We had our Stake/Regional Conference this past weekend and it was a wonderful, spiritual, inpirational experience for me. Here are a few of the notes I took:
Saturday Night Adult Session of Stake Conference
President Swindlehurst spoke about forgiveness. He asked a very profound question that really got me thinking: Will we give away ALL of our sins to know our Heavenly Father? Are there sins that we love that we are "almost" ready to give up? Now is the time to do it. They divide us from our celestial possibilities. The atonement can only be in effect when we leave our sins behind.
Sister Brimhall of the Los Angeles Temple taught us that we can do hard things. One of the comments she made really stuck with me: Heavenly Father delegated many things to the Savior, but He has never and will never delegate our personal prayers to anyone. He wants to hear from us.
President Brimhall, the LA Temple President taught us that there isn't anything the Lord can't do with us if we are willing and LET Him do it. He suggested that every time we put on the temple garment that we let it remind us of our Savior's love. As a boy, Jesus was found teaching in the temple...He still does!!!
President Porter spoke to us about how we can get our children ready to attend the temple. We need to do the following:
Be regular church attenders
Hold Family Home Evenings
Have family prayer daily
Bear our testimonies often to our children
Show consistency in living the principles of the gospel
Participate in all the saving ordinances of the gospel: baptism, confirmation, Melchizedek priesthood, the endowment, and the new and everlasting covenant of marriage
Look to the Savior always
He taught that having a testimony equals knowing and feeling; being converted means doing and becoming. I LOVED THAT!
Teach chastity and moral cleanliness
Teach about the Savior and the atonement
Continue to stay worthy (endure to the end)
One of his final comments: God cannot break the covenants of the temple or he would cease to be God, only we can.
Sunday Morning Session of Regional Conference. This was a conference attended by 88 Southern California Stakes via satellite.
Bishop Richard Edgely spoke about adversity. We should never blame God when trials come, never ask why. We should thank Him for making it okay, for helping us get through the trials. How do we meet the challenges of life? This life was meant to be a schoolmaster, we should be learning. Adversity can bring us closer to God, and because of our own adversity we can become more compassionate to others when they are going thru their own adversities.
Sister Vicki Matsumori talked about this life being the time to set ETERNAL resolutions. We are here temporarily. This is not our permanent home. We need to:
Live what we believe
Always be willing to attend the temple
Leave a lasting legacy of faith
As Elder Holland has challenged us...we need to live the gospel conspicuously.
Elder Jeffrey Holland spoke about resolving. We should resolve some of the issues in our life and that will help in ALL aspects of our lives. We need to:
Forgive ourselves for something that needs forgiving.
Not be so hard on ourselves while we are trying to become better.
God is happy if we are trying to do what is right and move in the right direction.
Unload some of that excess baggage that we have been carrying around.
Move on, move up!
Forgive someone else. We need to bear one another's burdens and thus fulfill the plan of happiness. A true Latter-day Saint needs to be pleasant and forgiving EVERY DAY. You cannot expect to receive what you are not willing to give. It is spiritual murder to hate and to brood. Get some things resolved that need resolving.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf started out by telling us that this conference was being translated into 14 languages other than English. "You are truly the United Nations" of the church." In the church we are never alone.
He gave a quote and I did not catch who it was by: "Conquer the angry man by love, the miser by generosity, the liar with truth." I loved that!
We need to help and encourage young people to serve the Lord. Now is the time for them to make the commitment to serve the Lord. Don't underestimate your potential as a missionary.
Satan keeps us from using our time wisely...from reaching our goals. HAVE INTENTIONS. Have financial and temporal goals but don't forgot the spiritual goals. Evaluate where you are in the journey back to Heavenly Father. Make course corrections where necessary. Remember: "Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I comand."
Make use of the help that is always available to you. Increase your faith by living the gospel. Follow three plain but proven principles:
1. Have and keep a current temple recommend. Guard it as a precious asset.
2. Study the word of God daily. Ponder the things that need to be resolved in your life.
3. Speak with your Father in Heaven daily. President Ezra Taft Benson said, "Nothign can take the place of prayer."
Showing posts with label LDS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LDS. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Sunday's Inspiration
One of the things I have decided to do this year is keep a journal. Part of that plan is to take it to church and write down the things that I learn each week. Often I get great inspiration and just know that I am going to remember it, but by the time the block of meetings is over, the 4-year old is collected, we have driven home and gotten dinner over with, it is gone....but no more!
Therefore, here are my notes from this Sunday's meetings.
The bishop and his wife spoke and they were both great talks. She started out by mentioning that as she listened to the latest General Conference talks she heard the message that we should get and keep a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit over and over again. She felt that this was the underlying message for that Conference. We need a personal relationship with the Spirit to help us survive the times. When trials come we should ask, "What am I to learn from this?"
One comment that she made that really hit home for me what that if all our prayers were answered right away there would be no opposition, no faith, no death, etc. We are told to pray with real intent, but what is real intent? She said that real intent means that we really intend to follow the direction that we are given....hmmm...I never thought of it that way before, but such a profound statement.
She also said that all beings who have bodies have power over those who do not. So, we have more power than Satan and his angels and always will have. We need to exercise our faith.
One of the best comments she made was that God will not require more than our best...but he does expect us to do our very best.
Then the Bishop started out his talk by reminding us of the challenges that our Stake President gave each of us at our last Stake Conference. They were:
1. Be a more honest people.
2. Get out of debt.
3. Be faithful in paying tithes and generous offerings.
4. Be a more repentant people.
5. Read "The Miracle of Forgiveness" by Spencer W. Kimball as a family before our October 2010 Stake Conference.
Then he went on to talk about why adversity is required in our lives. We are given adversity so that we can learn by the choices that we make when adversity comes into our lives. A lot of our adversities are created by the choices that we make. Hopefully we will learn by the choices that we make.
Elder Neal A. Maxwell said that we will either choose Christ's manner of living or his manner of suffering. That really made me think!
In Sunday School we discussed the Counsel in Heaven and how Jesus was chosen to become the Savior of the world. It was a really good discussion, and then Sunday evening there was a segment of the series Messiah, Behold the Lamb of God on BYU-TV. One of the comments made was that when we were there in the counsel we put our complete faith that Jesus would be able to do what he said he would do. He had not done it yet, therefore, those of us who chose His plan chose it by faith and not by a knowledge that he would be able to atone for our sins. That should give us great hope that if we had that kind of faith then, then we surely can have the faith to make it through our time on earth.
I was truly inspired a motivated by the whole day!
Therefore, here are my notes from this Sunday's meetings.
The bishop and his wife spoke and they were both great talks. She started out by mentioning that as she listened to the latest General Conference talks she heard the message that we should get and keep a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit over and over again. She felt that this was the underlying message for that Conference. We need a personal relationship with the Spirit to help us survive the times. When trials come we should ask, "What am I to learn from this?"
One comment that she made that really hit home for me what that if all our prayers were answered right away there would be no opposition, no faith, no death, etc. We are told to pray with real intent, but what is real intent? She said that real intent means that we really intend to follow the direction that we are given....hmmm...I never thought of it that way before, but such a profound statement.
She also said that all beings who have bodies have power over those who do not. So, we have more power than Satan and his angels and always will have. We need to exercise our faith.
One of the best comments she made was that God will not require more than our best...but he does expect us to do our very best.
Then the Bishop started out his talk by reminding us of the challenges that our Stake President gave each of us at our last Stake Conference. They were:
1. Be a more honest people.
2. Get out of debt.
3. Be faithful in paying tithes and generous offerings.
4. Be a more repentant people.
5. Read "The Miracle of Forgiveness" by Spencer W. Kimball as a family before our October 2010 Stake Conference.
Then he went on to talk about why adversity is required in our lives. We are given adversity so that we can learn by the choices that we make when adversity comes into our lives. A lot of our adversities are created by the choices that we make. Hopefully we will learn by the choices that we make.
Elder Neal A. Maxwell said that we will either choose Christ's manner of living or his manner of suffering. That really made me think!
In Sunday School we discussed the Counsel in Heaven and how Jesus was chosen to become the Savior of the world. It was a really good discussion, and then Sunday evening there was a segment of the series Messiah, Behold the Lamb of God on BYU-TV. One of the comments made was that when we were there in the counsel we put our complete faith that Jesus would be able to do what he said he would do. He had not done it yet, therefore, those of us who chose His plan chose it by faith and not by a knowledge that he would be able to atone for our sins. That should give us great hope that if we had that kind of faith then, then we surely can have the faith to make it through our time on earth.
I was truly inspired a motivated by the whole day!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Incredible Stake Women's Conference
This weekend was our Stake's annual Women's Conference and it was incredible. Friday night was the Humanitarian Aid project. Each ward was asked to sew 100 school bags before the Conference and donate the school supplies to fill them. Then at the Conference we did assembly line filling of the bags. Since I think there are eight wards in the stake that means we filled 800 of them...and we did it in 45 minutes. We were like a well oiled machine.
Then three wonderful ladies did a concert for us called Womanhood...Enjoy to the End! I was laughing one minute and crying the next. I am so happy to have been there. They really touched my heart.
Saturday was the main event. As we entered we were given a rock and asked to write on it about a time that the Lord had helped us. After breakfast we were told the story of Eleazer and the 12 stones that he asked to be carried then then built as an alter to their thankfulness to the Lord. Some of the sisters had created a HUGE silhouette of the L.A. Temple on the back wall of the Cultural Hall. It was beautiful and even had a gold Moroni pointed to the east on top. After we had written on our stones we were asked to enter the temple and as we passed the alter to leave our stones on it. Very cool.
The choir was incredible and even had three violins, a cello, a harp and gorgeous organ music accompaniment. They sounded so good!
The key not speaker was Sister Sydney Reynolds, form General Primary First Counselor. Some of her comments that I wrote down:
-The tender mercies of the Lord are over you.
-We need to turn to the Lord with our burdens.
-Righteous women will be denied no blessings.
-We have a part to do but we don't have to do it all.
-Listen to the prophets.
-Learn to listen and follow the promptings of the Spirit.
Next we heard from Sister Lani Reynolds.
She spoke about the three gardens that the Lord has given us. The Garden of Eden, the Garden of Gethsemane, and the Garden Tomb. She gave us a list of some of the garden tools that we have all been given.
-Fasting (not just from food, but from negative thoughts, getting angry, etc.)
-Self Talk (self rejection is the greatest enemy to a righteous life)
-Our divine role as a woman
-Prayer (it can be our armour)
-Extending ourselves
-Giving up our favorite sins (I really liked that phrase!)
-Scriptures (the more you read the more delicious they become) SO TRUE! She challenged us to always have a scripture in our heart to be pondering.
-Counsel from the Brethren
-Being virtuous and true
President DeLewis Porter, our Stake President then spoke. Some of his comments:
-Think well of yourself. He said that over and over.
-Those negative feelings you have come not from the Savior, but from Satan.
-Everything about the temple points towards the Savior.
-Attend the temple.
-We choose...the devil is impotent, he cannot make us do anything we don't want to do.
-Make correct choices in your life.
-Take control.
-Do your best...make sure it is your very best.
Our final speaker was Elder William F. Reynolds, an Area Seventy. He spoke about building Zion. He said:
-The Lord is concerned with the kind of people we are not what we do for a living.
-He said that the purpose of manhood is to protect and support mother's raising their children.
-When we make a change in our lives it goes right down the line to our children and grandchildren.
-The great unknown power in this church is fasting. Not just from food, but from anything that takes our focus off the Lord.
-Fasting can break every yoke.
-Fast anything and everything you struggle with will get better.
-This world is the illusion, God is the reality.
-We need to choose to build our lives around the Savior.
I came away mentally and spiritually uplifted beyond measure! Thanks to our great Stake Relief Society Presidency for putting it together for us.
Then three wonderful ladies did a concert for us called Womanhood...Enjoy to the End! I was laughing one minute and crying the next. I am so happy to have been there. They really touched my heart.
Saturday was the main event. As we entered we were given a rock and asked to write on it about a time that the Lord had helped us. After breakfast we were told the story of Eleazer and the 12 stones that he asked to be carried then then built as an alter to their thankfulness to the Lord. Some of the sisters had created a HUGE silhouette of the L.A. Temple on the back wall of the Cultural Hall. It was beautiful and even had a gold Moroni pointed to the east on top. After we had written on our stones we were asked to enter the temple and as we passed the alter to leave our stones on it. Very cool.
The choir was incredible and even had three violins, a cello, a harp and gorgeous organ music accompaniment. They sounded so good!
The key not speaker was Sister Sydney Reynolds, form General Primary First Counselor. Some of her comments that I wrote down:
-The tender mercies of the Lord are over you.
-We need to turn to the Lord with our burdens.
-Righteous women will be denied no blessings.
-We have a part to do but we don't have to do it all.
-Listen to the prophets.
-Learn to listen and follow the promptings of the Spirit.
Next we heard from Sister Lani Reynolds.
She spoke about the three gardens that the Lord has given us. The Garden of Eden, the Garden of Gethsemane, and the Garden Tomb. She gave us a list of some of the garden tools that we have all been given.
-Fasting (not just from food, but from negative thoughts, getting angry, etc.)
-Self Talk (self rejection is the greatest enemy to a righteous life)
-Our divine role as a woman
-Prayer (it can be our armour)
-Extending ourselves
-Giving up our favorite sins (I really liked that phrase!)
-Scriptures (the more you read the more delicious they become) SO TRUE! She challenged us to always have a scripture in our heart to be pondering.
-Counsel from the Brethren
-Being virtuous and true
President DeLewis Porter, our Stake President then spoke. Some of his comments:
-Think well of yourself. He said that over and over.
-Those negative feelings you have come not from the Savior, but from Satan.
-Everything about the temple points towards the Savior.
-Attend the temple.
-We choose...the devil is impotent, he cannot make us do anything we don't want to do.
-Make correct choices in your life.
-Take control.
-Do your best...make sure it is your very best.
Our final speaker was Elder William F. Reynolds, an Area Seventy. He spoke about building Zion. He said:
-The Lord is concerned with the kind of people we are not what we do for a living.
-He said that the purpose of manhood is to protect and support mother's raising their children.
-When we make a change in our lives it goes right down the line to our children and grandchildren.
-The great unknown power in this church is fasting. Not just from food, but from anything that takes our focus off the Lord.
-Fasting can break every yoke.
-Fast anything and everything you struggle with will get better.
-This world is the illusion, God is the reality.
-We need to choose to build our lives around the Savior.
I came away mentally and spiritually uplifted beyond measure! Thanks to our great Stake Relief Society Presidency for putting it together for us.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
The Ward Campout
I love camping...at the beach, in the mountains, anywhere that has cool breezes, shade and some form of water.
The ward campout was held at Silverwood Lake...but we weren't at the lake. No no, we were past it in a campground with a dry creekbed and bees....lots and lots of bees. Hungry bees. Oh and did I mention it was 104 degrees (in the shade). Just think what it felt like the next morning when the sun was actually shining on our tent...more like 194 degrees.
Oh, and lets not forget the 11-year old boys that decided that 6am was late enough to sleep and who decided that taking sticks and whacking their way through a small stand of brush to make a fort for the 11-year old girls "who will love us for this" was a great idea. Where were their parents you ask? In tents on the far side of the camp away from where they left their little nerds to have a slumber party!!! I'm not bitter.
But I digress. Of all the kiddos there, and there were a lot of them, guess whose kid ended up with the tiny headwound that bled like a stuck pig and screamed like a banshee??? Yup..you guesster Chester...Mine!
Did I mention that I really do love camping (just not this time)!
Friday, August 21, 2009
Comment on my Sunday Musings post
I received this comment from my FAVORITE missionary companion, DeAnn Hansen, and it really made me start thinking.
I LOVE this post. Some days I WANT to be the little girl too. Being the grown up girl is hard. Wouldn't it be nice to go to church and just lay on the bench and fall asleep? Or color and look at picture books? I will pass on putting my nose in the corner - although I'm sure it would make me be more reverent in Church.
Wouldn't it be great to be able to go back and be the little kid again? Being a grown-up is very hard at times.
What was your favorite thing about being "little"? What is your favorite thing about being a grown-up?
Be sure and check out DeAnn's blog. I really think she should write a book! http://soulhappy.wordpress.com/
I LOVE this post. Some days I WANT to be the little girl too. Being the grown up girl is hard. Wouldn't it be nice to go to church and just lay on the bench and fall asleep? Or color and look at picture books? I will pass on putting my nose in the corner - although I'm sure it would make me be more reverent in Church.
Wouldn't it be great to be able to go back and be the little kid again? Being a grown-up is very hard at times.
What was your favorite thing about being "little"? What is your favorite thing about being a grown-up?
Be sure and check out DeAnn's blog. I really think she should write a book! http://soulhappy.wordpress.com/
Monday, August 10, 2009
Sunday Musings - The 4 Year Old
So, Lucy is having a little trouble with the concept of being reverent in Sacrament Meeting. Yesterday was no exception. She was warned and forewarned...to no avail. I had to take her out and as we were heading out she is crying "Where are you taking me? What are you going to do to me?" which gets a lot of laughs and smiles from those we have to pass along the way. (We sit in the back row...so there aren't many.)
I calmly walk her to the Mother's Room and tell her to put her nose in the corner. She is screaming and crying and telling me that she will be good, all the time I am telling her to be quiet. She finally calms down and is quiet for a few moments, so she is then allowed to sit in one of the rocking chairs. I start explaining to her (for the 5,000th time!) why we need to be quiet in the chapel. I remind her that she is a big girl now and that big girls sit quietly and listen or color or look at their books. I remind her that she is the one who keeps telling me that she is a big girl when I call her a little girl. She calmly listens to me and then says:
"I want to be a little girl today, Mom."
What's a mom to do?
I calmly walk her to the Mother's Room and tell her to put her nose in the corner. She is screaming and crying and telling me that she will be good, all the time I am telling her to be quiet. She finally calms down and is quiet for a few moments, so she is then allowed to sit in one of the rocking chairs. I start explaining to her (for the 5,000th time!) why we need to be quiet in the chapel. I remind her that she is a big girl now and that big girls sit quietly and listen or color or look at their books. I remind her that she is the one who keeps telling me that she is a big girl when I call her a little girl. She calmly listens to me and then says:
"I want to be a little girl today, Mom."
What's a mom to do?
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Temple Grounds
I just love visiting the different temples and walking the grounds. They are always so lovely, especially in the spring!
Here are a few photos from this weeks visits to the Salt Lake and Ogden temples.
Here are a few photos from this weeks visits to the Salt Lake and Ogden temples.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Wonderful Day for a Wedding
I know, I know...I am SO very behind in my blogging. So instead of going back and updating what I have missed I will just start from Saturday.
We drove to Utah on Thursday to attend Jessica and Travis' wedding Saturday at the Salt Lake Temple. Lucy was asked to be the flower girl (a job she took quite seriously) so she was able to be with us the whole day as we went to the temple, then to the Lion House for the wedding luncheon, and on to the reception.
Here are a few of the hundreds of photos that were taken. Hope you enjoy. AND congrats to the happy couple. They were lovely and the ceremony was inspiring and rejuvinating...as usual.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Special Fireside
Sister Beck and Elder Tenney (sp) came and did a fireside in our area on Sunday evening. Here are a few of the things that I wrote down while listening to them speak.
Sister Beck:
A mother’s job is a mother’s job and you cannot delegate that. It’s an around-the-clock job. Prepare to be at the top of your game on the swing shift.
As a mother, qualify for a temple recommend and go there often. Pay attention to the responsibilities of motherhood that you are taught there. Help your teens get a limited use recommend and take them there often. They can touch the temple now and they should!
You weren’t promised the dream in this life. You were promised the experience.
We cannot serve in all the places that we yearn to serve.
Seek revelation – only the Spirit can help us achieve that balance.
Get on your knees and pray.
Get in the scriptures every day.
Get to the temple often.
Rise up and take part!
Elder Tenney:
Choose the time to teach.
Children learn to control themselves when parents learn to control themselves.
Family Home Evening is good preparation for learning to be reverent in sacrament meeting.
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