RS Birthday Party

On March 28th (6:30 pm) we are having the Relief Society Birthday Party!!!!   We will be having a yummy dinner and a service auction.   We wanted to make sure you had the opportunity to earn as much "money" as possible so we are giving you all a heads up on how it can earn it.   Following is the questionnaire to be filled out earning your money.   If you could bring it with you to the night activity it will make getting money a breeze. Questionnaire ___$1 for every year your have been married ___$1 for every country you’ve been to ___$1 if you've participated in the ward choir in the last 3 months ___$1 if you speak a second language (sign-language included) ___$1 for every child or grandchild you have ___$1 if you have taken a meal to someone in need in -the past 6 months ___$1 if you have read the lesson prior to Sunday for the past month ___$1 if you have tried a new recipe in the past month ___$1 if you have brushed your teeth twice a day for the past month ___$1 If you have sewn a new item of clothing in the past month ___$1 If you have read a church book in the past month ___$1 If you have planned a weekly menu and followed it for the past month ___$1 If you have had a friend in the ward to your home for dinner in the past year ___$1 If you have organized your recipe file in the past year ___$1 If you have exercised regularly for the past month (at least 3x a week) ___$1 If you have had your daily personal prayers for the past 3 months ___$1 If you have read a book to a child in the past 6 months ___$1 If you have been 10 minutes early to Sacrament Meeting for the past month ___$1 If you have learned a new skill in the past month ___$1 If you have attended the temple in the past month ___$1 If you have cleaned a closet in the past month ___$1 If you have written a letter to a missionary in the past 3 months ___$1 If you have a monthly budget and followed for the past month ___$1 If you have given a talk in sacrament meeting in the past year ___$1 If you have cleaned something that you would have rather not in the past week ___$1 If you fasted on the last fast Sunday ___$1 If you have taken a child on a special activity,(park,zoo etc.) in the past month ___$1 If you have introduced yourself to a new member or move-in within the past month ___$1 If you have discussed your youth with your children in the past month ___$1 If you can recite an article of faith from memory ___$1 If you know how to change a tire ___$1 If you have ever checked the oil in your car ___$1 If you know CPR and the Heimlich maneuver ___$1 If you have read the Ensign for the past month ___$1 If you voted in the last election ___$1 If you went to bed on time last night ___$1 If you have vacuumed your car in the past month ___$1 If you fixed dinner for your family before you came tonight ___$1 for every item you have donated tonight (including canned goods) ___$1 If you have been to the Dentist in the past 6 months ___$1 If you have been to a wedding reception in the past 3 months ___$1 If you attended or helped with girls camp this year ___$1 If you attended or helped with scout camp this year ___$1 If you kept your TV off all day today ___$1 If you gave someone a sincere compliment in the past week ___$1 If you have begun your Christmas Shopping ___$1 If you have done something you are proud of in the past month ___$1 If you keep your house doors locked even when you are home ___$1 If you have a fire extinguisher in or near your kitchen ___$1 If you have been on a date with your best friend in the past 2 weeks ___$1 If you have made a comment in church class in the past month ___$1 If you have laughed today ___$1 If you have been laughed AT today ___$1 If you have accepted someone’s help this past week ___$1 If you have obeyed the speed limit all day ___$1 If you wear your seat belt ___$1 If you have baby-sat for someone in the past month ___$1 If you showered before noon today ___$1 If you have mended a garment in the past month ___$1 If you have sung a church song in your home in the past month ___$1 For every load of laundry you’ve done this week ______Total for this section ___$5 If you are being TRUTHFUL about your answers ___$5 If you have done a good deed anonymously in the past 6 months ___$5 if you had FHE this week ___$5 if you have ever owned an 8-track tape player ___$5 if you play a musical instrument ___$5 if you have ever been nursery leader ___$5 if you have ever been a seminary teacher ___$5 if you have borne your testimony in the last 3 months ___$5 if you served a mission ___$5 if you said "I Love You" to someone today ___$5 If you have a 72 hour kit ___$5 If you are a full tithe payer ___$5 If you have invited a non-member friend to church in the past 3 months ___$5 If you have planted a garden in the past year ___$5 If you have read the Book of Mormon entirely in the past year ___$5 If you have done your Visiting Teaching for the past 3 months ___$5 If you have broken a bad habit in the past year ___$5 If you have made or updated your will the past year ___$5 If you have donated items to charity in the past 6 months ___$5 If you have submitted family names to the Temple in the past 6 months ___$5 If you have done a service project in the past 6 months ___$5 If your journal is current ___$5 If you have worked on your family history in the past 6 months ______Total for this section ___$10 if you studied your scriptures today ___$10 for every package you have sent to someone serving a mission this year ___$10 if you've had the missionaries teach a friend in your home in the past 12 months ___$10 if you have attended half of the Relief Society Additional Meeting Activities in the past 12 months ___$10 If you have placed a Book Of Mormon with a friend in the past 6 months ___$10 If you have begun or added to your food storage in the past 3 months ___$10 If you have already done your Visiting Teaching in March ___$20 for being here tonight ______Total for this section Also, to make this a fun filled activity we need you to donate things.   THE MORE ITEMS YOU ARE  WILLING TO DONATE THE MORE ITEMS TO BE AUCTIONED!!!!!   Donate, make, bring as many  things you would like.   I've also attached suggestions/ideas of possibilities to bring.   I will need to have a list of items being auctioned by March 24th.   So when you have decided what you're bringing email or text Lauren Bush. Her email and phone # are included in the email she is sending to each of you.    Service Donation Ideas: -Lessons in knitting or crochet -Flower arranging -Baby blankets -Computer lessons -Quilting lessons -Dance lessons -Yard care services -Dinner -Piano Tuning -Scrapbook kits or premade pages -1 hour of cleaning -Snow shoveling -Cinnamon rolls -Cleaning the house -Lessons on how to dye your own hair from a hair dresser -A ride to the airport -Car Wash or Detail -Sew a Halloween Costume -Digital Invite, Announcement, or card -Ethnic Dinner -Carpet Cleaning -FHE Kit (lesson, treat, etc.) -FHE treats for a month -Birthday Cake -Homemade Jewelry -Voice lesson -Piano lesson -Christmas present wrapping -Set of homemade candles -Vinyl family name board -Professional family photo -Handmade scripture case -Hair cut & style -Rock climbing lessons -4hrs yard work -Already made crochet or knitted baby items -Pre-made handcrafted cards or scrapbook pages -2hrs genealogy work -"Clean out your fridge" service -Silk plant cleaning! -Baseboard cleaning -Substituting in their primary class -Homemade ice cream -Blog design -Sew on scout patches for a year -Authentic Mexican Dinner -2 dozen freshly baked dinner rolls-made to order -A sink of dishes -One free night of babysitting -Hemming -Deep clean ALL of the bathrooms in your house -10 scout badges -Genealogy lesson -3 course dinner -Made-to-order Ice Cream Cake -Sew Christmas PJs (winner will provide fabric and pattern) -1 Hour Aerobic Kickboxing Class -Made-to-order Pie -Blog Lesson -Dinner for group of eight adults Already Made Ideas for display night of Auction -Homemade cake/pies/cookies -Quilt -Apron -Bows -Gift Cards -Things you don’t need anymore Ideas are endless and the more items you volunteer the more things up for grabs!!!!!!

This is going to be a fun Birthday Celebration where we can both give and receive a gift to/from our sisters!

Preparing Our Youth

As parents, there is much we can do to prepare our youth for Sundays with the new teaching format. Each month, we will post what their monthly theme will be. This will give parents of youth a reminder as to what their youth will be learning and give us several opportunities to contribute to their learning and testimony. 

The Youth Sunday School and YM/YW Theme for the month of February is "The Plan of Salvation."

Some ideas to help our youth would be:

1. Base Family Home Evenings on the Monthly Theme and encourage youth to pass on what they have learned in FHE on Sundays.

2. Center family Scripture Study around the monthly themes.

3. Encourage Youth to study the things their teachers have given them during their personal scripture study.

4. Basic conversation. Find out if your youth have any questions or curiosities in these areas. It's a great opportunity to connect and talk about these things in an unstructured way. Think car rides...dinner table...late night talks.

You can click on any of the following links to see what they will be learning this month.

Sunday School:https://www.lds.org/youth/learn/ss/plan-of-salvation?lang=eng

Young Men:https://www.lds.org/youth/learn/ap/plan-of-salvation?lang=eng

Young Women:https://www.lds.org/youth/learn/yw/plan-of-salvation?lang=eng

General Resource:http://mormon.org/plan-of-happiness

These are great ideas even if you don't have teenagers yet...basing FHE and study around these monthly themes would still be a fun idea for families with young children, empty nesters, couples, or personal study.

We hope that these ideas help and will aid in the building of our Youth's testimonies...and bring us all closer together as families.

May God bless you for your valiant efforts as daughters of God...and may you understand your importance in the Lords plan.

A Special Message from President Monson

Message from President Thomas S. Monson

He reviews past 5 years, emphasizes the need to go to the 'rescue' of others

By President Thomas S. Monson

Published: Friday, Feb. 1, 2013

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It has been five years since I became President of the Church. At this time I feel it appropriate to review those five years and to look to the future.

Photo by Ravell Call, Deseret News

President Thomas S. Monson speaks at Brigham Young University in Provo, Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011.

Throughout my years as a General Authority I have emphasized a need for the "rescue" of our brothers and sisters from many different situations which may be depriving them of all the blessings the gospel can provide. Since becoming President of the Church I have felt an increased urgency for us to be engaged in this rescue effort. As faithful members of the Church have reached out with love and understanding, many have returned to full activity and are enjoying added blessings in their lives. There is yet much to do in this regard, and I encourage all to continue to reach out to rescue. Said the Lord, "When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren" (Luke 22:32).
Since the announcement was made in general conference this past October that the ages were being lowered when young men and young women might serve as full-time missionaries, thousands of additional missionary applications have been received at Church headquarters. Not only will increased missionary service bring more honest seekers after truth to a knowledge of the gospel, but our missionaries will also be blessed in countless ways as they dedicate their time and talents in service to the Lord. I have often said that a mission will provide a strong foundation upon which one's future life can be built. Not only will individuals be blessed as they serve missions, but the entire Church will also be strengthened.

Deseret News archives

Standing in front of mural depicting the Resurrected Savior calling His apostles to "go into all the world" to preach the gospel, President Thomas S. Monsonspeaks to the media on Feb. 4, 2008, the day after he was set apart as the 16th President of the Church.

Our temple-building efforts continue unabated. During the past five years, 31 new temples have been announced. During this same period, 16 temples have been dedicated, with five others having been rededicated after extensive renovations. When the Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple is dedicated in March of this year, we will have 141 temples in operation throughout the world. These numbers will continue to increase as we move forward in making temples accessible to all of our members, wherever they may live.
We continue to emphasize the need for our members to move forward in the work for our deceased family members. Our mandate is to seek out our dead and to provide them with the opportunity to accept the ordinances and blessings of the gospel. We accomplish this by making certain the ordinances are performed for them. President Joseph F. Smith, speaking of work for the dead, declared, "Through our efforts in their behalf their chains of bondage will fall from them, and the darkness surrounding them will clear away, that light may shine upon them and they shall hear in the spirit world of the work that has been done for them by their children here, and will rejoice with you in your performance of these duties" (Conference Report, October 1916, p. 6).
In this remarkable dispensation of the fulness of times, our opportunities to serve one another are limitless. We're surrounded by those in need of our attention, our encouragement, our comfort, our support, our kindness — whether they be family members, ward members, friends, acquaintances, or even strangers. As we serve our fellow man, we serve the Lord. "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these ... ye have done it unto me" (Matthew 25:40). May we ever be found performing such service.
I commend all who faithfully attend to Church callings and responsibilities, whatever they may be. If you do not currently have a calling, yours is the opportunity to provide support to those who do have. As we are dependable and responsible in fulfilling our duties, much good is accomplished, both for us and for others. As all of us work together, we will strengthen one another and, by doing so, strengthen the Church as a whole.
This year will mark 50 years since I was called to serve in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. I was 36 years old when that call came. Last August I celebrated my 85th birthday. Some of the senior members of the Quorum of the Twelve have a few years even on me. Age eventually takes its toll on all of us. However, we join our voices with King Benjamin, who said, as recorded in the second chapter of the book of Mosiah, "I am like as yourselves, subject to all manner of infirmities in body and mind; yet I have been chosen ... and consecrated by my father, ... and have been kept and preserved by his matchless power, to serve you with all the might, mind and strength which the Lord hath granted unto me" (Mosiah 2:11). Despite any health challenges that may come to us, despite any weakness in body or mind, we serve to the best of our ability. I assure you that the Church is in good hands. The system set up for the Council of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve assures that it will always be in good hands and that, come what may, there is no need to worry or to fear. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, whom we follow, whom we worship, and whom we serve, is ever at the helm.
As we now go forward, may we follow His example. He left His footprints in the sands of the seashore, but He left His teaching principles in the hearts and in the lives of all whom He taught. He instructed His disciples, and to us He speaks the same words, "Follow thou me" (John 21:22). May we ever be found doing so.

Sunday's Lesson- ""The Joy of Redeeming the Dead"

Sunday’s Lesson—January

“The Joy of Redeeming the Dead” by Richard G Scott

Richard G. Scott, “The Joy of Redeeming the Dead,” Ensign, Nov. 2012, 93–95.)

 

Sister Diane Bland..filling in for Sister Ivie taught our lesson today.

 

A Few Quotes from the Lesson:

 

Temple and family history work is one work divided into two parts. They are connected together like the ordinances of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Some members may not be able to do both works because of health or distances to temples.

 “I have learned that those who engage in family history research and then perform the temple ordinance work for those whose names they have found will know the additional joy of receiving both halves of the blessing.”6

Father in Heaven wants each of us to receive both parts of the blessing of this vital vicarious work. He has led others to show us how to qualify. It is up to you and me to claim those blessings.

Any work you do in the temple is time well spent, but receiving ordinances vicariously for one of your own ancestors will make the time in the temple more sacred, and even greater blessings will be received. The First Presidency has declared, “Our preeminent obligation is to seek out and identify our own ancestors.”7

 

Sister Bland led us in a discussion about what prevents us from getting involved in our family history……and then gave us

4 keys that will help us in overcoming these obstacles:

1- Evaluate your Priorities

2- Decide on what and where you will Sacrifice

3- Ask Heavenly Father for help

4-Be diligent—and do it!

 

She also passed out bookmarks with some great quotes about the importance and opportunity of getting our children and youth involved. 

 

 “Do you young people want a sure way to eliminate the influence of the adversary in your life? Immerse yourself in searching for your ancestors.”—Elder Richard G. Scott

 

Quote from Sister Dalton

Young women and young men worldwide have been invited by prophets, seers, and revelators to search out their ancestors and take their own family names to the temple to perform baptismal ordinances for them. (See David A. Bednar, “The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn,” Ensign, Nov. 2011, 24–27; Richard G. Scott, “The Joy of Redeeming the Dead,” Ensign, Nov. 2012, 93–95.) As more and more temples are built, the youth will be blessed and protected against the deceptions of the world as they engage in the work of salvation for their own family members and use technology for the purpose of turning the hearts of the children to the fathers and making their salvation possible. Doing this work will be a protection to our youth, and it is clear that the youth will play a great role in hastening the Lord’s work in these latter days.

 

We watched a short video from the church website and she showed us how to get into Youth and Family History on the LDS Website.

 

Rita Isabell  and Diane from our RS.. Temple and Family History Committee have offered to come to your homes….to help get you started or to help in any way.  Contact Rita to set this up.  

 

A New Year: Guidance on Goals

A New Year is here. It's an exciting time of fresh beginnings and renewed hope. Following are several quotes about goal setting. This was taken from the Deseret News in 2011. Click here for the full article.

"We can become the masters of our own destinies by practicing self-discipline and by setting worthy goals that will lead to higher ground so that we can become what our Heavenly Father wants us to become."

                

Elder M. Russell Ballard, May 2003 New Era

                

                

You must avoid blindness of mind by setting goals. ... I have long contended that the person who sets goals and who strives to attain such is the master of his own fate."

                

Elder Carlos E. Asay, May 1985 New Era

                

                

"When it came to setting goals, my father had three rules. First, we had to have worthwhile goals. Second, we could change our goals at any time. But third, whatever goal we chose, we had to work diligently toward it."

                

Elder Gene R. Cook, April 2008 Liahona

                

                

"Set short-term goals that you can reach. Set goals that are well balanced, not too many nor too few, and not too high nor too low. Write down your attainable goals, and work on them according to their importance. Pray for divine guidance in your goal setting."

                

Elder M. Russell Ballard, May 1987 Ensign

               

                

"I believe in goals, but I believe that the individual should set his own. Goal setting should cause us to stretch as we make our way."

                

President Spencer W. Kimball quoted by Elder Marvin J. Ashton, November 1983 Ensign

                

                

"May I invite you to rise to the great potential within you. But don’t reach beyond your capacity. Don’t set goals beyond your capacity to achieve. Don’t feel guilty or dwell on thoughts of failure. Don’t compare yourself with others. Do the best you can, and the Lord will provide the rest. Have faith and confidence in Him, and you will see miracles happen in your life and the lives of your loved ones."

                

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, September 2009 Liahona

                

                

An August 1998 Liahona article entitled "Strengthen Your Sense of Self-Worth" gave suggestions about setting goals:

                

Keep your goals realistic, not so high that they’re impossible to attain.

                

Set some little goals. The more you achieve, the better you’ll feel about yourself.

                

Write down each of your goals. Remember, a goal not written is only a wish.

                

Share your goals with a friend, and encourage that person to set some, too. You can motivate and applaud each other.

                

Be committed to your goals. Do what you have to do to achieve them, and don’t become discouraged if they’re challenging.

                

Don’t compete with others. Compete with yourself. Don’t make your goals depend on another’s performance. Decide to attain a level of personal excellence no matter what others achieve.

                

Share your goals with Heavenly Father. Talk to him in prayer. Ask for help in reaching your goals or in understanding why you didn’t. He’ll help you feel good about the positive things you achieve.

                

Help With Nativities

Sisters again this year I am in charge of the Nativity display. I will need a bit of help with this assignment. If you can spare any time to help me it would be greatly appreciated. On Thursday night December 6th I could use two ladies to help me document and sign in all the nativities that will be dropped off that night. It will be from 5:30-8:30. 

Friday December 7th is the big set up day. I will need as many sisters that can come and help as I can get. Unfortunately we cannot have any children with us at that time because of the delicate nature of the set up. We will begin at 8:30 am at the stake center and last year we were done around 1:00. If you can come for any amount of time that would be appreciated. I am also looking for material that can go on the tables, table lamps, lighted garlands and extension cords. 

Please let me know if you are available to help in any way.

Kim Wise
426-1631