RS Lesson Summary- Oct 26th

Sister Armstrong gave a lovely lesson about the importance of prayer on Sunday. Her lesson came from the teachings of the prophets of the church, lesson #22, Prayer, a Commandment and a Blessing. You can read the talk online at lds.org.
President Joseph Fielding Smith taught us that the 'spirit of prayer part of our very being'. President Smith taught us by example. He quotes several times in his life when prayer was vital and life saving.
Sister Armstrong commented that prayer can open the windows of heaven, and pour out blessings to us.
During President Smith's 62 years of apostolic ministry, he often included prayers in his talks. President Smith's prayers revealed the 'depth of his testimony. '

Prayer is a deeply personal activity. Our relationship with our Heavenly Father grows and is sustained by our prayers. When we make prayer a personal priority, we are strengthened in everything we do.

1- We are commanded to draw near to Heavenly Father in Prayer
"… It is the duty of parents to teach their children to pray as soon as they commence to understand. Let them form the habit of approaching their Father in heaven, and with the understanding of the reason for prayer. If this habit is formed in childhood, it may remain through mature years, and the man or woman who has earnestly sought the Lord and thanked him for blessings, may expect that the Lord will not forsake them in the hour of need."

2-The season of prayer is always
" Some of us may have the idea that the season of prayer is when we arise in the morning, and when we are about to retire at night when our work is done, and that there is no other season for prayer. But I say unto you, and I have good backing for it, that the season for prayer is always. "

3-All we do should be in harmony with the expressions of our prayers
"We should not pray merely with our lips; but in every act, in our conversation, in all that we undertake to do, we should try to carry out the expressions of our prayers, and be in harmony with the thoughts that we declare to the Lord in our daily supplications."

4-In our prayers we should pour out our souls in Thanksgiving
" In our prayers we should pour out our souls in thanksgiving for life and being, for the redeeming sacrifice of the Son of God, for the gospel of salvation, for Joseph Smith and the mighty work of restoration brought to pass through him. We should acknowledge the hand of the Lord in all things and thank him for all things both temporal and spiritual."

5- We should plead to the Father for all our righteous desires
' We should plead with [Heavenly Father] for faith and integrity and for every godly attribute, for the triumph and success of his work, for the guidance of his Holy Spirit, and for salvation in his kingdom. We should pray for our families, for our wives and children, for food and shelter and clothing, for our business concerns, and for all our righteous desires.'

In Closing: 
" In these troublesome and difficult times, I pray that all men may be guided by that light which lighteth every man who cometh into the world [see John 1:9; D&C 93:2], and that they may gain thereby the wisdom to solve the problems which beset mankind."

RS Lesson Summary- Oct 19th

Sunday we learned how we can positively flood social media with messages about the gospel and the church. On Saturday November 1st, our ward will be participating in social media 'splits' with the missionaries. Members are asked to sign up for two hour blocks when they can interact with the missionaries of the ward. The goal is to take pictures with our phones and share them via instagram, facebook and twitter, adding the hastags: #lds, #socialmediasplit, #bookofmormon, #bennettscreekward and other tags. The purpose of these splits is to humanize the elders and sisters of the church. This activity is in response to the Book of Mormon musical which is coming to Norfolk VA. If you would like to sign up to participate, speak to a member of the bishopric or the missionaries. 

Our presence on social media can be a force for good. Elder Bednar recently gave a talk at a BYU education week entitled: Sweep the Earth as with a Flood. In this talk he stresses the importance of our influence on others, and the blessings of technology. He gives wonderful instruction on how to 'plug in' to these social media platforms. 

What is the deal with all this social media? Why should you share your positive images and messages? Why should you hashtag? That's the old pound sign: #. The hashtag links your images, and messages to an online data base. The more hashtags an item gets, it begins what is called a 'trend' and more people can see what you are doing. If you were to Google the hashtag #sharegoodness for example, you would see all the links that are attached to that hashtag. You can read more about the #sharegoodness campaign here. To read more about hashtags and their importance on social media please go here.

"The popularity and reach of current social media tools are staggering. For example, Facebook is a networking service used to share messages, images, links, and videos with family, friends, and followers—and has approximately 1.2 billion average monthly users."
Our reach on social media can be very powerful! When we share our positive messages and pictures on these sites we are generating positive information and hopefully interest to the church. 
It is important to remember that once you put something out into the internet and the digital world, you can't erase it or take it back, so choose your posts carefully and thoughtfully.  Elder Bednar said it best in his talk: 'Be Wise and Diligent: the internet never forgets. Anything you communicate through a social media channel will indeed live forever.'

Elder Bednar: "A technology known as social media is evolving in our day and playing an increasingly important role in hastening the work of salvation. The term social media refers to various channels of Internet and mobile-based communication that are used by individuals, families, and large groups of people to create digital communities wherein they share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content such as pictures and videos."
In 1862 Brigham Young said: "Every discovery in science and art, that is really true and useful to mankind has been given by direct revelation from God, though but few acknowledge it. It has been given with a view to prepare the way for the ultimate triumph of truth, and the redemption of the earth from the power of sin and Satan. We should take advantage of all these great discoveries, the accumulated wisdom of ages, and give to our children the benefit of every branch of useful knowledge, to prepare them to step forward and efficiently do their part in the great work” (Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe [1954], 18–19). 

“I exhort you to sweep the earth with messages filled with righteousness and truth—messages that are authentic, edifying, and praiseworthy—and literally to sweep the earth as with a flood.”—Elder David A. Bednar

Need help 'plugging in' to social media? Here are some links to help you out.

Instagram: A wonderful way to upload, edit and share photos with friends and family. your instagram 'friends' can see your pictures and make comments. You can 'share' these photos on Facebook, twitter and other social media sites. Instagram Creating an instagram takes a few simple steps, and you can edit privacy settings.

Twitter:  Twitter is a little different from Facebook, in that your actions and activities are in a constant stream, and in 'real time', in other words things that are happening to you right now. Twitter

Pinterest: A very fun online board where you can 'pin' or save images, recipes, quotes, pictures, videos that you want to view later and use in your life. Want a pinterest account? Go here.

Facebook: Did you know the Prophet, the First Presidency and 12 apostles all have a FB accounts? See President Monson's page here: President Thomas S. Monson Their posts and updates are wonderful. Facebook is a great way to connect with family, friends and church members. You can adjust your privacy settings to limit who sees your posts, but when you post something church related, please let everyone share if you are comfortable. Sign up with an email account on Facebook here.

Still confused? Why is this important? Elder Bednar: 'We are blessed to live, learn, and serve in this most remarkable dispensation. An important aspect of the fulness that is available to us in this special season is a miraculous progression of innovations and inventions that have enabled and accelerated the work of salvation: from trains to telegraphs to radios to automobiles to airplanes to telephones to transistors to televisions to computers to satellite transmissions to the Internet—and to an almost endless list of technologies and tools that bless our lives. All of these advancements are part of the Lord hastening His work in the latter days.'