President Gordon B. Hinckley's Challenge and Promise

President Gordon B. Hinckley said in a

worldwide leadership training meeting:

“I am convinced there is no other organization anywhere to match the Relief Society of this Church.

If they will be UNITED and speak with ONE VOICE,

Their STRENGTH will be INCALCULABLE!”

10 January 2004, 20

Relief Society - A Restoration of an Ancient Form

RELIEF SOCIETY

“A Restoration of an Ancient Pattern”


Although the name may be modern date,

the institution is of ANCIENT ORIGIN.

We were told by our martyred prophet

that the same organization EXISTED

in the church ANCIENTLY.”

Eliza R. Snow

(Published in: “Daughters in My Kingdom”)

Friday, September 30, 2011

Ancient Apostles

One of my FAVORITE books I have acquired over the years is a book called: "Ancient Apostles" - Written By: David O. McKay for a Sunday School manual...There are so many "Pearls of Great Price" contained in this little book...I wanted to share a couple of "Food-for-Thought" paragraphs...on what made these "Ancient Apostles" great men:

"Unfortunately, we know very little about the boyhood days of the Ancient Apostles...It is true we can partly judge what kind of boys they were by the kind of men they became..." (Page 2)

"...they were the most favored men the world has known, because they had the privilege of associating daily---almost hourly, for about two and one-half years, with the Savior of the world." (Page 3)

WHY APOSTLES ARE KNOWN
"Just think! The only reason the world knows anything about them is that having met the Savior, they made Him their guide in life.  If they hadn't, nobody now would know that such men had ever lived. They would have lived and died and been forgotten just as thousands of other men in their day lived and died and nobody knows or cares anything about them; just as thousands and thousands are living today, wasting their time and energy in useless living, choosing the wrong kind of men for their ideals, turning their footsteps into the road of Pleasure and Indulgence instead of the road of Service.  Soon they will reach the end of their journey in life, and nobody can say that the world is any better for their having lived in it." (Page 3)

"Not so with the disciples who chose Jesus for their Guide.  Their lives are like gardens of roses from which the world may pluck beautiful flowers forever." (Page 3)

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Forget - Me-Not - President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Last night's General Relief Society Broadcast was SO GOOD...
and the true highlight of the broadcast
was Elder Uchtforf's talk using the
"Forget-Me-Not" flower...
Here is a summary of his talk:

President Uchtdorf Reminds Sisters of Five Things to ‘Forget Not’


“No matter how dark your days may seem, no matter how insignificant you may feel, no matter how overshadowed you think you may be, your Heavenly Father has not forgotten you. In fact, He loves you, with an infinite love.”
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, gave this loving reminder during the General Relief Society Meeting on September 24, 2011.
Using the forget-me-not flower as a metaphor for his remarks, President Uchtdorf noted that although the flower is small in size, and easily unnoticed among larger flowers, it is still beautiful and vibrant.
President Uchtdorf tied the five petals of the forget-me-not flower to five things women should not forget.

Forget not to be patient with yourself:

President Uchtdorf reminded women that everyone has strengths and weaknesses—that no one is perfect, even those who may seem so.  
“God wants to help us eventually turn all of our weaknesses into strengths, but He knows that this is a long-term goal,” President Uchtdorf said. “It is OK that you are not quite there yet. Keep working on it but stop punishing yourself. “
“Dear sisters, many of you are endlessly compassionate and patient with the weaknesses of others,” he added. “Please remember also to be compassionate and patient with yourself.”

Forget not the difference between a good sacrifice and a foolish sacrifice:

President Uchtdorf defined an acceptable sacrifice as giving up “something good for something of far greater worth.”
“Dedicating some of our time to studying the scriptures or preparing to teach a lesson is a good sacrifice. Spending many hours stitching the title of the lesson into homemade potholders for each member of your class may not be.”
President Uchtdorf noted that every situation is different, and suggested asking, “Am I committing my time and energies to the things that matter most?” in order to distinguish between good and foolish sacrifices.

Forget not to be happy now:

Using an example from the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, President Uchtdorf described how one of the characters, Willy Wonka, hid golden tickets within chocolate bars, promising to reveal wonders to five people who discovered the tickets.
“In their anxiousness, people began to forget the simple joy they used to find in a candy bar. The candy bar itself becomes an utter disappointment if it does not contain a golden ticket,” President Uchtdorf said. Whatever a “golden ticket” may represent to each person, President Uchtdorf warned Relief Society sisters to not put their happiness on hold as they wait for a future event, or golden ticket, to appear.
“The lesson here,” he said,” is that if we spend our days waiting for fabulous roses, we could miss the beauty and wonder of the tiny forget-me-nots that are all around us.”

Forget not the “why” of the gospel:

President Uchtdorf said that sometimes, in the routines of daily life, the vital aspects of the gospel of Jesus Christ are unintentionally overlooked.  “We sometimes see the gospel as a long list of tasks that we must add to our already impossibly long “to do” lists. We focus on what the Lord wants us to do and how we might do it, but we sometimes forget why.”
President Uchtdorf reminded the sisters that the gospel is not an obligation, but a pathway leading to happiness and peace in this life and “glory and inexpressible fulfillment” in the life to come.

Forget not that the Lord loves you:

In closing, President Uchtdorf said, “Just think of it: You are known and remembered by the most majestic, powerful, and glorious being in the universe! You are loved by the King of infinite space and everlasting time.”
“You may at times feel a little like the forget-me-not—insignificant, small, or tiny in comparison with others,” he said, noting: “I hope (the forget-me-not) will be a symbol of the little things that make your lives joyful and sweet.”

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Chocolate + Sisters = A PERFECT COMBINATION!

Oh...Sisters...those of you who were unable to come
last night to our Relief Society activity...
truly missed a VERY FUN FILLED 
evening...30 of us had a
GRAND TIME!

Chocolate + Sisters
made a PERFECT BLEND
of pure FUN!
Kate Van de Carr and Heidi Stott put this event together!
FANTASTIC Sisters!!!!!
We had an opportunity to GET-TO-KNOW more about each other, 
especially the NEW sisters who have moved into our 
Ward...this past year...

Chocolate over flowing!
Homemade CHOCOLATE goodies!

 Jennifer Sherratt's treats were voted to win the prize for the evening!
Frankly...every creative piece of chocolate this evening
was FANTASTIC! We all left on a PURE SUGAR/CHOCOLATE HIGH!
 Part of the activity was to dress like in the 80's...
We clapped to see who would win the prize for best dressed
representing the 80's...
Sister in the middle - Jessica Sharbono 
(wearing the BRIGHT pink top - black heals -
aqua leggings with black pants - took top honors)
OK...for those wondering...why I was in a MATERNITY TOP...
dressing for the 80's? Cause that is what I wore ALL THROUGH 
the 80's...Had a baby in 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986 and 1988...(smile)

Got to love the 80's outfits...
(Left to Right: Ashley Buckwalter; Amber Olsen; Jessica Sharbono;
and Kate Van de Carr

Earlier in the evening, we sat around the table..."getting to know"
each other...SO MUCH FUN...Those on the outside of the
table...rotated every so many minutes...

We asked each other questions and delighted in each other...




 
 

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Saturday, September 10, 2011

The Remarkable Women of God - By: Elder Neal A. Maxwell

Back-packing in the GREAT OUTDOORS of MONTANA

Justin and Sonja Lloyd
Pet companions: Vega and Koda
For those who have not had a chance to do much back-packing...
some of our WARD FAMILY have...Justin and Sonja
had that opportunity...and hiked into the "Jewel Basin" area...
Here are some of their fantastic pictures they took
along the way...

Beautiful "overview"

"Black Lake" and stream feeding into it

Creek and SNOW!

Got to LOVE the dogs...resting on this patch of snow! (smile)

Jewel Basin area

Justin Lloyd

Wild flowers along the path

"Reflection"

Sonja Lloyd
Resting in the "shade"

"Twin Lakes"

"Upper Picnic" Lake

More Wild Flowers
 

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Annie Egley Smith and Her Twin Baby Girls

So many of you have known Annie Egley (now Smith) a long time
have asked to see the TWINS girls...she and my
son, Abraham, were blessed with on
September 7th...

Here are the current pictures put up on Facebook
this morning:

Annie is holding McKenzie Anne (on the left)
and Madison Carlene

Madison came first - Born: 9:15 a.m.
She was 4 lb. 8 oz.
McKenzie came second - Born: 9:18 a.m.
She was 6 lbs.

McKenzie on Left
Madison on Right
Happy "Daddy" Abraham holding Madison
15 minutes after she arrived...
Definitely a "size" difference

Annie ended up having a "C" section - because Madison
was breach...Annie is expected to come home on
Friday...Don't know about the twins, yet...
All are doing well, though, they have their eye on Madison
due to her size...

Friday, September 2, 2011

Another "Forever Family"

On 
30 July 2011
Sam and Mona Okelberry
along with their 2 children
Gabby and Matthew
became a "Forever" Family
in the Twin Falls Temple in Idaho.

OKELBERRY FAMILY
"Twin Falls - Idaho Temple"
Sam, Mona, Gabby, and Matthew
 Mama Mona and Gabby
Little girls and flowers just seem
to add a touch of "heaven"...