July 28 Lesson "Marriage: Watch and Learn"

Jessica Lewis gave the lesson on "Marriage: Watch and Learn." by Elder L. Whitney Clayton. He told of a visit to his daughter's family. After dinner one granddaughter realized she had his full attention and said, "Grandpa, watch and learn." This lesson is for all of us, whether we are married or not so we can help to strengthen each others' marriages. Jessica asked what we have seen that strengthens marriage. Sister Joan Jensen said that being Christ-centered is a good foundation. Learning about ourselves and being willing to repent is important. Another sister said we need to ask, What can I do to make myself better. Elder Clayton said that humility is necessary to change. Then we treat others with kindness and have integrity in our dealings because of our divine nature. Elder Clayton said that marriage means we are marriage partners who treat each others in respectful ways. We need an element of fun in the marriage as we find things that we enjoy doing together, so when we are retired we can be in a place where we get along together. The importance of a date night is very important so we can be a couple. Another sister said it is important to say we are sorry and not hold grudges. Sometimes it is hard and we don't want to. Jessica said, "You have to decide if you want to be right or have a marriage." One sister said, "My mother said that if you are wrong admit it, if you are right forget it." We discussed being equally yolked and how to develop that "yokedness."It takes concern, respect, and love. Learn to love what your spouse loves. So what if our likes and dislikes became the same? That would contribute to the "yokedness." Elder Clayton said that marriages should be based on cooperation, shared duties, and make decisions together and retire together. Claudia Laycock said that the marriage is the most important thing she has learned from being a judge. She said the opposite of love is selfishness and the venom that comes from a divorce can damage the kids and partners and she often has to order therapy. Sister Hickman said that people who are friends should be willing to work to help their friends marriages and sometimes it takes drastic measures by encouraging them to work on their marriage. Be careful about what you say about your spouse so your family and friends don't carry the weight of bad behavior and treat them badly. People who treasure their marriages work on their relationships by showing love and building our partners up. Sister Bahr said we need to remember our temple covenants. The most important thing is for us to be together and honor the promises we make.We also need to be happy first and not expect the other to make you happy. We need to change ourselves first and not have expectations for our spouses that maybe they don't have the ability to do. We have to understand that people will want to change if they are in a safe and loved place. We need to show gratitude for what they do for us and how they honor their priesthood.

Ward Newsletter

For up-to-date ward information, go to LDS.org and click on sign in/tools and select Newsletter.

Summer park schedule

Thursday, August 1 at Cascade Park at 950 east 200 north in Orem, Come join the young families in our ward for a picnic and play break. Call Lisa Buckner for more information at 801-376-6558.

Stake Conference on August 24-25

Adult session August 24 from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. at the stake center. Priesthood session August 25 from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at the stake center. General session August 25 from 10:00 to 12:00 noon at the stake center and viewed in other stake chapels.

July 7, 2013 lesson

Lesson for July 7, 2013 Paige Gibson gave the lesson on “Having the Spirit of the Temple is Our Hearts and Homes.” She said that the goal for our ward is to set individual goals about temple attendance. She started with a handout that said, “My beloved brothers and sisters, may we make whatever sacrifices are necessary to attend the temple and to have the spirit of the temple in our hearts and in our homes.” Several sisters told about road blocks to going, such as children, not scheduling properly, and not making it a priority. Blessings are peace, eternal perspective, and eternal families. We talked about how important it is to make the sacrifice to go. President Monson’s talk in April 2011 gives good information about going to the temple. It is worth whatever you have to go through. In his closing remarks President Monson made that statement about making it a priority. Paige said she sometimes treats the temple as a check off list. But she realizes that the blessings of the temple are supposed to be a part of our everyday lives and our homes. We discussed making the home have some semblance of décor that is like the temple, so children and we are prepared from an early age to want to go to the temple. We went to D&C 88:119 that says to organize ourselves and make a house of order and a house of God. Everything in the temple is there for a reason, said Sister Craig, so less is more. Sister Linda Campbell said we shouldn’t be fanatic about it, or we can alienate our children and grandchildren, but music also plays an important part in creating the atmosphere. We should also make happy noises be part of our homes, and soft voices if we can. Sister Galloway said in the temple we all have jobs to do and people know what their calling is in the home. We need to make our homes a place where our family wants to be and for our homes to be places of refuge. We can dedicate our homes to the Lord so the Spirit can be there. One sister said the cleanliness is important. When we go to the temple, it’s clean, but we have to have a balance and be welcoming. Sister Dorothy Davis said a house needs to be clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy. Our house should be central to our family like the temple is central to the gospel. Family history is something we can do before we go to the temple that can point us to the temple. Baptism is the foundation, so we need to make sure our family is all baptized and have received the Holy Ghost. Each Sunday when we take the sacrament, it is a good opportunity to renew our covenants. If we talk about the temple with our children, they will feel excited and positively about the temple. Sister Craig said it’s fun to point out that certain family members have been married in different temples. We have two temples and their dedications and open houses coming up in the near future that we can go to, which is especially important to create memories about temples for children who are not old enough to go now. To have the temple in our hearts we must go again and again. We can do our family history and learn about our ancestors, so we can get to know them and have it tie our family together. Sister Cantrell tries to remember the actual ceremony and ponder it when she comes home. She says she learns something new every week. Sister Bahr said her teenagers want to go to the temple, even if they can’t do sessions. Paige said we can record our feelings in our journals and let our children see how the temple changes us. She says that giving this lesson caused her to study information about the temple and it made a difference for her. One sister said her 91-year-old grandfather all of a sudden went through the temple for the first time and he was able to be sealed to his wife and his daughter. It gives him peace now. Our covenants are meant to change us, so we should live our covenants. Also, testifying about our temple blessings can change us and influence others. There are so many blessings we can receive from the temple.

July RS activity on July 16

Come with us to the July Relief Society social: a campfire dinner up Provo Canyon. Join us at the church at 6:30 p.m. on July 16 to carpool to the Garner's property. The Relief Society will provide the main course and everyone should bring a side to share.

Ward Pioneer Day July 20

Join us as our ward celebrates Pioneer Day. We will meet at the ward on July 20 at 9:00 a.m. for breakfast, bike parade and games.