Combined meeting for Relief Society and Priesthood

We learned about missionary work and how we learn and grow in the gospel.

Lesson for March 23, 2014

Lesson for March 23, 2014 Our lesson today was given by Kristine Hanson, the Moral Force of Women. She started with a story, “ Consider now, in summary, a true story from Australian history that illustrates the power of women’s moral influence as mothers of hope, women of fidelity, wives of commitment, and nurturers of human ties. In its early decades as a British colony, Australia was a vast wilderness designated as a jail for exiled convicts. Until 1850, six of every seven people who went “down under” from Britain were men. And the few women who went were often convicts or social outcasts themselves. The men ruthlessly exploited them, sexually and in other ways. With few exceptions, these women without hope were powerless to change their conditions. In about 1840, a reformer named Caroline Chisholm urged that more women would stabilize the culture. She told the British government the best way to establish a community of “great and good people” in Australia: “For all the clergy you can dispatch, all the schoolmasters you can appoint, all the churches you can build, and all the books you can export, will never do much good without . . . ‘God’s police’-- wives and little children--good and virtuous women.” Chisholm searched for women who would raise “the moral standard of the people.” She spent twenty years traveling to England, recruiting young women and young couples who believed in the common sense principles of family life. Over time, these women tamed the men who were taming the wild land; and civil society in Australia gradually emerged. Also, the colonial governments enacted policies that elevated women’s status and reinforced family life.[23] As one historian said, “the initial reluctance of the wild colonial boys to marry was eroded fairly quickly.” Eventually, thousands of new immigrants who shared the vision of these “good and virtuous women” established stable families as the basic unit of Australian society more quickly than had occurred “anywhere else in the Western world.”[24] This striking story of women’s moral influence grew from a conscious design to replace “the penal colony’s rough and wild ways” with “a more moral civilization.” The reformers intentionally capitalized on women’s innate “civilizing” capacity. [25] These women made Australia a promised land that flowed with a healthy ecosystem of milk and honey. And the milk, literally and figuratively, was mother’s milk--the milk of human kindness. That milk nurtures those habits of the heart without which no civil society can sustain itself. Anne Summers, Damned Whores and God’s Police (Penguin Books Australia Ltd, 1975, 1994) Women have a moral force. Elder Christofferson said “Women bring with them into the world, a certain virtue, a divine gift that makes them adept at instilling such qualities as faith, courage, empathy, and refinement in relationships and in cultures.” Women exert their moral force in the home, where a father and a mother work in harmony to provide for, teach and nurture their children. A mother’s love and high expectations lead her children to act responsibly without excuses, to be serious about education and personal development, and to make ongoing contributions to the well-being of all around them. “Most sacred is a woman’s role in the creation of life. . . . As grandmothers, mothers, and role models, women have been the guardians of the wellspring of life, teach each generation the importance of sexual purity—of chastity before marriage and fidelity within marriage. In this way, they have been a civilizing influence in society; they have brought out the best in men; they have perpetuated wholesome environments in which to raise and secure healthy children.” Kristine told about her aunt whose funeral she just attended, whose family all gathered around the grave site and were examples of the influence she had on her family. Some of us feel the influence of our mothers even after they have gone to the other side. “A pernicious philosophy that undermines women’s moral influence is the devaluation of marriage and of motherhood and homemaking as a career. Some view homemaking with outright contempt, arguing it demeans women and that the relentless demands of raising children are a form of exploitation. . . There is no superior career, and no amount of money, authority, or public acclaim can exceed the ultimate rewards of family. Whatever else a woman may accomplish, her moral influence is no more optimally employed than here.” “Attitudes toward human sexuality threaten the moral authority of women on several fronts.” Claudia Laycock said it all comes down to what you can do. Some mother are great mothers and some are pretty poor, but some really can do it all. We need to understand that each person is in a unique circumstance. It is important to know that no matter their circumstances, childless or not, they can be role models to others and still be a moral influence. Lisa Buckner said her sister-in-law is a great moral example to Lisa’s daughter. Still, we need to contribute to the positive, and not the degrading equal opportunity promiscuity, coarseness in language, immodesty in dress. The world has a double standard that have caused men not rising to a higher standard, women have lowered their standards to wallow in the muck with men without conscience. We need to stand up and teach girls and boys to keep the standard of moral purity that will benefit society or society will experience degradation and. The third problem is when the line between genders is erased. We need to teach children that it is OK to be girls and OK to be boys. How do women maintain their ability to be a moral force? We need to preserve our innate virtue that is within us. And we need not apologize for our moral standards. God is the source of our moral power and we need to strive to maintain that relationship. Recommended reading: Bruce L. Hafen, “Motherhood and the Moral Influence of Women,” http://worldcongress.org/wfc2_spkrs/wcf2_hafen.htm Sheri Dew, “Are We Not All Mothers?” Ensign, Nov. 2001.

Lesson for March 16, 2014

March 16, 2014 Our lesson today is from Chapter 5, “Faith and Repentance.” It was given by Amy Fehlberg and she invited her mother to team teach with her. As a kindergarten teacher, she always asked three questions: What is the lesson about? What is important to remember? What can we do now? Faith is the first principle and ordinance of the gospel; so we need faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. Then we can be guided by their servants, the prophets. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and hope for things not seen. It’s not just hoping for something, we also have to act in faith. Faith is not the opposite of doubt. It is the opposite of uncertainty. We need to reflect on the faith we have and how to strengthen it. Let it be uppermost in your minds that Jesus Christ came into this world and redeemed us with His blood and He literally suffered for our sins and paid the price for them. We need to keep His commandments and remember Him. Ether 12:4 said that believers in God can qualify for the right hand of God, since that belief is an anchor for us. Mother: Faith is a belief and actions. The book of James, it discusses the importance of works. One verse says that the devils also know that Jesus is the Christ, but they don’t do what is necessary for salvation, so faith without works is dead. By works is faith made perfect. Faith is the moving cause of our actions. Faith means we expect an outcome from our actions. It is a gift to have faith. Nephi exercised his faith with his works, although his brothers thought he was a fool. Mother also likes another scripture character who acted and believed: Adam who offered sacrifice simply because it was commanded. He knew that we are blessed because of obedience, even if we don’t understand the reasons why. Sometimes if we obey for a while, we can come to an understanding. The commandments will make sense and our faith will grow so it can become the motivation for good actions. Amy then discussed how repentance is motivated by faith. Repentance is the outer growth of faith and the second principle of the gospel. It is turning away from sin and leaving that sin behind. Saying I believe in Jesus Christ doesn’t do it. We have to show we have faith in Him by actively repenting. You have to believe in faith AND repentance AND that what Jesus said is real. There is no place in Zion for the willful sinner, but there is room in Zion for the repentant sinner. Amy thinks it is where the heart is as to how often someone is forgiven of the same sin. We might need to prepare to repent. It is something we work on every day and then we will get stronger every day. Someone who is seeking to do better, even if they fail, is the repentant sinner and the one who has a chance of being forgiven, since the desire is there. Repentance is a gift from God so that we can repent every day. The mercy that the Savior has for us is exemplified in the story of the woman taken in adultery, where he said to those who were about to stone her, “He who is without sin, cast the first stone.” We must believe God, not just believe in Him. We must trust that God will do what He said He will do when we repent. Repentance is one of the most comforting doctrines in the gospel. What a dreadful thing it would be if there was no forgiveness of our sins and no relief. When we repent there is a flowering of something beautiful in our lives where we feel clean and feel light. We can then testify that repentance is how we can grow and live again. Amy’s mother discussed two things: Godly sorrow and worldly sorrow. Worldly sorrow is sorrow that you got caught. Godly sorrow is where we are sorry for the pain we’ve caused and have a sincere desire to make amends. We have a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Can we both be sorry we were caught and sorry for the pain we’ve caused? We need to move toward the desire to repent and reform our lives so we can resolve to never do it again. But even if we fall down again, we can still repent—kind of like an ugly caterpillar that goes into a cocoon and comes out a new creature as a butterfly. When we sin, we deceive ourselves, like the story of the Prodigal Son recognized that his father loved him and wanted him to return to him. Moroni 7:33-34 said that if you have faith in God, you may be saved. One of her favorite songs is “Reverently and Meekly Now.” Because it says that God’s love cannot end and is constant and He will always be our Savior.”

Lesson for March 9, 2014

Lesson for August 9, 2014 Our lesson today was about “Strengthening and Preserving the Family/Bringing up Children in Light and Truth.” It was taught by Maggie Kopp. Combining two different chapters today. There are some fun stories about Joseph F. Smith. He seemed like a strict person in public, but he liked to interact with his children and he could make good pies. He would spend all day making pies and his wife would make ice cream and they all had a great time. He said that the family is the most important organization in the world. Maggie passed out questions for small group discussion. She brought up what Chieko Okasaki said about not all families are alike and some have negative experiences. She asked the groups to identify the principle(s) in the quote and how does being in a family help us learn these principles. The gospel is family centered and it must be experienced in the family. It is the greatest place for us to experience gospel principles and it teaches us about how to treat our family and also gives us an idea about what our Heavenly Father is like. We can also develop desires to have better families. Family members are more loving to us when we are more loving to them. If you have a good relationship with your family, you develop a desire to be good and obey the commandments. Also, people do change over the years and hopefully they learn how they want to be from what they experienced in their families as children. We are part of our larger eternal family. Parents help us realize that because we are all on the same team, we need to serve each other and be each other’s cheerleaders. If someone in the family has a problem, everyone has a problem. Often if the parents keep the commandments and serve the Lord, sometimes wayward children will return to the fold, because the happiness draws them back. Every member of the family needs to work toward establishing the kind of family that is happy. We need to learn to resolve conflict in peaceful ways. Family reunions and family gatherings are important. Showing love toward each other and being accepting is a good way to solidify the family. The importance of family unity and spiritual solidarity is a foundation for the family that endures. Being involved in talents and family history and other unifying activities can create solidarity in the family. Although the chief responsibility for salvation lies with each individual, the family can help and be there through the trials. The next responsibility lies with the family to teach family members about eternal salvation. There are so many things we learn in our families, including how we learn and progress and how we come unto Christ. Families give us many opportunities to repent and forgive that we can internalize. It’s where we learn love, first and last. We can’t learn to love God without loving our families. We also learn service, because we’re always doing things for others in our families..

Join us at Jill Judd's for a time to finish projects

Come join with us at Jill Judd's home (303 W 220 S)on March 17 and 31 from 10-12 noon to finish up projects and sociali

Temple Dates

Our ward will be going to the temple three times in March: Tuesday, March 11 at 7:00 p.m.; Saturday, March 15 at 7:00 a.m.; and Wednesday, March 19 at 7:00 p.m.Meet at the church 1 hour prior to carpool or meet at the temple for the scheduled session

Relief Society Fitness program will be Saturdays at 10:00 a.m.

We will meet at the church. We will have other activities as well, so take part in the fun with us!

Family History conference Mar. 8 in the red church

Join us in the family history conference on March 8 in the red brick church. Registration starts at 8:00.

Lesson for March 2, 2014

Today our lesson was given to us by Irma Lopez, one of the Relief Society presidency. The topic is the power of joy and love in covenant keeping. It was given as a talk by Sister Linda Burton. She told a story about a shepherd who called the five sheep in. Four of the sheep came, but one did not. She was new and needed to be taught with loving kindness to come when called. His patience paid off and she learned to come. Making and keeping covenants means to bind ourselves to our Lord. A covenant is a binding spiritual contract. We agree to obey and God agrees to give us eternal life. Irma pointed us to some scriptures: 1 Nephi 14:14 The people are armed with righteousness and get blessings when they keep covenants. The received strength to resist temptation. As covenant keepers we can help each other with problems and share each others' burdens. We feel connections with others who keep their covenants, as well. President Holland said we go to the temple for forgiveness, so performing ordinances can help us connect. Mosiah 27:14 The Lord heard the prayers of the people. Alma had the prayers of the people to help his son. When we pray for each other, we lift and strengthen each other. One way to help little children learn about covenants, is to make promises and keep those promises. Then they will believe that keeping promises is what must be done. We also need to help children understand that they keep their baptismal covenant as well. That will help them feel like they need to keep temple covenants. The example of the parents is important as well as they go to the temple and tell the children how important it is. Sometimes the children even tell the parents that it is time to go to the temple. We can also help children understand tithing from an early age and other covenants. Symbols are an important part of our spiritual lives and we can teach children about what those symbols mean. Learning stories about our ancestors can uplift and help us to get to know them. Sometimes the vocabulary is hard, so we need to teach children the meaning of endowment. It is good to teach them about the temple. It is better to prepare them to go. It is best to be an example of going to the temple. We keep covenants because they are essential to make us happy. 2 Nephi 5:27 They lived after the manner of happiness Alma 50:22-23 There never was a happier time among the Nephites than the people of Mormon, while the wicked perished by the sword. Being forced to do something may not be the best, but telling them why is important. They need to have an understanding in themselves to do what is right when they are on their own. We need to treat them with respect, but we also have our responsibility to require that some things need to be done. By keeping our covenants, we demonstrate that we love Heavenly Father. By joyfully keeping our covenants, we demonstrate the joy we have in loving our Heavenly Father. John 14:21