January 26th

Relief Society Purposes:

*Increase faith and personal righteousness

*Strengthen families and homes

*Seek out and help those in need

FAITH

Lesson Review: "Like A Broken Vessel" by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Doctrine: "In striving for some peace and understanding in these difficult matters (depression), it is crucial to remember that we are living - and chose to live- in a fallen world where for divine purposes our pursuit of godliness will be tested again and again.  Of greatest assurance in God's plan is that a Savior was promised, a Redeemer, who through our faith in Him would lift us triumphantly over those tests and trials."

Invitation to Action: "Never lose faith in your Father in Heaven, who loves you more than you can comprehend."

"Watch for stress indicators in yourself and in others you may be able to help."

"Slow down, rest up, replenish, and refill. Physicians promise us that if we do not take time to be well, we most assuredly will take time later on to be ill."

Promised Blessings: "Know that one day the dawn will break brightly and all shadows of mortality will flee."

"That which was sown in corruption will one day be raised in incorruption and that which was sown in weakness will ultimately be raised in power."

FAMILY

2014 Youth Curriculum - “Come Unto Christ”

 January – The Godhead

  Theme Song:

https://www.lds.org/youth/video/come-unto-christ-2014-theme-song?lang=eng&cid=email-shared

2014 Primary Theme – “Families Are Forever”           

January – Heavenly Father  Prepared a Way for Me to Return to His Presence.

RELIEF

Our Relief Society President, Sister Bressler, spoke for a moment on Sunday about the lessons we have in Relief Society each month and the purpose for each lesson.  The first Sunday of the month a lesson is taught that has been selected by our Relief Society Presidency.  After reflection and prayer about the sisters in our ward and our needs, they select a lesson to teach.  

The second and third Sundays are inspiring lessons from past presidents of our church.  

The fourth Sunday of the month is a lesson that is taught from our recent General Conferences.  Again, what to teach for ten of these lessons is selected by our Bishop after much prayer and pondering about what the members of our ward need at this time. Two of these lessons are selected by the Stake Presidency after they also pray to know what the members of our Stake could benefit from learning about.

Sister Bressler pointed out that a lot of thought, prayer and inspiration about what to teach goes into each of these lessons and we should therefore be a little better after having learned from these inspired lessons all month long.  If we don't feel like we have improved, perhaps we need to do more preparation, prayer and pondering ourselves!

Did you get a schedule of lessons for the year?  If not, please ask your Visiting Teacher or a member of the Relief Society Presidency to procure a copy of the schedule for you.

 Upcoming Events: 
*February 18- Blue and Gold Banquet and Pinewood Derby
The whole Ward is invited to celebrate scouting by attending the Blue and Gold Banquet and submitting an entry for the Pinewood Derby!

*March 20 - Relief Society Activity
This will be a great event!  As part of the celebration of the Relief Society's 172nd birthday, we will be serving a delicious dinner and having a guest speaker.

*March 23rd -  Relief Society Sisters sing in Sacrament Meeting
Warm up your singing voices!  The Relief Society sisters have been invited to sing in Sacrament Meeting on March 23rd.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:

* Please remember the request from the Stake that we fast for moisture this fast Sunday.
*Service Opportunities:

There is a need for Sisters to do sealings on Wednesday mornings from 8 – 9 a.m. Sealers serve in the temple throughout the day beginning at 6:00 a.m. and depend mostly on walk-in patrons to do sealings.  Lately, there have been too few sisters to do sealings between  8 – 9 a.m. on Wednesday mornings.  If you are available on Wednesday mornings for an hour, there us a need for you.

Who:  Any endowed sister.  You do not have to be married to participate in sealings.

Where:  The third floor of the Rexburg Temple.  There will be a Coordinator at the desk on the 3^rd floor to direct you to a Sealing Room.

Feeble knees:  Many patrons have knee problems and use a chair at the altar.  Just tell the Sealer that you need to use a chair and they will accommodate you.

FYI:  Did you know that typically 15 – 30 sealings can be performed in one hour?  

Relief Society Purposes:

*Increase faith and personal righteousness

*Strengthen families and homes

*Seek out and help those in need

FAITH

Lesson Review: Joseph Fielding Smith 2: "Our Savior, Jesus Christ"

Doctrine: "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God who came into the world to lay down his life that we might live.  That is the truth, and is fundamental.  Upon that our faith is built."

Invitation to Action: "Consider what you can do to increase your love for the Savior and share your testimony of Him."

Promised Blessings: "We become the sons and daughters of Jesus Christ through His Atonement and through our covenants of obedience to Him."

"The Savior has revealed Himself in this dispensation, and each of us can have an abiding testimony of Him."

FAMILY

2014 Youth Curriculum - “Come Unto Christ”

 January – The Godhead

  Theme Song:

https://www.lds.org/youth/video/come-unto-christ-2014-theme-song?lang=eng&cid=email-shared

2014 Primary Theme – “Families Are Forever”           

January – Heavenly Father  Prepared a Way for Me to Return to His Presence.

RELIEF

*Please check with the sisters that you Visit Teach and see if they want/have one of the new Joseph Fielding Smith manuals. We have a lot of extras for those who want them!

I have been thinking a lot lately about how, although technology is a wonderful thing because it helps us stay so connected to each other, technology can also be a great hindrance because we rely on it so much that we may fail to listen to the spirit.  Have you ever found yourself thinking about a sister in the ward?  Have you given her a quick call or said a prayer for her even though for all you know everything is going great in her life?  I think that sometimes, because we have phones and other modern conveniences, we figure that someone will call us and let us know if there is a problem that they or someone else needs help with.  Many times, our Heavenly Father is the only one that is aware of someone else's burdens and cares.

“God does watch over us and does notice us, but it usually through someone else that he meets our needs.” 
― Spencer W. Kimball

It's my hope that all of us can be aware of those fleeting thoughts that we have about others and that we will immediately act upon them! I have a testimony and have learned that whenever I find myself thinking about someone, it's because they need to be thought of! I need to do something. Anything really - just something.

Conversely, there have been many, many times that I have been having a really hard time and have prayed that someone - ANYONE would call me or be aware of me.  Many times, nothing has happened. I have been amazed how weeks later many people will tell me, "I was really thinking about you a week or two ago.  How are you doing?"  Well, by then I am generally doing great!

Many of you have probably had similar experiences.  I know that we have also had very rewarding experiences come to us as we have relied on the spirit for information.  I think the following story from "Daughters in my Kingdom" is inspiring:

Time after time, faithful visiting teachers have sought and received spiritual guidance. A Relief Society sister in Brazil told of a time when she received the Lord’s help:

“I have no way to reach the sisters by phone. We don’t have telephones. So I go to my knees in prayer to find out the sisters that need me that week. It never fails. [For instance], we had a dear young woman in our ward that had no clothes for her new baby. I had no idea when she was due but I knew she was close. I got a group of sisters together and we made some clothes for her baby. We didn’t want her to bring that baby home in newspapers. We could not telephone one another and so I prayed and I was told when I should go to the hospital with this layette [baby clothes]. When I arrived at the hospital she had just given birth to her baby and I was able to present the clothes to her that were from her Relief Society sisters.”²³

https://www.lds.org/relief-society/daughters-in-my-kingdom/manual/pure-religion-watchcare-and-ministering-through-visiting-teaching?lang=eng

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

*Stacie Day was married on Saturday, Jan 18th!

*Sarah Coray received her mission call to Chile!  

CALENDAR

*March Relief Society birthday party

January 12th Lesson Review

Relief Society Purposes:

*Increase faith and personal righteousness

*Strengthen families and homes

*Seek out and help those in need

Lesson Review: Joseph Fielding Smith:  Chapter 1 "Our Father in Heaven"

Doctrine: We must remember "the nature and kind of being that God is, so that we may worship him in spirit and in truth and thereby gain all the blessings of his gospel."

Invitation to Action: As you exercise faith in your Heavenly Father, how does it help you to know of His Characteristics?

Promised Blessings: "It was never the intention of our Father in heaven to leave men to grope and feel their way in darkness and that without any light to guide them, and expect them under such conditions to find their way back to his kingdom and into his holy presence.....The Lord has always been willing to lead and direct and show the way."

Developing Christ-like Attributes

Relief Society Purposes:

*Increase faith and personal righteousness

*Strengthen families and homes

*Seek out and help those in need

FAITH

LESSON REVIEW: "Developing Christlike Attributes" from Preach My Gospel.

Doctrine: "The invitation to follow Christ is an invitation to follow His example and to become like Him."

Invitation to Action: "How can we develop attributes that will make us more powerful and effective ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ?"
"Learn of Him and seek to incorporate His attributes into your life."                                   

"With a desire to please God, recognize your weaknesses and be willing and anxious to improve."

Promised Blessings: "Christlike attributes are gifts from God.  They come as you use your agency righteously.  Ask your Heavenly Father to bless you with these attributes; you cannot develop them without His help."

January Lessons: 

                             12th - "Our Father in Heaven" - Joseph Fielding Smith

                             19th - "Our Savior Jesus Christ" - Joseph Fielding Smith

                             26th - "Like a Broken Vessel" - Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

FAMILY

The Value of Work:  J. Richard Clark

“Fortunate is the young man or woman who has learned how to work. Wise is the parent who requires children to learn responsibility and to meet acceptable performance standards.”

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1982/04/the-value-of-work?lang=eng

2014 Youth Curriculum - “Come Unto Christ”

 January – The Godhead

  Theme Song:

https://www.lds.org/youth/video/come-unto-christ-2014-theme-song?lang=eng&cid=email-shared

2014 Primary Theme – “Families Are Forever”           

January – Heavenly Father  Prepared a Way for Me to Return to His Presence.

RELIEF:

This month we ask each visiting teaching companionship to make sure each of the sisters they visit have the new R.S. manual and the new bookmark.

2014 Relief Society manual

January Visiting Teaching Message: Jesus Christ: Exemplar

"Of Latter-day Saint women, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, said: "You wonderful sisters render compassionate service to others for reasons that supersede desires for personal benefits.  In this you emulate the Savior...His thoughts were always tuned to help others."

News: 

*Congratulations to Stacie Day, who will be married on January 18th!

*A new sister, Nancy Tietjen, has moved into our ward!  

Nancy and her husband Charles have just moved from Teton because they bought the Kay's house!  They have been married for eight years and have four darling little children: Charles (5), Chloe (3 1/2), Jenna (21 months) and Allison who is only seven weeks old. (Yes, Nancy was moving in with a two week old baby= stressful!!)

Nancy's husband works for Navex Global, a computer software company here in Rexburg.  He also enjoys fixing cars on the side.  Nancy is a photographer!  I was very impressed because she already had a beautiful, up-dated family picture (that she took herself) hanging on her wall.

The Tietjens are going to be such an asset to our ward!  I can't wait for all of you to meet them!!

Calendar:

March - R.S. Birthday Party

Becoming Meek

Relief Society Purposes:

*Increase faith and personal righteousness

*Strengthen families and homes

*Seek out and help those in need

FAITH

Lesson Review: "Be Meek and Lowly of Heart" by Elder Ulisses Soares

Doctrine: "Meekness is vital for us to become more Christlike.  Without it we won't be able to develop other important virtues."

Invitation to Action: 

*How do I react when someone does not comply with my desires the moment I want them to?

*How do I react when people disagree with my ideas, even though I am absolutely sure that my ideas represent the proper solution to a problem?

*What is my response when someone offends me, critiques my efforts, or is simply unkind because he/she is in a bad mood?

Promised Blessings: "Upon acknowledging our dedication and perseverance, the Lord will give us that which we are not able to attain due to our imperfections and human weaknesses."

FAMILY

Many of us set goals for our new year.  What have you decided to do to improve during 2014?  Did you know that one goal that consistently tops New Year's Resolutions lists is "to appreciate loved ones and spend more time with family"?  Why not take that goal a step farther and set a goal that will improve your family this year?  If we are focused on improving our families than we will be spending time with them along the way! What is one thing that YOU could you do to make your family stronger in 2014?

Maybe you want to work on consistent family prayers, family scripture reading or Family Home Evenings.  If you are already good about doing these spiritual-related goals, you may want to consider family financial, social,or mental and health-related goals!

http://family.go.com/parenting/pkg-teen/article-783845-family-new-year-resolutions-t/

RELIEF

.....And while we're on the topic of goals....This might be a great time to make some goals about doing our Visiting Teaching better than ever this year!!

Elder Henry B. Eyring said:

"You are called to represent the Savior. Your voice to testify becomes the same as His voice, your hands to lift the same as His hands. His work is to bless His Father’s spirit children with the opportunity to choose eternal life. So, your calling is to bless lives. That will be true even in the most ordinary tasks you are assigned and in moments when you might be doing something not apparently connected to your call. Just the way you smile or the way you offer to help someone can build their faith. And should you forget who you are, just the way you speak and the way you behave can destroy faith.

Your call has eternal consequences for others and for you. In the world to come, thousands may call your name blessed, even more than the people you serve here. They will be the ancestors and the descendants of those who chose eternal life because of something you said or did, or even what you were. If someone rejects the Savior’s invitation because you did not do all you could have done, their sorrow will be yours. You see, there are no small callings to represent the Lord. Your call carries grave responsibility. But you need not fear, because with your call come great promises.

One of those promises is the second thing you need to know. It is that the Lord will guide you by revelation just as He called you. You must ask in faith for revelation to know what you are to do. With your call comes the promise that answers will come. But that guidance will come only when the Lord is sure you will obey. To know His will you must be committed to do it. The words “Thy will be done,” written in the heart, are the window to revelation."

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2002/10/rise-to-your-call?lang=eng

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

* Next year our meeting times will begin at 9:00 am with Sacrament Meeting first.

We wish you all a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

January 5 - Susan C.

January 5- Ruth Ann C.

January 9 - Nancy M. (Our ward birthday greeter!!)

January 18 - Renae H.

January 27 - Susan C.

January 28 - Becca H.

January 31 - Katie W. (Our newest Relief Society sister!)