Relief Society December Newsletter

Ward Christmas Party

This year our Christmas social will be Friday, December 4th at 6pm. Dress is Christmas casual.

Dinner will be served and there will be a short program with particpation from all members of the ward. Please sign up to help bring a food item for the dinner. 

You can sign up at: signupgenius.com using the email kadefreitas@me.com

You can also sign up in the binders at church. 

Micah's Backpack

In an effort to achieve our donation goals each month, we will be accepting food donations all month long. We drop of our donation around the 12th of every month.These meals provide food to needy kids on the weekends. Breakfasts, lunches dinners and snacks for two days equals 10 food items for one child. This service effort is our only large scale on going service activity for our ward RS. It is an assignment from the Stake. Items that you can donate are oatmeal packets, small cereal boxes, fruit cups, mac n cheese, soup cups, granola bars. 

If you would like to read more info about the Micah's backpack program, you can visit this link: http://micahsbackpack.org/

Thank your for your service and your donations!

RS Pool Party

Sisters please join us for a pool party on August 28th. We are celebrating reading Daughters in my Kingdom. Invite the sisters you visit teach!

Super Saturday

Lunch Fun and Crafts!

Please join us for Super Saturday 

July 25th from 9:30am-1:30pm at the church

Please come when you can, you don't have to attend all day, bring a friend!

Daughters in my Kingdom

Today we are excited to talk about a goal the RS Presidency has for each sister in our RS: to read "Daughters in my Kingdom". Sister Ericson will be speaking about this important goal today, and we have provided  a reading schedule for you. The purpose of reading this book together is to learn more about the purposes of RS, foster unity in our own RS, and inspire us to love one another and serve one another. Copies will be passed out today and emailed, and you can reference back here, save this image to your computer and print it at home. We hope you will enjoy reading this wonderful book, share your thoughts with your fellow sisters, and find joy in serving one another.

RS Lesson Summary March 15th

Sister Gwen Armstrong gave lesson #6 in Teachings of the Presidents of the Church. She shared with us her thoughts and testimony of the Savior by reading from the manual and in song. You can read the lesson in the above link. 

“We declare the divinity of Jesus Christ. We look to Him as the only source of our salvation. We strive to   live His teachings, and we look forward to the time that He shall come again on this earth to rule and reign   as  King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In the words of a Book of Mormon prophet, we say … ,   ‘There [is] no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the  children of men, only   in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent’ (Mosiah 3:17).”

RS Lesson Schedule March 8th

Sister Ellen Walter taught her lesson from Chapter 5 of  President Ezra Taft Benson's lesson manual. 

She opened with the definition from the bible dictionary: repentance is a 'fresh view on God, self and the world.'

There are 6 important principles that President Benson discusses in this talk.

1- To truly repent we must first realize that the gospel is the plan of happiness

"One of Satan’s most frequently used deceptions is the notion that the commandments of God are meant to restrict freedom and limit happiness. Young people especially sometimes feel that the standards of the Lord   are like fences and chains, blocking them from those activities that seem most enjoyable in life. But exactly   the opposite is true. The gospel plan is the plan by which men are brought to a fulness of joy. This is the first concept I wish to stress. The gospel principles are the steps and guidelines that will help us find true  happiness and joy."

2-Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ precedes true repentance

" If it were not for the perfect, sinless life of the Savior,which He willingly laid down for us, there could be no  remission of sins.Therefore, repentance means more than simply are formation of behavior.  Many men and women in the world demonstrate great willpower and self discipline in overcoming bad habits and the weaknesses of the flesh. Yet at the same time they give no  thought to the Master, sometimes even openly rejecting Him. Such changes of behavior, even if in a positive direction, do not constitute true repentance."

3- Repentance involves a mighty change of heart

"When we have undergone this mighty change, which is brought about only through faith in Jesus Christ and  through the operation of the Spirit upon us, it is as though we have become a new person. Thus, the change   is likened to a new birth. Thousands of you have experienced this change. You have forsaken lives of sin,   sometimes deep and offensive sin, and through applying the blood of Christ in your lives, have become  clean. You have no more disposition to return to your old ways. You are in reality a new person. This is   what is meant by a change of heart."

4- Godly Sorrow Leads to True Repentance

"Godly sorrow is a gift of the Spirit. It is a deep realization that our actions have offended our Father and our God. It is the sharp and keen awareness that our behavior caused the Savior, He who knew no sin,even the greatest of all, to endure agony and suffering.Our sins caused Him to bleed at every pore. This  very real mental and spiritual anguish is what the scriptures refer to as having “a broken heart and a contrite   spirit.”

5- Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are anxious to see us change our lives, and They will help us

"In Moroni’s great sermon on faith, the principle is even more clearly taught. He was told by the Lord, “If   men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men.” It matters not what is our lack or our weakness or our  insufficiency. His gifts and powers are sufficient to overcome them all.

Moroni continues with the words of the Lord: “My grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves   before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.” (Ether 12:27; italics added.)

6-We must not lose hope as we seek to become Christlike

"We must not lose hope. Hope is an anchor to the souls of men. Satan would have us cast away that anchor. In this way he can bring discouragement and surrender.But we must not lose hope. The Lord is pleased with every effort, even the tiny, daily ones in which we strive to be more like Him. Though we may see that we   have far to go on the road to perfection, we must not give up hope."