Lesson for September 23 2018

Today our lesson was given by Lana Horrocks about ministering, “The worth of souls is great in the sight of God.” She mentioned the challenge from last week about praying for inspiration. Lana said her revelation was for us to learn each others’ names. Some sisters explained about times when they were inspired to help someone else. Lana asked us to thin about inspiration to help oe of our sisters we minister to. The idea of reciprocity in helping each other to grow. The idea came up about serving on the Lord’s time. What a blessing it is to have people serve without being asked. It really doesn’t matter who we are assigned to, we can help someone. We’re to practice ministering and since we are assigned to sisters, we can practice on them as we look for other people to serve. WIthout having a message to give we may end up talking about everything without talking about what is needed. One lesson to learn is to help people to repent when you have the right spirit and include the Savior. Sometimes we get the feeling we’re being dumb, but we can focus on outcomes rather than tasks. We should give hope and love rather than trying to change someone. There are many ways of contacting such as texting, writing email messages, that’s, phone calls, visits, tell them you pray for them. Love your sisters. Lov your neighbors. Reach out. It is more a what to do than how to do it.

Lesson for September 9, 2018

Laura apologizes. The blog will be spotty for the next few months as she takes cares of her family. Be faithful and know that you are an important part of her life and good examples, inspiration, to her. Today our lesson is about “Inspiree Ministering” by President Henry B.Eyring, taught by Kari Allsup, who just welcomed her son Eathan home from his mission to Russia. We are grateful to Eathan for helping his mother with a musical number, “Love One Another.” Kari asked,”How well do I know the sisters I am called to minister to?” “What can I do to get to know them better?” “Do I know what they need?” “What would they Lord have me do to minister as he would?” He mentioned three principles. (1) Serving others to have the gift of charity. D&C 20:11 We can be inspired to be fill with confidence to do His work. Moroni 7:13–That which is of God helps us to do good. The comment was that if we feel we should do something good, it is inspired. We have experiences that help us trust the Lord. Be the person the Lord knows He can trust. Follow those promptings so He can know. If we are trying to keep the commandments and are good friends, we can have the Spirit help us. Sometimes it helps us know when we should help. We should communicate with others to tell them when they have done somethings that has helped them. Then they know they did something right and that will encourage them to do good things again. There are opportunities for goodness and we can participate in them. It doesn’t have to be a grand gesture, it just is important to offer love. Be aware of the little things. The Lord already put these things in our way. (2) Small and simple things. If we can do something, even small things like smiling, it is good. Several sisters told of instances where they were ministered to. Even letter writing can be part of the ministry. (3) Persistence. Commitment is a major part of persistence—especially in the right way. Stalking isn’t right, so use the Spirit to know how to address. Persistence changes us, because serving someone changes our hearts and we come to love them. Kari asked us to reflect on the questions she asked At the first of the lesson. She has found that reflection is a good way to understand ourselves and other people. Remember that the LORD loves our sisters more than we do and wants us to help them and can help us to know how.

Lesson for July 22, 2018

Today Lana Horrocks taught us about “God Wants All do His Childreen to be Watched Over ad Cared For.” The aim is to discuss ministering to out sisters. We talked about our challenge from last week to behold the Man. Sometimes we behold the Man in other people. Lana began the lesson by quoting from Sister Bingham, that said that our service to others is how much we have of attributes that are like Christ’s attributes. She showed the church video about tapestries and what it means to be a disciple of Christ. A spiritual tapestry. Elder Robert D. Hales suggested Christlike attributes are an interwoven tapestry. As we strengthen one attribute, we strengthen others. A constellation of interwoven attriubutes help us in our discipeship. We are all called to be disciples of our Savior. We might not have endless miracles, but we can be part of a miracle by doing small things. Several sisters discussed how being served contributed to miracles in their lives, including other members who were good examples or leaders to them. Lana discussed companionship>. Has your ministering sister helped your faith grow. The sister being ministered to can make the ones doing the ministering feel valued. We discussed patience and feeling patience in adversity. We need to support each other through faith and conveying to others our faith. True ministering is accomplishe through love. We need to be brave in our testimony of Christ. We can mentor the younger sisters through including them in Relief Society and fee valued and of service. We all have experiences that are special and we can lift others through our example and our words.

Lesson for July 15, 2018

Today our lesson was taught by Kari Allssup about a talk given by Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Behold the Man!” Kari started by making a list of life’s greatest feelings: joy—babies, grandkids, the temple, parents, food, gospel, accomplishment. Missionary work marriage, nature, conversion, family talents, love, flowers, understanding. In comparison life’s greatest despairs—death, sickness, wayward family members, divorce, loneliness, mental health issues, failure, addiction, loss of employment, inactivity in the Church. Elder Uchtdorf said those who find a way to view the holiness of the man find ways to behold the man. These words were used by Pontus Pilate to refer to beholding Christ. He is there for us. Behold as a word is deeper than Saying to look. Behold is to observe. Beholden is to owe and recognition. Elder Uchtdorf ask us what do we need to do to behold the man? Out of perfect I’ve He gave all that we might receive all and we owe him to show our own dedication. Our personal worship and scripture study can help us develop dedication. This phrase is related to the ordinance of the sacrament. Do we know Jesus or do we know the facts about him? Do we know the Savior or do we just know about him? Some sisters accepted the challenge to fat from social media and read their scriptures instead. They were uplifted. Realizing the sacrifice of Jesus to affect our lives can uplift us and help us to connect with others. The Lord knows where you are and can help you with your trials where you are and can wipe clean our problems, little or great. Learning to behold the man is to learn to trust Christ. When we behold Jesus Christ, we can see Him as He is and not create Him in our image. ask yourself if you will recognize Him when He ones again. Reflect on your favorite stories of Jesus. Mentioned were the woma with the issue of blood. She was wealthy, but humble enough to touch the hem of His cloak. Imagine the humility that took for her to be that humble in a public place. She was in despair enough to be humble enough to seek help from Christ.The woman who was caught in adultery shows Christ’s Patience. In Ether 12:19, it says there were many whose faith was so strong they could not be kept from within the veil and could behold the Savior. We’re being invited over and over to come close enough to the Savior that we can behold him. Take a moment to assess where we are in the process of holding the Savior.

Lesson for July 8, 2018

Today our lesson was given by Karli Stewart about the talk by Elder Bednar, “Meek and Lowly of Heart.” The challenge last week was to take a personal inventory of ways to stay safe. Karli said that this was an excellent talk. She looked up the definition of meekness.The world’s definition was humble and weak, but the gospel’s definition is to be willing to follow and act as we should. We live in coarsening times and we may misunderstand meekness. Karli split us up into groups to discuss meekiness. We discussed examples in the scriptures, such as Pahoran. It’s not all about us. We need to have patience and meekness. Or Amulek who was told by an angel o receive Alma and become his partner. It resulted in Amulek becoming a great missionary. First, meekness isn’t passive. Our meekness can increase as we practice it, along with other attributes that would enhance meekness. The strength to withhold immediate judgment. The bad example was the rich young ruler who rejected Christ’s injunction to sell his goods and gain riches in heaven. Meekness goes against the natural man, yet it is a Christlike attribute. Sometimes it is hard to give up our position or our belongings because it establishes our self-identity. It is harder to give up such things due to pride. Then we inhibit ourselves. The opposite of meekness is pride. Ezra Taft Benson gave a great talk about Pride that tells about the opposite of pride. Temper and anger gets in the way of meekness, as does selfishness. our greatest example of meekness is Christ who said, :If it be Thy will.’ w need to focus on what Heavenly Father wants us to be. Karli asked us to write down what may be holding us back from being meek. If we are meek and try to be meek, we can develop this attribute.

Lesson for June 24, 2018

Today our lesson was about “Ministering motivated by Christlike love led by the Spirit.” Our lesson was taught by Lana Horrocks. The challenge las week was to b more unified with your family, or community. We also talked about learning about each other. In the June Ensign it discussed listening. Lana said to start a conversation. She handed out a sheet by Jeffrey Holland that listed 5 things to do to listen well: 1. Give them time, 2. Pay attention, 3. Clarify, 4. Reflect, 5. Find common ground. We are blessed by the Holy G Ghost, but we also need to have conversations. We also filled out a sheet on finding our own love language: 1. Words, 2. Quality time, 3. Gifts, 4. Service, 5. Touch. We discussed what each one means to the sisters in our ward. Sisters shared their experiences that made them feel loved. Be open about what your strengths are and what you like. We decided that being dependable is a good one. Lana had us get together with the sister we minister to and discuss the lesson.

Lesson for June 10, 2018

Today our lesson was given by Karli Stewart about a conference talk by Elder Lynn G. Robbins, titled “Until Seventy Times Seven.” first we talked about the challenge from last week concerning doubts. Be that person who someone can talk to. Karli said this talk is her favorite talk of the conference. Karli had several stories of famous people and how they overcame their problems, from Michael Jordan to Walt Disney, who all failed. Our purpose on earth is to grow closer to Christ through our opposition. We can see our failures as invitations to come unto Christ. The example is Oliver Granger, mentioned in the Doctrine and Covenants for failing to raise enough money to buy property for the church. Yet, Oliver Granger stayed true. It is important to get up every time we fall. Elder Robbins said we should go from failure to failure without loss of failure. We don’t always know we will succeed, but we can learn from the effort. If you touch even one person, it’s worth it. If you’re trying to raise children, you can’t expect them to be perfect, but you can be part of their lives whether they are perfect or not. Measure success not on cultural expectations but on growth. Sometimes the results are the measure as well as the growth earned. Missionaries often judge themselves on the number of baptisms, rather than ultimate influence you may not even know about. It may not be kind of success we are looking for, but it can still be success. Heavenly Father doesn’t compare us to each other, but to who we have been. Hope and continuing effort matter. If we endure faithfully, we will be blessed. Our talents are ours and they are not the same as those others have. Remember the scripture about how many times we should forgive (seven times seventy) and access the atonement’s power that allows us to improve, forgive ourselves. We are children of God and we can’t contribute what we should to this world if we can’t forgive ourselves. We are given our trials to become like Christ, through His power. The challenge this week is to view our failures as an invitation to come unto Christ. Write five things that you love about yourself ad take them out to look at from time to time to remind ourselves that we have worth.