Teacher's Corner

Our lesson was taught by Nancy Giles. Nancy is a new member of our ward and it was great to get to know her better. She taught a wonderful lesson from the conference talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland from Oct. Conference. The lesson was " The Ministry of Angels".

Elder Holland asked, "Has the day of miracles ceased?" “Or have angels ceased to appear unto the children of men? Or has he withheld the power of the Holy Ghost from them? Or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man upon the face thereof to be saved?
Behold I say unto you, Nay; for … it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men. …" Moroni 7:35

I ask everyone within the sound of my voice to take heart, be filled with faith, and remember the Lord has said He “would fight [our] battles, [our] children’s battles, and [the battles of our] children’s children.” And what do we do to merit such a defense? We are to “search diligently, pray always, and be believing. Then all things shall work together for our good, if we walk uprightly and remember the covenant wherewith we have covenanted.” The latter days are not a time to fear and tremble. They are a time to be believing and remember our covenants.

I testify of angels, both the heavenly and the mortal kind. In doing so I am testifying that God never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in the challenges that we face. “Nor will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man [or woman or child] upon the face thereof to be saved.” Moroni 7:36

Sister Giles reminded us that sometimes angels are sent to us and sometimes we are another's angel. It is usually through others that the Lord answers our prayers.

Leading in the Lord's Way

"I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves." Joseph Smith. Kristi Krueger taught our lesson sunday about leadership and tied it into our role as mothers, teachers and leaders at home as well as in the school and community. Some of the key points of the lesson was:
1. Leaders teach correct principles and help those they lead learn to govern themselves. This is such an important point especially with our children. When they are given responsibility they will respond with responsibility and love.
2. Leaders receive wisdom from the Spirit and acknowledge the Lord's blessings to them.
3. Leaders in the Lord's kingdom love those they serve.
4. Leaders in the Lord's kingdom teach through their service and example.

We have wonderful examples in our bishop and stake president that we can all follow.

Winner!

We had our first drawing and the winner was, drum roll please, Jodi Sadleir! Congratulations to Jodi. Our next drawing will be at the end of January. To be elgible you must read 4 articles from the Conference Ensign. You can leave a comment about your thoughts on what you read if you would like, but it is not required.

Sharing Stories

This is a message from Lee Baker. She received it from Marv Mills.

I thought you all might be interested in an experience that happened recently at the Washington DC temple. As many of you know, my sister Jan and her husband work in the temple where they saw and heard this incident first hand. Recently they had protesters who got through the gate and into where the visitor center is located on the Washington DC temple grounds. This was of some concern to the missionary couples and sister missionaries serving inside - especially after the protests at the LA temple. As the protesters were protesting, a big rain storm came out of no where. As protesters got caught in the down pour of rain, the sister missionaries inside the visitor center began taking umbrellas out to all of the protesters along with several chairs for those who looked like they were having a difficult time standing in the cold and rain. This act of kindness totally surprised the protesters who expressed appreciation and soon, peacefully left the temple grounds. Three of the protesters paused long enough to tell the missionaries that because of the missionaries kindness they would come back on another day ... hopefully to learn about the church and the people who would treat others with such respect and kindness. I thought that was really a wonderful example of how we all should treat others - especially those who are unkind to us and oppose our beliefs ... a good thing to remember as the future becomes more difficult and our beliefs become more and more under attack.

Is Christ In You?

"To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" COLOSSIANS 1:27


Thanks to Cathy Nielsen for sharing

United We Stand

I've been told that I am in charge of this "post" now that Marilee is moving on to a new adventure in Arizona.

Sunday's lesson was on unity. In case the object of my object lesson wasn't understood, I started out imagining Lynn Rothey was dangling from a cliff. I came to rescue her with one strand of yarn. As Lynn feared, my one strand of yarn wasn't strong enough to do the job and it broke easily. I handed out more strands of yarn to the sisters behind her with the hope they would work together and essentially weave a rope. The more strands, the stronger the rope, the more likely it would save Lynn from her precarious situation.

"A long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all together" was a quote from Joseph Smith during the time the Saints were commanded to build the first temple. The early Saints' enthusiasm for the project and determination to obey, helped them unify in ways they never had before. Learning from this account, we understand that "unity is strength", "unity is power" and amazing things can be accomplished when "we all pull together".

We also discussed what thwarts unity. Elder Eyring said that "pride is the great enemy of unity". Along with pride is selfishness and Joseph Smith said that selfishness was to not just be buried "but annihilated". Joseph Smith reminded those early Saints that "great things depend on their individual exertion" and to "let love to God and man predominate and reign triumphant in every mind" so that hearts can be knit together.

Bringing this concept home, we reflected on the events of the past three years that brought about unity. In the Fall of 2006, our Stake came together to work on Stake President Haynie's inspired "Nauvoo Project". We witnessed first hand the miracle of accomplishing what seemed like an impossible task. The burden becomes light when many hands join the effort. In the Fall of 2007, we came together once again as a Stake but this time to reach out to our community as we helped provide food, shelter and clean up aid during and after the devastating wild fires. The Fall of 2008 will forever be in our minds as the time we had an unprecedented unity with members of other faiths, especially those that haven't been particularly friendly to us in the past. We knit our hearts together, setting aside doctrinal differences, and presented a united front against the assault on the traditional family.

Yes, there is great power in unity. Truly miraculous things come to pass when we are united in a good cause. May we all work to overcome our individual weaknesses that inhibit us from becoming a united people.

Christmas at St. Claires

I think this was probably one of our most outstanding Enrichments. That says quite a bit considering some of our past Enrichments. We met a St. Claires shelter for abused women and children. We started the night off with a wonderful potluck dinner, visiting, and getting to know one another, followed by caroling and a Christmas story. The night ended with an appearance by Santa, who, with his helpers, passed out presents to all. The joy in the faces of the children when Santa walked in the room pulled at your heart strings. It was touching to see the children's excitement and hope in their eyes. One cute memory of the evening was when one child asked her mother if she could walk Santa outside because she wanted to see his sleigh. She kept insisting and it took Santa changing behind the building and walking to his car in street clothes to keep the magic alive for one little girl. Everyone felt the spirit as we realized how much our Heavenly Father loves these little ones. It was such a humbling experience for the sisters who attended. It made us so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and it also reminded all of us that we are all daughters of Heavenly Father and He loves all of His children no matter what our circumstances. These sisters may be forgotten by society at large, but they are not forgotten by Him. It was a remarkable evening and a perfect way to begin our celebration of our Saviors birth. We are the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and it was nice to provide relief for sisters who could really use us.

Thanks to our remarkable Enrichment Committee for making this possible.