The Mantle Transitions

Sunday our Stake Presidency changed, as is the normal course of events in the Church about every 10 years.   Our current Stake Presidency was released and the new Stake Presidency was called and sustained.  It was a wonderful meeting, and you could feel the Spirit of the Lord’s presence.

As Elder James B. Martino, General Authority Seventy, explained, this is a sacred process which the Lord, Jesus Christ, revealed.  He pointed out that he and Elder Thomas T. Priday did not come to select the new presidency, but to discern whom the Lord had been preparing and had chosen for this call.

These brethren in the Stake Presidency serve without pay.  They have regular jobs, and they serve in these callings on the side, volunteering their time, talents, and energy.  Why?  Because of their love for their Savior, Jesus Christ, and their commitment to keep the covenants that they have made with Him.

And so the mantle of authority transitions from one to the other.  No fanfare, no nominations, no voting.  Simply seeking to know and follow the will of God and serving where He wants them to serve.  It is not something we seek after, or that glorifies us.  And it is the same for every one of us.  Membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a beautiful blessing, a wonderful way to serve, and brings such love and growth as one can barely fathom!

I am so happy to be a part of it all!  🙂

 

Women’s Conference in 1 Day

A typical meetinghouse of the church (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

It’s only 1 day away!

 

I have shared many thoughts and ideas about the General Relief Society Meeting of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I guess now it’s time to share my feelings with you.

 

This women’s conference is a great blessing, and is available to all of us.  Whenever I have attended a broadcast at my local Stake Center, I have felt the sisterhood of the other women who also attended, enjoying their love and friendship.  We were there for a common cause – to be uplifted, to be spiritually fed (as well as physically fed as they usually have a dinner beforehand), to renew acquaintances with those we don’t see very often, and to sit at the feet, as it were, of the Savior and hear His guidance, advice, and words of wisdom specifically to us through His spokesman, the prophet.

 

We are also inspired by the things shared by members of the General Relief Society Presidency.  These women have experienced the same trials, hopes, and joys that we have, sometimes more that what I have had.  As they share how they overcame problems in their lives, I feel hope that I can also overcome mine.  They share their successes and the joyful times in their lives, I feel happy and remember the good times in my own life.

 

And as they share the things they did to strengthen their faith in the Lord, improve their dedication to Him and to following His path, Heavenly Father‘s Spirit whispers to me the things I can improve in my own life to find the answers I am seeking.  I feel the comfort and warmth of that Spirit and am lifted up to joy and rejoicing, heartened to continue striving to do that which I know is right.

 

I have always been glad I went.  And my life is just a little easier afterwards, as always happens when I do things the Lord’s way.  He blesses and strengthens those who live as they should.  It’s a natural result of living that kind of life.

 

You can enjoy all these blessings too!

 

And you can always go online and see or review the conferences whenever you want.  Need a pick-me-up?  🙂

 

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Women’s Conference in 3 days

English: First page of the January 1917 issue of Relief Society Magazine, organ of the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. Source: http://www.archive.org/details/reliefsocietymag04reli (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So yesterday I shared a REALLY cool statement that was shared at a previous women’s conference!  You are probably starting to think about how great this event can be.  So, how do you participate?

There are several options:

• The General Relief Society Meeting will be live in Salt Lake City, Utah, at the Conference Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It is, of course, free but you need a ticket to get in.  They may be full-up, but you can check with your local LDS friend or the missionaries (the young men in dark suits, white shirts, with name tags, and always found in twos, or the young women who also are found in twos, dressed tastefully, also with name tags).
• If you are in the Salt Lake Valley you will be able to watch it live on TV, or listen to it live on the radio!
• Almost anywhere in the world you can watch the broadcast at the local LDS Stake Center.  Again, check with an LDS friend or ask the missionaries for more information.  The advantage to this is that you will be with many other wonderful women.  You could make some new friends!
• You can watch it on TV in your own home if you have cable or satellite.
• You can watch it over the internet, from the Church’s official website http://www.lds.org.  As a matter of fact, if you go there now, it will tell you exactly when it starts.

However you choose to participate, it will be well worth your while.  It is a spiritual feast.  A warm, loving, caring, feel-good couple of hours.

Let me know how you watched and what you think of it!  🙂

Here’s a website I ran across with more info on how to watch it:  http://www.yourldsblog.com/2012/10/04/mormon-general-conference-7-ways-to-watch/

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Powerful Testimony

Today was a very special day.  We went with our missionary, correction released missionary, to the Stake High Council for him to report back to them.  These are the leaders of the Stake, which consists of about 8 congregations.

They had asked him to share an experience from his mission that showed him the great love God has for His children.  He explained about a woman who didn’t want to join the church at first.  Then they taught her how to pray, and prayed with her.  A couple days later she came to them and asked when she could be baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

She had been introduced to her Father in Heaven, and had developed a relationship with Him.  That was a wondrous thing for her, and something she wanted to build on.  What a wonderful example of God’s love.

Then in Sacrament meeting he said that the 3 main things he learned on his mission are:

1. That God is our loving Heavenly Father.
2. We are all His children, and that makes each and every one of them very important, of infinite worth!
3. Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world.  And of all the names He is known by, Savior is this returned missionary‘s favorite, because that is exactly what Jesus does, he saves us.

He then bore powerful testimony that God lives, that He is there to guide us, and that we can feel the Savior near.  And if we cannot feel Him, we are invited to look at our lives and change what we need to so that we are able to feel Him near.  It was a powerful moment, the Spirit of God was very strong, and once again my feelings were so close to the surface.

He has developed a closeness with God that is almost palpable.  And even better, there we were, listening to him and surrounded by almost our entire family.  My feelings of love and joy were almost overwhelming.  Oh, the goodness and mercy of God!  🙂

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19 Additional Hours

My missionary has now been released as a missionary.

But, you may say, he got home last night.  Why just released?

Well, sort of an answer to prayer.

His time is so short with us between finishing his mission and going off to college that we were disappointed.  We, or at least I, didn’t pray for more time, but we certainly thought it would be nice.

It didn’t work out for him to visit with the Stake President last night as planned.  No problem, we all realize that things come up, that others might have a more pressing need, etc.  Not a big problem.  It’ll happen today.

This morning was the groundbreaking for the Fort Collins temple.  So his release was pushed out a little further.  He hung around the house, going through his things, helping us with some chores, reaching out to family and friends, and running errands with his dad.

We had some nice chats, talked about his mission, talked over what needs to happen before he leaves for college, filled him in on what’s been happening around here the last 2 years.

It suddenly occurred to me that in a way this was like an answer to prayer.  By having his release postponed, we were able to spend more time with him, almost a full day, 19 additional hours.  Not a bad deal.  Heavenly Father gave us what we desired, even without our specifically asking for Him to.  What a loving and thoughtful Father!

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