Annoucements & Lesson - 30 March 2014

Announcements:

An invitation to General Women's Meeting has been sent to all Sisters by email today - please try and come along with your daughters 8+.  It is to be held at Ipswich Chapel on Saturday 5th April at 3pm.

Please note we need your VT figures and reports in ASAP as figures have to be reported this month.  All should be given direct to Lucy Dowling unless there is something of a confidential matter which should be passed directly to Louise.

Lesson:

Today as a 5th Sunday we met together as Relief Society, Priesthood and Youth to hear from Bishop Pentreath and Bro Hans Donker.

We began with a scripture in John 1:35-39 where Jesus invites his soon-to-be disciples to "Come and see".  Today we discussed how we too can issue that same invitation to others to "come and see" the Saviour as Bishop shared the Ward Mission Plan with us and asked for our help in fulfilling it:

Hans explained more about Goal no. 5 and how important it is that we go on to tailor the plan to our families - or even as individuals - in how we personally are going to play our part in hastening the work of salvation.

Bishop gave two examples of upcoming events that he would particularly wants us to use in helping spread the gospel.  Firstly is an Easter activity to be held at Christchurch Park which is being organized by Sister Sarah Garnham and more information will be given shortly.

Secondly is to invite our friends, families, neighbours, colleagues and whomever we feel so inspired to our special Sacrament meeting on Sunday 20th April.  Each family were issued with some special invitations which we have been asked to share and were asked to work together as a family in determining where and when is the best way to do this.

If you have not received the invitations for your family to share please see Hans who will be able to help.

Lastly we watched the following video and felt the strong spirit of this work we are being asked by the Lord and our Leaders to assist with:

Click here to watch the video

Annoucements & Lesson - 23 March 2014

Announcements:

The Primary children will be singing prelude music next Sunday - please can all parents ensure there children are at church by 9.45am.  The children have been practising hard and they don't want anyone to miss out.

A reminder that in 2 weeks time we have General Conference - on Sat 5th April the General Women's Session will be shown at the chapel at 3pm.  The stake will be providing light refreshments.

Bishop has asked us to remind all parents of youth who are attending EFY.  By 13th April the following needs to have been done:  1. register on line 2. paid £15 fee 3. an appointment made with Bishop.  Any problems please speak to the youth leaders.

Lesson:

Sister Annie Green taught our lesson today based on Elder Richard G Scott's talk from October 2013 General Conference 'Personal Strength through the Atonement'.

What a fabulous talk!!!!  In it Elder Scott shares the history of the People of Ammon and their great conversion from blood thirsty Lamanites to converted Saints of Christ.  As part of this conversion, to show the Lord the true change of heart, they bury their weapons deep covenanting never to pick them up again.  Elder Scott tells of their life when they are living righteous lives and have been faithfully doing so for some time, when they are again attached by some Lamanites and are strongly tempted to pick up their weapons one more time to protect their families.  But their prophet leader says something that should have a strong impact on us all - BREAKING A COVENANT WITH THE LORD IS NEVER JUSTIFIED.

What their prophet knew was 'sometimes our poor choices leave us with long-term consequences.  One of the vital steps to complete repentance is to bear the short and long term consequences of our past sins.  Their past choices had exposed these Ammonite fathers to a carnal appetite that could again become a point of vulnerability that Satan would attempt to exploit.'

We discussed what we can do to keep ourselves safe - keeping a distance between ourselves and any temptations that might still arise, fasting, praying all play a large part. 

'Satan will try to use our memory of any previous guilt to lure us back into his influence.  We must be ever vigilant.'  Ashlea shared a fabulous comment : If Satan reminds you of your past, remind him of his future!'

We discussed Captain Moroni and his example that where there is weakness, he built fortifications.  When we have made errors in our life, we were taught the need for 'taller and wider fortifications' to keep us safe and in a righteous path.   We too need those fortifications.  But Elder Scott gave a wonderful promise to us when we do struggle to overcome the weaknesses we all experience:

'The joyful news for anyone who desires to be rid of the consequences of past poor choices is that the Lord sees weaknesses differently that He does rebellion.  Whereas the Lord warns that unrepented rebellion will bring punishment, when the Lord speaks of weaknesses it is always with mercy.'

Elder Scott went on to share a few ways we can begin to build and strengthen those much needed fortifications - 'the first step must be sincere, thorough and complete repentance...Remember, repentance is not punishment.  It is the hope-filled path to a more glorious future.'  Then he suggested, making and keeping covenants for ourselves and then our ancestors, sharing the gospel, serving faithfully as VT, and serving our own family.

He ended with an amazing promise:

'In each of these suggestions, there is a common theme:  fill your life with service to others.  As you lose your life in the service of your Father in Heaven's children, Satan's temptations lose power in your life.'

The Emma Smith Story...

It was so wonderful to have so many of you Sisters join us on Wednesday evening as we celebrated the 172nd birthday of Relief Society.

As promised here is the link for the Emma Smith film on You Tube for those who missed the last part of the film:

Emma Smith Story

What a wonderful and inspiration Emma was as the 1st President of this wonderful organization.

Announcements & Lesson - 16th March 2014

Announcements:

This Wednesday is our Enrichment meeting where we will be celebrating the RS Birthday.  Please bring something comfortable to sit on if you wish (cushion / beanbag), and a dessert.  It will be a fun and restful evening where we can enjoy one another's company.  It would be most helpful if you could arrive on time to start at 7.30pm.

We have a lovely new sister in our RS - Anna Bella (Christina Torres' mum) has moved into Ipswich and we are excited to get to know her better.

A reminder that on Sat 5th April the first General Women's meeting will be shown - invited are all RS Sisters, all YW and all Primary girls aged 8+.  The stake will be providing light refreshments.

The Lesson next Sunday will be taken from Elder Richard G Scott's talk from October 2013 General Conference - Personal Strength through the Atonement. 

Lesson:

Yvonne gave the lesson today from Chapter 6 of the Joseph Fielding Smith manual: The Significance of the Sacrament.

President Smith stated 'In my judgement the sacrament meeting is the most sacred, the most holy, of all meetings of the Church' and went on to confirm that 'the partaking of these emblems (the bread and water) constitutes one of the most holy and sacred ordinances in the Church.'

So how big a part does the sacrament play in our lives?  Do we prepare for it?  Do we ensure our families are at church promptly so we can take it each week?  Does it make a difference to how we live our lives? 

Pres Smith was very direct in his comments: 'The person who absents himself from a sacrament meeting week after week...is not loyal to the truth.  He does not love it.  If he did...he would want to do that to show love for the truth and his loyal service to the Son of God.'

The challenge is really to look at how we view it in our own lives and make sure we put it as a high priority - the very purpose we attend church on a Sunday.

We discussed the necessity to think of the Saviour during the sacrament time, and even use those moments to talk with our Father in Heaven.  Alison shared that an Ensign article spoke of how when we have young children the sacrament ends up being a time of just trying to keep the children quiet - but suggested that in this case a good solution would be to try and find an alternative time in the week when we can sit and commune with the Lord and reflect on those covenants.

Other points expressed were how important it is to be at church early enough to sit and listen to the prelude music and feel the calmness the Spirit brings, and to ensure that we are preparing for the sacrament before Sunday - but it becomes part of what we reflect on during the week.

Pres Smith ended by saying the following - something to have a reflect on this coming week:

"I want to ask you a few questions, and I speak of course to all the members of the Church.  Do you think a man who comes into the sacrament service in the spirit of prayer, humility and worship and who partakes of these emblems representing the body and blood of Jesus Christ, will knowingly break the commandments of the Lord?  If a man fully realizes what it means when he partakes of the sacrament, that he covenants to take upon him the name of Jesus Christ and to always remember him and keep his commandments, and this vow is renewed week by week - do you think such a man will fail to pay his tithing?  Do you think such a man will break the Sabbath day or disregard the Word of Wisdom?  Do you think he will fail to be prayerful and that he will not attend his quorum duties and other duties in the church?  It seems to me that such a thing as a violation of these sacred principles and duties is impossible when a man knows what it means to make such vows week by week unto the Lord and before the saints."

Annoucements & Lesson - 2nd March 2014

Announcements:

There is the baptism of Emma Dias on Saturday at 4pm.  All are invited to come and make this a very special day for Emma.  The Primary children have been asked to sing as part of the service so if you have children in primary, please try and bring them along.

If you have not handed in your VT figures / report for February can you please pass these to Sara ASAP.

March is the RS Birthday and we will be celebrating this at a special RS enrichment meeting on March 19th at 7.30pm.  It will be a fun and informal evening - sisters are asked to please bring floor cushions / beanbags if they wish so they can be more comfortable.  More details will be given next Sunday.

As you may know the Church has announced that there will no longer be an annual General RS Meeting in October.  Instead at each General Conference there will be a General Women's Meeting which will be open to all members of RS, YW and Primary girls aged 8+.  It was a wonderful exciting change and the first meeting will be shown in the Ipswich chapel at 3pm on 5th April.  Light refreshments will be served.


Lesson:

The presidency message this month was given by Sara McCullum.

She told of an experiment that was made on 3 groups of people - the first was asked at the end of each week to write down 5 things that they were grateful for.  The second to write 5 things which had been stressful, the third to write 5 things which had happened and were neither positive or stressful.  At the end of 10 weeks the results were dramatic!

The first group who had recorded their gratitude were found to be 25% happier than they were previously, more optimistic, had more energy and enthusiasm, slept better and felt more refreshed in the morning, had closer relationships, were healthier and sick less often, were less lonely, dealt better with stress, made better progress on goals, had more focus and were more likely to serve other people.

We don't need studies to tell us the need to be grateful as the Lord has continually commanded us in scripture to be grateful for all that we have (Psalms 92:1, D&C 46:32, D&C 98:1). Not because He needs our gratitude but for the amazing blessings it opens up into our own lives...including having a  better attitude, realizing the wonderful things we have been blessed with but also as Pres Monson said: 'Sincerely giving thanks not only helps is recognize our blessings but it also unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel God's love.'

We looked at 5 ways in which we can begin to become more grateful:

1. Keep a Gratitude Journal - this is a favourite of President Henry B Eyring who followed this practise as each night he would reflect on the question 'Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch me or my family today?  Several sisters shared how they have used this practice and what a blessing it has as they have sit back and read past entries of the blessings they have enjoyed.

2. Take time to write thank you notes and letters of appreciation -  Sara shared a true story of a man called John Kralik who in December 2007 hit rock bottom.  He owned a law practice which failed and he could not afford to pay his employees. The lease for his business ran out and he could not afford a new one.  His divorce was finalised and a further relationship broke up.  He, a man who was used to good things, found himself alone in a tiny rented flat. 

On New Years Day 2008 he went for a walk, knowing something had to change in his life.  Whilst walking he tells of hearing a small voice whispering that he needed to show more gratitude - so there and then he committed to writing 365 thank you notes.  The results were dramatic and he later wrote a book of his experiences.  He shared:

"By showing others how their lives had meaning in mine, I found them reflecting back that my life also had meaning in theirs.  I gained an overall sense of peace, a belief that my life was and had been a good one.  The change did not happen overnight, but it happened...

"Almost without intending to do so I started to change my life in ways that would make me more worthy of receiving thank you notes myself.

"So many of my readers have inspired me.  A woman living in a nursing home because a stroke had paralyzed her 'on my right side' told me that she praises the 'Lord I was born left handed and I've taken it upon myself to write birthday and thank you cards to all the staff'.  A woman whose husband had been paralyzed for 20 years in a car accident wrote of how she had been 'thankful that he was not killed.'  Her children had 'grown into very empathetic people'. 

"My readers told me stories of how important people were thanked before it was too late.  A woman in Omaha thanked a priest who changed her life 22 years ago and her letter arrived to comfort him a few days before he died.  When she went back to thank a teacher, 'she saw us and the flowers, put her head on the desk and cried she was so happy.  She said she had been a teacher for 23 years and no one had ever thanked her.'

3. Add more thank you's into your vocabulary

4. Live in the present moment and recognise the tender mercies of the Lord - We discussed the talk given by Elder Bednar on these tender mercies (Click here to read the talk).  We discussed how these are much less visible in our lives but are those special moments when we can see the Lord's hand in our lives and know He is giving us the strength, or help, or blessing we need at that moment and that they happen on a daily basis.

5. Prayer - the most important one of all.  Whilst it is vital we recognise our blessings and record these, while it is lovely to write notes and thank others - the most essential thing of all is to thank the Lord, the giver of all good gifts for all He does in our lives and for all those tender mercies that help us through mortal life.

Sara's challenge to all sisters was to do something to become more grateful.  To choose at least one of these ways and enable the heavens to open and for each of us to feel the Lord's love.