Enrichment

Hi All! You are getting a 2 for 1 on the posts today...




Sunday's lesson was about the Sacrament and Sacrament meeting taught by Sister Sherksnas - with the aid of Denise Hart's glasses! (sorry, had to include it, it was cute!). We've heard all the basic doctrine before on the sacrament - we can site scriptures - but is it a part of us, have we internalized those principles? How do you prepare for sacrament meeting even before you step out the door? What do we listen to? How to we talk to one another? All of these effect our participation in Sacrament Meeting.


from the article by Dallin H. Oaks...

The ordinance of the sacrament makes sacrament meeting the most sacred and important meeting in the church.

We live in the perilous times prophesied by the Apostle Paul (see 2 Timothy 3:1). Those who try to walk the straight and narrow path see inviting detours on every hand. We can be distracted, degraded, downhearted, or depressed. How can we have the Spirit of the Lord to guide our choices and keep us on the path?

In modern revelation the Lord gave the answer in this commandment:

“And 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” (D&C 59:9–10).

This is a commandment with a promise. By participating weekly and appropriately in the ordinance of the sacrament we qualify for the promise that we will “always have his Spirit to be with [us]” (D&C 20:77). That Spirit is the foundation of our testimony. It testifies of the Father and the Son, brings all things to our remembrance, and leads us into truth. It is the compass to guide us on our path. This gift of the Holy Ghost, President Wilford Woodruff taught, “is the greatest gift that can be bestowed upon man” (Deseret Weekly, Apr. 6, 1889, 451

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Our Enrichment meeting was a wonderful night filled with "light". The cultural hall and displays were beautiful! We had a delicious meal with the baked potato bar and a spiritual lesson/discussion taught and lead by Sister Johnston. We talked about how we can fill our personal spiritual oil lamps. Near the end, we each thought of a goal to achieve by the end of the year, wrote it down, put it in an envelope and sealed it.

A BIG THANK YOU to all of those who have helped make our meeting a success - everyone from those who brought toppings to those who helped with the nursery! And thank you also to our Priesthood holders who were quietly there!

Here is a recipe that Sister Forsberg is sharing -

Baked Idaho Supreme

• 1 1/2 lbs hamburger
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• chopped green pepper (optional)

brown these ingredients.

then blend in:

• 1 1/2 tbs flour
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• salt/pepper to taste
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup

Cook slowly for 20 minutes, then add:

• 1 can drained mushrooms
• 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup sour cream

Cook until hot. Serve 1/2 cup of mixture over baked potato. Top with grated cheese, sour cream & bacon bits!

taco potatoes: mix 1/2 package Taco Seasoning mix with 1 1/2 lbs meat - brown - top with cheese, tomatoes, lettuce etc...

Missionary Work

We had a great lesson in RS yesterday on missionary work, it is found in lesson 28 in the Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Whether it is in our own home or with those we come in contact with every day...

“After all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the Gospel.”

Dawn shared a story of when she was in school...
In her civics class, they were assigned to write a report and then present it orally in the class - on the subject of: something historic that happened in the state of Pennsylvania. So...she picked the topic of Joseph Smith's baptism and the restoration of the priesthood that happened in Harmony, Pennsylvania. She thought she was taking the easy way out, but little did she know that it would cause a stir among one of her classmates' parents. She presented her speech and one of her classmates said that she would like to know more about it, so Dawn took a Book of Mormon to her the next day. This girl's parents were furious - and thought Dawn should be expelled! (don't think that happened though...) There was such a fuss over this, that it discouraged Dawn to share the Book of Mormon.
But then she shared the ending to this story of thinking she took the easy way out... the girl who was interested in what Dawn shared in class that day - waited until she was 18 and was baptised along with another classmate - and they BOTH went on to serve missions touching countless other lives.

Joseph has said about missionaries/missions, in a letter to the Twelve,

"Love is one of the chief characteristics of Deity, and ought to be manifested by those who aspire to be the sons of God. A man filled with the love of God, is not content with blessing his family alone, but ranges through the whole world, anxious to bless the whole human race. This has been your feeling, and caused you to forego the pleasures of home, that you might be a blessing to others, who are candidates for immortality, but strangers to truth; and for so doing, I pray that heaven’s choicest blessings may rest upon you."

Becky Eves once told a story in Sacrament meeting about sharing the Gospel, that I thought was relevant. If it's not exactly right, I'm sorry, you get the point of it though.

She asked, if we went to the store and found out that they were having the greatest sale on meat, $0.01/lb. Wouldn't you want to tell everyone you knew about that great sale ? Think how happy you are to get that good deal, and you just wanted to share such a great deal - your friends/family wouldn't be offended by you calling them up and letting them know about it...
Think how happy the Gospel makes us and the wonderful blessing we receive by living it - shouldn't we be just as excited in sharing that wonderful thing with our family and friends?

last Sunday....

HI there, Becky taught our lesson this past Sunday, it was lesson 27 in the Teachings of Joseph Smith,Beware of the Bitter Fruits of Apostasy.

In the weeks before and after the completion of the Kirtland Temple in the spring of 1836, the Saints experienced a time of harmony and a rich outpouring of the gifts of the Spirit. But the Prophet Joseph Smith warned the Saints that if they did not continue to live righteously, their joy and unity would not last. Daniel Tyler said of this time: “All felt that they had a foretaste of heaven. In fact, there were several weeks in which we were not tempted of the devil; and we wondered whether the millennium had commenced. At [a meeting of priesthood brethren], the Prophet Joseph addressed us. Among other things he said: ‘Brethren, for some time Satan has not had power to tempt you. Some have thought that there would be no more temptation. But the opposite will come; and unless you draw near to the Lord you will be overcome and apostatize.’


She told the "parable of the blue car" - and see how you can apply its moral to your life!

Becky is talking on her cell phone, just out of work - frazzled as ever, - toting a big laptop bag, a purse and another bag. So she was quite loaded down as it is. She is walking to her car down the street - she takes off all of her heavy bags and throws them into the car and then starts to get into her car OR so she thought! "Excuse me, do I know you?" interrupts the person sitting in the blue car.

Needless to say, this was NOT her car, it was not even a similar make of her car - it was blue like her car though.

So the relevance of the story to this lesson: we need to pay attention to what we are doing and draw near to the Lord, - just because something may look like the truth - even sound like the truth - it does not mean it is the truth.

Eternal Perspective

Sunday's lesson was about perspective. It goes along with our theme for the year, "Come what may and love it".

Sister Boik related the story of how Joseph Smith was drug out of his house - beaten, stripped and tarred/feathered by a mob one - here is Joseph's account of what happened (can be found in lesson 19):

“The mob burst open the door and surrounded the bed in an instant, and … the first I knew I was going out of the door in the hands of an infuriated mob. I made a desperate struggle, as I was forced out, to extricate myself, but only cleared one leg, with which I made a pass at one man, and he fell on the door steps. I was immediately overpowered again; and they swore … they would kill me if I did not be still, which quieted me. …

“They then seized me by the throat and held on till I lost my breath. After I came to, as they passed along with me, about thirty rods from the house, I saw Elder Rigdon stretched out on the ground, whither they had dragged him by his heels. I supposed he was dead. I began to plead with them, saying, ‘You will have mercy and spare my life, I hope.’ To which they replied, ‘… Call on yer God for help, we’ll show ye no mercy.’ ”

After some discussion, the mob “concluded not to kill me,” the Prophet related, “but to beat and scratch me well, tear off my shirt and drawers, and leave me naked. … They ran back and fetched the bucket of tar, when one exclaimed, with an oath, ‘Let us tar up his mouth;’ and they tried to force the tar-paddle into my mouth; I twisted my head around, so that they could not; and they cried out, ‘… Hold up yer head and let us giv ye some tar.’ They then tried to force a vial into my mouth, and broke it in my teeth. All my clothes were torn off me except my shirt collar; and one man fell on me and scratched my body with his nails like a mad cat. …

“They then left me, and I attempted to rise, but fell again; I pulled the tar away from my lips, so that I could breathe more freely, and after a while I began to recover, and raised myself up, whereupon I saw two lights. I made my way towards one of them, and found it was Father Johnson’s. When I came to the door … the tar made me look as if I were covered with blood, and when my wife saw me she thought I was all crushed to pieces, and fainted. …

“My friends spent the night in scraping and removing the tar, and washing and cleansing my body; so that by morning I was ready to be clothed again.”

Even after this ordeal, the Prophet stood fast in carrying out his responsibilities to the Lord. The next day was the Sabbath. “The people assembled for meeting at the usual hour of worship,” the Prophet recorded, “and among them came also the mobbers. … With my flesh all scarified and defaced, I preached to the congregation as usual, and in the afternoon of the same day baptized three individuals.”1 Joseph and Emma’s son, Joseph, died five days after the mob attack as a result of being exposed to the cold night air while suffering from the measles.

Sister Boik also told a story about a family that was burned in her mind". A certain family in her ward was assigned to give a sacrament meeting presentation- their family had the entire time. They woke up early that Sunday morning and the whole family head lice.

Now if you were that family, what do you think you would do?

This family knew they had to carry out this very important assignment. So someone got the treatment for lice early that morning and they were all there to speak in Sacrament Meeting.

In both of these accounts, Joseph and the family had a broader perspective than just - themselves at that moment. They knew there was something in the bigger picture.