For those of you not at church today, there was a change in the RS Presidency. Louise, Sara and Fatima were released and the new Presidency are as follows:
President - Ana Nunes
1st Counsellor - Miriam Wedderburn
2nd Counsellor - Cristina Torres
We very much appreciate all the support and love that has been given to us as a Presidency and love the Sisters of this ward dearly.
Due to the change in Presidency please note the Cream Tea activity scheduled for this Wednesday has been postponed.
The first weekend in October will be our General Conference. The sisters session will be shown at 3pm at the Chapel - please come along and join together to watch this special meeting.
Fast Sunday will therefore be brought forward to Sunday 28th September.
The cleaning team this week will be both Garnham families and David Myers.
Lesson:
We had a wonderful lesson today from Sister Beth Baxter on Chapter 18, Living by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
The lesson focused on Obedience and the need for us to be fully obedient to the Lord. As President Smith said 'There is nothing more important to any individual than keeping the Lord's commandments. He expects us to cleave unto every principle, to put first in our lives the things of His kingdom"
Beth shared a lovely poem that shows us how vital these commandments are:
The Parable of the Kite:
There once lived a girl, so faithful and true, With so much potential, so much she could do.
Her favorite past time was spent in the park- Flying her kite, from dusk until dark.
Her father had built it, a bright, sturdy frame, It seemed to hold up when the strong whirlwinds came.
It had a long tail, and what joy it could bring, As it flew through the air, tightly held by the string.
Her father had warned her, to hold on quite tight, The trial of the wind could put up a big fight.
This daughter grew restless, just watching it fly, She wanted to see it soar deep in the sky.
One day she decided that it wasn't fair, To punish this kite, and to hold back the air.
This kite deserved more than the same point of view, If she just let it go,it could fly away too.
Because she was struggling- life was so hard, She longed for the freedom to let down her guard.
Rules and commandments were causing such strife, They just held her back, there was much more to life!
In just a brief instant, she cut off the string, She took a deep breath as the air caught the wing.
It spiraled, it turned, and quite soon she had found Her precious kite mangled and crushed on the ground.
She then heard her father, his voice calm and true, My child, these commandments are given FOR you
To help you and guide you and keep you in flight, Just as the string has preserved your invaluable kite.
I love you. I need you. You're precious to me. If you keep my commandments, They help make you free!
Free to fly high, free from the sorrow, Free to awake without guilt for tomorrow.
My daughter, please know that I'm sending my love, I'll guide you; I'll hold you with strength from above.
As I hold your string, I won't let you down, I promise, in heaven, that you'll get your crown!
Her favorite past time was spent in the park- Flying her kite, from dusk until dark.
Her father had built it, a bright, sturdy frame, It seemed to hold up when the strong whirlwinds came.
It had a long tail, and what joy it could bring, As it flew through the air, tightly held by the string.
Her father had warned her, to hold on quite tight, The trial of the wind could put up a big fight.
This daughter grew restless, just watching it fly, She wanted to see it soar deep in the sky.
One day she decided that it wasn't fair, To punish this kite, and to hold back the air.
This kite deserved more than the same point of view, If she just let it go,it could fly away too.
Because she was struggling- life was so hard, She longed for the freedom to let down her guard.
Rules and commandments were causing such strife, They just held her back, there was much more to life!
In just a brief instant, she cut off the string, She took a deep breath as the air caught the wing.
It spiraled, it turned, and quite soon she had found Her precious kite mangled and crushed on the ground.
She then heard her father, his voice calm and true, My child, these commandments are given FOR you
To help you and guide you and keep you in flight, Just as the string has preserved your invaluable kite.
I love you. I need you. You're precious to me. If you keep my commandments, They help make you free!
Free to fly high, free from the sorrow, Free to awake without guilt for tomorrow.
My daughter, please know that I'm sending my love, I'll guide you; I'll hold you with strength from above.
As I hold your string, I won't let you down, I promise, in heaven, that you'll get your crown!
We discussed what the Lord is asking of us in Matthew 5:48 and that the Lord really does want us to be perfect - but that we need to understand that it is a long term goal that we can reach step by step. President Smith shared that perfectly when he said 'It is my duty, it is yours, to be better today that I was yesterday, and for you to be better today than you were yesterday and better tomorrow than you were today.' This then becomes more manageable - we can all try to do that!
We spent a few moments considering our own lives - what is the one commandment we struggle with most? And what are we going to do about it? President Smith asked us to each work on that one principle, live it, again and again, until not only are we DOING it but we are LOVING it.
We discussed the blessings from obedience - some mentioned by President Smith were - exaltation / protection / more blessings that we ever thought possible / knowledge / greater faith / a quickened mind / conversion and testimony / immortality / all the Father has / a place in the Kingdom of God, with the Lord Himself.
As we looked through the list Beth pointed out - why when this is what is on offer, do we ever choose instead to disobey, to not do as the Lord asks.
So far what we had studied looked very black and white, we obey the Lord because we know we should. Beth then took us back to the most vital and amazing reason we obey... "if ye love me, keep the commandments" (John 14:15).
We watched this beautiful Mormon Message which reminded us of what living the Gospel obediently is all about...it is taken from a talk by Elder Holland where he spoke of the Lord ever being true to us and the need to equally be to Him...
None were with Him - VIDEO
Beth finished by posing the question of President Smith:
"Can I help loving Him? No I cannot. Do you love Him? Then keep His commandments!"
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