Lesson for January 25, 2015

Lesson for January 25, 2015 Our lesson today was given by Megan Miller about Chapter 1 “The Great Commandment—Love the Lord.” The song, “I’ll Go where you want me to go and be what you want me to be” is a great blessing. Charlene Farnworth said that when she got engaged, they found that it was important for her husband to go on a mission first and it caused a great upheaval in her life, but she feels blessed that they loved the Lord. Megan said she was called to be a ward choir director and she felt unprepared, but she found it to be a blessing and she met so many wonderful people. Charlene Brough was called to be a cubmaster and was overwhelmed. Emily Campbell was a reluctant mother, but feels so blessed. Young people in the church know how to speak and organize and conduct. Sister Lamb was in Boston on scholarship and read the Book of Mormon. She felt an impression to go on a mission and lose her scholarship. She did and her whole life changed. After her mission she came to BYU and met her husband. Another sisters says that as a young stay-at-home mother, she feels shut in. She tries to read her scriptures and pay her tithing and her parents gave her a pass for a month for rock climbing. When she went, she was asked to be a coach and got a pass for free. Megan said we show the Lord our love, we end up feeling loved. Now she is faced with her husband graduating and moving away. She says listening to our stories, she feels uplifted and comforted. Look to the past and see how many times the Lord has blessed you. We turned to Moroni 10:32 where it says to come unto Christ and be perfected in Him and love him with all our might, mind, and strength. It also says to deny ourselves of all ungodliness. Sister Adele Hickman said she likes to sleep, but she was asked to be an early morning seminary teacher, so she gave up sleep for a while. Megan said she has to remember to read her scriptures by getting up early to read them. She prays that if she does that, she will be awake enough for the day. Vira was told on her mission that she had to get up early and it was hard, but then something happened and she became more invested in her mission and had no trouble getting up early. It turned her life around and gave her a new perspective. Another sister said that she will have to leave her parents and move away. Her parents have some friends where she is going to move and they gave her a name of a young woman who lives where they will live. They got in touch with the young woman and feel like they know someone. She feels like it is a tender mercy that she will know someone. Moroni 7:8 says that we should pray that we have love for others so we may be like Christ. One sister said she had a student who was awful and none of the other teachers liked. He had thrown chairs at another teacher. The sister said she prayed and knew she had to love him. She pulled him out each morning and talked to him about his life. People said it was his best year ever. She learned that love is important. Claudia Laycock said as a judge, she loves all her defendants and knows about their unfortunate lives. When she sentences them she tells them she doesn’t like to do it and tries to get them help. She works with people who need kindness from her and she feels rewarded. Joni Trewartha says that when they’re hardest to love, it’s when they need love the most. Sister Bauer said she had a difficult home life. One of her brothers liked to create turmoil and get reactions. Her parents said to be friends with her siblings. This brother felt like no one loves him. She told him that she did love him and she pointed out when his siblings at been loving to him, although he pushed them away. He wasn’t perfect after that, but he did try. Megan bore her testimony about the power of love. We need to show our Heavenly Father that we love him, by trusting him and loving all his children and that is how we get love tenfold from Him. That is the way to feel His love.

Lesson for January 11, 2015

Today our lesson was given by Kristine Hanson on Chapter 11, “The Great Commandment—Love the Lord.” From President Uchtdorf’s talk. We read about Jesus and the Passover and how one of the apostles would betray him. They were all sorrowful. President Uchtdorf said often when we hear that someone does something that needs correction, sometime we only think that others need correction. It’s interesting that it was given to the men, who often think better of themselves than they are, while women must be encouraged to think well of themselves. President Uchtdorf told the parable of a man who took walks around his neighborhood who saw a dandelion in a neighbor’s beautifully kept yard, but failed to notice his own dandelion-riddled yard. Saying, “Lord is it I?” is the beginning of wisdom, the pathway to personal conversion, and the pathway to lasting change. We have to be on our guard always. President Uchtdorf told about a ward seemed outwardly perfect, but over some years, many divorces occurred. He said that when the focus changes from things that keep us close to the Spirit to worldly things, we do not do our best. We lose the intensity of our faith. It is a small thing to pray and, but if we don’t do it we lose. Kristine said she’s going to try to increase her faith by holding family home evening every Monday by writing her father’s history. She said when you read Alma 5 about having your countenance reflect your spirituality, do you cringe or do you feel better about yourself? Have you disengaged from the gospel, even a little? Ask yourselves where is your treasure? Are you concerned with the things of this world or the gospel. Are you rooted in the love of God and men? Do you put effort into your marriage? Do you study the gospel. Our General Relief Society president said you are probably doing better than you think you are, but you can do some things better. One sister said she is trying to read the entire Book of Mormon in thirty days and it is helping her. Another sister said she made changes once before to feel the spirit more, and those things are not good enough now that she has progressed, so she realizes that she must do more. She uses the tools on lds.org and it has been a beautiful experience. Another sister and her husband are making an effort to kneel down and say morning prayers—knees on the ground. Putting out a little more effort. Another sisters said she is trying hard to get family home evening more regularly every week with her sisters and it helps her family. Another sister is trying to express gratitude more. She felt like she had an umbrella over her head, keeping her separate and now that she is meditating about her gratitude and writing about it, she is feeling more connected. She feels like sunshine is coming in, whereas before I was blocked. Another sister related to the verse in Alma 5 and related the questions to a list that can help you get the spirit and if you have the Spirit, you get help progressing. Sister Bahr said it is important to write goals. Her children didn’t want to do it, but she helped them realize that they could make small steps. She had them go over last year’s goals and realized that she had been somewhat selfish in wanting good friends, when she should be a good friend. We need to see ourselves clearly and then as we read our scriptures, conference talks, and study the gospel, we can use them as a mirror to ask if that is us or not. We can also pray for help and let the Lord tell us what we need to change. Then we need to commit. The people who do not want to change will wonder what the church has for them, but those who do want to change and are willing to look to the gospel will receive great blessings. We need to acknowledge our shortcomings and look for ways to change and we will be shown where we can change and how to do it. We are meant to walk by faith in this life. We cannot see beyond the veil very often, so most of the time we need to have faith. Our faith can become strengthened through prayer, scripture study, and other things the Lord has told us to do. Let the Lord help ourselves to become the people we should and want to become.

RS Service Auction on January 20

Join us as we bid on offered services by other Relief Society sisters--everything from tutoring to housework to helping with anything we can do. 7:00 p.m. at the church. Lots of laughter guaranteed.

Lesson for January 4, 2014

Lesson for January 4, 2014 Today our lesson was given by Irma Lopez about our new manual about Ezra Taft Benson, his life and ministry. We will have the opportunity to learn about him and his teachings this year. Some of his family called him T, short for Taft. When he was born, the doctor said he would not live, but his grandmother put him in warm water and cold water and warm, until he cried and lived. He learned hard lessons, for example, his father was called on a mission when T was only 6 years old, so he had to help with the farm. His parents told their children that they had never been apart for more than two days, but their father was going away for years. They did hire someone to help with the farm. T met his wife before he went on his mission, and she decided to write letters of encouragement to him while he was on his mission. He was ridiculed on his mission in England, but told people he was proud to be a missionary. When he came home, Flora decided to go on a mission and he then had the time to complete his education, which he finished a couple of months before she came home. She saw potential in her future husband. Sisters share their experiences with seeing the potential in their future husbands, especially as they saw them in the temple or at work. Flora made her decisions based on prayer that revealed to her that he was a diamond in the rough and she needed to help him reach his potential. Irma said she wants that opportunity to influence her husband for good. The kind of work that Ezra Taft Benson did gave him the opportunity to work as an agricultural agent for counties. He became the assistant secretary of the government agricultural agency. At the time, he was called to be the stake president in his old home, but the church authorities said he needed to go to Washington, where he was also called to be stake president. One sister said her father was always busy with the church, but now she sees him as a great example. As we have to do the work of the Lord, He always helps us so our families can be protected and blessed because of our service. President Benson once took his son with him from Washington to visit the West. He stopped by to see President Heber J. Grant, who was sick in bed, and told him he was called to be a member of the Twelve on the same day as Spencer W Kimball. President Benson felt inadequate. He said that the Lord has a way of qualifying people who are willing to serve. So after WWII, he was sent by the church to help the people of Europe. He was away from his family for a year, and then he was asked to be the secretary of agriculture under Dwight D. Eisenhower in his cabinet. When they met for the first time, President Benson did not want to serve, but President Eisenhower said he could not refuse to serve his country. He always shared pages from the Book of Mormon and shared the gospel, which did not always please the members of the government, but he felt it was important to remain faithful. Linda Campbell said to read his books for sound doctrine and a vision of what this country could be. He became the president of the church when President Kimball died. He said he and Flora had prayed to prolong President Kimball’s days on this earth, but it was not to be so. He served for only a few years, but he was a huge influence on the Church.