Filling our Buckets, RS Lesson, November 6, 2011

Our presidency message was given by Sister Jill Koudelka who provided a summary.

We took a spin the old bucket analogy, and talking about how we need to fill other peoples buckets, but we can't fill others without having something in ours, yet filling others' buckets helps fill our own bucket.

We discussed that we as women of the church ARE the buckets, but what makes up a bucket, and how we need to make a strong sturdy, useful bucket.

Parts of the bucket:
walls/ sides
bottom
handle

To me the walls or sides are equal to our knowledge/testimony...then we read about Knowledge in the Bible Dictionary and in D&C 130:18-19.

Bottom = Faith / hope... then read the first paragraph of the Faith part in the Bible Dictionary.
Faith in our Savior, for because of him ALL things are possible
Faith in our Father in Heaven that he knows best and it is by His time and Love all things are possible
Faith in ourselves that we are never alone.
Obedience gives our faith strength. Obedience and covenants makes the bottom of our bucket solid and strong.

Handle= I likened to our agency... what do we do with it all... The action part of the gospel. As a woman you are always in situations where you serve, you can keep all of you bucket to yourself, but use that handle and do something with it. Handles are also something to hang on to....hang on to the Savior and his promises... and show Charity.

I ended with how we as a Presidency truly care about each sister, and how we try to plan each activity, lesson etc., to help strengthen your buckets so that the sisters can do the hard things they are asked to do. We have a few sisters who are disappearing for Relief Society and we want them to feel that it is a good place to be.. that we just want to help strengthen them.

That we are a society of relief... what do you need relief from...let us know what your bucket needs..."That we may all sit down in Heaven together",  page 25 from the Daughters in My Kingdom book we just handed out.

Forget Me Not

"It is my prayer and blessing that you will never forget that you are truly precious daughters in God’s kingdom."

Missionary Efforts, Joint RS/Priesthood Lesson, September 18, 2011

Our stake president, President Smith, spoke to a combined Relief Society/Priesthood meeting about the missionary opportunities we have available to us online.

"Mormon.org is a missionary site intended to provide information about our faith. By creating a profile, you can share your feelings about your faith, shed light on who we are as a people and demystify our most commonly misunderstood beliefs. Mormon.org is not a social media site."

Mormon.org is a wonderful, easy, non-threatening way to share the gospel.  So many of us, and our young people in general, spend a great deal of time online.  Whether it's email, blogging or Facebook, many of us have phones that are connected to the internet, and we already have an online presence.

Creating a profile at mormon.org is very easy.  You can have it as private or as public as you would like.  The website states:
"A profile is your opportunity to share your beliefs and experiences in the gospel with those who are not of our faith. With the help of our profile creation wizard, we will walk you through the steps of creating your own page, uploading your photo, writing about yourself, and answering questions about the gospel that will help others better understand our beliefs."

 Many of you will have seen videos and profiles from mormon.org.  There are ads on television, billboards in Times Square in New York City, links on youtube.  It is an effective way of sharing our beliefs with people and showing them that we are really, truly ordinary people just like they are.

Along with your profile, you have an opportunity to answer gospel questions and share your testimony.

President Smith encouraged each of us to create our own profiles.  Then, he suggested that we link to those profiles from our blogs, from Facebook or even post a signature in our emails that invites people to view our profile on mormon.org.

Establishing a Christ-Centered Home, RS Lesson, August 28, 2011

Our Teaching for Our Times Lesson was taken from Elder Richard J. Maynes' talk in April General Conference titled, Establishing a Christ-Centered Home and taught by Sister Valerie Cleverly.

Living in a family is central to Heavenly Father's plan, it is central to our gospel understanding.
From an early age, we teach our children that they have a Heavenly Father who loves them when we teach them "I am a Child of God". We need to teach them what that song means.

We need to point out those tender mercies to our children; we need to show them that daily experiences and simple things like sunsets come from Heavenly Father, they aren't just coincidences.

D&C 130:2
And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy.

Families are eternal.  Our happiness is not part of Satan's plan.  He knows our eternal happiness lies within our families.

Every day we should try and live a Christ-like life.  Would we change things if we knew the Savior was listening or visiting?

How do we have a Christ-centered home?  We do the basics:
1. Family Prayer
2. Family Home Evening
3. Scripture Study

Other things we can do:
1. Put up pictures of the Savior and the temple not only in your home, but in your children's rooms as well.
2. Play good music: hymns and primary songs.
3. Posters: My Gospel Standards or Mormonads

Children notice and remember. While everyone is responsible for the family, parents bear the brunt of responsibility.  Our children see what is important to us. Children echo and value what is important to us.

By Small and Simple Things, RS Lesson, August 8, 2011

Our president's message was shared by Sister Kerri Vannucci.

Alma 37:6-7
Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.  And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.

D&C 52:14
And again, I will give unto you a pattern in all things, that ye may not be deceived; for Satan is abroad in the land, and he goeth forth deceiving the nations—

We all have a liahona, a pattern; we have the scriptures.

Like King Naaman, who thought that washing in a river to be cured of leprosy was too simple and beneath him, we are often looking for the big things, not the small things or the small means.

We need to remember the tender mercies of the Lord; those small things that happen.  We need to remember:

D&C 64:33
Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.

Elder David A. Bednar spoke at Women's Conference in May of this year, of the small and simple things that we do and used the example of a drip irrigation system to illustrate the importance of consistency in seemingly small and simple things.  The simple things we do are like those irrigation drips, they slowly fill us up and slow and steady is the best way.

Sister Vannucci asked us, "What are the small and simple things we do everyday?"

Smile
Pray
Be a cheerleader, be happy in your family
Pretend you're happy even when you're not!
Service
Sometimes you just endure with a smile

But, each of those things not only helps to build us up, it helps build up our families and those around us.  Like Elder Bednar said, "I believe many, if not all, of the most satisfying and memorable accomplishments in our homes, in the Church, in our jobs and professions, and in our communities will be the product of this important spiritual pattern—of simple and small things.  Brothers and sisters, we should find great comfort in the fact that ordinary people who faithfully, diligently, and consistently do simple things that are right before God will bring forth extraordinary results."

LDS Women Are Incredible - RS Lesson, July 24, 2011

This lesson was based on Elder Quentin L. Cook's talk titled, LDS Women Are Incredible, given at General Conference this past April and was taught by Sister Valerie Cleverly.

Sister Cleverly asked each of us to raise our hands if we had negative thoughts about ourselves.  She then asked us to do the same for positive thoughts.  It was interesting to note that hands went up more quickly for negative thoughts than for positive.

It is important for us to celebrate the good things about ourselves.  Sister Cleverly shared Elder Cook's story about the young woman's purse that was found by her YW leaders.  She asked us what was in our purses and had sisters share the things they found in their purses that showed something positive about themselves.  It was delightful to see what was shared.

She shared this thought from Elder Cook, "Our women are not incredible because they have managed to avoid the difficulties of life—quite the opposite. They are incredible because of the way they face the trials of life. Despite the challenges and tests life has to offer—from marriage or lack of marriage, children’s choices, poor health, lack of opportunities, and many other problems—they remain remarkably strong and immovable and true to the faith."

Spiritual Preparedness

Our stake president, President Smith, spoke in Sacrament Meeting today.  He said:

With the Boise Temple closing for renovations and the Meridian Temple not yet under construction, we have a trek of our own to make 2 hours east to the Twin Falls temple.

We have an opportunity to sacrifice to attend the house of the Lord.

Do what it takes to qualify for a recommend.

Do what it takes to use that recommend and attend the temple.

If we commit ourselves, we will be blessed.