April 16 is our Relief Society Activity

Join us for a fun night with the sisters as we participate in a humanitarian activity. We will meet at 7:00 pm.

General Conference April 5 and 6

Please watch General Conference on KSL channel 5 and listen to it on KSL 1160 AM or 102.7 FM at 10:00 am and 2:00 pm both days. Priesthood is at 6:00 pm.

March 31--Easter--5th week Bishopric Message

Fifth Sunday Bishopric message We started by singing hymn 194 There Is a Green Hill Far Away. The theme for this meeting is Easter. The bishop said that the Savior gives the bishop a perspective centered on the Atonement. That it only takes a few seconds of courage to tell him what you have done in order to access the Atonement. The bishop said he was given inspiration in a little town in France many years ago that Christ has atoned for all the good that is not in us yet. Then he turned the time over to the ward to bear testimonies. BrotherGalloway testified said he was reminded in the temple that we should be advocates of Jesus Christ and there is only one mighty to save. In all that we do and all that we say, if that is our longing and greatest desire, then we will have done good in this life. He said Easter is his special day in the year. Charlene Farnworth testified that she learned about the Savior on her mission. Her mission president told her to learn about Jesus. She had to go through emergency surgery in primitive situation with little anesthesia and she learned He is her Savior. She learned about grace the last four years while working on her PhD and found she lacked and all the lacks have been made up for her gaps.Her motto has been "I can do hard things through the Savior." Sister Byrne said she listened to a Christian leader during the presidential campaign who did not know that Romney had Christ written on his heart and it made her sad that he did not understand how much we know and love the Savior. She told of her conversion and two dreams she had about the Savior that showed her His love. She said we should keep the commandments to show Him we love Him to feel closer to Him. Brother Jonathan Mikkelson spoke of how he knows the Savior lives and is the Son of God and the only one who can pay for our sins. He really did that and we can repent. John Nielson spoke of how he loves the Savior and know that He lives. He told of Elder Bruce Hafen said that the Atonement not only pulls the weeds but also makes the garden grow. We need to allow the Savior to change us. He understands us enough to know how we need to change to become like Him. Erin Christensen said she has been teaching the thirteen year olds about the Atonement. She has come to u understand more about the capacity of the Atonement. Without it she would not have been able to change enough to meet her husband. Ted Gibbons told about the remarkable  qualities of the Savior the one he thinks of now is empathy and how He feels for us. In Mark 5 it tells Us of how Jairus asked for Jesus to heal his daughter who had died. One the way a woman with an issue of blood just touched His clothes. the principle is that He knows when we reach out to Him. He will always know. When Brother. Gibbons had surgery last week he could tell that God knows and cares and that will be enough. Stacie Card bore her testimony that t he Savior loves each and every one of us the same and died so we co uld come back to him and o u r Father in Heaven. Steve Greene told of a fireside where the  young people  were blindfolded and given objects that represented what Jesus had done in His life. each of these objets brought recollection to Steve of the Savior's life and tears fell. This morning he saw in the paper that the people in Provo and Orem believe more than anyone else in the nation that Jesus is the Christ and therefore we h ave a duty to spread the Gospel. Another brother bore his testimony of coming home from his mission and how are it was and how he was weighed down by the world. He would ask himself who he loved. his grateful for the Atonement because of through it he is made capable.

Elder Galloway--This Week in Atahualpa

25 Mar 2013 This Week in Atahualpa Hola, amigos y familia! Well, we´re working; you´re working. Things are going smoothly and I love missionary work! Here are some of my thoughts of the week: Investigator (Good and Bad) News of the Week: Well, we had quite a few investigators in church this Sunday. Because we´re preparing for General Conference (and because we teach Gospel Principles), we decided to show the biography of President Monson to our new converts/investigators. Martha loved it. Luis (and his wife Juanita) loved it. So did our fantastic new investigator, Soraya, who actually contacted us on the street and told us that after years of not going to church, she felt the urgency to return and get closer to God. She got right down to business and asked for a "blue bible" and "bible studies." We´re working on that. But we´re super thrilled for her -- she went on a tour of the chapel and has a baptismal date for the 13th of April. I think she lives in another ward´s boundaries, but she passed every day in her car wash in our sector, so we´ll teach her, then hand her off to the sisters so she can get baptized in the Solanda Ward. We´ll make things work; it´s Lord´s work, anyway, and things turn out a whole lot better when they start off right. We´ve learned that from experience. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, President Monson. We showed the first half of his biography this week, and will show the last half next week (talk about a tactic for getting people to church!). There was a new guy, Daniel, who was really interested in the movie. You could tell he was paying close attention because when we opened it up for questions, he asked, "What´s a stake?" Perfect! He attended church with his family, and wants to keep coming. We showed him the baptismal font and everything, which he said was all new to him, but he was willing to give it a try. They are a reference for another ward. We are also trying to work with the members more -- we had a FHE with the family P. (2nd counselor), and asked them to name 10 people with whom they could share the gospel. Then we narrowed it down to one family: Sister P´s sister. They drove us there last night. Talk about golden! We presented them "The Family: A Proclamation to the World." They loved it. We talked about baptism, and, at first, they were a little scared, but they were willing to meet with us and keep going. They know it´s a good thing. They belong to another ward. So things are a little down in our own sector, but we´re not losing hope. In fact, we´re super happy to find and help these marvelous people! Another good investigator story, Jenny, the mother of Augustin, a 10-year-old boy, is coming around very well. At first, when we contacted her on the street, she was interested in that we give classes to her son. We took him to church, but we focused on teaching her, and told her that if she wanted Augustin to learn, she had to give the example. We watched the movie of Joseph Smith with them; they liked it. We went on a tour of the church with Jenny and her mother (a 2-year convert and.... inactive). But Jenny loved it. She could feel the truthfulness of the Church and committed to come to church on Sunday. She did! It cost a little to persuade her to leave her 2-year-old Moses in the nursery, but she enjoyed it and will come every week. The only problem is that her husband is Catholic and doesn´t really like that she goes to church. But she said that she would always come to church because that´s the best thing she could do for her family. We had left Jenny a Liahona, and one day she told us that she was leafing through it. Her thoughts were something like this: "What am I doing with my life? I´m a stay at home mom, with two boys; I never finished my degree and watch TV all day long. I need to go back to school, finish my degree, and start working" (she studied to be a teacher). Way to go, Jenny! She´s already integrated into the ward (one sister arranged an appointment with her last night, after the first day of visiting the chapel -- now that´s a great example!) The ends of other stories aren´t so happy: María A is faltering in her desire to go to church. Which astonishes me because she was so energized on going after waiting more than a year to make contact with the Church. Ivette, too, isn´t so hot on making it to church. She went last week just because we woke up early to go with her. But we haven´t seen her since. We´ll keep trying... but you don´t win them all... Elder Galloway News of the Week: Well, I was talking with Elder Peterson in the offices today (he came in from Guaranda for a special conference) about the mission. Really, we´ve grown so much in our time here. One of the things we were really happy about is the love we feel for the country and the people here. I really love Ecuador, with all its quirks and frustrations, but it´s a really great place, with really good people. Take Jenny, for instance. Or the Vasquez family, from way back in Cumbaya (I ran into Hermano Rodriguez from Cumbaya in the offices, and he told me that they are super great -- Patricio is the 2nd counselor in the Sunday School presidency!). They are a people with pride for their country, who really do want a good life. As you said, dad, add Mormonism to any culture and it lights up. The other night my companion and I were talking about Ecuador and it´s quirks and decided to make a list of 10 things Uniquely Ecuadorian that went something like this: 1. Salchipapas, french fries mixed with deep-fried hotdogs (always with the ends cut open), smothered in mayonnaise and tomato sauce (it´s not quite ketchup). YUM. 2. Rice. 3. Mind-boggling patience when it comes to waiting in lines at banks, hospitals, and government installations (they are gigaaaaaantic). 4. Ridiculous impatience when it comes to lines for metrobuses and trolleys. They have a incredible capacity to fit 1,001 people on a metrobus. 5. Bailoterapia, or dance therapy for overweight women in the park. 6. Ecuadorianized KFC that comes with rice and lentils. 7. Sayings like, "It´s right over here" or "I´m arriving right now" or "Come another day," when they really mean to say is "It´s a few miles in the other direction" or "I´ll be there in at least a half-hour or "I really do not want to talk with you." 8. Sidewalks decorated with holes, poles, dips, and dog poo. 9. Garbage trucks that play national music when they come to collect your trash. How nice. 10. Being brainwashed into thinking that Pilsener is as Ecuadorian as Rafael Correa. It´s not. (JG - I think this is a reference to Pilsener beer. Don't know where he got this idea!) I hope you enjoy the list. We enjoyed making it. Well, have a great week! We ran into an agnostic man who used exactly the same arguments as Korihor. It´s so nice to know that Alma provides the perfect antidote to thinking that "seeing is believing": a humble heart, a desire to believe, and the willingness to do what God tells you to do. What an assurance it is to know that He lives, that His son lived and died for us and that we are forever indebted to his "great and last sacrifice" (Alma 34). May you always be thinking of the Savior this week and live to let his light shine through you. I´ll be doing that in Ecuador. With love, Elder Galloway P.S.: The apartment situation sounds great. I would love to take a spanish class. Congratulations to Curtis Merrill. How cool is that about Amanda Keating going to Dad´s old mission! I´m attaching some songs that you might use for your mission reunion (sorry there wasn´t enough time to send them last week).

Spring cleanup dumpsters available April 13

Large dumpsters will be in the church parking lot for us to place spring yard debris on April 13. Additionally, at the Provo Townes Center there will be a free hazardous waste disposal--like electronics, oil, paint, etc.

April 9 is temple night

Come join with us on April 9 at 5:30 in the church parking lot as we go to the temple for the 6:30 p.m. Other temple trips will be Saturday, April 20 at 7:30 am and Wednesday, April 17 at 7:00 p.m.

Lesson for March 24 "Becoming Goodly Parents"

Sister Amy Cowell gave the lesson based on Elder L. Tom Perry's talk, "Becoming Goodly Parents." he started out by telling that he had his 90th birthday and everything that happened since his birth. He then cautioned about the attacks on the family and the sanctity of marriage. He was grateful for the emphasis his parents placed on rearing their children and all they did for hom. He said, "But deeper is the feeling for you because of the example you set for me. Life was made so enjoyable for us as a family that we wanted to follow in your footsteps, to continue on through experiencing the same joy that had been ours in our younger days. You always found time to take the family into the canyon, and we could count on you to do anything from climbing mountains to playing ball with us. You and Dad were never going on vacations alone. The family was always with you. Now that I am away from home, I always like to talk about my home life because it was so enjoyable. I couldn't turn from your teachings now because my actions would reflect on your character. Life is a great challenge to me to be worthy to be called the son of Nora Sonne Perry. I am very proud of this title, and I hope that I will always be worthy of it." we had a good discussion of using consistent discipline and examples. elder Perry said "Lessons taught in the home by goodly parents are becoming increasingly important in today's world, where the influence of the adversary is so widespread. As we know, he is attempting to erode and destroy the very foundation of our society--the family. In clever and carefully camouflaged ways, he is attacking commitment to family life throughout the world and undermining the culture and covenants of faithful Latter-day Saints. Parents must resolve that teaching in the home is a most sacred and important responsibility. While other institutions such as church and school can assist parents to "train up a child in the way he [or she] should go" (Proverbs 22:6), this responsibility ultimately rests on the parents. According to the great plan of happiness, it is goodly parents who are entrusted with the care and development of Heavenly Father's children." we then discussed the five ways Elder Perry gave us to improve our parenting. He said, " First, parents can pray in earnest, asking our Eternal Father to help them love, understand, and guide the children He has sent to them.  Second, they can hold family prayer, scripture study, and family home evenings and eat together as often as possible, making dinner a time of communication and the teaching of values.  Third, parents can fully avail themselves of the Church's support network, communicating with their children's Primary teachers, youth leaders, and class and quorum presidencies. By communicating with those who are called and set apart to work with their children, parents can provide essential understanding of a child's special and specific needs.  Fourth, parents can share their testimonies often with their children, commit them to keep the commandments of God, and promise the blessings that our Heavenly Father promises His faithful children.  Fifth, we can organize our families based on clear, simple family rules and expectations, wholesome family traditions and rituals, and "family economics," where children have household responsibilities and can earn allowances so that they can learn to budget, save, and pay tithing on the money they earn." sister Jolley said she had to figure out her family so they all got up at the same time so they could read the scriptures together. She had to take into consideration the phase of life they are in. Another sister said sometimes we as the sisters have to make things happen even if the husbands don't. We can do things to bring the Spirit into the home even if children are being disruptive and sometimes the children can do the leading if they have the desire. Sister Cantrell said you have to allow children their free agency and do the best you can do. Sister Boyadjian told of how she used gentle persuasion to encourage a daughter to join in with scripture study though she was tired.