Prayer and Moral Discipline

I'm a week behind on the blog, so I will start with last week's lesson first and then do this week's lesson.
Last week Sis. Joyce Bond taught us about prayer. I was really excited for this lesson as I've had a few spiritual struggles in the past few weeks and I have to say that I was not disappointed in the Spirit that Sis. Bond brought with her and had in her lesson. The manual breaks it up into 5 sections. What is prayer? Why do we pray? When should we pray? How should we pray? and finally, How are our prayers answered?
She took us through each section and had a few select people share experiences they've had with prayer. Many sisters also shared their testimonies about prayer. Sis. Margie Lindsay shared this passage from the Bible Dictionary under Prayer: "The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them." I loved that!! I also love what it continues to say after that, "Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work, and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings." We talked a little bit about how the Lord has many things he wants for us, we just have to ask Him for them and ask in righteousness and not selfishness. We also discussed how prayers are answered and not always in the way or means we had in mind. I have many stories about that and I'm sure you all do as well. I know that this is a short summary of the lesson, but it encouraged me to make my prayers more meaningful and reminded me that this is how we "keep in touch" with the Lord and also how we can come to know him. I was reading a book called the "Infinite Atonement" by Tad R. Callister. He speaks of prayer and how powerful it can be when we "ask" to know things. He gives the example of Joseph Smith. Not only did he "ask" about what church to join, which led to the restoration of the church, but he also asked about baptism, the Word of Wisdom, celestial marriage, the three degrees of glory, and in truth, almost every other notable revelation in this dispensation. Tad referred to Joseph Smith as the "master asker" and said that he was empirical proof of the divine invitation , "if thous shalt ask, thou shalt receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the mysteries and peaceable things." He goes on to explain that through prayer Nephi was able to see his father Lehi's vision. Joseph F. Smith received inspiration about the spirits beyond the veil and Spencer W. Kimball went to the Lord in prayer about the priesthood being extended to all worthy males. I read this after Sis. Bond's lesson and it opened my eyes to how powerful prayer really and truly is! Sometimes I think that these types of answers will only be given to the prophets, but just think of the answers we can receive when we go to the Lord and just "ask!"
Thank you Sis. Bond for your wonderful lesson!
Sis. Julie Schiess gave our lesson today on Moral Discipline. This was a deep topic and she did a fantastic job of helping us to understand it. I had to leave in the middle of it so this summary will be a little choppy. She started out by defining what "Morals" means. Examples given were honesty, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and doing good to all men...basically what the 13th article of faith describes. She broke it down even further by discussing what each of those meant. Shortly after this I had to leave. When I came back she was talking about how we as parents teach our children morals. Several of the sisters gave their wonderful ideas on how they have taught their children what these morals are and how to stand up for what is right, even if you have to blame your mom for it! I loved all of the ideas because I am a young mother who is just starting to have those issues of my children coming home from school and telling me about "so and so does this" and " so and so's mom let's them do this." I just tell my children that those kids get to do that because they have a nice mom and you have a mean mom. I know one day they'll realize just how nice I really am! One idea was to take your girls to a hotel room one night, when they are getting to that "delicate" age and teach them about certain things. Discuss the temple with them and maybe show them how to properly wear their make-up. It's also a great time to let them ask questions and get their feelings out there as well. Another sister shared how she laid down the rules for her children and then realized that they might be scared to tell their friends they aren't going to do something because it's not right. So she told them that they could blame it on her and they could say, "I can't because of my mom. She won't let me," or however they wanted to blame her. That was a great idea I thought because it's hard for children to stand up against their friends and this gave them a great way to still be "cool" but not get ridiculed for being "good."
Thanks Sis. Schiess for your wonderful lesson. I always learn so much more about simple gospel principles from your lessons.
I hope you all have a wonderful week and we'll see you next week!
** Don't forget that tonight is the Temple Fireside that the Stake Relief Society Presidency is doing at the Stake Center-5pm. I sadly have to miss it because of a family thing that I am the "guest of honor" at. Trust me, I would rather be going to this!

The Holy Ghost

Today's lesson was taught by Sis. Jana Starr about the Holy Ghost. Rather than talk about the different ways we feel the Holy Ghost, she talked about who he is and what he does. I really appreciated this lesson. It helps us to know the details about the different aspects of the gospel so that we can better understand them.
She talked about what we know about him. He is a personage but does not have a body, therefore he is a Spirit. He is a member of the God Head. He is a comforter, a teacher, a cleanser, and helps us to receive revelation and discern truth. He testifies of the reality of God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. He purifies our hearts and helps us to feel the love of our Savior and Father in Heaven. Without the Holy Ghost we would not know "the truth of all things" or have that witness that our Savior lives and loves us. When we feel alone he comforts our soul and helps lift us up and give us strength. He is the messenger of our Father and speaks to us all the time...we just need to listen.
Many testimonies and stories were shared about individual experiences we've had with the Holy Ghost. This lesson (and next week's actually) goes really well with this month's Visiting Teaching message about Personal Revelation. I encourage you all to read both lessons and the message and take this opportunity to strengthen your relationship with the Holy Ghost and bear your testimony of it to the sisters that you visit.
Last week in our FHE, Jason gave the First Presidency's message in the Friend. It talked a little bit about the Holy Ghost and we asked the girls what they knew about him. "Does he have a body?" "No. But he lives in our hearts and helps us to choose the right," was the response from my 4 year old. What a great testimony she has of him already and we should help our children recognize those moments when they are feeling the Spirit, and more importantly, we should provide some of those opportunities for them.
Just yesterday (saturday), two children from our ward were baptized. Connor Peterson and Marianna Anderson, daughter of Jessy Taylor. I talked to my soon-to-be-7 year old and told her to pay special attention to what goes on as she will experience this next year when she turns 8. She felt the Spirit and told me that she was feeling "good and quiet inside" and I told her that was the Holy Ghost telling her that getting baptized is the right decision. What a great opportunity I had yesterday to teach my children about these gospel principles and give them the chance to experience what they have been taught. What great examples these two young children were to my children and to me as well. Every time I attend a baptism I always reflect back to my baptism and the Spirit and experiences I had that day. Thank you Sis. Starr for a wonderful lesson. I look forward to Sis. Bond's lesson next week on prayer. It's one that I need to hear!

**This week's announcements and good news minutes are on the side bar. There is one event that needs special attention and that is the YW Silent Auction on April 24th at 9am. It's a pancake breakfast for the family and then they will be auctioning some goods and services so bring your wallets! This is a fundraiser for them to help them go to Girls Camp. If you have any questions please contact Sis. Sara Moon or a member of the YW presidency. Also, please keep a special prayer in your heart for Sis. Nicole Afa who is undergoing various tests for her Cancer and is currently in the hospital. More information will be given when we get it, but keep her in your hearts and prayers.**

Birthday Bash!

For those of you who missed our Relief Society Birthday Bash, you sure missed out on a lot!!! First of all, let me apologize to those who attended Friday night's festivities. Our guest speaker, Alicia Richmond, was an hour late! She called and said she wouldn't be there until 6:30. So we ate first. Then she texted me and said she would be there in 15 minutes. So we played a few games. Then she didn't come prepared with the necessary cords and we had to track some down for her. So we did a raffle. Had I known that she was going to be so late I would have started with the crafts because I know a lot of you came prepared to do that and we didn't get to some of them. I apologize especially to the young women who rescheduled their event so they could come to ours. I know that some of them wanted to do the crafts and we didn't get to those until later. But, those who did stay and do them had a great time and made some beautiful hair bows and watches. Thanks to Alysia Peterson for teaching our skin care class...that had so much participation it went about 30-45 minutes! Huge thanks to my sister in-law Amy who came at the very last minute to do our hair class because the lady that was going to do it had something come up at the last minute. As you can tell, Friday night did not go according to my careful and precise planning! But the food was delicious (at least that's what everyone said. I didn't eat because I was too stressed out trying to put order back to the chaos!) Thank you to all those who participated in the pot luck. The chocolate fountain was such a big hit that we decided to bring it out again Saturday.
Saturday was great. I attended the temple with Alysia Peterson and we did initiatory because I can't leave my baby for a session. I haven't been to the temple since Jason and I did sealings in December I think it was. So it was nice to be there and enjoy the peace and quiet. The luncheon was fabulous! Sally always does such good work with the food and this was no exception. Thanks Sally! She even hand crafted swans out of the cream puffs! A true culinary artist.
The guest speakers were my favorite part! Jessy Taylor is good friends with Bob and Diane Evans and they spoke to us about the quiet acts of service that we do. They have 16 children!!!! 11 that are biological and 5 that they adopted. I had no idea they had that many. They were such great speakers and after they were finished I predicted that they would be future general authorities and general presidents. They didn't like that too much. They brought such a great spirit and I just can't get over what a great job they did!
After them we had Sis. Roseanne Gunther who started the humanitarian projects in our state (and it sounded to me like the church). She was very inspirational and made me want to get of my duff and do more to help! She brought in this amazing quilt that was made specifically for a lady in Africa. It was made and pieced together from random scraps of material and it was absolutely gorgeous! I wish I would have taken a picture of it. She told us some very awe inspiring stories about the work she has been doing. I encourage all of you do what you can on Monday mornings with the humanitarian projects we have. Some of them you can even do from home.
I started off the speakers with a little poem called "Oh the Places You'll Serve" and had a fantastic slide show prepared...but we had technical difficulties and so I had to sing the song "His Hands" at the last minute...literally! So, I apologize for how horrible it sounded but it was a spur of the moment performance. It was very important to have that song heard though. It was the basis of our theme "Hands of Service."
The Savior did his service with his hands and not only performed miracles but did those quiet acts of service as well. He fed 5,000 with a few loaves and fishes that he blessed with his hands. Raised the dead, healed the sick, gave sight ot the blind, all with the touch of his hands. But he also forgave the sinners, lifted the poor in spirit and lowly of heart, and gave comfort to those in sorrow. We can do that also. Our gift this year is a bottle of lotion with a label that says, "I will make my hands like those of Galilee." Which is a line from the song. As you put on that lotion it reminds us to use our hands for service and do good unto others.
We ended our celebration with a GORGEOUS cake made by my friend in the 17th ward. I wish I had a picture of that too! Thanks Julianne for making that for me! ( Is still have leftover if you feel so inclined to have a piece. Come on over and we will eat cake together!)
I hope you were spiritually fed and enjoyed the company of the sisters in our ward as much as I did. Thank you to my committee for putting on such a fabulous party!
** A little FYI- I attended the auxillary training meeting this last week and was given great training on what to do for our future Relief Society Meetings. So, be prepared to be bugged about ideas, suggestions and needs and look for a change in what we do, as I know have a better understanding and some actual training on what to do!**