. She has lived here in Centerville for almost 11 years.

Rachel was born in Kirtland, Ohio.  She is the middle child of five, and has three brothers and a sister.  She lived in Kirtland until she was about 11 years old.  While living in Kirtland,  her dad was the bishop of the Kirtland ward and an arsonist burnt down their chapel.  While this was a tragic event, it actually helped the community to open its doors to the LDS faith and they allowed them to hold their meetings in their church buildings.  After Kirtland, her family moved to Boston, MA.  Rachel considers Boston home.  Her parents recently retired to St. George, UT and so she has sadly lost her Boston connection, but now she gets to see her parents more often which she enjoys.

Rachel received both her bachelors and masters degrees from Utah State University.  She has a Bachelors in Early Childhood and Elementary Education and a Masters in Instructional Technology.  She currently teaches the fourth grade at Tolman Elementary in Bountiful.

Rachel lives with a roommate, Carter.  Carter's family is also from Massachusetts.  Her mom and Rachel's mom taught seminary together.  Rachel and Carter didn't really hang out when they were younger, but really became friends at USU.

Rachel is an avid reader and loves all types of books.  Her family is super important to her and she loves spending time with them.  She loves being the "Auntie" and spoiling all her nieces and nephew.  Rachel also loves animals.  Currently, Rachel and Carter have five pets - three dogs: Mischa, Milton, and Suki and two cats: Motley and Mercy.  They like to rescue animals and have rescued hamsters and birds in addition to dogs and cats.

Rachel also likes to travel.  She has been to Greece, Turkey, Norway, Israel, Switzerland, and all fifty of the United States!

We are happy to have Rachel and Carter in our neighborhood!

Book of Mormon

Yeah!!!

It's time for the Book of Mormon Class again!

We will be starting class back up tonight!

Come and join in.

Place: Sue G's house

Time: 7:30pm

*Every Tuesday except Holiday's

Sue leads a wonderful discussion and will be giving 

a brief overview to review what we covered last year. 

We will then continue on from there.

We learn so much from the scriptures 

and each other every week!

Each class is a good stand alone discussion so you 

don't need to feel like if you miss out on one, 

you can't come to another.

Come and fill your cup!

Monthly Calendar - September 2014

October 9th - 7 PM, Witches Night Out! More information coming soon.

Ongoing Activities-

                           Neighborhood Play Group*  

                           Wednesdays  at 9 AM at Centerville Community Park. Call Shannon Page                               at 801-295-5962 for more information.

                           Pinterest Craft Group*
                          This group meets every second Thursday of the month from 9-11AM. 
                          Call Sydney Garner if you would like information @801-597-0431

                          Garden Swap*
                          Tuesdays on the corner of Sharon G.'s home. Drop off or pick up what                                   you would like.
                               

*Activities that are neighborhood special interest groups.