Sunday Happenings

Lesson: Chapter 15- The Lord's Covenant People
Instructor: Sister Ashby

What is a covenant? "Within the gospel, a covenant means a sacred agreement or mutual promise between God and a person or a group of people. In making a covenant, God promises a blessing for obedience to particular commandments. He sets the terms of His covenants, and He reveals these terms to His prophets. If we choose to obey the terms of the covenant, we receive promised blessings. If we choose not to obey, He withholds the blessings, and in some instances a penalty also is given."

What blessings and responsibilities come to God's covenant people today?

"Along with the blessings we receive as the Lord’s covenant people, we have great responsibilities. The Lord promised Abraham that through his descendants the gospel would be taken to all the earth. We are fulfilling this responsibility through the full-time missionary program of the Church and the missionary work done by the members. This opportunity to preach the gospel to all the world belongs only to the Lord’s Church and His covenant people."

Scriptures to consider:

1 Peter 2: 9-10 "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise."

Let's review the covenants we've made and strive to fulfill them to the best of our ability so that we may recieve the blessings of Heaven.

Family Home Evening Ideas:

• Sharing Time: I Can Keep My Covenant
• Sharing Time: Clean Again!
• Sharing Time: Baptism, My First Covenant
• Sharing Time: Keeping Promises

Sunday Happenings

Lesson: April 2010 Conference Talk "Continue in Patience"
Instructor: Sister Smith

What is patience?

• "The ability to put our desires on hold for a time"
• "active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can -- working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardships with fortitude, even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!"
• "a godly attribute that can heal souls; unlock treasures of knowledge and understanding, and transform ordinary men and women into saints and angels. Patience is truly a fruit of the spirit".
• "staying with something until the end. It means delaying immediate gratification for future blessings."
• "Patience means to abide in faith, knowing that sometimes it is in the waiting rather than in the receiving that we grow the most."

Elder Uchtdorf started out his talk by sharing an experiment with four year old children. Each child was given a marshmallow and told that they could eat it now, but if they waited for 15 minutes they would then get two marshmellows. The children were left alone and watched behind a two-way mirror. "Some of the children ate the marshmallow immediately; some could wait only a few minutes before giving in to temptation. Only 30 percent were able to wait.
But as time went on, he kept track of the children and began to notice an interesting correlation: the children who could not wait struggled later in life and had more behavioral problems, while those who waited tended to be more positive and better motivated, have higher grades and incomes, and have healthier relationships. What started as a simple experiment with children and marshmallows became a landmark study suggesting that the ability to wait—to be patient—was a key character trait that might predict later success in life."

"Every one of us is called to wait in our own way. We wait for answers to prayers. We wait for things which at the time may appear so right and so good to us that we can't possibly imagine why Heavenly Father would delay the answer."

"The lessons we learn from patience will cultivate our character, lift our lives, and heighten our happiness. They will help us to become worthy priesthood bearers and faithful disciples of our Master, Jesus Christ."

Family Home Evening:

This talk would make a great Family Home Evening lesson go here for a copy.

LDS Living has a FHE lesson on patience, go here to see it.

Another idea would be to find a Young Woman Personal Progress goal that would fit with patience and work on it this week.

Decorating on a Dime Recap

Here are some of the beautiful ladies of the 4th ward! It was so fun to have so many of you there. We had the most divine Milk & White Chocolate Fondu! Thanks for bringing all of the delicious goodies to dip!

We are so glad Sister Webb could be with us to share some very fun & practical ideas for decorating our homes, here are a few notes:

1. Find your style: I've never thought about this before. It makes sense to find out what you like....it really narrows down the search when you are decorating. Look through magazines and create a collage of the colors, ideas, decorations, & styles you like. It will help you define your style and help you decide if you are more Traditional, Shabby Chic, Country, Modern/Contemporary, etc.... Here are some web sites that also have quick style quizzes in case you would like some more direction....they seemed pretty accurate when I took them.

http://www.sproost.com/ or http://home.ivillage.com/decorating/0,,br7sgnjf,00.html

2. Get rid of clutter: Keep what you love or anything that has sentimental value.....get rid of the extras. Have a yard sale! Use the money to purchase the basics that you will need, like paint.

3. Start small: Don't try to do everything at once! Take it one room or project at a time. Start with the entryway....the place people will see as they walk into your home.

4. Measure your space: Space plan, draw it out, don't forget the ceiling height.

5. Paint: The most inexpensive way to change the look & feel of a room.

6. Accessorize: add pops of color to a room by adding a rugs, throws, pillows, or pictures.

Go here for an easy pillow cover tutorial!

7. Sofa/Chairs: An inexpensive way to change your sofa is to add a slip cover. You can also recover chairs to give them an updated look.

8. Mirrors: Make a small room look bigger by placing a mirror across from a window.

9. Remember to use odd numbers, different heights, textures & patterns when decorating a table or shelf!
10. Have Fun! Make it your own! Add your own touches.

Here are some fun blogs you can check out for additional ideas:

Today, Young House Love had a post about "Seven Cheap Ways To Crisp Up A Room"

http://www.decorchick.com/
http://houseofsmiths.blogspot.com/
http://granvillehouse.blogspot.com/
http://www.allthingsthrifty.com/
http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/
http://www.younghouselove.com/

Happy Decorating on a Dime!

Decorating on a Dime

Don't forget our Relief Society Activity tonight: "Decorating on a Dime", 7:00 @ the church. Sister Webb will be sharing her expertise with us on where to begin when decorating our homes, how to spruce up garage sale finds, and helping us know how to space plan. Hope to see you there.

Book Club Change

Book Club has changed to Tuesday, July 27. We will meet at Sister Murphy's House at 7:00 p.m. We will be reading Stolen Lives by, Malika Oufkir. Join us for a great discussion, friends and refreshments afterwards!

Sunday Happenings

Today Sister Ashby taught ch. 11 The Life of Christ. This would be a great lesson to use as a Family Home Evening. There is a lot of information included about the life of the Savior. Sister Ashby showed us part of the DVD put out by the church entitled "Finding Faith in Christ". This video can be checked out from the library or purchased at the Distribution Center. The lesson was ended with this quote from ch. 11:

"Jesus taught: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 15:13–14). He willingly and humbly went through the sorrow in Gethsemane and the suffering on the cross so we could receive all the blessings of the plan of salvation. To receive these blessings, we must come unto Him, repent of our sins, and love Him with all our hearts. He said:
“And this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me.
“And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me … that they may be judged according to their works. …
“For the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do. …
“Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am” (3 Nephi 27:13–15, 21, 27; italics added)."

• What are your feelings as you ponder the Savior’s sacrifice for you?

FHE Ideas: (Sorry this is late...maybe you can do it next week!)

-Click here for a lesson about the Savior from LDS Living Magazine.
-Click here for a sharing time entitled "Savior and Redeemer" from the April 1999, Friend.
-Check out Prepared Not Scared each Mondy for FHE ideas

Sunday Happenings

Sister Baumann taught our lesson last Sunday on Member Missionary Work. We had some special guests from the Senior Primary come in and sing "I Hope They Call Me On a Mission". They did such a great job! Sister Baumann told the story of how her Mom was converted to the church through a neighborhood friend. She stressed the point that "We are all on a mission. We are called to teach".

L. Tom Perry told this story in the May 2009 Ensign. While driving up Provo Canyon there were emergency vehicles blocking the road. He said, "As I looked up the rock face along the east side of the entrance to Provo Canyon, I saw some men climbing. I assumed they were the search and rescue people. What were they climbing to? Eventually I saw it. Somehow a ewe, a lost sheep, had made her way about 25 feet (8 m) up the rock face, and she was stranded there. She was not a mountain goat or mountain sheep, just a white ewe separated from a shepherd’s flock.
As I had nothing else to do, I searched the rock face for a way up to where the ewe stood. I could not for the life of me figure out how she ever got there. Nevertheless, she was there, and all the commotion in front of me was focused on her rescue. To this day, I don’t know the end of the story since the police figured out a way to get the traffic moving again.
As I drove away, a concern bothered me. While the search and rescue personnel were certainly well intentioned, how would the ewe react to them? I’m sure they had a plan for how they would calm her—perhaps they would shoot her with a tranquilizer dart from a close distance so they could catch her before she fell. Knowing nothing of their plan but knowing a little about how animals react to being cornered by strangers, I worried about the feasibility of their rescue effort. And then I wondered, “Where is the shepherd?” Certainly he would have the best chance of approaching the ewe without alarming her. The shepherd’s calming voice and helping hand were what the situation needed, but he seemed to be missing in action.
As members of the Church, sometimes we seem to be missing in action, just like this shepherd. Consider for a moment what President Monson told the newly called mission presidents at the 2008 seminar for new mission presidents. He said: “There is … no substitute for a member-oriented proselyting program. Tracting will not substitute for it. Golden questions will not substitute for it. A member-oriented program is the key to success, and it works wherever we try it” (“Motivating Missionaries,” June 22, 2008, 8).

What can we do to share the gospel with those we live by, work with, or meet?

D&C 88:81- Warn our neighbors
D&C 33:7- Open Your Mouth
D&C 18: 15-16- How great shall be your joy!

We need to be looking for opportunities and be prepared for those opportunities when they are presented. You never know when your testimony will touch someone. There are many missionary opportunities: Family History, Food Storage, Gardening, etc... that could start a conversation.

Elder Perry stated "Missionaries will continue to do the best they can, but wouldn't it be better if you and I stepped up to do a job that is rightfully ours?"

Have you had any opportunities this week to share the gospel? If not, what could you do next week?