A Circle of Sisters - RS Lesson, November 7, 2010

Our presidency message this month was given by Sister Kerri Vannucci.   And, for a special treat, the RS Presidency arranged for all of the sisters, including those normally in Primary and YW to be able to attend.  Our fantastic Young Women took over primary, including the teaching, sharing time, music, and everything.   It was truly a spiritual feast for the sisters to be together.

Sister Vannucci told us that it's important to come to church, to come to Relief Society each week so that we can feel the spirit and fill our cups.

We are living in times when Satan is knocking on our doors.  And it is our right as wives and mothers to stand strong and say, "No!"

Sister Vannucci asked us to think of what comes to mind when we think about RS.  Some responses were: sisterhood, food!, different things at different times, wisdom, support, opportunities to serve, a soothing balm.

One of the fantastic things about Relief Society, and about Visiting Teaching is that we are assigned to love someone and some is assigned to love us.

President Boyd K. Packer once quoted the prophet Joseph Smith who, when the Relief Society was organized, said, "This society is organized “according to your natures. … You are now placed in a situation in which you can act according to those sympathies [within you]. …“If you live up to [these] privileges, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates. … “If this Society listen[s] to the counsel of the Almighty, through the heads of the Church, they shall have power to command queens in their midst.” The Relief Society, General Conference Address, April, 1998.

This ward has a lot of angels, both on earth and in heaven, lifting and helping each other.  Sister Vannucci commented that "When you're doing your best, the Savior will make up the rest."

Relief Society helps us.  As women, we have divine attributes:  we are on the errand of angels.

Our husband's battles are as hard as ours and they turn to us for strength.  It's easy to get overwhelmed and let ourselves feel empty and tired.

Sister Julie B. Beck in her General Conference Address of October, 2008 titled, Fulfilling the Purpose of Relief Society said that we are commissioned to:

1. Increase in faith and personal righteousness.  
Miracles don't produce faith.  Strong faith is built upon obedience to the gospel.

2. Strengthen families and homes.
Sister Vannucci shared the experience of the prophet Nehemiah who had the people of Jerusalem build the walls of the city.  They kept their swords on their belts to fight off the wicked, even as they worked.  We need to do the same thing in our homes.  The people were assigned sections of the wall. Each of us has assignments and responsibilities and we do them together.

3. Serve the Lord and His children.
We need to pray for strength to serve and help others.  Turn your burdens to the Lord.  You can't do it all yourself.  He will lift you.

President Packer spoke of the Circle of Sisters and he said, "Each sister, no matter where in that circle she stands, can look to either side and feel the spirit of inspiration coming back as she extends the gentle hand of charity to those on either side."

Sister Vannucci told us, "I hope you can feel our love for you.  I hope that you can feel the love of the Savior.  As you feel His love, I hope you can then look to the sister next to you in the circle and strengthen her too."

We can't be critical, we can't be judgmental.  We don't know what is going on in each person's life.  We need to love.

Sister Vannucci shared the following thought, which was given to all the sisters as a handout. 

"Did you ever compare your service to silverware?  All silverware is made to serve, but the different pieces serve in different ways.

Forks stab.  "This is mine," they say. Bits of meat, carrots, pickles, salad and cheese.  "This, this and this are mine," says the fork.  Everything for me, me, me."  And soon every last morsel on the plate has been pinned by the spear of the selfish fork.

Knives cut.  "Too big," says the knife.  Slice. Cut. Chop. Dice. Everything must change its shape to satisfy the whim of the knife.  Nothing is right as it is.  Everything needs paring down, carving or separating.

Spoons serve.  Cereal, soup, peas; all the impossible foods can be handled comfortably from the smooth bowl of the spoon.  Spoons say, "Here let me help you." The spoon has a gentle and refined way of serving.  She seems to say, "We can manage together."

Help Me to Be A Spoon.

We can be mindful of each other.  We can be the spoons and serve.

An Evening of Gratitude

For our Relief Society Night or that meeting formerly known as Enrichment, we spent a delightful evening learning about and discussing gratitude.

Sister Margo Kelly shared a wonderful message about gratitude. Margo acknowledged that it's so much easier sometimes to focus on the negative and our trials, instead of focusing on the positive. She defined gratitude as "Gratitude is acknowledging the hand of God in our lives."

Isn't that a wonderful thought? How often do we neglect acknowledging God's hand in our lives? For many of us, it is far too often.

Margo shared several quotes from President Monson's conference talk from this past October entitled, The Divine Gift of Gratitude. President Monson quoted another individual who said, "feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it." What an amazing thought. Margo said she imagined a bunch of Christmas presents that were wrapped, but not given. How tragic that would be. At the same time, not expressing our gratitude to God or whomever, is just as tragic.

One thing that Margo also talked about was the importance of expressing gratitude to those around us. Those who touch or help us in some way. Talented woman that she is, she passed around a basket of thank you notes (many of which she had made) and invited those in attendance to take one or two cards and to write out a message to someone we appreciate and then to give or mail the cards.

Margo shared Matthew's account of Jesus Christ when he was traveling in the wilderness for three days and 4,000 people followed him. None of them had eaten for three days, and they were probably somewhat whiny and complaining. The disciples saw only what was lacking: the food. The Savior, instead of complaining with them asked, "How many loaves have ye?" The disciples replied, "Seven, and a few little fishes." The Savior had faith that they would have sufficient for their needs and he prayed and gave thanks for those loaves and fishes and then he blessed it and brake it and the disciples distributed it. And there was enough. But, before there was enough, Christ expressed gratitude for what was already there.

President Monson also said, "to express gratitude is gracious and honorable, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live with gratitude ever in our hearts is to touch heaven." Margo shared this quote twice, because it is so profound.

At the end of her remarks, there was some discussion and sisters were able to share moments or experiences where they were able to see the hand of God in their lives. One sister shared the thought that when we focus on gratitude even when things are desperate and hard, we can find joy. And when we can consistently find joy during the hard times, we will become a more spiritual and celestial people.

To end the evening, we adjourned to the cultural hall and had delicious refreshments and made gratitude journals. These are small notebooks that will fit into a purse and are intended for you to use to write the things you are grateful for each day.

What a wonderful way to cultivate an attitude of gratitude! May you each take some time this week to find those times in your life when you can see the moments of gratitude and give thanks for them.