Sunday Lesson: June 28th

The Teaching of our Times Lesson was on Elder Russell M. Nelson's most recent conference talk The Sabbath Is A Delight. Elder Nelson asks the question: "What did the Savior mean when He said, 'the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath'?" Elder Nekson says that, "He wanted us to understand that the Sabbath was His gift to us, granting real respite from the rigors of daily life and an opportunity for spiritual and physical renewal. God gave us this special day, not for amusement or daily labor but for a rest from duty, with physical and spiritual relief."

Our teacher had us read about five sisters who have a five different perspectives on the Sabbath Day. These women are Barbara Burden, Michelle My Day,Heather Holiday, Rachel Rester, and Wilma Wise. We can learn from these 'sisters' and their attitude about the Sabbath and try to make sure our choices on Sunday's are in accordance with what God would have us be doing. Elder Nelson says, "It wasn't until later that I learned from the scriptures that my conduct and my attitude on the Sabbath constituted a sign between me and my Heavenly Father. With that understanding, I no longer needed lists of dos and don'ts. When I had to make a decision whether or not an activity was appropriate for the Sabbath, I simply asked myself, 'What sign do I want to give God?' That question made my choices about the Sabbath day crystal clear."

Elder Nelson asks another question: "How can you ensure that your behavior on the Sabbath will lead to joy and rejoicing?" In his message Elder Nelson gives wonderful suggestions to make the Sabbath delightful and memorable. He tells us that we should be teaching the gospel to our children. In a First Presidency letter from 1999 we are given this counsel: "We call upon parents to devote their best efforts to the teaching and rearing of their children in gospel principles which will keep them close to the Church. The home is the basis of a righteous life, and no other instrumentality can take its place or fulfill its essential functions in carring forward this God-given responsibility."

Something else that we can do on the Sabbath is engage in Family History Work. Elder Nelson teaches us, "Searching for and finding family members who have preceded you on earth - those who did not have an opportunity to accept the gospel while here - can bring immense joy."

Another way we can make the Sabbath a delight is by rendering service to others. "Serve those who are not feeling well or those who are lonely or in need. Lifting their spirits will lift yours as well." In Isaiah 58:13-14 the prophet Isiah taught us how to make the Sabbath more delightful. He said: "If thou turn away...from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, . . . .and shalt honour [the Lord], not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord." Elder Nelson adds, "Not pursuing your 'own pleasure' on the Sabbath requires self-discipline. You may have to deny yourself of something you might like. If you choose to delight yourself in the Lord, you will not permit yourself to treat it as any other day. Routine and recreational activities can be done some other time." 

Elder Nelson finally teaches us that, "Faith in God engenders a love for the Sabbath; faith in the Sabbath engenders a love for God. A sacred Sabbath truly is a delight."

Chairty

Let us be both humble and an answer to someone's prayers.

Sunday Lesson: June 14th

Our lesson this week was from our Ezra Taft Benson manual, Flooding the Earth and Our Lives with the Book of Mormon, Chp. 10. Many of us remember Pres. Benson and his challenge to all of us to read the Book of Mormon every day of our lives. He reminds us that the Book of Mormon was written for us, for our day. Each of the major writers of the Book of Mormon testified that he wrote for future generations...If they saw our day and chose those things which would be of greatest worth to us, is not that how we should study the Book of Mormon? We should constanty ask ourselves, "Why did the Lord inspire Mormon (or Moroni or Alma) to include that in his record? What lesson can I learn from that to help me live in this day and age?"
 
Pres. Benson teaches us that there is something more in the Book of Mormon than we think there is. "There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoud deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path."
 
Our teacher reminded us of Sis. Lawrence who taught in the recent Stake Conference that feasting upon the scriptures is like preparing a feast for our family. It takes effort, there is a variety of things to eat, we need the correct tools to eat our meal and there is always dessert that seems to stay with us. Feasting upon the scriptures is the same approach. It takes effort to prepare to study, there should be a variety of things learn as we study, and we need the correct tools, a paper and pen, as we read and study. Finally, our dessert is what stays with us, the things we learn as we study and feast upon the word.
 
Pres. Benson tells about the visions he had concerning the Book of Mormon: "My beloved brothers and sisters, we hardly fathom the power of the Book of Mormon, nor the divine role it must play, nor the extent to which it must be moved...I challenge all of us to prayerfully consider the steps that we can personally take to bring this new witness for Christ more fully into our own lives and into a world that so desperately needs it. I have a vision of homes alerted, of classes alive, and of pulpits aflame with the spirit of Book of Mormon messages. I have a vision of ome teachers and visiting teachers, ward and branch officers, and stake and mission leaders counseling our people out of the most correct of any book on earth - the Book of Mormon. I have a vision of artists putting into film, drama, literature, music, and paintings great themes and great characters from the Book of Mormon. I have a vision of thousands of missionaries going into the mission field with hundreds of passages memorized from the Book of Mormon so that they might feed the nees of a spiritually famished world. I have a vision of the whole Church getting nearer to God by abiding by the preceps of the Book of Mormon. Indeed, I have a vision of flooding the earth with the Book of Mormon."

Sunday Lesson, June 7th

Why do we get taught and hear the same things several times?  The more times you repeat patterns of thought the more likely you will be to remember that information. Repetition is a key part of learning. We discussed a talk given during conference this spring by Elder Wilford W Andersen, The Music of the Gospel.  He starts his talk out with a radio interview that he listened to:

                He was listening to a young doctor who worked in a hospital in the Navajo Nation. The Dr told of an experience he had one night when an old Native American man came into the emergency room. The young Dr asked the man how he could help him. The man looked straight ahead and said nothing. The Dr feeling a little impatient said, “I cannot help you if you don’t speak to me. Tell me why you have come to the hospital.” The old man looked at the Dr and said. “Do you dance?” The Dr thought maybe his patient was a tribal medicine man, who according to ancient tribal customs, wanted to heal the sick through song and dance rather than through prescribing medication. The Dr said “No, I don’t dance. Do you dance?” The old man nodded yes. Then the Dr asked, “Could you teach me to dance?”  The old man’s response was this, “I can teach you to dance, but you have to hear the music.”

Elder Andersen says that sometimes in our homes (we as individuals) learn the dance steps, but are not as successful in hearing the music. As the old medicine man well knew, it is hard to dance without music. Dancing without music is awkward and unfulfilling – even embarrassing. Elder Andersen asks, have you ever tried it?

D&C 8:2 reads, "Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart."

- Elder Andersen said, “We learn the dance steps with our minds, but we hear the music with our hearts. The dance steps of the gospel are the things we do; the music of the gospel is the joyful spiritual feeling that comes from the Holy Ghost. The dance steps require discipline, but the joy of the dance will be experienced only when we come to hear the music.”   DANCE STEPS = THE THINGS WE DO     MUSIC = HOLY GHOST

There are those who ridicule members of the church for the things we do. That is understandable. Those who dance often appear strange or awkward or, to use a scriptural term, “peculiar” to those who cannot hear the music. Have you ever stopped your car at a stoplight next to a car where the driver was dancing and singing at the top of his lungs, but you couldn’t hear a sound because your windows were rolled up? Didn’t he look a little peculiar? If we learn the dance steps without learning to hear and to feel the beautiful music of the gospel, we will over time become uncomfortable with the dance and will either quit dancing or, almost as bad, keep dancing only because of the pressure we feel from others who are dancing around us.

We should ask ourselves if there are some of these “dance steps” that we do just going through the motions.

  Elder Anderson shares two things we need to be doing to hear the music…

1^st – We must keep our lives attuned to the correct spiritual frequency. Elder Andersen likens it to finding your favorite radio station by carefully turning the radio dial. It has to be lined up perfectly with the stations frequency. As we approach the number we hear static. When we finally make the precise alignment our favorite music can be heard clearly. In our lives, we have to align with the correct frequency in order to hear the music of the Spirit.

When we are first baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost we are filled with the music that accompanies conversion. But the spirit will not endure unkindness or pride or envy. If our lives are out of tune with the music of the gospel, we need to tune them up.

Elder Bednar teaches, "Everything that invites and entices us to do good and be good is from God."

2^nd – When we feel the music we need to recognize it. Attributes that lead to an increasing spiritual influence are by long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, persuasion, sincere love. These are the attributes that tune our hearts to the music of the gospel. When they are present, the dance steps will be performed more naturally and joyfully.

These things do not come all at once. It takes diligent practice. If you are not hearing the music of the gospel in your home or life; please remember these two words: Keep Practicing. With God’s help, the day will come when the music of the gospel will fill your home with unspeakable joy.

Even when performed well, the music will not solve all of our problems. There will still be crescendos and decrescendos in our lives, staccatos and legatos. Such is the nature of life on planet earth. But when we add music to the dance steps, the sometimes complicated rhythms of marriage and family life tend to move toward a harmonious balance. The Holy Ghost will be our constant companion.

In addition to this points and this talk I want add some words of President Eyring from the Women’s session of conference:

*** He speaks to women and our role as comforters. He says that “you can and must be an important part of His giving comfort to those who need comfort. You can play your part best if you know more of how He answers those prayers for help.  Many are praying to Heavenly Father for relief, for help in carrying their burdens of grief, loneliness, and fear. Heavenly Father hears those prayers and understands their needs. He and His Beloved Son, the resurrected Jesus Christ, have promised help.

At baptism we promise to help bear one another’s burdens. To mourn with those that mourn, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort.

-          We can pray - to know how to help the Lord comfort others.

-          We can help  -  Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father sent the Holy Ghost as the comforter to his disciples to help.

These reminders given to us are important. We aren’t just taught something once and expected to remember it. We learn through repetition. We get to listen to conference, talks in sacrament, lessons in Sunday school and RS. Often times it is a topic that we have heard before. Through the Holy Ghost those talks and lessons can touch our hearts and minds in a way that we need to hear. In the way that Heavenly Father can speak to us as individuals and our specific needs. Let us not take that gift for granted.

June Newsletter

Presidency Message by Lisa Lara
My children are always in the forefront of my mind, but especially I have been thinking about my daughters recently. Maybe it is because my oldest and I are getting ready to attend girls camp in a few weeks, or maybe because I see the difference the gospel can make in a young girl. There is so much influence, whether good or bad, in the world that can steer us in so many different directions.

I have a marker in my scriptures of a quote from Sister Margaret D Nadauld. In the 2000 October General Conference she said,

"Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity."

What powerful words. Let us all be women of God and be an influence for good in the world as we allow the gospel of Jesus Christ to guide us on our way.

Love, Marty, Lisa, Jan, & Debbie

Birthdays
1 June Berger
7 Kyle Koyle
14 Laura Clay
15 Lisa Weldon
16 Sheree Cardon
17 Lisa Larson
17 Sandra Sullivan
18 Kristin Mann
18 Julie Mote
24 Eva Carroll
24 Gayle Tracy
30 Breanne Puff

Lesson Schedule – (Ezra Taft Benson)
June 7 Presidency message by Jan Welling
June 14 #10 “Flooding the earth and our lives with the Book of Mormon” taught by Kay Bashford
June 21 #15 “The Sacred calling of Fathers and Mothers” taught by Jenny Maxwell
June 28 “The Sabbath is a Delight” from Russell M Nelson taught by Mary Kay Bashford

Upcoming Events
June 11 – Relief Society Meeting 7:00
June 17 – Ward Temple Day

Other Opportunities
June 3 Book Club 7pm at Samantha Phillips “The Last Dickens” by Matthew Pearl
June 9 Lunch Bunch 11am Chipotle (12550 W 64th Ave)
June 18 Project Night 7pm Welling's
Thursdays 9:30 am playgroup
Saturdays 8 am pickup basketball Stake Center
Mon & Wed 9 am Aerobics