Lesson Summary: June 30, 2013

Today Bishop J. gave a joint lesson about unity.

In preparation of this lesson, he found gratitude for living prophets and their willingness to share promptings from the Lord without waiting until the next General Conference.
Two recent trainings that have been broadcast are getting the power of the priesthood in the home and also the recent missionary broadcast.
These speak to the power of one and how that combines to the work of us all becoming one in unity.

The blessings of the priesthood in every home [video clip]

This home is a sacred space and so can ours be as we remember that our homes are comparable to the temple.
Where a righteous woman and the power of the priesthood combine, the power of godliness is manifest.
It has the power to lift us up, to cleanse us from pain and sin.
As we want this in our homes, we come to want it in the homes of our neighbors.

Some changes were announced at the June 23 broadcast. The full time missionaries will be using social media more during the day and providing tours of the meetinghouses, like a local visitor's center.
This marks a unifying of the work.

We are one Eyring [video clip]

Pray, plan, act, share, and give thanks.
Plan how you will respond to the direction of the Spirit.
Open our hearts and homes we will be blessed, they will be blessed and we will become as one.

I'll go where you want me to go music video

Lesson Summary: June 23, 2013

Amanda V. taught the lesson from the talk Four Titles by Dieter F. Uchtdorf. We pondered together the titles each of us hold as a daughter of Heavenly Father, a disciple of Jesus Christ, a healer of souls and an heir of eternal life.

Daughter of Heavenly Father - we are loved by the Savior

• Why is the title of "daughter of Heavenly Father" so important and something we should never forget?

"It can be discouraging at times to know what it means to be a [daughter] of God and yet come up short. The adversary likes to take advantage of these feelings. Satan would rather that you define yourself by your sins instead of your divine potential. [Sisters], don’t listen to him.
"We have all seen a toddler learn to walk. He takes a small step and totters. He falls. Do we scold such an attempt? Of course not. What father would punish a toddler for stumbling? We encourage, we applaud, and we praise because with every small step, the child is becoming more like his parents." (2013 April General Conference, Four Titles, Priesthood Session - By  Dieter F. Uchtdorf)

The eternal perspective is what the Lord looks at.  As we step forward each day looking at life in an eternal perspective we will have the desire to come unto the Lord, understand Him, ourselves and through the Saviour will find the greatest joy we can obtain on this mortal journey and the eternities.

• What does it mean to you to be a daughter of God?  How much do you think of the title that you are a daughter of God?

2 Corinthians 6:17-18

"and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."

• How can we constantly keep what it means to be a daughter of God in our lives?

The Lord wants us to succeed, he doesn't put stumbling blocks in our path to have us fail.

Disciples of Jesus Christ - as you follow the Savior you understand your individual role in the Lord's work

• What does a disciple of Jesus Christ look like to you?

3rd Nephi 15:12

"Ye are my disciples; and ye are a light unto this people..."

When we come unto Christ we come to know who we really are.

Healers of souls - love as the Savior loves

'It is our job to build up, repair, strengthen, uplift, and make whole. Our assignment is to follow the Savior’s example and reach out to those who suffer. We “mourn with those that mourn … and comfort those that stand in need of comfort.”⁵ We bind up the wounds of the afflicted. We “succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.”⁶  ...

'The Savior is the worker of miracles. He is the great Healer. He is our example, our light, even in the darkest moments, and He shows us the right way.' (2013 April General Conference, Four Titles, Priesthood Session - By  Dieter F. Uchtdorf)

Heirs of Eternal Life - the blessings/gifts from our Savior

'Do you not know that “God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to [put to shame] the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to [put to shame] the things which are mighty”?¹⁰

Perhaps it is true that we are weak. Perhaps we are not wise or mighty. But when God works through us, no one and nothing can stand against us.¹¹ ' (2013 April General Conference, Four Titles, Priesthood Session - By  Dieter F. Uchtdorf)

Lesson Summary: June 16, 2013

Katie S. taught a great lesson from Chapter 12 of the Lorenzo Snow manual: Tithing, a Law for our Protection and Advancement.

• How you think your life has been blessed by tithing?

In a time when the Church fell into debt, President Snow addressed a meeting of early Saints in St. George and was impressed to tell them this:

"The word of the Lord to you is not anything new; it is simply this: THE TIME HAS NOW COME FOR EVERY LATTER-DAY SAINT, WHO CALCULATES TO BE PREPARED FOR THE FUTURE AND TO HOLD HIS FEET STRONG UPON A PROPER FOUNDATION, TO DO THE WILL OF THE LORD AND TO PAY HIS TITHING IN FULL.... The Lord has blessed us and has had mercy upon us in the past; but there are times coming when the Lord requires us to stand up and do that which He has commanded and not leave it any longer. What I say to you in this Stake of Zion I will say to every Stake of Zion that has been organized. There is no man or woman that now hears what I am saying who will feel satisfied if he or she fails to pay a full tithing.”

He told the Saints that they would be blessed for obeying the law of tithing - both individually and collectively as a church. In the year following President Snow’s revelation, the Saints contributed twice as much in tithing as they had the previous two years. Not only were the Saints in St. George blessed with rain, but within eight years the Church was able to pay all its debts.

Malachi 3:8-10 reads:

8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

 9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

• How has paying tithing blessed your life?
• How can we teach this principle to our children?

Robert D. Hales, October 2002 General Conference, “Tithing: A Test of Faith with Eternal Blessings”
Elder Hales taught of missionaries teaching a poor family and said:

"A few moments later, the junior companion, who had grown up in similar circumstances in his own country, voiced his own thoughts aloud: 'I know the principle of tithing isn’t taught for four more discussions, but can we please teach it the next time we visit? They need to know about tithing now because they need the help and the blessing of the Lord so much.' This missionary understood that 'there is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.' The Lord wants to bless this family and anxiously awaits their obedience so He can."

Elder Carl C. Pratt, April 2011 General Conference, “The Lord’s Richest Blessings”

"We might conclude that since we pay tithing with money, the Lord will always bless us with money. I tended to think that way as a child. I have since learned it doesn’t necessarily work that way. The Lord promises blessings to those who pay their tithing. He promises to 'open … the windows of heaven, and pour … out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it' (Malachi 3:10). I testify that He fulfills His promises, and if we faithfully pay our tithing, we will not lack for the necessities of life, but He does not promise wealth. Money and bank accounts are not His richest blessings. He blesses us with wisdom to manage our limited material resources, wisdom that enables us to live better with 90 percent of our income than with 100 percent. Thus, faithful tithe payers understand provident living and tend to be more self-reliant.
I have come to understand that the Lord’s richest blessings are spiritual, and they often have to do with family, friends, and the gospel. He often seems to give the blessing of a special sensitivity to the influence and guidance of the Holy Spirit, especially in marriage and family matters like raising children. Such spiritual sensitivity can help us enjoy the blessings of harmony and peace in the home. President James E. Faust suggested that the payment of tithing is 'an excellent insurance against divorce' ('Enriching Your Marriage,' Liahona, Apr. 2007, 5; Ensign, Apr. 2007, 7).

"The payment of tithing helps us develop a submissive and humble heart and a grateful heart that tends to 'confess … his hand in all things' (D&C 59:21). Tithe-paying fosters in us a generous and forgiving heart and a charitable heart full of the pure love of Christ. We become eager to serve and bless others with an obedient heart, submissive to the Lord’s will. Regular tithe payers find their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ strengthened, and they develop a firm, abiding testimony of His gospel and of His Church. None of these blessings are monetary or material in any way, but surely they are the Lord’s richest blessings.
I testify that as we pay our tithing faithfully, the Lord will open the windows of heaven and pour out upon us His richest blessings. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

Lesson summary: June 9th, 2013

This week Tori G. taught from the Lorenzo Snow chapter 11: "I Seek Not Mine Own Will, but the Will of the Father"

When we seek God’s will, we follow a course in which there will be no failure.

• What do you think he means that there will be no failure?

" 'As I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.' [John 5:30.]
That is a wonderful saying, and there is a great deal in it. Now, what we want is to have that spirit in every act of our lives and in every undertaking, whether temporal or spiritual, and not think of self. We should try to ascertain how we should spend the money and the information that God has given us. The answer is simple—for the glory of God. Our eye should be single to the glory of God. That is what we left the other life for and [came] into this. We should seek to promote the interests of the Most High God, and to feel as Jesus felt, 'I can of mine own self do nothing.' Inasmuch as we act today and tomorrow, this week and next week, in the interest of God, and have our eye single to His glory, there can be no failure. " - President Lorenzo Snow

"We cannot always do what we would like to do, but we shall have the power to do that which we should do. The Lord will give us the power to do this." - President Lorenzo Snow

• Why can it be difficult to seek His will?

"So many of us are kept from eventual consecration because we mistakenly think that, somehow, by letting our will be swallowed up in the will of God, we lose our individuality (see Mosiah 15:7). What we are really worried about, of course, is not giving up self, but selfish things—like our roles, our time, our preeminence, and our possessions. No wonder we are instructed by the Savior to lose ourselves (see Luke 9:24). He is only asking us to lose the old self in order to find the new self. It is not a question of one’s losing identity but of finding his true identity! ....

"Thus, acknowledging God’s hand includes, in the words of the Prophet Joseph, trusting that God has made 'ample provision' beforehand to achieve all His purposes, including His purposes in our lives (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 220). Sometimes He clearly directs; other times it seems He merely permits some things to happen. Therefore, we will not always understand the role of God’s hand, but we know enough of his heart and mind to be submissive. Thus when we are perplexed and stressed, explanatory help is not always immediately forthcoming, but compensatory help will be. Thus our process of cognition gives way to our personal submission, as we experience those moments when we learn to 'be still, and know that I am God' (Ps. 46:10).....

"In conclusion, the submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar. The many other things we 'give,' brothers and sisters, are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us. However, when you and I finally submit ourselves, by letting our individual wills be swallowed up in God’s will, then we are really giving something to Him! It is the only possession which is truly ours to give!" (Neal A. Maxwell, 1995 General Conference)

Tori also quoted from story of a young man battling cancer and striving to follow God's will.

" 'Up until this point, I had a hard time reconciling the need for my faith in Christ with the inevitability of His will. I saw them as two separate things, and sometimes I felt that one contradicted the other. "Why should I have faith if His will ultimately is what will prevail," I asked? After this experience, I knew that having faith—at least in my circumstance—was not necessarily knowing that He would heal me, but that He could heal me. I had to believe that He could, and then whether it happened was up to Him.

'As I allowed those two ideas to coexist in my life, focused faith in Jesus Christ and complete submission to His will, I found greater comfort and peace. It has been so remarkable to see the Lord’s hand in our lives. Things have fallen into place, miracles have happened, and we continually are humbled to see God’s plan for us unfold.' " (David A. Bednar, March 2013 CES Devotional)

As we seek to follow the will of the Father, may we find our true identity as His Daughters.

Empowerment and Sisterhood Event

Saturday we met together for 3 great workshops:
Navigating Difficult Conversations with Jeni W.
Sharing Medical Decision Making with Sue A.
Superhero Juice and Packing Healthy Picnics with Cathrine B. and Sheryl D.

Below are some of the supporting documents referenced by each leader.

Navigating Difficult Conversations
Click here for a copy of the presentation Jeni gave and here's a funny video that you can test your skill on.

 

Sharing Medical Decision Making

For the online toolkit from the American Bar Association, either click for the printable (.pdf) or straight to the site (.html).

Also click here for the fill-in family book .doc for storing all your important details in case you are incapacitated so your household can continue to function.

Superhero Juice and Packing Healthy Picnics

Superhero Juice recipe

2 carrots 

equal volume celery and cucumbers

1 green apple [all peeled if you're sensitive to pesticides] 

juice of 1 lime

1 lemon

touch of honey 

1 glass of water 

spinach or kale

First blend all but spinach/kale, then blend and add handfuls of spinach/kale until goo turns dark green. Pour over cloth covered bowls, pick up corners of cloth, twist to strain.  Serve over ice.

19 Perfect Picnic Menus (click here for .doc)

1. The Farmer’s Market
• Assorted cheeses
• Assorted cured meats, smoked salmon or trout
• In season fruit or raw veggies
• Bread or crackers

 

2. The All American
• Fried Chicken
• Potato Salad with Bacon
• Watermelon
• Chocolate Chip Cookies

3. Not Your Potluck Pasta Salad
• pesto pasta salad
• shrimp salad
• tomatoes with olive oil
• lemon bars

4. Far East Noodles
• spicy sesame or peanut noodle salad
• snap peas
• mochi

5. Mezze
• Salads: tabouli, cucumber and tomato salad
• Spreads: hummus, baba ganoush, flatbread
• Dolmas
• baklava

6. Asian Inspired
• Grilled flank steak with dipping sauce
• Sesame slaw
• Apricot bars

7. Latin flair
• Empanadas
• chili roasted cauliflower
• alfajores

8. Wrap It Up
• Chicken and avocado wrap
• nectarines with mint
• oatmeal sandwich cookies

9. Summer Rolls
• summer rolls
• tomato and watermelon salad
• coconut cupcakes

10. Picnic Tart
• roasted veggie and goat cheese tart
• marinated baby kale salad
• chocolate covered strawberries

11. Tuscany
• grilled panzanella
• rosemary grilled lamb loin
• lemon cake

12. Grain Salads
• Bulgur salad
• grilled asparagus or roasted green beans
• cashew caramel bars

13. Southwest
• Black bean salad
• Guacamole with pears and pomegranate/chips
• Chili chocolate brownies

14. Dip it
• Chicken tenders with honey mustard dip
• caprese salad skewers
• mixed melon salad
• s’more bars

15. Stromboli and Friends
• Stromboli and reuben bake
• Crudité
• almond cake

16. Vegan with a Vengeance
• Grilled Veggie Sandwich (minus goat cheese for true vegan)
• root veggie chips
• vegan chocolate truffles

17. Superfood
• quinoa, walnut and beet salad
• kale chips
• blueberry hand pies

18. Brunch
• rhubarb almond tart
• hard boiled eggs
• granola and greek yogurt
• bacon wrapped figs or melon

19. Scandinavian
• Smoked salmon smorrebrod
• pickled beets
• dilled cucumber salad
• berries and skyr

other recipes:

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Kale-and-Chicken-Brown-Rice-Salad-with-Cherries

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/02/dining/02mini.html?_r=0

http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/03/southern-style-slaw-with-pecans-and-maple-dij.html

http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/01/asian-slaw-with-ginger-peanut-dressing.html

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/08/quinoa-salad-corn-tomatoes-avocado-lime-recipe.html

http://www.chow.com/recipes/11798-potato-salad-with-peas-and-mint

http://www.chow.com/recipes/29466-wild-rice-and-edamame-salad

http://leitesculinaria.com/76698/recipes-sausage-and-chutney-puffs.html

http://leitesculinaria.com/76442/recipes-zucchini-cake-lemon-poppyseed.html

http://leitesculinaria.com/82122/recipes-tomato-basil-tart.html

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Bean-Thread-Noodles-with-Pickled-Vegetables-51170220

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Rosemary-Cookies-with-Tomato-Jam-358790

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/World-Peace-Cookie-360733

Lesson Summary: June 2, 2013

Sunday's lesson was taught by Heather C. about the Atonement of Christ and how it helps us experience joy in our daily lives.

2 Nephi 2:25 "...Men are, that they might have joy."

• How do you understand/perceive/personally experience the atonement?
• What do you see as the effects of the atonement in your daily life?  How do you experience the affects of the atonement?
• How does the atonement motivate you? To do what?
• How does the atonement help you feel joy?

Keeping Covenants gives us Power:

"I have learned a truth that has been repeated so frequently in my life that I have come to know it as an absolute law. It defines the way obedience and service relate to the power of God. When we obey the commandments of the Lord and serve His children unselfishly, the natural consequence is power from God—power to do more than we can do by ourselves. Our insights, our talents, our abilities are expanded because we receive strength and power from the Lord." (Richard G. Scott April 2013 General Conference)

Charity is the fruit of keeping covenants, and faith in Christ. Through exercising Charity we can feel joy, even when we have unmet needs:

"This society is composed of women whose feelings of charity spring from hearts changed by qualifying for and by keeping covenants offered only in the Lord’s true Church. Their feelings of charity come from Him through His Atonement. Their acts of charity are guided by His example—and come out of gratitude for His infinite gift of mercy—and by the Holy Spirit, which He sends to accompany His servants on their missions of mercy. Because of that, they have done and are able to do uncommon things for others and to find joy even when their own unmet needs are great." (Pres. Henry B. Eyring General RS Meeting 2009)

The atonement allows us to -- Make and keep covenants, Experience a change of heart, Exercise Charity. These things allow us to Feel Joy.