Friday, May 29, 2015

Weekly Update May 24th - May 30th

FAITH

"The Sabbath is a Delight"
April 2015 Conference Talk by Russell M Nelson

Doctrine:

Though the doctrine pertaining to the Sabbath day is of ancient origin, it has been renewed in these latter days as part of a new covenant with a promise. Listen to the power of this divine decree:

“That thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day;

“For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High. …

“And on this day … let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart that thy fasting may be perfect, … that thy joy may be full. …"

Invitation to Action:

How can you ensure that your behavior on the Sabbath will lead to joy and rejoicing? In addition to your going to church, partaking of the sacrament, and being diligent in your specific call to serve, what other activities would help to make the Sabbath a delight for you? What sign will you give to the Lord to show your love for Him?

The Sabbath provides a wonderful opportunity to strengthen family ties. After all, God wants each of us, as His children, to return to Him as endowed Saints, sealed in the temple as families, to our ancestors, and to our posterity.

We make the Sabbath a delight when we teach the gospel to our children. Our responsibility as parents is abundantly clear. The Lord said, “Inasmuch as parents have children in Zion … that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands, when eight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents.”

In addition to time with family, you can experience true delight on the Sabbath from family history work. Searching for and finding family members who have preceded you on earth—those who did not have an opportunity to accept the gospel while here—can bring immense joy.

Make the Sabbath a delight by rendering service to others, especially those who are not feeling well or those who are lonely or in need. Lifting their spirits will lift yours as well.

Not pursuing your “own pleasure” on the Sabbath requires self-discipline. You may have to deny yourself of something you might like. If you choose to delight yourself in the Lord, you will not permit yourself to treat it as any other day. Routine and recreational activities can be done some other time.

Promised Blessings:

“And inasmuch as ye do these things with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances, … the fulness of the earth is yours.”

Imagine the scope of that statement! The fulness of the earth is promised to those who keep the Sabbath day holy. No wonder Isaiah called the Sabbath “a delight.”

Read, study, or listen to the entire talk here:

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/the-sabbath-is-a-delight?lang=eng

FAMILY

Sister Chery Esplin started off April's conference with her talk, "Filling Our Homes with Light and Truth." She had a fun demonstration using pop cans that helped teach this gospel topic.

When filled with the Spirit and with gospel truth, we have the power to withstand the outside forces of the world that surround and push against us. However, if we are not filled spiritually, we don’t have the inner strength to resist the outside pressures and can collapse when forces push against us.

Satan knows that in order for us and our families to withstand the pressures of the world, we must be filled with light and gospel truth. So he does everything in his power to dilute, distort, and destroy the truth of the gospel and to keep us separated from that truth.

Many of us have been baptized and have received the gift of the Holy Ghost, whose role it is to reveal and teach the truth of all things.² With the privilege of that gift comes the responsibility to seek truth, to live the truth we know, and to share and defend the truth.

One place where we best seek to be filled with light and truth is in our own homes. The words in the chorus of the song we heard remind us, “God gave us families to help us become what He wants us to be.”³ Families are the Lord’s workshop on earth to help us learn and live the gospel. We come into our families with a sacred duty to help strengthen each other spiritually.

Strong eternal families and Spirit-filled homes do not just happen. They take great effort, they take time, and they take each member of the family doing his or her part. Every home is different, but every home where even one individual seeks for truth can make a difference.

We are continually counseled to increase our spiritual knowledge through prayer and through studying and pondering the scriptures and the words of the living prophets.

Read or listen to her entire talk here:

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/filling-our-homes-with-light-and-truth?lang=eng

RELIEF

This coming Sunday will be our Visiting Teaching Conference. We have been invited to watch the following videos in preparation for the topics to be presented:

Making Families Stronger: (1:50)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FShKFOR7sLs

Focusing On Others: (1:31)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l77Ko3hl588

Questions To Ponder: (2:01)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mojapS9Xi30

There are occasionally good works that take place in our community that we would like to make you aware of! Sister Dana Rae Bennett is heading up a fundraiser to help raise funds to purchase a needed handicapped van for Graycee Roberts. Upcoming events include a garage sale on June 13th and a 5K Pancake Breakfast and Auction on June 27th. If you are interested in helping, please contact Dana Rae @ 351-7083. There is also a Facebook page set up for Graycee called, "Driving Miss Graycee": www.facebook.com/drivingmissgraycee. Updates will be posted on this page of fundraising efforts and details, times, and dates of each one.

SWEEPING THE EARTH AS IF A FLOOD:

"Imagine what we can do in the world if we all join together, united as followers of Christ. Simple daily acts of service...when considered collectively...will sweeten and nourish the world with the life sustaining nectar of faith, hope and charity."

-Elder Russell Ballard

Relief Society Announcements:

Lesson Schedule:

May 31^st – Visiting Teaching Conference

June 7th - Ezra Taft Benson #11 - “Follow The Living Prophet”

June 14th - Ward Conference

June 21st - Ezra Taft Benson #12 - “Seek the Spirit in All You Do”

June 28th - Teachings For Our Time

Recipes on the blog:

If you have a recipe you would like to share send them to: drbennett1@hotmail.com or call or text them to 208-351-7083. We would love to have your favorite holiday recipes!

Visit the ward recipe blog: www.burton4threcipes.blogspot.com

Visit the Relief Society blog: www.burton4thrs.blogspot.com

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Weekly Update May 17th - May 23rd

FAITH

"Flooding the Earth and Our Lives with the Book of Mormon"
Ezra Taft Benson - Lesson 10

Doctrine:

The Book of Mormon … was written for our day. The Nephites never had the book; neither did the Lamanites of ancient times. It was meant for us. Mormon wrote near the end of the Nephite civilization. Under the inspiration of God, who sees all things from the beginning, he abridged centuries of records, choosing the stories, speeches, and events that would be most helpful to us.

Each of the major writers of the Book of Mormon testified that he wrote for future generations. … If they saw our day and chose those things which would be of greatest worth to us, is not that how we should study the Book of Mormon? We should constantly ask ourselves, “Why did the Lord inspire Mormon (or Moroni or Alma) to include that in his record? What lesson can I learn from that to help me live in this day and age?”

And there is example after example of how that question will be answered. For example, in the Book of Mormon we find a pattern for preparing for the Second Coming. A major portion of the book centers on the few decades just prior to Christ’s coming to America. By careful study of that time period, we can determine why some were destroyed in the terrible judgments that preceded His coming and what brought others to stand at the temple in the land of Bountiful and thrust their hands into the wounds of His hands and feet.

Invitation to Action:

Every Latter-day Saint should make the study of this book a lifetime pursuit. Otherwise, he is placing his soul in jeopardy and neglecting that which could give spiritual and intellectual unity to his whole life. There is a difference between a convert who is built on the rock of Christ through the Book of Mormon and stays hold on the iron rod, and one who [is] not.

We have an increasing number who have been convinced, through the Book of Mormon, that Jesus is the Christ. Now we need an increasing number who will use the Book of Mormon to become committed to Christ. We need to be convinced and committed.

… My beloved brethren and sisters, let us read the Book of Mormon and be convinced that Jesus is the Christ. Let us continually reread the Book of Mormon so that we might more fully come to Christ, be committed to Him, centered in Him, and consumed in Him.

I have a conviction: The more we teach and preach from the Book of Mormon, the more we shall please the Lord and the greater will be our power of speaking. By so doing, we shall greatly increase our converts, both within the Church and among those we proselyte. … Our commission then is to teach the principles of the gospel which are in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. “These shall be their teachings, as they shall be directed by the Spirit” (D&C 42:13).

The Book of Mormon is the instrument that God designed to “sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out [His] elect.” (Moses 7:62.) This sacred volume of scripture needs to become more central in our preaching, our teaching, and our missionary work.

… In this age of the electronic media and the mass distribution of the printed word, God will hold us accountable if we do not now move the Book of Mormon in a monumental way.

We have the Book of Mormon, we have the members, we have the missionaries, we have the resources, and the world has the need. The time is now!

My beloved brothers and sisters, we hardly fathom the power of the Book of Mormon, nor the divine role it must play, nor the extent to which it must be moved. …

I challenge all of us to prayerfully consider steps that we can personally take to bring this new witness for Christ more fully into our own lives and into a world that so desperately needs it.

Promised Blessings:

It is not just that the Book of Mormon teaches us truth, though it indeed does that. It is not just that the Book of Mormon bears testimony of Christ, though it indeed does that, too. But there is something more. There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path. The scriptures are called “the words of life” (D&C 84:85), and nowhere is that more true than it is of the Book of Mormon. When you begin to hunger and thirst after those words, you will find life in greater and greater abundance.

Read, study, or listen to the entire lesson here:

https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-of-presidents-of-the-church-ezra-taft-benson/chapter-10-flooding-the-earth-and-our-lives-with-the-book-of-mormon?lang=eng

You can also view a few short videos.

I shared a talk given by Ezra Taft Benson in the October 1988 General Conference. Here it is again since it goes along so well with this lesson:

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1988/10/flooding-the-earth-with-the-book-of-mormon?lang=eng