Relief Society Lesson 1/31/10

Jesus Christ, Our Chosen Leader and Savior

(Excerpts from Chapter 3 from Gospel Principles)

When the plan for our salvation was presented to us in the premortal spirit world, we were so happy that we shouted for joy (see Job 38:7).

We understood that we would have to leave our heavenly home for a time. We would not live in the presence of our Heavenly Father. While we were away from Him, all of us would sin and some of us would lose our way. Our Heavenly Father knew and loved each one of us. He knew we would need help, so He planned a way to help us.

We needed a Savior to pay for our sins and teach us how to return to our Heavenly Father. Our Father said, "Whom shall I send?" (Abraham 3:27).

Jesus was willing to come to the earth, give His life for us, and take upon Himself our sins....Jesus Christ was chosen and foreordained to be our Savior.

Because our Heavenly Father chose Jesus Christ to be our Savior, Satan became angry and rebelled. There was war in heaven. The Savior's followers "overcame [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony" (Revelation 12:11).

By following [Christ's] teachings, we can inherit a place in the celestial kingdom. He did His part to help us return to our heavenly home. It is now up to each of us to do our part and become worthy of exaltation.

*Sister Dunford gave a beautiful lesson today. We have some amazing teachers in our ward. Today we talked about the plan of salvation and our ability to exercise our agency in making good choices. How blessed we are to know about the plan of salvation and have the gift of agency. Even more, how blessed we are to have a Savior who would give his life for each one of us. He makes it possible for us to one day return to live in heaven with those we love, if we would but follow him.

"New" Family Search

If you haven't gone to the new family search website, you must! It is incredible and is pretty easy to navigate through. It's so fun to see your family on this site and to add other family members. Here are the instructions you need to register and use the website (information given out by our Bishopric):

1. Access the internet via your internet web browser.
2. Navigate to the following website: http://www.new.familysearch.org/
3. At this site, locate the option "Register for the new FamilySearch"
4. You will need your "church membership number" and your "confirmation date" to complete the registration process. (If you don't have these, you can ask the Ward Clerk for assistance in obtaining them.)
5. Follow the registration instructions on the screen.
6. You will be asked to choose a "username" and a "password".
7. Write down your chosen "username" and "password" and keep them in a safe where you can refer back to them if necessary.
8. Once registered, you can log onto the site in the future using your "username" and "password". You will no longer be asked for your "church membership number" and "confirmation date".
9. Explore the various options found on this page. The most important link to click on initially is the link called, "See Me and My Ancestors". Here, you will see a pedigree chart of you and your family.
10. HAVE FUN!!! At this point, the fun starts, and the possibilities are endless!!

I've added a link to this website on the right hand of this blog under "My Blog List".

Questions?

We have a lot of knowledge and talent in this ward that could be shared with each other. For example, some people know how to make a webpage; others know how to crochet. If you need to know something or want to learn a new skill, please leave a question in the comments and let us share our knowledge with each other. Thanks!

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland-He spoke to us

Our stake had the priviledge of having an Apostle, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, come speak to us on Sunday, January 24, 2010. The Spirit was very strong in the meeting and we were blessed to have him in our presence. Just hearing him speak, bore witness that he truly is a special witness of the Lord.

He talked to the youth about giving a "tithe of their time". If you lived to be 100 years old, he said, that would be 10 years of your time. He asked that the youth give their lives to the Lord between the ages of 12 and 22. Those are the most critical years in a person's life and if you turn your life over to the Lord during that time, you will be blessed for the rest of your life. He said, "The smarter you are, the closer you'll stay [to the Church]." This is a Church with a happy ending.

He taught of the importance of the rising generation and how they will be the future leaders of this Church. They will be the ones that will teach his grandchildren and great-grandchildren when he is not here anymore. Jokingly he said, "I have one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel."

He powerfully expressed his testimony of the importance of every worthy young man serving a mission. He said that all of the good things that have happened to him in his life are largely due in part to his own mission.

He spoke of a man who was not a member, but who had observed the Mormon people. This man said, "The Mormon men were strong, but the Mormon women were stronger." What a compliment that is to the women of the Relief Society.

He spoke about the Resurrection. He talked about how Christ's wounds still have scars. He said that when we weep, God weeps. And he said that everything will be alright.

He left an Apostolic blessing on us and on all we cared about who may not be in attendance. He said this blessing was as if he had his hands on each one of our heads. He blessed us with health. He blessed the babies and those that were lonely. He blessed us with every hope, blessing, and wish we've hoped for.

From all of the wonderful things that were taught by Elder Holland and the other speakers, what did you learn from this meeting? Please leave a comment so we can all learn from each other.

Primary 2010 Family Home Evening Lessons

Sister DeCow found Family Home Evening lessons that correlate to the 2010 Primary Theme ("I Know My Savior Lives") and Outline for Sharing Time. There are 48 lessons and are geared for Junior Primary age children. You can download and print them for free on the web. Below is the site.

http://www.sugardoodle.info/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5512&Itemid=540

You can also find the 2009 Family Home Evening lessons at this same website, if you wanted to print those out and haven't yet. (Just click on "a whole year worth of FHE lessons")

Monday Quilting

These fabulous ladies get together every Monday morning at 10:00 a.m. at the church to do some gabbing, I mean quilting...okay they get to do both! It's a great and fun way to provide service if you are interested you are welcome to join them. Lucille Turpin, Diane Ashby and a lovely sister from the Gailey Park ward (sorry I forgot her name).

Joyce Molyneaux and lovely sister from Gailey Park.

Shirley Palmer.

Audrey Simons and Sara Jo Moss.

Sara Jo with Margaret Miller.

Kae Park and Shirley.

It was a little bit of a smaller group this day, due to the weather, but I'll go again to get more ladies posted. Head on over there if you can, they have lots of fun!

Recipe Swap-Food Storage

We got some yummy recipes from our Food Storage Recipe Swap! We only got a few sent in, so if you have one please email me your recipe at katiecupcake1@gmail.com or leave it in the comments. We could still use a lot more. I will then email you the other recipes we got. (I would post them here, but I haven't figured out how to "copy" and "paste" onto a blog. It won't let me so far. If anyone knows if this is possible, would you please leave me a comment with instructions? Thanks!)

Also you can find some other food storage recipes by clicking on the "Prepared LDS Family" link on the right hand side of the blog. From there, click on any recipe under the heading "My Food Storage Recipes" which is found on the right hand side of the blog. Enjoy!