September: Gospel Study

“We want our sisters to be scholars of the scriptures. … You need an acquaintanceship with his eternal truths for your own well being, and for the purposes of teaching your own children and all others who come within your influence.”

“We want our homes to be blessed with sister scriptorians—whether you are single or married, young or old, widowed or living in a family. … Become scholars of the scriptures—not to put others down, but to lift them up!” (Spencer W. Kimball)

Inspire (to guide by divine influence)

Empower (to give the desired tools to accomplish the task at hand)

Alma taught, "But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.

Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me."  Wouldn't it be awesome to have the scriptures be "delicious to us?"  Wouldn't it be great to be able to say like Nephi, "For my soul delighteth in the scriptures."

The only way to gain a testimony of the scriptures is to read, study, ponder, and apply them in your life.  This is the only way to become that sister scriptorian President Kimball has invited us to be. The Lord has said that “he will give unto the faithful line upon line, precept upon precept” (D&C 98:12).  Here are some "tools" to help jumpstart your scripture study habits.

Act (the process of doing something)
I'm sure you can guess what the invitation is this month! Yep - Just read your scriptures.  Study them. Ponder them.  And apply them to your life. Then note the change that comes into your life as you begin an honest heartfelt study of the word of the Lord.

Oh, AND...
Come to our Quarterly Relief Society Meeting on Thursday, September 18th @ 6:00 pm.

August: Personal Revelation

Before coming to earth, we lived in the Pre-Mortal world with our Heavenly Father.  There we were instructed, enlightened, and edified in His holy presence.  Now that we have experienced our physical birth in mortality, He desires to continue to communicate with us and to give us counsel and direction. He does this through personal revelation, which involves preparation, prayer, and promptings. Personal revelation is one of the greatest gifts and blessings we can receive.  Sister Julie B. Beck stated: "The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life."

Inspire (to guide by divine influence)

Empower (to give the desired tools to accomplish the task at hand)

How do we receive personal revelation?  "Each of us is entitled to personal revelation to guide our lives. In order to receive personal revelation, we must prepare by living worthily and studying and pondering the scriptures. If we seek and ask, God will reveal His will to us through the Holy Ghost" (lds.org).

This image comes from the youth website on lds.org.  Click here to go to that page where you can link directly to all of the references listed.  These are the tools we need to learn how to receive personal revelation.  

Act (the process of doing something)

We invite you to link to the page above, and spend time learning how to receive personal revelation.  As you learn more about how to receive, we then invite you to act on the promptings that come to you that you may begin to recognize when the Lord is speaking to you.  Take time to record these thoughts and feelings in a notebook, and then be sure to act on the promptings that come to you.  Remember, that the Lord will meet the needs of others through you, if you are in tune with the Spirit and act as an instrument in His hands.

July: Be Not Moved

For the month of July, we have decided to focus on the importance of "Being not Moved" in your testimony of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Although this strays a little from our focus on Missionary Work, we feel that this monthly focus is timely considering some current events in the Church News and Media.  It is important to remember that Great Shall Be Our Joy as we continue to be Steadfast and Immoveable in our Faith and Testimonies of the Doctrine of Christ.

Elder Neal L. Anderson said, "My young friends, the world will not glide calmly toward the Second Coming of the Savior.  The scriptures declare that ‘all things shall be in commotion.’  [There are] spiritual whirlwinds that can uproot you from your spiritual foundations and land your spirit in places you never imagined possible, sometimes with your barely noticing that you have been moved.” 

How can you apply this quote, from the National Weather Service Hurricane Center, to what we know about following the Prophets and preparing for "spiritual whirlwinds?"

"Spiritual Whirlwinds" have been prophesied through all annals of time - even by ancient prophets and apostles.

 Why does the Lord "let the winds blow?"

In the scriptures we read about the children of Israel who were endangered by firey, flying serpents.  Moses was commanded to make a serpent of brass and raise it up on a pole.  All the children of Israel had to do was to look at the brass serpent and they would have been protected and healed.  This example is referred to several times by ancient Book of Mormon prophets:

 The Lord has clearly laid out the path for us - those things we need to do in order to stay close to him, and not be affected by those spiritual whirlwinds.  Those things are your "sunday school answers" of prayer, scripture reading, charity, service, family home evening, temple attendance etc. Here are some quotes to remind you of the importance of these essential gospel principles.

One final quote and scripture...

Our invitation to you this month is to evaluate the strength of your testimony of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to re-dedicate yourself to basic gospel principles that come with great blessings.  

We are privileged to live in a time when questions about the gospel are being asked, because it gives us an opportunity to seek out answers and to learn for ourselves the truthfulness of the Doctrine of Christ.  

We also invite you to choose a gospel topic that you do not fully understand and seek out teachings found in the scriptures and from latter-day prophets and apostles.  Pray about that topic and gain strength to your testimony. 

June: Missionary "Work"

Though joyful, missionary work is work! This is our focus in Relief Society for the month of June. Being a great missionary requires effort on our part!

"Work," defined as a verb, is to "be engaged in physical or mental activity in order to achieve a purpose or result." The work of the Lord is to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39).

Elder L. Tom Perry said, "From the very beginning, the Lord commanded Adam to till the earth and have dominion over the beasts of the field, to eat his bread by the sweat of his brow."  I have always been interested in how often the scriptures have admonished us to cease to be idle and to be productive in all of our labors. Teaching children the joy of honest labor is one of the greatest of all gifts you can bestow upon them.”

Inspire (to guide by divine influence)

In Tegucigalpa Hoduras a young man reaches out to a childhood acquaintance. The most unlikely candidate for the gospel. Because of the effort of this friend, he changed his ways and was baptized. As President Monson says at the end… "You possess a testimony - share it! Never underestimate the far reaching influence of your testimony. You can strengthen one another. You have the capacity to notice the unnoticed. When you have eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to feel. You can reach out and rescue others."





“Brothers and sisters, have faith. The Lord can magnify the words you speak and make them mighty. God doesn’t ask you to convert but rather to open your mouths. The task of converting is not yours—that belongs to the person hearing and to the Holy Spirit.” -Brigham Young

Empower (to give the desired tools to accomplish the task at hand)

Many of our apostles mentioned Preach My Gospel in the most recent General Conference.   This is an excellent resource not only for the full time missionaries, but for all members of the church.  Elder M. Russell Ballard said,  "To help you in this process I invite all members regardless of your current calling or level of activity in the church to obtain a opt of Preach My Gospel. It is available through our distribution centers and also online. The online version can be read or downloaded at no cost. It is a guidebook for all of us. Read it, study it, and then apply what you learn to help you understand how to bring souls to Christ through invitation and follow-up. As President Monson has said 'Now is the time for members and missionaries to come together to work together, to labor in the Lord's vineyard to bring souls unto Him.'"

Here is a link to "Preach My Gospel"
https://www.lds.org/manual/preach-my-gospel-a-guide-to-missionary-service?lang=eng

Act (the process of doing something)

When we speak of missions, and missionaries it often includes the word work - as in "missionary work." It has never been called "missionary hobby," "missionary fun," or "missionary recreation."  It is always "missionary work."  That is because being a missionary takes work. It is not something that is considered easy or relaxing.  It requires willing hands, dedication, determination, a lot of effort, and help from the Lord. Though some may see work as something to avoid, the gospel teaches that working for and with our families brings great blessings.

The action words of missionary work include:
Desire
Fasting
Prayer
Reaching out
Being Conversational
Encouraging
Supporting
Inviting
Setting Goals
Personal Gospel Study
Service
Visiting Teaching

There are many ways we can do missionary Work. Watch the video below of this talk from the April 2003 General Conference. Elder Ballard gives three steps, or action words to help make us better member missionary's. 

May: Be an Example

"The most effective way to preach the gospel is through example. If we live according to our beliefs, people will notice. If the countenance of Jesus Christ shines in our lives, if we are joyful and at peace with the world, people will want to know why. One of the greatest sermons ever pronounced on missionary work is this simple thought attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi: “Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words" (Dieter F. Uchtdorf).

Inspire (to guide by divine influence)
This is an inspiring story about one sister who was led by the example of her co-worker which ultimately brought her into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Empower (to give the desired tools to accomplish the task at hand)
How can we be sure that we are setting a good example for others to follow?  The tools we need are found in the scriptures:
Paul, in his epistle to his beloved Timothy, outlined a way whereby we could become our better selves and, at the same time, provide assistance to others who ponder or ask the question, “How can I [find my way], except some man should guide me?”  The answer, given by Paul to Timothy, provides an inspired charge to each of us. Let us take heed of his wise counsel: “Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” (1 Timothy 4:12)

Act (the process of doing something)
In your journal, or notebook write down the six ways that Paul exhorts us to be an example:

• In Word
• In Conversation
• In Charity
• In Spirit
• In Faith
• In Purity

Then, search the scriptures to find instances from the life of our Savior where He taught by example how we can be better examples of these principles. Make a list of Christlike attributes that you could strengthen as you strive to be a better example to your family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers.