Sister Linda Peterson, the 1st counselor in the stake Relief Society
presidency, spoke to us. She encouraged us to do our visiting teaching,
even though summertime is really busy. She also encouraged everyone to
participate in the stake clothing exchange in July; it will be a great
opportunity for entire families to get involved in service. We will get
more information as the date gets closer, but there will be a lot to do.
Sister Peterson read from Daughters in My Kingdom, a book published by the Church. (You can see a copy of this book online,
or get a printed one from our ward Relief Society president, Teresa
Muse.) Sister Peterson said that, like the pioneer women of early Church
history, we have trials that can be softened by the friendship of
caring sisters. Like the pioneers, we can draw strength from faith in
Jesus Christ, prayer, the Holy Ghost, and living righteously. Heavenly
Father loves us and wants what's best for us.
President Wilkinson then spoke with us. First he opened up the floor for
any questions or concerns anyone would like to discuss. There was only
one: Is it OK to save seats for people during stake conference?
President Wilkinson said he'd discuss the matter with the high council
and get an answer back to us. Then he asked what we think of the pace of
our lives. Several people commented that it's busy and fast. Someone
mentioned President Monson's talk, The Race of Life.
Another person said there are too many good things, often taking the
place of the best things. President Wilkinson said the Liahona was like
an early form of Twitter. (1 Ne 16:28-29) He said Elder Maxwell once
cautioned against "getting caught in the thick of thin things." In his October 2010 General Conference address,
President Uchtdorf outlined four relationships we should value.
President Wilkinson reminded us of these relationships and commented on
each.
1) Our relationship with God. (Matthew 22:37-40; Doctrine &
Covenants 132:24) The irony of the gospel is that the solution is the
biggest challenge--the solution to focus on our relationship with our
Heavenly Father. Some ideas from sisters for doing better at this were
to accept the plan of salvation (especially the idea that there is life
after this life), live up to Heavenly Father's expectations of us, learn
a little at a time, and rely on the Lord.
2) Our relationship with family. Do activities together. Love is spelled T-I-M-E.
3) Our relationship with our fellows. "Who needs me today?" Waste and
wear our our lives in service. (Doctrine & Covenants 123:13) Be not
weary in well doing.
4) Our relationship with ourselves. Some people criticize themselves all
day long and wind up hating themselves. Learn to see yourself as
Heavenly Father sees you.
The great commandments are to love God with all our heart, might, mind
and strength, then to love others as we love ourselves. We need to love
God first because he will never lead us astray and because loving Him
makes it possible to love others and ourselves as we should.
President Wilkinson concluded by urging us to avoid taking excessive joy
in "thin things." He further said we should enjoy the important
things--getting to know our Heavenly Father, our families, neighbors,
and ourselves.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Learning from the Scriptures
Sue Spencer, the 1st counselor in our ward Relief Society, taught the lesson today. It was lesson #10 from the manual (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: George Albert Smith).
President Smith encouraged everyone to study the scriptures as a way to build their own testimonies of the gospel. The truths contained in the scriptures are far more valuable than the philosophies of men. The Lord gave us the scriptures to help us overcome our trials and prepare for exaltation. Sister Spencer has observed an evolution among people of the Church when it comes to personal scripture study. She received her first personal copy of the Bible as a gift when she graduated from high school. Today, Primary children and youth have their own copies of the scriptures. People everywhere are seen toting their scriptures around and reading them. This is a great thing!
Sister Spencer handed out a page of great suggestions for improving our scripture study. She talked about how important it is to "dive into" the scriptures (think SCUBA, not snorkeling).
In addition to our personal study, we inspire faith in our families by reading the scriptures with them. Sister Spencer had so many fun ideas about how to get our children and grandchildren excited about the scriptures. One thing she did with her grandchildren was write different challenges on envelopes, such as memorizing the books of the Book of Mormon, reading a chapter of scriptures and answering questions about it. When the children completed the challenge, they got what was in the envelope ($5 to $10). They loved it. Even grandchildren who do not live near her got excited about the challenges and called her up to recite what they had learned from the scriptures--and then they got a special letter from grandma, along with some cash.
Another fun game was "open scripture" Jeopardy (categories: people, places, facts & faces) with teams of family members. She said you can Google questions with great success. For final Jeopardy, the opposing teams make up the questions.
A third game was Descriptionary. She had two big plastic zipper bags with Church words. The team reader draws a word and describes it and has other team members guess the word. The team gets to keep all the words they guess correctly in 20-25 seconds; then the other team goes.
The scriptures are the greatest library to be found in all the world.
"Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me." John 5:39
President Smith encouraged everyone to study the scriptures as a way to build their own testimonies of the gospel. The truths contained in the scriptures are far more valuable than the philosophies of men. The Lord gave us the scriptures to help us overcome our trials and prepare for exaltation. Sister Spencer has observed an evolution among people of the Church when it comes to personal scripture study. She received her first personal copy of the Bible as a gift when she graduated from high school. Today, Primary children and youth have their own copies of the scriptures. People everywhere are seen toting their scriptures around and reading them. This is a great thing!
Sister Spencer handed out a page of great suggestions for improving our scripture study. She talked about how important it is to "dive into" the scriptures (think SCUBA, not snorkeling).
In addition to our personal study, we inspire faith in our families by reading the scriptures with them. Sister Spencer had so many fun ideas about how to get our children and grandchildren excited about the scriptures. One thing she did with her grandchildren was write different challenges on envelopes, such as memorizing the books of the Book of Mormon, reading a chapter of scriptures and answering questions about it. When the children completed the challenge, they got what was in the envelope ($5 to $10). They loved it. Even grandchildren who do not live near her got excited about the challenges and called her up to recite what they had learned from the scriptures--and then they got a special letter from grandma, along with some cash.
Another fun game was "open scripture" Jeopardy (categories: people, places, facts & faces) with teams of family members. She said you can Google questions with great success. For final Jeopardy, the opposing teams make up the questions.
A third game was Descriptionary. She had two big plastic zipper bags with Church words. The team reader draws a word and describes it and has other team members guess the word. The team gets to keep all the words they guess correctly in 20-25 seconds; then the other team goes.
The scriptures are the greatest library to be found in all the world.
"Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me." John 5:39
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