RS 2015 Theme

This year the Christmas gift from the RS Presidency to the sisters of the ward was somewhat different than what you might have expected. Looking ahead, the RS chose a different route to inspire us for the new year. The presidency gave each sister a lemon. Why on earth would we give you a lemon? Seems odd, seems strange, and yet this simple gift has tremendous meaning to Sister Jessica Welsh, our RS President.

Please visit the link below and read or watch a little bit about her extended family members who have struggled and risen above the devastation of chronic cancer.

Cancer Claims Life of Utah Teen

Here is the letter from Sister Welsh:

Each day is a gift, and the onset of the a new year gives each of us the renewed opportunity to evaluate our role in our own happiness, and the happiness of those around us. A positive attitude can help us rise above our trials when we center our lives on the gospel of Christ.

President Dieter F Uchtdorf stated: "True gratitude is an expression of hope and testimony. It comes from acknowledging that we do not always understand the trials of life but trusting that one day we will. In any circumstance our sense of gratitude is nourished by the many and sacred truths we do know: that our Father has given His children the great plan of happiness; through the Atonement of His Son, Jesus Christ."

We offer you this humble lemon as a symbol of the possibilities a bright outlook can bring, and the joy of finding happiness in the unexpected. We hope you have a truly Merry Christmas, and a New Year filled with an abundance of 'lemonade.'
With Much Love,
The RS Presidency

This year our RS theme will use this quote from President Uchtdorf to inspire each of us to rise above our circumstances to see our 'day to day' lives with a fresh positive outlook and a desire to lift and bless those around us.

RS Lesson Summary December 21st

Sister Armstrong gave the lesson on the topic of the second coming. If you would like to read the entire talk you can visit lds.org and read Preparing for the coming our Lord.

From the Life of Joseph Fielding Smith

President Joseph Fielding Smith once told a group of Latter-day Saints that he was “praying for the end of the world.” He said, “If it came tomorrow I would be glad.” In response to that declaration, a woman spoke out, loudly enough for others to hear. “Oh, I hope not,” she said.

Sharing this experience some time later, President Smith taught:

“Do you not want the end of the world to come?

“Most people have the wrong idea of what is meant by the end of the world. …

“… When Christ comes there will be an end to the world. … There will not be any war, any turmoil, envying, lying; there will be no wickedness. Men will learn then to love the Lord and keep His commandments, and if they don’t they will not stay here. That’s the end of the world, and that is what the Savior prayed for when His disciples came to Him and said, ‘Teach us to pray.’ What did He do? He taught them, ‘Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.’ [See Luke 11:1–2.]

1 The coming of the Lord is near.

We are rapidly approaching the great day of the Lord, that time of “refreshing,” when he will come in the clouds of heaven to take vengeance upon the ungodly and prepare the earth for the reign of peace for all those who are willing to abide in his law [see Acts 3:19–20].³

2 There will be a judgment when Christ comes.

The parable the Lord taught of the Wheat and the Tares had reference to the last days. According to the story a sower planted good seed in his field, but while he slept the enemy came and sowed tares in the field. When the blades began to show, the servants desired to go and pluck up the tares but the Lord commanded them to let both the wheat and the tares grow up together until the harvest was ripe, lest they root up the tender wheat while destroying the tares. Then at the end of the harvest, they were to go forth and gather the wheat and bind the tares to be burned. In the explanation of this parable, the Lord said to his disciples that “the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.” [See Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43; D&C 86.]⁶

3 To prepare for the coming of the Lord, we need to watch and pray and get our houses in order.

There are many events in the world today which indicate that the great day of the Lord is drawing near when the Redeemer will again appear to set up his kingdom in righteousness preparatory to the millennial reign. In the meantime it is the duty of members of the Church to seek for knowledge and to prepare themselves by study and by faith for the ushering in of that great and glorious day.¹³

We do not need to be worrying about the times and the seasons when Christ shall come, but we do need to watch and pray and be ready.¹⁴

4 Latter-day Saints can be instruments in God’s hands to prepare a people for the Lord’s coming.

Would it not be an extraordinarily strange thing if the Lord should come and begin his reign of peace, take vengeance on the wicked, cleansing the earth from sin, and not send messengers to prepare the way before him? Should we expect the Lord to come to judge the world without first giving it warning and preparing the means of escape for all who will repent?

5 The Millennium will be a time of peace and a time to labor in the work of the Lord.

The righteous will rejoice when he comes, because then peace will come to the earth, righteousness to the people, and that same spirit of peace and joy and happiness which prevailed upon this continent for two hundred years [see 4 Nephi 1:1–22] shall again be established among the people and eventually shall become universal, and Christ shall reign as Lord of lords and King of kings for a thousand years. We are looking forward to that time.²³

For one thousand years shall this happy time of peace prevail and in due time all the inhabitants of the earth shall be brought into the fold of the Church.²⁴

"The Lord has said through his servants that during the Millennium those who have passed beyond and have attained the resurrection will reveal in person to those who are still in mortality all the information which is required to complete the work of these who have passed from this life. Then the dead will have the privilege of making known the things they desire and are entitled to receive. In this way no soul will be neglected and the work of the Lord will be perfected.³⁰

I pray every day of my life that the Lord will hasten His work. … I am praying for the end of the world because I want a better world. I want the coming of Christ. I want the reign of peace. I want the time to come when every man can live in peace and in the spirit of faith, humility and prayer."

RS Lesson Summary: December 14th

Sunday Sister Walter gave the lesson on the Birth of Jesus Christ. You can read the entire lesson here.

Why does the story of the birth of the Savior never get old? A lot of sisters had wonderful answers. For many its a simple, beautiful story that teaches us about incredible love. It's a miracle. We are humbled by Mary and Joseph's willingness to be the parents of Christ.

Sister Walter quoted Elder Holland's talk "Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a Store"

"Part of the purpose for telling the story of Christmas is to remind us that Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Indeed, however delightful we feel about it, even as children, each year it “means a little bit more.” And no matter how many times we read the biblical account of that evening in Bethlehem, we always come away with a thought—or two—we haven’t had before.

There are so many lessons to be learned from the sacred account of Christ’s birth that we always hesitate to emphasize one at the expense of all the others. Forgive me while I do just that in the time we have together here."

Then Sister Walter read this article "Christmas Came Anyway". Christmas comes to us with or without presents or stress! When we embrace the real reason for the Christmas season we will enjoy it much more. 

Psalms 16:10 "Be still and know that I am God" Each of us should try this Christmas to turn our hearts to the Savior. Sister Walter ended with this wonderful quote by President Hunter and challenged each of us to do just one of these things this holiday season, and we would feel the true meaning of Christmas even more. 

 

"This Christmas, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and then speak it again."

RS Lesson Summary Dec. 7th

Last Sunday Sister DeFreitas gave an excellent talk from Elder Holland's conference talk "Are We Not All Beggars"?. 

In what would be the most startling moment of His early ministry, Jesus stood up in His home synagogue in Nazareth and read these words prophesied by Isaiah and recorded in the Gospel of Luke: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and … set at liberty them that are bruised.”¹

"From the beginning of His ministry, Jesus loved the impoverished and the disadvantaged in an extraordinary way. He was born into the home of two of them and grew up among many more of them. We don’t know all the details of His temporal life, but He once said, “Foxes have holes, and … birds … have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head."Apparently the Creator of heaven and earth “and all things that in them are” was, at least in His adult life, homeless."

The Savior of the world loved everyone regardless of circumstance. He saw everyone as a unique child of our Heavenly Father. By watching our Lord's example we are here to help carry burdens that we cannot carry alone. We take turns being the weak and the strong. Each of us has something to offer- we all have gifts and talents. We are all sent here with tools to help lift each other and be the Savior's hands. Don't worry if you think what you are doing isn't enough. We are not asked to run faster than we have strength, we are enough in the acts of service that we provide.

“Why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work. …

“She hath done what she could.”

“She hath done what she could”! What a succinct formula! A journalist once questioned Mother Teresa of Calcutta about her hopeless task of rescuing the destitute in that city. He said that, statistically speaking, she was accomplishing absolutely nothing. This remarkable little woman shot back that her work was about love, not statistics. Notwithstanding the staggering number beyond her reach, she said she could keep the commandment to love God and her neighbor by serving those within her reach with whatever resources she had. “What we do is nothing but a drop in the ocean,” she would say on another occasion. “But if we didn't do it, the ocean would be one drop less [than it is].”Soberly, the journalist concluded that Christianity is obviously not a statistical endeavor. He reasoned that if there would be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over the ninety and nine who need no repentance, then apparently God is not overly preoccupied with percentages.

Find your strength, cultivate it and offer your strengths to another. How do we do 'what we can'?

"For one thing, we can, as King Benjamin taught, cease withholding our means because we see the poor as having brought their misery upon themselves. Perhaps some have created their own difficulties, but don’t the rest of us do exactly the same thing? Isn’t that why this compassionate ruler asks, “Are we not all beggars?”  Don’t we all cry out for help and hope and answers to prayers? Don’t we all beg for forgiveness for mistakes we have made and troubles we have caused? Don’t we all implore that grace will compensate for our weaknesses, that mercy will triumph over justice at least in our case? Little wonder that King Benjamin says we obtain a remission of our sins by pleading to God, who compassionately responds, but we retain a remission of our sins by compassionately responding to the poor who plead to us."

"You will recognize that I speak here of difficult societal needs that go well beyond members of the Church. Fortunately the Lord’s way of assisting our own is easier: all who are physically able are to observe the law of the fast. Isaiah wrote:

“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? …

“Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him … ? [that thou] undo the heavy burdens, and … let the oppressed go free … ?”¹⁶

"I bear witness of the miracles, both spiritual and temporal, that come to those who live the law of the fast. I bear witness of the miracles that have come to me. Truly, as Isaiah recorded, I have cried out in the fast more than once, and truly God has responded, “Here I am.” Cherish that sacred privilege at least monthly, and be as generous as circumstances permit in your fast offering and other humanitarian, educational, and missionary contributions. I promise that God will be generous to you, and those who find relief at your hand will call your name blessed forever. More than three-quarters of a million members of the Church were helped last year through fast offerings administered by devoted bishops and Relief Society presidents. That is a lot of grateful Latter-day Saints."

RS Lesson Summary- November 30th

This week Brother Maseda introduced the new ward mission plan for 2015. The plan has four points:

1) Become Familiar with Preach my Gospel
2) Create a Family Mission Plan
3) Involve the Missionaries in your efforts
4) Pray Daily for missionary experiences

Brother Maseda testified of the importance of the work we are doing everyday. Missionary work should be like offering a friend a glass of water on a hot day, easy and no stress. The success we find is in the invitation, not whether or not our friend accepts the invitation. We each have our moral agency to choose to accept the invite, so no matter the outcome, we are doing our part, and hastening the work during this very important time.

The missionaries talked about the preach my gospel manual. Preach my Gospel- in the opening section there is a message from the first presidency. It encourages us, and gives each of us a challenge to be a better missionary. It quotes Moses 1:39. Preach my Gospel is a great resource for teaching and understanding the basics of the gospel. As we study the manual we should 'pray to know the truth' as it states in Moroni 10:5.

Brother Welsh gave a great message on planning and goal setting. Planning- wise men plan, successful people use their time wisely. 'setting goals reflect the desires of our hearts and what we want to accomplish'. When doing this work, we should focus our goals on people and not numbers. We should set specific and realistic goals that measure progress. It's important to make efforts to go outside our comfort zone. Be a good example, don't isolate ourselves from the world. Service to others is a big part of our success.

Sister DeFreitas talked about how easy it can be to involve the missionaries in our lives. Sometimes we worry about our homes, kids and other details. The most important thing is to just have fun and not worry too much about appearances. Make a simple meal, invite friends or someone who you think would enjoy a discussion with the missionaries. Have the missionaries over for dinner and let them teach you, and your family, you'll feel their spirit and that will help you gain more confidence in doing the work.

The Bishop then talked about the importance of prayer. Pray Daily- It is important to realize what has been placed in front of us. When we are praying for missionary experiences, and the Lord puts something in our path, we must act on it. Alma 6:6- pray for the welfare of souls who don't know the Lord. The Bishop issued a request to add those 'who do not know the Lord' to our fast on December 7th.