I was out of town last Sunday so I didn't find out about the Relief Society Presidency's release until I read about it on Facebook late that night. Then it took me the rest of the week to get over my shock, so I never got around to the blog!
A special thanks to Geralene, Diane, and Katie for their service over the past two years and a welcome to Judie Clark, Jalane Hong, and Melanie Jacobson.
Dates to Remember:
July 4th: Ward party at Melinda Park (at the corner of Santa Margarita Pkwy and Melinda) 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. Relief Society is in charge of desserts, so look for the sign up sheet in Relief Society or just bring one. You can never have too many desserts!
Book of Mormon Challenge:
Our annual summer Book of Mormon reading started on June 17, but it's not too late to start if you haven't! 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. Look for bookmarks outside of Relief Society that have the scheduled reading.
Visiting
Teaching:
Here is the link for this month's visiting teaching message and a cute handout. Only one week left in June, so make sure to schedule your appointments!
Summer Humanitarian Mission:
Our Humanitarian mission for this summer is to raise enough money to build six wells for people who don't have access to fresh, clean water. Find out more about it 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 Carlile is in the Berlin, Germany mission and Landon Gold is serving in Durban, South Africa.
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 Carlile is in the Berlin, Germany mission and Landon Gold is serving in Durban, South Africa.
Temple
Theme:
One of our
goals as a Relief Society Presidency and the focus of our Stake Relief Society
Presidency is to get sisters to the temple, so when I found this video of
President Monson talking about the purpose and importance of temples, I had to
share it. Please watch it when you have a chance!
Summer Fun
Days:
School is out in this week, so let's get ready for some fun! Here are some of the fun things a lot of local moms will be doing:
Mondays - Swim at Altisima Pool
Tuesdays - Head to the beach (changes from week to week, but usually San Clemente area)
Wednesdays - Free movie www.regmovies.com/summermovieexpress
Thursdays - Mission Viejo Lake (contact a MV resident to get on the list to get in)
Fridays- RSM beach club (contact RSM resident to get on the list to get in)
For Our Singles:
School is out in this week, so let's get ready for some fun! Here are some of the fun things a lot of local moms will be doing:
Mondays - Swim at Altisima Pool
Tuesdays - Head to the beach (changes from week to week, but usually San Clemente area)
Wednesdays - Free movie www.regmovies.com/summermovieexpress
Thursdays - Mission Viejo Lake (contact a MV resident to get on the list to get in)
Fridays- RSM beach club (contact RSM resident to get on the list to get in)
For Our Singles:
Aug. 2 - 6: Orange County Singles
Conference: Pursue Your Path to Happiness. Contact ocbconference@gmail.com with questions
or talk to sister Cassandra Leonard.
Lesson Schedule:
June 24: TFOT: And a Little Child Shall Lead Them
July 1: Presidency Message
Lesson Recap: And a Little Child Shall Lead Them
Sister Griffith began her lesson today by sharing this video with us:
The Savior has asked for our help to feed His sheep which is the message of Pres Packer's conference message that Sister Griffith taught us from today. This video beautifully depicts President Packer's plea for us to reach out to all of God's children and share the gospel with them.
Children ideally should be raised by their mothers and fathers. President Packer says
Husbands and wives should understand that their first calling—from which they will never be released—is to one another and then to their children.
Not every one will have the blessing of raising their own children in this life, but we are all blessed with the opportunity to be an influence for good in the lives of the children who surround us, whether they be nieces, nephews, close friends, or neighbors.
In his talk President Packer shared the following stories that illustrate our Heavenly Father's love for each of His children:
Years ago on a cold night in a train station in Japan, I heard a tap on the window of my sleeper car. There stood a freezing boy wearing a ragged shirt with a dirty rag tied about a swollen jaw. His head was covered with scabies. He held a rusty tin can and a spoon, the symbol of an orphan beggar. As I struggled to open the door to give him money, the train pulled out.
Years ago on a cold night in a train station in Japan, I heard a tap on the window of my sleeper car. There stood a freezing boy wearing a ragged shirt with a dirty rag tied about a swollen jaw. His head was covered with scabies. He held a rusty tin can and a spoon, the symbol of an orphan beggar. As I struggled to open the door to give him money, the train pulled out.
I will never forget that starving little boy left standing in the cold, holding up an empty tin can. Nor can I forget how helpless I felt as the train slowly pulled away and left him standing on the platform.
Some years later in Cusco, a city high in the Andes of Peru, Elder A. Theodore Tuttle and I held a sacrament meeting in a long, narrow room that opened onto the street. It was night, and while Elder Tuttle spoke, a little boy, perhaps six years old, appeared in the doorway. He wore only a ragged shirt that went about to his knees.
On our left was a small table with a plate of bread for the sacrament. This starving street orphan saw the bread and inched slowly along the wall toward it. He was almost to the table when a woman on the aisle saw him. With a stern toss of her head, she banished him out into the night. I groaned within myself.
Later the little boy returned. He slid along the wall, glancing from the bread to me. When he was near the point where the woman would see him again, I held out my arms, and he came running to me. I held him on my lap.
Then, as something symbolic, I set him on Elder Tuttle’s chair. After the closing prayer the hungry little boy darted out into the night.
When I returned home, I told President Spencer W. Kimball about my experience. He was deeply moved and told me, “You were holding a nation on your lap.” He said to me more than once, “That experience has far greater meaning than you have yet come to know.”
As I have visited Latin American countries nearly 100 times, I have looked for that little boy in the faces of the people. Now I do know what President Kimball meant.
I met another shivering boy on the streets of Salt Lake City. It was late on another cold winter night. We were leaving a Christmas dinner at a hotel. Down the street came six or eight noisy boys. All of them should have been at home out of the cold.
One boy had no coat. He bounced about very rapidly to stave off the chill. He disappeared down a side street, no doubt to a small, shabby apartment and a bed that did not have enough covers to keep him warm.
At night, when I pull the covers over me, I offer a prayer for those who have no warm bed to go to.
I was stationed in Osaka, Japan, when World War II closed. The city was rubble, and the streets were littered with blocks, debris, and bomb craters. Although most of the trees had been blasted away, some few of them still stood with shattered limbs and trunks and had the courage to send forth a few twigs with leaves.
A tiny girl dressed in a ragged, colored kimono was busily gathering yellow sycamore leaves into a bouquet. The little child seemed unaware of the devastation that surrounded her as she scrambled over the rubble to add new leaves to her collection. She had found the one beauty left in her world. Perhaps I should say she was the beautiful part of her world. Somehow, to think of her increases my faith. Embodied in the child was hope....
These children of whom I spoke represent all of our Heavenly Father’s children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord: and … happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them
For The Strength of Youth is a guide every home should have to help us teach children the gospel and their are three important things we can do for our own children and the children who surround us:
Pray for them
Bless them Teach them
Pray for them
Bless them Teach them
Thank you Shelly for a wonderful lesson!
Brittany Larsen
Jalane Hong - 1st
Counselor john_jalane@msn.com
Melanie Jacobson - 2nd Counselor melanie53@hotmail.com
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