Aliso Creek Relief Society Blog: May 2012

Sunday, May 27, 2012

May 27 - June 2

Hi Sisters,

I hope you're all having an enjoyable long weekend. Here's what is going on this week and in June.

Dates to Remember:

May 30: Temple outing with Relief Society Presidency. If you'd like to attend the 10 a.m. session on this day, call the temple for an appointment (949-644-1820). If you'd like to carpool call Shannon Lo (949-309-8241).
June 1: Ward temple night 6:30 p.m. Call early to save your spot!

Park Day:

Kids making you crazy? Need to get out of the house? Remember park day each Thursday at 12:00 p.m. at Altisima park. Even if you don't have kids, come by and enjoy chatting with lots of women from our ward and the Mission Lake ward.

Book of Mormon Challenge:
Our annual summer Book of Mormon reading will start soon, so get ready! This is a great opportunity to encourage your children to read the entire book when they don't have homework or other school activities to distract them. It's also a great time to read it yourself! Reading it in a short amount of time gives you a whole new perspective on scriptures that may already be familiar.

Monthly Demo Class:
We will be offering demos monthly that can help strengthen our families and homes. Here is the schedule for the next few months. The times and dates change depending on the teacher, so take note of when demos are offered.

June - Making wheat bread with Eileen Stidham - time and date TBD

If you have a skill you would like to learn or a skill you would be willing to offer, please contact Katie Anderson or Geralene Beckett and we will get it on the schedule for the second half of the year.

Visiting Teaching:

You still have a few more days to do your visiting teaching for May.The May issue of the Ensign is the conference report, so please choose a message from conference to share with the sisters you visit. You can find all of the talks here.

Missionary News:

Lesson Schedule:

June 3: Presidency message

June 10: George A. Smith Ch. 11 Revelation from God to His Children

June 17: George A. Smith ch. 12 An Enthusiastic Desire to Share the Gospel

June 24: TFOT: And a Little Child Shall Lead Them

Lesson Recap: The Laborers in the Vineyard

Sister Griffith taught us today from one of my favorite talks from our April General Conference. Elder Holland spoke on the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard and his insights into the meaning of this parable are very profound. Sister Griffith touched on the following three points Elder Holland makes in his talk:

1. Be kind. Be kind to each other and not envious of the blessings of those around us. Elder Holland explained this parable as such,

It is with that reading of the story that I feel the grumbling of the first laborers must be seen. As the householder in the parable tells them (and I paraphrase only slightly): “My friends, I am not being unfair to you. You agreed on the wage for the day, a good wage. You were very happy to get the work, and I am very happy with the way you served. You are paid in full. Take your pay and enjoy the blessing. As for the others, surely I am free to do what I like with my own money.” Then this piercing question to anyone then or now who needs to hear it: “Why should you be jealous because I choose to be kind?”

He goes on to say: Brothers and sisters, there are going to be times in our lives when someone else gets an unexpected blessing or receives some special recognition. May I plead with us not to be hurt—and certainly not to feel envious—when good fortune comes to another person? We are not diminished when someone else is added upon. We are not in a race against each other to see who is the wealthiest or the most talented or the most beautiful or even the most blessed. The race we are really in is the race against sin, and surely envy is one of the most universal of those.

2. Let it go. Why would we give up our blessings out of anger that someone else had received the same, but at the last hour. Don't dwell on grievances. We only have two options: let it go or don't. Elder Holland puts it this way: We consume such precious emotional and spiritual capital clinging tenaciously to the memory of a discordant note we struck in a childhood piano recital, or something a spouse said or did 20 years ago that we are determined to hold over his or her head for another 20, or an incident in Church history that proved no more or less than that mortals will always struggle to measure up to the immortal hopes placed before them. Even if one of those grievances did not originate with you, it can end with you. And what a reward there will be for that contribution when the Lord of the vineyard looks you in the eye and accounts are settled at the end of our earthly day.

3. Believe in Atonement. We can't rely on Christ as just a cheerleader. He is our Savior and will save us. We can't do it by ourselves.

Elder Holland says the following: This parable—like all parables—is not really about laborers or wages any more than the others are about sheep and goats. This is a story about God’s goodness, His patience and forgiveness, and the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a story about generosity and compassion. It is a story about grace. It underscores the thought I heard many years ago that surely the thing God enjoys most about being God is the thrill of being merciful, especially to those who don’t expect it and often feel they don’t deserve it.

Sister Griffith concluded by sharing a talk, Believing Christ by Elder Stephen Robinson that includes the now familiar Parable of the Bicycle. Elder Robinson's daughter wanted a bicycle so he told her to save her pennies. She worked hard doing extra chores and putting all of her money in a piggy bank. At the end of a few weeks she came to him with all she had asking if it was enough. When he saw she had less than a dollar after all of her hard work, he knew she could not do it on her own. He took her to the bike store and when she saw the price tag on the bike she really wanted, she knew she'd never be able to earn enough. At this point her father said to her, "give me what you have and I'll chip in the rest."

This story is very much like the Atonement does in our lives. No matter how much work we put in, we cannot be saved without our Saviour's help.

Thank you for a beautiful lesson Shelly!

Have a great week!

Brittany Larsen

brittanylarsen73@hotmail.com

Presidency members:

Geralene Beckett - Presidentbeckettbunch@cox.net

Diane Smith - 1st Counselordianebsmith.smith5@gmail.com

Katie Anderson - 2nd Counselorkatiewoodanderson@gmail.com

Shannon Lo - Secretary foxymomsml@cox.net

Sunday, May 20, 2012

May 20 - May 26

Hi Sisters,

Can you belive it? May is more than half over! Here is what's going on for the rest of the month.

Dates to Remember:

May 22: Stake Temple Days
May 30: Temple outing with Relief Society Presidency. If you'd like to attend the 10 a.m. session on this day, call the temple for an appointment (949-644-1820). If you'd like to carpool call Shannon Lo (949-309-8241).
June 1: Ward temple night 6:30 p.m. Call early to save your spot!

Park Day:

Kids making you crazy? Need to get out of the house? Remember park day each Thurday at 12:00 p.m. at Altisma park. Even if you don't have kids, come by and enjoy chatting with lots of women from our ward and the Mission Lake ward.

Book of Mormon Challenge:
Our annual summer Book of Mormon reading will start soon, so get ready! This is a great opportunity to encourage your children to read the entire book when they don't have homework or other school activities to distract them. It's also a great time to read it yourself! Reading it in a short amount of time gives you a whole new perspective on scriptures that may already be familiar.

Monthly Demo Class:
We will be offering demos monthly that can help strengthen our families and homes. Here is the schedule for the next few months. The times and dates change depending on the teacher, so take note of when demos are offered.
*May 24 - 10 a.m. Learn how to make ebelskiver (Danish pancakes) with Brittany Larsen & Carrie Maxfield at Brittany's house, 51 Via Anadeja, RSM. *Note this is Thursday, not Friday as was originally scheduled. Bring kids if you need to & they can play in the backyard.

June - Making wheat bread with Eileen Stidham - time and date TBD

Visiting Teaching:

The May issue of the Ensign is the conference report, so please choose a message from conference to share with the sisters you visit. You can find all of the talks here.

Missionary News:

Lesson Schedule:

May 20: George Albert Smith chapter 10 The Scriptures
May 27: TFOT The Laborers in the Vineyard Elder Holland

June 3: Presidency message

Lesson Recap: The Scriptures, the Most Valuable Library in the World

Sister Marroquin gave our lesson today and shared some very valuable insights into the importance of the scriptures. She began by sharing the following story from the manual about President George Albert Smith:

Late in his life, President George Albert Smith recalled an experience from his youth when a passage of scripture had a long-lasting effect on him: “When I was about fourteen years of age, I read the fortieth chapter of Alma in the Book of Mormon in our Sunday School class. It made an impression on my mind that has been helpful when death has taken loved ones away. … It is one place in the scriptures that tells us where our spirits go when they leave this body [see verses 11–14], and I have wanted to go to that place called paradise ever since.”

Tracine focused her message on three major purposes of the scriptures:

1. The Scriptures are our Primary Reference Library.

President Smith said, The Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price, do not contain the wisdom of men alone, but of God. While they do not find their way into the homes of many people, they contain the word of the Lord. What mattereth it, though we understand Homer and Shakespeare and Milton, and I might enumerate all the great writers of the world; if we have failed to read the scriptures we have missed the better part of this world’s literature.

As someone who loves to read, this was a great reminder to me that the scriptures are the most important books in my library.

President Smith also said, I am not concerned whether or not you have the books of the great libraries of the world in your home, provided you do have these books. Think of the millions of volumes that there are in [the] Congressional Library at Washington, in the British Library, and in the libraries of other countries, millions of volumes—and yet all that God has revealed and published to the children of men that is necessary to prepare them for a place in the celestial kingdom is contained within the covers of these sacred books.

Tracine pointed out that our opening hymn, As I Search the Holy Scriptures, illustrates how the scriptures are our reference library. The words, "May my hart be blessd with wisdom, And may knowledge fill my mind" state simply that they give us answers, knowledge and comfort.

2. The Scriptures Help Us Overcome Trials and Prepare for Exaltation

Tracine shared this quote from President Smtih with us: This is a day of proving ourselves, a day of trial. This is a day when men’s hearts are failing them with fear. When the multitudes in the world are asking themselves what the end will be. A few inspired men know what the end will be. The Lord has told us what would occur, in [the scriptures], this wonderful library that I hold in my hand. He has given us the information that we need to adjust our lives and to prepare ourselves that no matter what may transpire we will be on the Lord’s side of the line.

In order to grow we have to have trials. In our most recent conference Elder Quentin Cook gave a talk entitled, In Tune With the Music of Faith. In it Elder Cook the importance scripture study in times of trial. We can learn from the examples of those we read about in our scriptures and Elder Cook presents Lehi as evidence of this. He states,

The great introductory vision in the Book of Mormon is Lehi’s prophetic dream of the tree of life.³ This vision starkly describes the challenges to faith that exist in our day and the great divide between those who love, worship, and feel accountable to God and those who do not. Lehi explains some of the conduct that destroys faith. Some are proud, vain, and foolish. They are interested only in the so-called wisdom of the world.⁴ Others have some interest in God but are lost in worldly mists of darkness and sin.⁵ Some have tasted of the love of God and His word but feel ashamed because of those mocking them and fall away into “forbidden paths.”⁶

Finally, there are those who are in tune with the music of faith. You know who you are. You love the Lord and His gospel and continuously try to live and share His message, especially with your families.⁷ You are in harmony with the promptings of the Spirit, have awakened to the power of God’s word, have religious observance in your homes, and diligently try to live Christlike lives as His disciples.

One way to "be in tune with the music of faith" is to make scripture study a priority in our homes.

3. The Scriptures Bring Blessings to Families.

Tracine didn't have time to get to this section of her lesson, but here is a quote from President Smith that illustrates this point.

Brethren and sisters, I desire to emphasize again the teaching of the Master: “search the scriptures;” read them prayerfully and faithfully, teach them in your homes; call your families around you and inspire in them a faith in the living God, by reading those things that have been revealed. They are the most precious of all the libraries in all the world.¹⁴

Keep this library where you can find it, and where your children will find it, and then have enough interest in the eternal salvation of those boys and girls that are in your home that you will find ways and means to interest them in what these books contain, that they may know how precious they are in the sight of their Heavenly Father.

^{Thanks, Tracine, for a wonderful and thought provoking lesson.}

Have a great week!

Brittany Larsen

brittanylarsen73@hotmail.com

Sunday, May 13, 2012

May 13 - May 19

Hi Sisters,
I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day. It can sometimes be a painful holiday for those who have lost their mothers or are longing for children of their own. I know there were many years when I dreaded this day. But no matter what our cirumstances, we need to remember the love our Heavenly Father has for us and the blessings he has in store for us when we stay close to him, even in difficult times.

Dates to Remember:
Kids making you crazy? Need to get out of the house? Remember park day each Thurday at 12:00 p.m. at Altisma park. Even if you don't have kids, come by and enjoy chatting with lots of women from the ward.

Book of Mormon Challenge:
Our annual summer Book of Mormon reading will start soon, so get ready! This is a great opportunity to encourage your children to read the entire book when they don't have homework or other school activities to distract them. It's also a great time to read it yourself! Reading it in a short amount of time gives you a whole new perspective on scriptures that may already be familiar.

Monthly Demo Class:
We will be offering demos monthly that can help strengthen our families and homes. Here is the schedule for the next few months. The times and dates change depending on the teacher, so take note of when demos are offered.

May 22- Food Dehydration with Elaine Gold- 10 a.m.

May 25 - Ebelskiver (Danish pancakes) with Brittany Larsen - 10 a.m.

June - Making wheat bread with Eileen Stidham - time and date TBD

Visiting Teaching:

The May issue of the Ensign is the conference report, so please choose a message from conference to share with the sisters you visit. You can find all of the talks here.

Missionary News:

Lesson Schedule:

May 20: George Albert Smith chapter 10 The Scriptures
May 27: TFOT The Laborers in the Vineyard Elder Holland

Lesson Recap: Open Your Soul to the Lord in Prayer

Annetter Flint taught our lesson today from the George Albert Smith manual. She began by sharing the following quote with us:

I was trained at the knee of a Latter-day Saint mother. One of the first things I remember was when she took me by the hand and led me upstairs. In the room there were two beds, the bed in which my parents slept, and a little trundle bed over on the other side. I can remember it as if it were yesterday. When we got upstairs, she sat down by my little trundle bed. She had me kneel in front of her. She folded my hands and took them in hers, and taught me my first prayer. I will never forget it. I do not want to forget it. It is one of the loveliest memories that I have in life, an angelic mother sitting down by my bedside and teaching me to pray.

“It was such a simple prayer, but … that prayer opened for me the windows of heaven. That prayer extended to me the hand of my Father in heaven, for she had explained to me what it all meant as far as a little child could understand. From that day until now, while I have covered approximately a million miles in the world among our Father’s other children, every day and every night, wherever I have been, when I have gone to my bed or arisen from it, I have felt I was close to my Heavenly Father. He is not far away.

What a great reminder on Mother's Day about the important lessons mothers teach their children. Prayer allows us to talk to Heavenly Father as though he were present and is fundamental to our spiritual growth.

Sister Flint shared the following story from the manual with us which illustrates the far-reaching effects a child who knows how to pray can have.

A number of years ago … I heard of [a] nine-year-old boy, an orphan, who was hurried off to the hospital, where examination indicated that he had to be operated upon without delay. He had been living with friends who had given him a home. His father and mother, (when they were alive) had taught him to pray; thus, when he came to the hospital, the thing he wanted was to have the Lord help him.

The doctors had decided to hold a consultation. When he was wheeled into the operating room, he looked around and saw the nurses and the doctors who had consulted on his case. He knew that it was serious, and he said to one of them, as they were preparing to give him the anesthetic: “Doctor, before you begin to operate, won’t you please pray for me?”

The doctor, with seeming embarrassment, offered his excuses and said, “I can’t pray for you.” Then the boy asked the other doctors, with the same result.

Finally, something very remarkable happened; this little fellow said, “If you can’t pray for me, will you please wait while I pray for myself?”

They removed the sheet, and he knelt on the operating table, bowed his head and said, “Heavenly Father, I am only an orphan boy. I am awful sick. Won’t you please make me well? Bless these men who are going to operate that they will do it right. If you will make me well, I will try to grow up to be a good man. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for making me well.”

When he got through praying, he lay down. The doctors’ and the nurses’ eyes were filled with tears. Then he said, “I am ready.”

The operation was performed. The little fellow was taken back to his room, and in a few days they took him from the hospital, well on the way to complete recovery.

Some days after that, a man who had heard of the incident went to the office of one of the surgeons and said, “Tell me about the operation you performed a few days ago—the operation on a little boy.”

The surgeon said, “I have operated on several little boys.”

The man added, “This little boy wanted someone to pray for him.”

The doctor said very seriously, “There was such a case, but I don’t know but that it is too sacred a thing for me to talk about.”

The man said, “Doctor, if you will tell me, I will treat it with respect; I would like to hear it.”

Then the doctor told the story about as I have retold it here, and added: “I have operated on hundreds of people, men and women who thought they had faith to be healed; but never until I stood over that little boy have I felt the presence of God as I felt it then. That boy opened the windows of heaven and talked to his Heavenly Father as one would talk to another face to face. I want to say to you that I am a better man for having had this experience of standing and hearing a little boy talk to his Father in heaven as if he were present

Cloak children with the power of prayer and show them they can have a personal relationship with our Heavely Father.

Prayer brings us comfort, answers and peace. President Smith said the following of prayer:

I would like to emphasize this: I hope that the Latter-day Saints will not fail to hold their prayers, their secret prayers and their family prayers. Children who are reared in homes where they do not have family prayers and secret prayers lose a lot, and I fear that in the midst of the world’s confusion, of hurry and bustle, many times homes are left without prayer and without the blessings of the Lord; these homes cannot continue to be happy. We live in an age when we need our Heavenly Father as much as they ever needed Him in any age

Sister Flint encouraged us to make prayer a priority, especially family prayer. The connections we make through family prayer can carry us through when we need it most. Prayer is the passport to spiritual power.

President Smith said, I noticed … on a billboard: “The family that prays together stays together.” I do not know who placed it there, but I want to say that if you will think about it for a moment you will know that it is true. I admonish you to pray together to the Lord, and I do not mean by that to just say prayers, I do not mean to … repeat something over and over again, but open your souls to the Lord as husbands and fathers in your home, and have your wives and your children join you. Have them participate. There then comes into the home an influence that you can feel when you go there.
He also shared the following story that illustrates the importance of listening to promptings:

My father as a young man came [near to] losing his life in the Provo River. … His father, who was at Salt Lake City, felt impressed to go into a room that had been set apart for prayer. He … knelt down … and said, “Heavenly Father, I feel that there is something seriously wrong with my family in Provo. Thou knowest I can not be with them there and be here. Heavenly Father, wilt thou preserve and safeguard them. …”

At the time when he was praying, just as near as it was possible to indicate by checking the time, my father had fallen into the river. It was at flood time. Timbers and rocks were pouring down from the canyon, and he was helpless. Those who were near saw his predicament, but they couldn’t reach him. The turbulence of the water was such that nobody could live in it. They just stood there in horror. Father was doing everything he could to keep his head above water, but he was being thrown up and down and banged against the rocks and logs. All at once a wave lifted him bodily from the water and threw him upon the shore. It was a direct answer to … prayer.

We need to be ready to listen to promptings of the spirit and prayer for guidance that we may recognize when we receive promptings. Sometimes we get answers that don't make sense but we need to be patient. And when we receive the answers, remember to say thank you.

The last quote from the manual that Sister Flint shared with us was the following:

We should attend to our secret prayers. We should live so near to our Heavenly Father that when we bow before him we may know that the thing we are asking will be pleasing unto him, and if it isn’t granted in the way that we ask it we may know that the blessing will come to us that we are entitled to and that will really be a blessing

We should develop a relationship with our Heavenly Father where we rely on him for answers to our prayers, but this should be accompanied by our ability to make personal choices. The Lord will not always give us answers when we can make a decision by ourselves or if all of our choices are good.

And the last message Sister Flint left with us was to remember those in need in our prayers. Pray for the sisters you visit teach, even if you think they don't need it. Pray for those in leadership positions and pray for whomever you feel prompted needs your prayers.

Thank you for a beautiful lesson, Annette. I hope everyone learned as much as I did about one of most basic principles of the gospel.

Have a great week!

Brittany Larsen

brittanylarsen73@hotmail.com

Sunday, May 6, 2012

May 6 - May 12

Hi Sisters,
Here's the latest for this week:

Dates to Remember:
May 10: Stake Women's Conference Plan Your Life Around the Temple. 6:30 p.m. at the stake center. Light dinner will be served.
May 13: Mother's Day

Monthly Demo Class:
We will be offering demos monthly that can help strengthen our families and homes. Here is the schedule for the next few months. The times and dates change depending on the teacher, so take note of when demos are offered.

May 22- Food Dehydration with Elaine Gold- 10 a.m.

May 25 - Ebelskiver (Danish pancakes) with Brittany Larsen - 10 a.m.

June - Making wheat bread with Eileen Stidham - time and date TBD

Visiting Teaching:

The May issue of the Ensign is the conference report, so please choose a message from conference to share with the sisters you visit. You can find all of the talks here.

Missionary News:

If you would like to feed the missionaries, please contact Lauri Rex at laurirex@yahoo.com or 589-2929.

Don't forget to keep not only the elders serving in our ward in your prayers, but also the elders serving from our ward. Patrick Carlisle is in the Berlin, Germany mission and Landon Gold is serving in Durban, South Africa.

Diane Smith:
Many of you know Sister Smith has been in the hospital for the past few days. She and her family would like to express their appreciation for your meals, visits and prayers.

The medicine Sister Smith is currently on makes her very tired and groggy. She loves having visitors, but if you would like to visit please call ahead to make sure she is awake (858-663-8696).

Lesson Schedule:

May 6: Presidency Message

May 13: George Albert Smith chapter 9 Open Your Soul to the Lord in Prayer
May 20: George Albert Smith chapter 10 The Scriptures
May 27: TFOT The Laborers in the Vineyard Elder Holland

Lesson Recap: Drop By Drop, Katie Anderson

I missed the lesson today so Katie has sent me her notes to pass along. Sounds like it was a fantastic lesson.

If you have one leaky faucet in your home and it drips one drop per minute every day, you lose 272 water bottles full of water a year! That is a lot of water! One drop of water doesn't seem like much, but little by little, drop by drop things add up.

But today we are going to talk about how little by little, drop by drop we can do those things that will bring us close to Christ. They may seem small but when you add them up, they cause GREAT change!

So how do we prepare our lives, drop by drop?

DAILY DEDICATION TO THE GOSPEL
President Kimball in his book Faith Precedes the Miracle says it best:

“Attendance at sacrament meetings adds oil to our lamps, drop by drop over the years. Fasting, family prayer, home teaching, control of bodily appetites, preaching the gospel, studying the scriptures—each act of dedication and obedience is a drop added to our store. Deeds of kindness, payment of offerings and tithes, chaste thoughts and actions, marriage in the covenant for eternity—these, too, contribute importantly to the oil with which we can at midnight refuel our exhausted lamps.” President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985), Faith Precedes the Miracle(1972), 256.

In this quote, President Kimball gives the following daily dedications to the gospel:

Service- Mosiah 2:17

President Monson said, “We are the Lord's hands here upon the earth, with the mandate to serve and to lift His children. He is dependent upon each of us.”

How do you find daily or weekly acts of service help you fill your lamp?

Attending church-

Dallin H. Oaks in The Gospel Culture says, "The Lord has commanded us to attend sacrament meeting every week to partake of the sacrament (see D&C 59:9–12). When we do that, repenting of our sins and renewing our promises to serve the Lord and always remember Him and keep His commandments, we have the precious promise that we will “always have his Spirit to be with [us]” (D&C 20:77). This is how we can see beyond the obstacles and discouragements of this life to guide us to our heavenly home."

How does attending your weekly meetings help you?

Prayer-

Russell M. Nelson in his talk Thanks Be To God says,“Because one’s spirit is so important, its development is of eternal consequence. It is strengthened as we communicate in humble prayer with our loving Heavenly Father.²⁶^”

How has prayer brought you closer to your Heavenly Father?

Scripture Study-

To add upon our knowledge we have to read from the holy scriptures. We are instructed to read from them daily.

How does reading from the scriptures daily help you add oil to your lamps?

Tithing/Fast offerings-

Henry B. Eyring in his talk The Blessings of Tithing said, “There are at least three ways that paying a full tithe in this life PREPAREs us to feel what we need to feel to receive the gift of eternal life.

First, when we pay our tithes to the Church, our Heavenly Father pours out blessings upon us

Second, all of us who have paid a consistent full tithe feel greater confidence in asking God for what we and our families need.

Third, those who pay tithing feel an increase in their love of God and of all God’s children. "

Sharing the Gospel-

Mark 16:15 “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature”

Home Teaching- and I’m going to add visiting teaching- I know I have learned to love as Jesus loves through visiting teaching. I’ve been humbled as I see sisters struggle. I’ve been humbled as I’ve asked for help from my visiting teachers. These are all things that help bring me closer to Christ. Each month may seem like a little visit but over time a friendship can grow, trust can build and you can strengthen each other.

One thing I want to add to the list is attending the temple. One thing that helps add oil to my lamp and I think it can help everyone is regularly attending the temple.

I come from a home with an inactive dad. When I decided to come back to church I came once in a while and I wasn’t doing the things I should. I added to my lamp daily, with scripture study, with prayer, with regularly attending my meetings. The difference didn’t happen overnight but now over 10 years the change is amazing!

My husband and I were talking about all these things we are talking about. I was saying that sometimes when I go to church I get a gallon of oil in my lamp. I have a wonderful spiritual experience or I am affected greatly by a talk. Or this can happen with prayer or the temple. What I don’t notice is the one drop. I don’t notice as much when I go to church and I just get one drop BUT that one drop is important, it’s essential. Elder Bednar said it best, when he referring to the quote from President Kimball said, “

The key lesson for us to learn from this statement by President Kimball is that deliberate, consistent, and reliable preparation and performance provide essential oil for our lamps. Furthermore, steadfastness is a prime indicator of spiritual maturity.

In Elder Holland’s Talk, This, The Greatest of All Dispensations he says:

"Because ours is the last and greatest of all dispensations, because all things will eventually culminate and be fulfilled in our era, there is, therefore, one specific responsibility that falls to those of us in the Church now that did not rest quite the same way on Church members in any earlier time. We have a responsibility to prepare the Church of the Lamb of God to receive the Lamb of God—in person, in triumphant glory, in His millennial role as Lord of lords and King of kings.

We have the responsibility as a Church and as individual members of that Church to be worthy to have Christ come to us, to be worthy to have Him greet us, and to have Him accept, receive, and embrace us. The lives we present to Him in that sacred hour must be worthy of Him!"

Elder Holland goes on to say, "I am filled with an overwhelming sense of duty to prepare my life (and to the extent that I can to help prepare the lives of the members of the Church) for that long-prophesied day, for the time when we will make a presentation of the Church to Him whose Church it is."

Thank you, Katie, for a beautiful lesson.

Have a great week!

Brittany Larsen

brittanylarsen73@hotmail.com