Jesus Christ--Our Only Way to Hope and Joy

How often do we think of the Savior?  

How deeply and how gratefully and how adoringly do we reflect on his life?  

How central to our lives do we know him to be?

Rochelle gave such a great lesson.  The teaching of Howard W. Hunter are going to be amazing this year.  Rochelle got a new calling on Sunday and so we bid farewell to her teaching but are so excited to have her as our new Night Relief Society leader.  Ladies...it's going to be so fun.  She has some awesome ideas so please come and support her and our R.S.!!

I just wanted to give you some of my favorite quotes from the lesson!!

We must know Christ better than we know him; we must remember him more often than we remember him; we must serve him more valiantly than we serve him.  Then we will drink water springing up unto eternal life and will eat the bread of life!!!

To have a broken heart and a contrite spirit will cost you...it costs us our pride and our insensitivity, but it especially costs us our sins.

And what of the meek?  In a world too preoccupied with winning through intimidation and seeking to be number one, no large crowd of folk is standing in line to buy books that call for mere meekness...But the meek shall inherit the earth, a pretty impressive corporate takeover---and done without intimidation!!!

How are we supposed to act when we are offended, misunderstood, unfairly or unkindly treated, or sinned against?  What are we supposed to do if we are hunt by those we love, or passed over for promotion, or are falsely accused, or have our motives unfairly assailed??  Do we fight back?  Do we send in an ever-larger battalion?  Do we revert to an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, or...do we come to the realization that this finally leaves us blind and toothless????  (LOVE THIS ONE!)

My message to you today is to "fear not, little flock."  It is to encourage you to rejoice in the great blessings of life.  It is to invite you to feel the great thrill of gospel living and our Father in Heaven's love.  Life is wonderful, even in the hard times, and there is happiness, joy, and peace at stops all along the way, and endless portions of them at the end of the road!!

Please remember this one thing.  If our lives and our faith are centered upon Jesus Christ and his restored gospel, nothing can ever go permanently wrong.  On the other hand, if our lives are not centered on the Savior and his teachings, no other success can ever be permanently right!!  (LOVE THIS ONE TOO!!)

We missed you if you weren't there.  Please come and join us!!  We have a great bunch of ladies!!

Goal for the weekend!!

I don't know about you but after the holidays, I have to agree 100%...

Never judge the Church by it's people!!

This, to me, is a great example of never letting what other's do influence your faith in Jesus Christ and the Church.
Elder Boyd K. Packer...

"One young man was being constantly ridiculed by his co-workers for his activity in the Church.  They claimed to know of a bishop who had cheated someone in business, or a stake president who had misrepresented something on a contract, or a mission president who had borrowed money, giving false information.

Or, they told of a bishop who had discriminated against one member, refusing to give a temple recommend, but had shown favoritism by signing a recommend for another whose unworthiness was widely known.

Such incidents as these, which supposedly involve Church leaders, are described as evidence that the gospel is not true, that the Church is not divinely inspired, or that it is being misled.

He had no satisfactory answer to their charges.  He felt defenseless and foolish and was being drawn to join them in their criticism of the Church.

Did he believe all of these stories?  Well, he could not be sure.  There must be something to some of them.

If you also face such a test of faith, consider the questions he was asked:

Have you ever, in your life, attended any Church meeting---priesthood meeting, sacrament meeting, Relief Society, Sunday School, a conference or fireside, a seminary class, a temple session, or any meeting sponsored by the Church---where any encouragement or authorization was given to be dishonest, to cheat in business, or take advantage of anyone?

He answered that he had not.

The next question:

Have you read, or do you know of anything in the literature of the Church, in the scriptures themselves, in lesson manuals, in Church magazines or books, in Church publications of any kind, which contains any consent to lie, or to steal, to misrepresent, to defraud, to be immoral or vulgar, to profane, to be brutal, or to abuse any living soul?

Again he said, after thoughtful consideration, that he had not.

Have you ever been encouraged in a training session, a leadership meeting, or an interview to transgress or misbehave in any way?  Have you ever been encouraged to be extreme or unreasonable or intemperate?

He had not.

You are inside the Church where you can see at close hand the conduct of bishops or Relief Society presidents, of high councilors, stake presidents, or General Authorities.  Could such conduct be described as being typical of them?

He thought it could not.

You are active and have held positions in the Church.  Surely, you would have noticed if the Church promoted any of these things in any way.

Yes, he thought he would have noticed.

Why then, I asked him, when you hear reports of this kind, should you feel that the Church is to blame?

There is no provision in the teachings or doctrines of the Church for any member to be dishonest, or immoral, or irresponsible, or even careless.

Have you not been taught all of your life, that if a member of the Church, particularly in high position, is unworthy in any way, he acts against the standards of the Church?  He is not in harmony with the teachings, the doctrines, or with the leadership of the Church.

Why, then, should your faith be shaken by this account, or that, of some alleged misconduct--most of them misrepresented or untrue?...

Now, does anyone holding a responsible position in the Church ever act unworthily?

The answer: of course, it happens.  It is an exception, but it happens.

When we call a man to be a stake president or a bishop, for instance, we say, in effect:

Here is a congregation.  You are to preside over them.  They are under constant temptation, and you are to see that they win that battle.  Govern them in such a way that they can succeed.  Devote yourself unselfishly to this cause.

And , incidentally, while you preside, you are not excused from your own trials and temptations.  They will, in fact, be increased because you are a leader.  Win your own battle as best you can.

If a leader does conduct himself unworthily, his actions fly against everything the Church stands for, and he is subject to release.

It has been our sad responsibility, on some few occasions, to excommunicate leaders from the Church who have been guilty of very serious illegal or immoral conduct.  

THAT SHOULD INCREASE , NOT SHAKE, 

your faith in the Church, or of a nonmember toward it.

(Conference Report, March-April. 1979, pp 109-11 or Ensign, May 1979, pp. 79-80)

A few things I've discovered!!

Whoever invented or came up with the idea for these great study guides for scripture study, I thank them tremendously!!  This is one of my most favorite things ever!!  I love to be able to grasp the concepts, teachings, and principles that are taught in the scriptures as I read them.  For some reason I was not blessed with the ability to understand and comprehend these great books without help.  I just wanted to share a few things that I think are very important to know as we read.  These are principles that we can apply in our lives everyday!!

If you want an answer to a pray, or if you want a specific blessing, it has to be a principle of action.  

"If you want the blessing, don't just kneel down and pray about it.  Prepare yourselves in EVERY conceivable way you can in order to make yourselves worthy to receive the blessing you seek."  

(Improvement Era, Oct.. 1966..How to receive a blessing from God) 

LOVE THIS!!

Howard W. Hunter

Howard W. Hunter, My father, the Prophet...By Richard A. Hunter

Friends often ask me two questions:  "What was it like to be the son of a prophet and grow up with such a remarkable man?" and"Do you really think your father was a prophet of God?"

Read the article in the Ensign this month.  Page 41.  It's fun to find out about our prophets lives.  

"I have come to believe that men and women are measured by what they value and by what they are willing to do about those values.  Great people seem to consistently do whatever is required to live by their values, even at great sacrifice.  My father was one of these great people.  I had the privilege of learning remarkable things from him about the true meaning of greatness.  The lessons did not come from what he told me but from what he did and who he was.  

President Hunter was in a band--who knew?

He played a clarinet, a saxophone, a violin and a trumpet.  He had a band when he was in high school in Boise, Idaho, USA.  He was a very talented musician who deeply loved music and making music.  His band played at mahor social events in Boise and even on a cruise ship that sailed to Asia.  After he moved to Southern California, in 1928, the band reorganized and became very popular.

In 1931 he married Clara Jeffs.  They wanted to have children.  He felt that for him the demands of the entertainment world were inconsistent with the meaningful family he wanted.  So one day he put all the instruments in their cases and carried them to the attic.  Save for rare family events, he never played them again!!!

Stressed???

I have to agree!!

Sunday's lesson.."Arrows"

Our lesson on Sunday was titled 

"Striving to be better when we're already pretty good!!!"

It came from this book by this cute lady.  It's a great read!!

She relates this story--Years ago I was asked to speak at a fireside, and the only person I really knew was the one who had invited me.  So I sat quietly and reverently at the back while I waited for her to arrive.  I was sitting behind two older women, and one turned to the other with a question.  "Who did they say was speaking tonight?"  Her companion responded, "It's Mary Ellen Edmunds, and I hear she's very religious."  I almost laughed out loud.  But then I began thinking about what that might mean--to be "VERY RELIGIOUS!"   I sat wondering about what would qualify me as a religious person.  

Her chapter called "Arrows" is where I took most of my information.

Let me explain...

Here is a homework assignment...

On the flat line you write all the things you are doing that you feel is good in your life.  This is the ACTIVE part of being a member of the church.  Example--attending meetings, pay tithing, do visiting teaching, read scriptures, pray, make good use of time, etc...

Downward line...Write all the things you are doing that we know are wrong, but we do them anyway.

Skip meetings, choose not to honor the Sabbath, maybe lie a little, take something that isn't yours, etc...

Our goal is to get to the upward line.  

Great quote...What's the least I can do and still get into the celestial kingdom?

The flat line is not a bad place to be but we can't camp there.  It's just the doing.  We want to get to the upward line because that's where we do the things we're doing for the right reasons.  

We do great things everyday and maybe you're already on the upward line in many things you're doing. 

But I know I lack the true motivation for some of the things I do.

Fasting---It is likely skipped altogether on the downward line.  One the flat line, fasting may mean just going without food and paying a little money.  But on the upward line, keeping the law of the fast could be something more meaningful and rewarding.

Scripture Study--Downward line--We read not at all.  Flat line--We read to just cover verses.  Upward line--There is a lot of feasting, searching, prayerful pondering and heading to the counsel there.

Visiting Teaching--Downward line--we may refuse to be a visiting teacher, or even choose not to be visited.  Flat line--Let's get it done and mark it off.  Upward line--We focus more on people and on watch-care, which can change the whole feeling and outcome of such important relationships.

Now you can see what we talked about.

Three things we discussed were:  Having real intent, having a Broken Heart and Contrite Spirit, and appreciating and using the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Great discussion!!!  If we focus on these three things and apply them in our lives, it can get us on the right path to being better and doing better.  There are many other principles that can help us along the way, but these were the three we discussed.

Hope you take the time to do the exercise and then evaluate yourself. 

Challenge yourself to do just a little better in at least one area of your life.

Remember, Good, Better, BEST!!