Farewell thoughts from Nettie - September 27, 2015

Nettie W. shared some thoughts with us before her departure for other lands. She said "you have sustained me with your love!"

She remembered visiting teaching with her great-grandmother when she was just four and remembered how nice people were and that you got treats.  Her mother was a Relief Society president when she was just 9 years old and when the Palo Alto building was the only one between San Francisco and San Jose.  She recalled singing #317 - Sweet Is the Work (Women) when they divided the Palo Alto wards in 1956.

She spent some of her married life in Fresno and when her husband passed 18 years ago, she made the choice to return to her great friends in Palo Alto.  Now she has made the choice to go to where her 2 daughters are so she can be cared for.

There were two things that Nettie wanted tell us:

1. The value of the Relief Society sisterhood here.
   She told us a few funny anecdotes of taking bread in hand to a sister's house and being met by the reply "my mom's in the shower" then a brisk wet hand grabbing the bread and saying "I was in the shower" before the door shut. A similar story was of a hectic household that she visited and when she arrived the mother grabbed her car keys and didn't return until after dark!
2. She also wanted to share that Joy is in the soul. 
   Nettie was born with a joyous spirit and feels joy in the Gospel and she knows that life is wonderful.

We will miss the joy that our dear Nettie brought to all of us but know she will spread it where ever she goes.

General Women's Meeting broadcast

Thanks for all those who attended (and brought treats) the recent broadcast in the cultural hall.

 

Feed My Sheep - September 20, 2015

Jennilyn W. gave a lesson using Chapter 20 "Feed My Sheep" from the Ezra Taft Benson manual. 

What is the difference between a Shepherd and Hireling?
Matthew 18: 12-13
John 10: 1-5, 11-14

President Ezra Taft Benson told of an experience he had when he was serving as a counselor in a stake presidency: 

“At a stake presidency meeting in Boise, Idaho, years ago, we were trying to select a president for the weakest and smallest elders quorum in the stake. Our clerk had brought a list of all the elders of that quorum, and on the list was the name of a man whom I had known for some years. He came from a strong Latter-day Saint family, but he wasn’t doing much in the Church. 

“If the bishop made a call to do some work on the chapel, he would usually respond, and if the elders wanted to play softball, you would sometimes find him out playing with them. He did have leadership ability; he was president of a service club and was doing a fine job. 

“I said to the stake president, ‘Would you authorize me to go out and meet this man and challenge him to square his life with the standards of the Church and take the leadership of his quorum? I know there is some hazard in it, but he has the ability.’“The stake president said, ‘You go ahead, and the Lord bless you.’ 

“… I went to this man’s home. I’ll never forget the look on his face as he opened the door and saw a member of his stake presidency standing there. He hesitantly invited me in; his wife was preparing dinner, and I could smell the aroma of coffee coming from the kitchen. I asked him to have his wife join us, and when we were seated, I told him why I had come. ‘I’m not going to ask you for your answer today,’ I told him. ‘All I want you to do is to promise me that you will think about it, pray about it, think about it in terms of what it will mean to your family, and then I’ll be back to see you next week. If you decide not to accept, we’ll go on loving you,’ I added. 

“The next Sunday, as soon as he opened the door I saw there had been a change. He was glad to see me, and he quickly invited me in and called to his wife to join us. He said, ‘Brother Benson, we have done as you said. We’ve thought about it and we’ve prayed about it, and we’ve decided to accept the call. If you brethren have that much confidence in me, I’m willing to square my life with the standards of the Church, a thing I should have done long ago.’ 

“He also said, ‘I haven’t had any coffee since you were here last week, and I’m not going to have any more.’ 

“He was set apart as elders quorum president, and attendance in his quorum began going up—and it kept going up. He went out, put his arm around the less-active elders, and brought them in. A few months later I moved from the stake. 

“Years passed, and one day on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, a man came up to me, extended his hand, and said, ‘Brother Benson, you don’t remember me, do you?’“‘Yes, I do,’ I said, ‘but I don’t remember your name.’ 

“He said, ‘Do you remember coming to the home of a delinquent elder in Boise seven years ago?’ And then, of course, it all came back to me. Then he said, ‘Brother Benson, I’ll never live long enough to thank you for coming to my home that Sunday afternoon. I am now a bishop. I used to think I was happy, but I didn’t know what real happiness was.’” Ezra Taft Benson manual

Alison F. shared her conversion story and how she was brought into the fold by shepherds.

Music in the Church - September 13, 2015

Colette T. gave a broad and deep lesson over the use of music in the Church. Including this quiz! (answers below)

1. Which hymn was accidentally left out of the Sacrament Hymns section?
2. Which hymn has been the traditional organ ending for "Music and the Spoken Word"?
3. In the "new" church hymn book, what much-loved hymn from prior hymn books was left out?
4. What hymn had word changes because of the "giggle factor"?
5. What hymn is almost always used at Temple Dedications?
6. What is the only hymn with the word "Happy" in the title?
7. Legend: This hymn was written by a local preacher deep in a Welsh coal mine: _____
8. Only hymn to refer to a Mother in Heaven was?
9. Can you name any hymns that take their melodies from known and loved folk tunes?
10. What is the most popular missionary hymn?
11. Are any of our hymns written by past or present Palo Altans?
12. Can you name a woman who is a recent prolific and loved composer of hymns?
13. Who was our most prolific composer of church music in the early days? (19 hymns in our hymn book)

Answers
1. Gently Raise the Sacred Strain #146
2. As the Dew from Heaven Distilling #149
3. Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
4. How Firm a Foundation #85 - "Who unto the Savior" used to be "You who unto Jesus"
5. The Spirit of God #2
6. The Happy Day at Last Has Come #32
7. Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah #83
8. O My Father #292
9. Many, including If You Could Hie to Kolob #284, As Zion's Youth in Latter Days #256
10. Called to Serve #249
11. Jim Welch (Bless Our Fast, We Pray #138) and Barbara McConochie (Keep the Commandments (#146))
12. Janice Kapp Perry
13. Evan Stevens and W.W. Phelps

Perseverance - September 6, 2015

Jo Ann had many inspirational stories and quotes on Perseverance to encourage us along our way.

The example of John Rowe Moyle and his dedication are presented in this video.

Perseverance and Never Giving Up

"I was taught the way of progress is neither swift nor easy." Marie Curie.

"Let me tell you the secret that has led to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity." Louis Pasteur

"I am a slow walker, but I never walk back." Abraham Lincoln

"Every strike bring me closer to the next home run." Babe Ruth

"It always seems impossible until it's done." Nelson Mandela

"Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th." Julie Andrews

"It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop." Confucius

"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out." Robert Collier

"Fall seven times and stand up eight." Japanese Proverb

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts." Winston Churchill

"It's not that I'm smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer." Albert Einstein

"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at that end of the day saying 'I will try again tomorrow'." Mary Anne Radmacher