Teacher's corner

Lin Muir was our guest teacher today for the lesson "The Infinite Power of Hope" given by President Uchtdorf in conference. We listened while she played the tender and terrifying story of Pres Uchtdorf's mother losing and then finding her children in a refugee train heading out of Czechoslovakia. He wondered how she was able to have hope. Since she was not a woman to "sit and bemoan tragedy" we began the discussion by noting that hope is an action and not just a wish.

Lin directed us to the visual of a 3-legged stool comprised of faith, hope, and charity. These elements offer stability and optimism. Hope is a gift of the spirit and can be prayed for when we don't have the "oomph" to think positively. We can hope for things, and hope in things - but these desires must be founded on Christ, who is the object of our greatest hope for eternal life and salvation.

President Uchtdorf's talk ended with advice for those who are discouraged - "never give in. Never surrender. Never allow despair to overcome your spirit. Embrace and rely upon the Hope of Israel, for the love of the Son of God pierces all darkness, softens all sorrow, and gladdens every heart. Of this I testify and leave you my blessings in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

Pursuit Of Excellence Reading Challenge

During his October 08 closing remarks President Thomas S. Monson urged us to study and ponder the teachings from General Conference that will be published in the November Ensign and Liahona magazines (the transcripts will also be available online at lds.org ). Lets study together and help encourage each other in this study.

Here is how the Pursuit of Excellence Challenge will work:

1. To be entered into the monthly drawing: Read a minimum of 4 talks each month.

2. To be entered in the Grand Prize Drawing and to complete the Pursuit of Excellence Challenge: Read all the talks from the April 09 Conference. And......

3. Write at least one post or email (or as many as you feel inspired to do) about a favorite talk or talks, your general impressions, what you learned etc.

4. Once you have read all the talks for the month you can leave a comment or send me an e-mail and you will be entered to win some great prizes. Then we will have a monthly drawing for all who read at least 4 talks. Then we will have a Grand Prize for all who left a post or email and completed the challenge by reading ALL of the talks.

Do you accept our challenge? If yes, click on the list of participants at the right and leave your name.

Deadlines: To be entered into the grand prize drawing you must have all the talks read and leave a comment letting me know you read them all by October 1, 2009. I am really excited about this and hope you will all join me in this Pursuit of Excellence.

Joy

Take a moment to reflect. Click on the link below.

http://thejoymovie.com/

Food Storage Group

Take a look at Laura Legner's work for the day!

We had great success as the sisters spent 4 days canning their food storage items. Each sister purchased her own items; flour, sugar, wheat, rice, beans, macaroni, etc. and then took them to Cynthia Israelsen's to put in cans and seal them with the canner.

It was surprisingly easy to do. Just pour into the can, pop in an oxygen packet, put on the machine and seal. Of course, what made it easy was that Cynthia did all the work getting it set up for us. She also gave up a lot of time to help and instruct each of us. We really couldn't ask for a better person to head this committee. It was so successful, we will be doing it again!

The results? 800 cans of food= 4 TONS of food!! Wow!

Missionary Moments

From Sister Deborah Romney:

The week at the MTC is wonderful. The senior missionaries (50) of us, are great people. They come from all over, and are heading out to Nigeria, Slovenia, Australia, Texas, SLC Temple Square, El Salvador, Equador, The Baltic States, and the Navajo reservation in northern Arizona, and a variety of multiple other places. 8 of us heading to Nauvoo, All are excited and eager to serve the Lord any way they can. This is the 2nd or 3rd mission for about 1/4 of the group. The Church would love to have at least two thousand more adults NOW. All of the mission presidents are begging for them. There are a total of 8 single senior sisters here. All of us are widows, but, mine was the best way to lose a husband. The others lost theirs after years of Alzheimers, Parkinsons, cancer, or brain tumors. Clyde and I had it better than all of them.

The young Elders and Sisters are instructed to help us in any way that they can, so they hold doors, allow us to precede them in the cafeteria, carry anything for us that looks the least bit heavy, and greet us whenever they see us. They are outstanding. It's uplifting just to be around them. I was assigned to attend the Sacrament meeting today with the foreign Elders and Sisters who have been assigned to an English speaking mission. They are from France, Hong Kong, Philippines, Mexico, and several other areas.

This morning as we viewed the Tabernacle Choir Broadcast prior to our MTC-wide Relief Society, with about 300 Lady Missionaries, the song you and I have talked about so often, Hymn #109 about the "sultry glebe" was sung. I thought it might be a "sign" as several other things that have happened to me have been. (I'm trying to find meaning wherever I can.) Then a story that was told in our Sacrament meeting was about an event that occured this past week with a young sister who was caught stealing her companion's money. In our Branch President's five years here, this is the first time anything like this had ever happened. He taught a wonderfully important lesson about the way the other missionaries reacted, from "why is she even here?", to "how awful", and "she shouldn't even be serving a mission", to "I'll pray for her, and hug her and tell her 'I love her' when I next see her." --- the last being the correct response. She wasn't sent home, but did not attend the Sacrament meeting with her Branch. I would love to find out how it was all handled. Anyway, I learned an important lesson about judging. It's not my place. I will learn to "forgive all offenses". I will, I will.

Teacher's corner

Angela Lee - Gaining Knowledge of Eternal Truths - Nov 16
Angela may have thought her hair looked crazy, but it looked good and her lesson went well! We were asked what "hidden treasures" were. These are spiritual truths that are hidden from the world and are only made known to those who work for heavenly understanding and can spiritually discern greater things. The best way to receive "hidden" knowlege is to ask of God and accept what He sends.
Many learned people have intellectually separated themselves from God and are not receptive or desiring of spiritual truths that may conflict with their lifestyle or inconvenience their beliefs. As the manual stated, "mankind..sets bounds to the works and ways of the Almighty." We become truly free when we accept the truths of His gospel and seek for more truth. Immersion in the teachings of Jesus will keep us spiritually sensitive, strong and open. May we always be humble to the promptings and direction that comes so fully from our Heavenly Father.

Help for your gas and electric bill.

San Diego Gas and Electric company has 2 programs to help lower income families with their utility bills. CARE and FERA. Not only do they offer a discount on your bill but their energy team can provide such help as: weatherstripping, insulation, energy efficient appliances and more. You can be either a renter or a homeowner, mobile homes qualify. Take a minute to visit their website. See if you qualify (the income levels are surprisingly high) or if this might be a benefit for the sisters you visit teach. This is an ideal program for seniors and young marrieds. Just click on this link to be connected. http://www.sdge.com/careonline

Teacher's corner

Kristy brought 2 backpacks to her lesson on the 2nd coming and Millennium. One was a gnarly 72-hr kit that you could use for a few weeks. The other was empty. She talked of physical preparation but showed us that spiritual preparation is very important. Like the 10 virgins, who were all members of the church, we need to fill our spiritual backpack with those things that will admit us to the presence of the Savior. These things included:

• obedience
• temple recommend
• scripture study
• good works
• Family Home Evening and related family righteousness
• the commandments

These posessions take up very little physical room, but they are very "fat" spiritually. They are so important that they must be worked on continually.

As members of the church, we hope that obedience will keep us physically and spiritually safe. We know, however, that we cannot escape all tribulation in these last days. But we obey the prophet and keep doing our spiritual exercises with an optimistic eye toward embracing and shaping the future. It is possible and even expected that we can live joyously as we rise above the evil which sinks below us.

Protests aganist the Church

Sisters,
I know it is hard to watch the news reports of demonstrations at the temple. However, this will all work out for our benefit. Remember we are lead by a Prophet and we are following his direction. On a postitive note: We do have some supporters.

I found this article on the Newsroom Web site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I thought you might find it interesting. Click on the link below to view:

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/catholic-bishop-decries-religious-bigotry-against-mormons

We Love Our Sisters

We have the best Relief Society ever!

From Our Stake Relief Society President

Dear Family,

I have started this message, “Dear Family,” because it is how I feel at the core of my heart. This experience we have shared together will be recorded in that special place of my heart where we store those life experiences that our Savior speaks of when he promises…”All these things shall be for thy good.” I would have been writing this email regardless of last night’s outcome of this hard fought battle. The fact that the majority of California citizens have taken a stand with us is icing on the cake for me. What has been the personal blessing for me is the time, energy, work, effort, and devotion to this cause that we have lived together for what seems like forever! Because of this call to serve by our dear Prophet, we not only can now “return and report,” and answer Our Savior in the affirmative, but we have grown closer as a family of saints; we have strengthened our might, our spirits, and our brotherhood and sisterhood. We have, as well, strengthened our friendship with those of other faiths within our community.

Today I had an assignment to feed 42 Elders for a zone conference. As my presidency and I finished our preparations for the lunch, I took a few minutes to walk around the halls of our stake center. Other than the elders in their meetings, the building was quiet. I looked at the beautiful artwork on the walls, glanced at the photos of full time missionaries serving from our stake, and heard the quiet murmurs down the hall in the Family History Library. An overwhelming surge of love filled me as my gratitude for the Lords’ church brought tears. If I could have, I would have wrapped my arms around the building and squeezed it with love and gratitude. Instead, I whispered to myself, “I am proud to member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

I am deeply grateful for my association with the saints. I am proud to stand with you whether it be in our chapels each Sunday or standing on a corner of a busy intersection waving a sign.

With love and respect,
Sister Berry

Teacher's corner

Did you hear about President Haynie's test? He gave us a pop quiz in the Sunday Adult Session. It can be taken any number of times, but must be passed if we are to enjoy the greatest blessings after this life. These are the questions:

• What did the Prophet say at the last General Conference and how am I changing my life to obey him?
• How am I helping my family and extended family obey the living prophet?
• How have I responded to Thomas Monson's request to do all I can to help Prop 8 pass?

Bottom line is - Follow the Prophet. You cannot help but be blessed - even the desire to obey assures that you will have power given to do better. And you know what the coolest thing is? You can start fresh right now to sincerely obey and you will be blessed without any penalty. Whoa!