Good afternoon sister, what a beautiful sabbath.
THOUGHT: “During my [European] visit reporters have asked
me in one way or another, this question. “In what respects in Mormonism
attempting to save the world?”
“I have answered by asking another question.
“What does the world need saving from?” And they have hesitated to say.
“But we do not hesitate to answer that the
world needs saving, first, from a shrinking faith in the existence of God; and
second, from ignorance of our relationship to God, and from their own sins and
weaknesses; and third, from fear of oppression by their neighbors, and fear of
the hatred of mankind.”
David O. McKay
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
- CONNECTING YOUR FAMILY!
THINGS THAT MATTER MOST. Thursday Aug., 9th at 7 pm at Sarah
H. home. Come for a fun night of connecting your
ancestors. Here's a few thins we will be doing.
-----family history forms
-----family home evening ideas
-----fun with family history (getting the whole family involved)
-----gift ideas birthdays, weddings, anniversaries
-----interior design with your family history
- Karen Moon had knee surgery and is
rehab for now. If you would like to make an extra portion and take to
Milt, Karen then won't have to worry that he is eating toast.
- BYU Education Week Aug. 13 – 17
- Empty Nesters tomorrow at 7 pm at Art
and Nelda Christean's home (1165 N 1270 E) Stewart Anstead will share with
us his artist adventures!
BIRTHDAYS: August 9th Meagan Duckworth.
Happy birthday to you Megan. Enjoy.
Our message today was presented by Amy Smart, “BECOMING
CENTERED IN JESUS CHRIST”
It's an interesting experience to prepare for
the first Sunday message because there is no manual and I have to rely on the
spirit to tell me what to teach. I feel strongly today about I will be
teaching. I am so grateful for the 5th Sunday message that Brother
Teel and Brother Jensen presented. Being converted is a lifetime process and we
all are on different stages. Sometimes we are on a high peak and then at other
times in a plateau in our conversion. It is a very personal experience.
A few weeks ago Stephen Covey passed away and as
I was reading about it, I learned how important his family to him. There are
three different kinds of families. Those that are family centered, church
centered and Christ centered. As I read about him, I asked myself, where does
my family fall? Is it Christ-centered? Am I Christ centered? We, as women,
mothers, grandmothers need to be Christ centered. This is what got me thinking.
We will look at the handout and try to answer
the questions. We will address the what, the how and the why of becoming
centered in Christ.
What does it mean to be Christ-centered?
Micheale C: To keep eternal perspective
Amy R: To remember him in all things
Alisa: Keeping focus on feeling charity for others. To
think what kind of day are they having, to be nice.
Amy W: Remembering our covenants
Pat J: To think about how he would deal with that. As
we go through our day we can ask ourselves how the Savior would handle that
particular situation.
We can emulate Him. Think how He would act and
then try to act like Him. Let's read some of the scriptures. One is how we show
our love for him and the other is how others know we are his disciples.
John 13:34 “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye
love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another”
John 14:15 “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
How do we show our Discipleship?
There are physical ways that we show that we are
disciples of Jesus Christ. Specific ways.
Laurie: There is no better disciple than your husband.
He has prayed for my husband, blessed him, and even bought him a BYU hat to
wear while he undergoes his chemotherapy. He is constantly thinking about him.
Making covenants: how does it show discipleship?
What are some of the covenants?
There is the covenant of baptism – taking His
name upon us. And we renew it weekly when we partake of the sacrament.
Temple covenants, there are some specific
covenants along with specific blessings.
Janet S: Making them is easy, it's the keeping part that
is more thought provoking.
As we experience life, we remember them. When I
went to the temple and made these covenants, I felt like I was 8 years old
again. A child almost in regard to these more serious covenants. Elder Oaks
said that not to worry so much about the things we have to do, our list of
things, but think more of the covenants as those to keep. It shows a different
perspective, not to just do and mark off our list of things to do. As we
progress the Savior can change us. It's about becoming, not just a to do list.
At the BYU Women's Conference, 2012 Sandra
Rogers gave a fabulous talk. The link is listed below.
In her talk “Discipleship and Our Ministry” she
talks about Jesus Christ as being our center and how to manifest our
discipleship to him.
“Succinctly our Savior outlined the sum of
Christian worship; it is to love Him, to love each other, and to keep His
commandments. From these fundamentals flow all the other Christlike virtues.
This is why, when President Hinckley was asked, “What is the symbol of your
religion?” he replied, “the lives of our people must become the most meaningful
expression of our faith and , in fact, therefore, the symbol of our worship.:
“In 1982 an important addition was made to
the title, The Book of Mormon; it was “Another Testament of Jesus Christ.” If
our lives are to be a meaningful symbol of our devotion to the Savior, then we
must come to the determination, in soul, heart, and mind, that we too will be
another testament of Jesus Christ; that by or fruits—our thoughts, our words,
our deeds—others may know Him whom we love, whom we strive to follow and whom
we try to obey.”
Ways we emulate Him and keep our covenants
Kristy A: The second we wake up we begin our morning
regiment that is repeated over and over from day to day. I appreciate that
everything is so repetitious in the gospel. There are the basic concepts and we
place and put new experiences each time.
The gospel is a simple thing and there is
repetition, the sacrament, It is a way that we allow that to help us change, to
let him change us.
Visiting teaching helps us to do that also. We
can feel his love as we serve each other.
Andrea: I am one who likes to create daily check list
and I have found that when I have a smaller check list, I am more willing to
serve and have the spirit. Sometimes I never finish the check list and at times
I say I will strive for this today but if the opportunity comes to serve, then
that's where my time will go.
Yes, as we become more Christ centered, the
important things will become more clear.
Alisa: At the end of my day, I make a list of the
things I did get done.
In the stage of our life as busy moms, it is a
healthy thing to see what we did do today. We fed the hungry and clothed the
naked. Our family.
Brother Tell reference this scripture last week
and I went home and read it. It tells who He is, the Messiah. This is Me. He
quotes Isaiah and describes perfectly his mission and what he does.
Luke 4:18 “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
broken hearted; to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised..”
Isn't that a beautiful list? How can we apply
that to our lives?
Melissa B: Our callings offer us an opportunity to do
that. We need to fulfill our callings.
Our callings are amazing in that it is a
community effort. As we each contribute, we learn as we do.
Amy W: Martha taught me that and is still teaching me.
One is that in our callings, the things we individually are inspired to do. We
can get overwhelmed at times, but in our own callings we are put in specific
places, specific things only we can do. We do our own little small corner. It
doesn't matter if we are not able to do every things, but we can do one thing.
Mourn with those that mourn. Visiting teaching is a beautiful plan.
We are not capable of doing it all, so the Lord
put people in our path to help us.
Andrea: Like the star fish story. We can make a
difference to that one.
The Savior has done everything to everyone. He
ask us to do our part and He fills the gap.
Rosemary: It's about opening our eyes. Our testimony,
the sharing of our thoughts, though personal and we hear the words, it gives us
sight to each other.
Why do we want to become centered in Christ?
What blessings do we receive?
Micheale C: Peace. John 16:33
“These things I have spoken unto you, that in
me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good
cheer; I have overcome the world.”
Let not your heart be troubled or be afraid.
Rosemary: His love for us. I love feeling loved.
Shanel: We can become heir of all he has. It's a
blessing to help us get through this life.
Martha: It gives us courage and purpose and direction.
Life is challenging. He will get us through it.
Sister Rogers says “The Savior understands women. He knows they worry. He
knows they “sweat the small stuff.” He knows they want their labor in caring
and worrying and being cumbered about, to be acknowledged and appreciated. And
He also knows that they will be happier if they learn to choose the “good
part.”
I also believe that Jesus understood that women
can magnify their imperfections far better than they often magnify even their
callings. Women can dwell on their mistakes and churn in the tide of guilt and
inadequacy over many things, believing they will never be good enough or that
they can never be restored to the good person they really wanted to be. But
Jesus offers women hope when they struggle with these feelings. He has the
power to help us turn our weaknesses into strengths. He offers a helping hand,
a way up, not a condemnation that keeps us down, perseverating on our
shortcomings. You see, He doesn't want to lose any of us. Why do you think He
tells the parables of the creditor and the debtors, or the lost sheep, or the
prodigal son? He's trying to tell us that He isn't grading on the curve and He
wants all of us to pass mortality with flying colors.
“In return for our willingness to bind
ourselves to Him, He has promised us that in His strength we can do all things;
and that through Him we can find peace; and that in His promises we can find
hope and comfort.”
It's a great thought, a reminder as I move
closer to the Savior to make him the center. He lifts me, strengthens me where
I am weak. He compensates for our sorrow, disappointments, our hurts. It is a
comforting truth and blessing of the gospel.
Our burdens are made light as we move closer to
Him. Sometimes I am scare to add more to my life, guilt, feel inadequate, but
as we focus on our covenants and renew them, the burden is lifted. The Savior
already paid a heavy price, but it's been paid. Take that gift and use it to be
an instrument to help other people.
Here are the links to the talks: http://ce.byu.edu/cw/womensconference/archive/2012/pdf/SandraRogers.pdf
(text)
http://byutv.org/watch/fdd82b33-6683-4845-a675-1928a50a44d4/byu-womens-conference-sandra-rogers
(video)
Next week's lesson: #15 “Advancing the Work of
the Lord” George Albert Smith Manual
Have a great week.
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