We had a wonderful Sabbath Day in the Lake Ward!!! It had the best start ever with the confirmation of Laurie A, our newest member who was baptized last Sunday. Congratulation and welcome to Laurie - give her a hug when you see her :-).
Margot N bore her testimony and told us about how her niece, Nicole, came to live with her. Margot spoke about how important the church has been in her life, how it has helped through in all aspects of her life and shared her hopes that it will help Nicole as much as it has helped her.
Elder Curtis, a full-time elder from Highland, Utah, spoke next. He spoke about meeting and teaching Laurie and his excitement for her because her decision to be baptized. He said that Laurie's conversion was possible because of her immense desire to follow Christ and the friendships that had been made and nurtured by members of the church. Elder Curtis taught us out of Preach My Gospel and said that the purpose of the manual was to help others to Come Unto Christ. He pointed out that when investigators have lessons with members, the friendship and support are already there. Members can be a big help in finding those who are ready to hear the gospel and they have several resources that they can use: the Holy Ghost, the Book of Mormon, Fasting, Prayer and bearing your Testimony. He testified that we will receive more happiness as we serve others and share the gospel with them.
We were then favored with a special musical number, Faith in Every Footstep, sung by an 8 member ensemble comprised of: Amber Z, Joyce R, Maureen C, Diane H, Br. Loosli, Dean T, Thom Z and Dean D. Many thanks to all of them for a wonderful number!!!
Elder Olsen, from Clearfield, Utah, was our last speaker. He shared his favorite scripture, 3 Nephi 9:13 - "O all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?" He loved that Christ can heal us. We need to do 3 things to be healed; return to Him, repent of our sins and be converted. He told a story from his youth when his mom would send him down into the dark, scary (because his older siblings told him scary things about what was down there) cellar to get canned peaches. There was a light about half way down the stairs where you had to screw the lightbulb in to make the light come on and then the darkness was gone and the cellar was no longer scary. He likened repentance to turning on the light and dispelling the darkness and coming into the light.
Elder Olsen quoted another scripture, Alma 5:7 - "Behold, he changed their hearts; yea, he awakened them out of a deep sleep, and they awoke unto God. Behold, they were in the midst of darkness; nevertheless, their souls were illuminated by the light of the everlasting word." He said that we could help others to have their hearts changed and their souls illuminated. He told us to pray to know what we should do, to pray for missionary experiences. God knows what needs to be done and He will help us. We just need to ask and then act upon the promptings that we receive.
Priesthood and Relief Society combined today, it was held in the chapel and taught by Glenn F. He used a talk, The Power of the Priesthood, given by President Packer in the Saturday session of the April conference. It was a great lesson, filled with good discussion and wonderful quotes.
Please remember June A's mom in your prayers. She has recently had surgery and has a blood clot that they hope they can clear before it does any damage.
FHE will be at our home, 12 Timbergate, on Monday at 6:00 pm. We will start with a BBQ, please bring salads, sides and drinks to share, and then we will work on indexing. Please bring a laptop if you have one. We have a few computers at our house and people can take turns and learn how easy, and fun, it is to do.
The stupendous Single's Conference is this coming weekend, if you haven't signed up yet it isn't too late. Details on the website.
Make it a WONDERFUL week!
With much love,
Debbie
