Upcomings

Ladies: Mark your calendars!
Visiting Teaching interviews will be held January 8th!! Sign ups went around so if you have not had a chance to sign up please contact one of our fine Presidency members to sign up and visit with them a few minutes about visiting teaching!

2015 has lots of fun things in store for us. We will keep you posted both here and on FB of upcoming events and things going on.

Conference Lesson

This week's lesson is taken from 2 different conference talks. The first talk is by Quentin L. Cook talk given in the Priesthood session: Choose Wisely.

From Choose Wisely we are admonished to:

During the ministry of President Thomas S. Monson, he has often taught that decisions determine destiny.³ In that spirit my counsel tonight is to rise above any rationalizations that prevent us from making righteous decisions, especially with respect to serving Jesus Christ. In Isaiah we are taught we must “refuse the evil, and choose the good.”⁴

I believe it is of particular importance in our day, when Satan is raging in the hearts of men in so many new and subtle ways, that our choices and decisions be made carefully, consistent with the goals and objectives by which we profess to live. We need unequivocal commitment to the commandments and strict adherence to sacred covenants. When we allow rationalizations to prevent us from temple endowments, worthy missions, and temple marriage, they are particularly harmful. It is heartbreaking when we profess belief in these goals yet neglect the everyday conduct required to achieve them.⁵

 

^{Goals are not enough,  you need to adequately prepare for the future and the achievement of these goals.}

 

Both talks were so awesome it was hard to figure out how to fit everything in and so this talk was just touched upon with the bulk of our lesson being on the talk given by Thomas S. Monson, Ponder the Path of Thy Feet.

 

As always President Monson gave a fabulous talk and it is filled with wisdom that we need to study and apply to our lives.

When we came to the earth, we brought with us that great gift from God—even our agency.

 

We came to earth to gain a body and to prove ourselves. We have the great gift AGENCY. We have to take responsibility for our choices.

 

I am certain we left our Father with an overwhelming desire to return to Him, that we might gain the exaltation He planned for us and which we ourselves so much wanted. Although we are left to find and follow that path which will lead us back to our Father in Heaven, He did not send us here without direction and guidance. Rather, He has given us the tools we need, and He will assist us as we seek His help and strive to do all in our power to endure to the end and gain eternal life.

 

"Sister Nielson gave us an example of enduring to the end. Her mother in law was dying of cancer. She was in the hospital and had lost the ability to talk, so had to write down whatever it was she wanted to communicate. She had a nurse or orderly that she wrote a message to telling him that he would make a good bishop. The man asked her what a bishop was and she told him that a bishop was part of her church's leadership, that she was Mormon. She then went on to write and tell him about the gospel. What a wonderful example of Enduring to the end and in her final days sharing the gospel. "

 

To help guide us we have the words of God and of His Son found in our holy scriptures. We have the counsel and teachings of God’s prophets. Of paramount importance, we have been provided with a perfect example to follow—even the example of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ—and we have been instructed to follow that example. Said the Savior Himself: “Come, follow me.”² “The works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do.”³

 

One woman, each time she related experiences she had during a visit to the Holy Land, would exclaim, “I walked where Jesus walked!”

She had been in the vicinity where Jesus lived and taught. Perhaps she stood on a rock on which He had once stood or looked at a mountain range He had once gazed upon. The experiences, in and of themselves, were thrilling to her; but physically walking where Jesus walked is less important than walking as He walked. Emulating His actions and following His example are far more important than trying to retrace the remnants of the trails He traversed in mortality.

When Jesus extended to a certain rich man the invitation, “Come, follow me,”⁷ He did not intend merely that the rich man follow Him up and down the hills and valleys of the countryside.

We need not walk by the shores of Galilee or among the Judean hills to walk where Jesus walked. All of us can walk the path He walked when, with His words ringing in our ears, His Spirit filling our hearts, and His teachings guiding our lives, we choose to follow Him as we journey through mortality. His example lights the way. Said He, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”⁸

 

Jesus walked the path of disappointment.

Jesus walked the path of temptation.

Jesus walked the path of pain.

 

Haven't we all walked these paths? Can't we all say that we have walked the path of disappointment, temptation and pain?

 

We, with Jesus, can walk the path of obedience.

We, like Jesus, can walk the path of service.

Jesus walked the path of prayer.

 

As I think of those who have truly tried to follow the example of the Savior and who have walked in His path, there comes readily to my mind the names of Gustav and Margarete Wacker—two of the most Christlike individuals I have ever known. They were native Germans who had immigrated to eastern Canada, and I met them when I served as a mission president there. Brother Wacker earned his living as a barber. Though their means were limited, they shared all they had. They were not blessed with children, but they nurtured all who entered their home. Men and women of learning and sophistication sought out these humble, unlettered servants of God and counted themselves fortunate if they could spend an hour in their presence.

Their appearance was ordinary, their English halting and somewhat difficult to understand, their home unpretentious. They didn’t own a car or a television, nor did they do any of the things to which the world usually pays attention. Yet the faithful beat a path to their door in order to partake of the spirit that was there. Their home was a heaven on earth, and the spirit they radiated was of pure peace and goodness.

We too can have that spirit and can share it with the world as we walk the path of our Savior and follow His perfect example.

We read in Proverbs the admonition, “Ponder the path of thy feet.”¹⁹ As we do, we will have the faith, even the desire, to walk the path which Jesus walked. We will have no doubt that we are on a path which our Father would have us follow. The Savior’s example provides a framework for everything that we do, and His words provide an unfailing guide. His path will take us safely home.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Pray Always

He is the gift!

If have you haven't had a chance to watch this video, here is the link. Sometimes we need to slow down and take time to understand the precious gift that we have been given.

Prayer

Yesterday's lesson was lesson 22, Prayer - A Commandment and A Blessing

I was not able to attend church, I had wisdom teeth out and am swollen and sore. I was home with a sick kid last week and the week before only made it to Sacrament, next week I will be out of town. I'm practically inactive!! I am not sure if Angie was there, so I will include a quick summary from the lesson.

We are commanded to draw near to Heavenly Father in prayer.

I wonder if we ever stop to think why the Lord has asked us to pray. Did he ask us to pray because he wants us to bow down and worship him? Is that the main reason? I don’t think it is. He is our Heavenly Father, and we have been commanded to worship him and pray to him in the name of his Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. But the Lord can get along without our prayers. His work will go on just the same, whether we pray or whether we do not. … Prayer is something that we need, not that the Lord needs.

The season for prayer is always.

“Yea, cry unto him for mercy, for he is mighty to save; yea, humble yourselves and continue in prayer unto him; cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks; cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening; yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies; yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness. Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them; cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase. But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets and your secret places and in your wilderness; yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you. And now, behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you, do not suppose this is all, for after ye have done all these things, if ye turn away the needy and the naked, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart of your substance, if ye have, to those who stand in need; I say unto you, if ye do not anything of these things, behold, your prayer is vain and availeth you nothing, and ye are as hypocrites who deny the faith.” [Alma 34:18–28.]

All we do should be in harmony with the expressions of our prayers.

We should not pray merely with our lips; but in every act, in our conversation, in all that we undertake to do, we should try to carry out the expressions of our prayers, and be in harmony with the thoughts that we declare to the Lord in our daily supplications.

In our prayers we should pour out our souls in thanksgiving.

In our prayers we should pour out our souls in thanksgiving for life and being, for the redeeming sacrifice of the Son of God, for the gospel of salvation, for Joseph Smith and the mighty work of restoration brought to pass through him. We should acknowledge the hand of the Lord in all things and thank him for all things both temporal and spiritual.

We should plead with Heavenly Father for all our righteous desires.

We should plead with [Heavenly Father] for faith and integrity and for every godly attribute, for the triumph and success of his work, for the guidance of his Holy Spirit, and for salvation in his kingdom. We should pray for our families, for our wives and children, for food and shelter and clothing, for our business concerns, and for all our righteous desires.

Ward Christmas Party

I think our ward Christmas party was a huge success this year! Plenty of wonderful food and then an awesome nativity pageant. After that the bishop read a book and we all received a "winter" rose to brighten up our home.
I have some pictures from the Nativity, My baby girl was Mary, so sorry if a lot are of her, I was/am a proud momma!

 The kids did great and were all so reverent and respectful during it. Thank you Brother Nielson and Mary Lasher and anyone else who put some hard work into making this a success.