Week of January 1 2017: Glad Tidings To My Soul

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Week of January 1 2016: 

Read 

Helaman 13-14

Our Heritage, pages 73-80 (also attached as a PDF)

Write

Write about a time when you received guidance or a warning from someone you trust.  How did that guidance or warning help you in your life?    

Dear Sisters--

The new year is the perfect time to join the journey!  Pick up with us in Helaman, and begin to write your own personal history.  Attached is our schedule if you would like to begin.  

This week's personal writing was written by Carole Voulgaris from the Ravenna Park Ward.  Thank you Carole!

This week’s reading on Peace and War connects the 87th section of the Doctrine and Covenants —in which Joseph Smith prophesies the destruction that would come with the Civil War— to Joseph's other prophesies about the destruction that would come before the Second Coming of Christ.

I’m currently in the second trimester of my first pregnancy, so pregnancy and childbirth are on the top of my mind these days. Reading about Joseph’s prophecies about trials and tribulations reminded me of John 16:21, where the Savior compares the coming suffering of the Saints to the pains of a woman in labor. I think the analogy is apt. I’ve been reading a lot about childbirth lately, and while some of the it is uncomfortable to think about, I take a lot of comfort in knowing what to expect and how to prepare. I’ve enjoyed reading birth stories that go on to describe the joy that can accompany the arrival of the baby. These serve as a reminder that the discomfort of pregnancy and the pains of childbirth are followed by something wonderful and beautiful. Likewise, prophecies about coming difficulties can be useful and comforting as they teach us how to prepare for what we will experience and remind us (as Joseph is told in Liberty Jail) that “all these things … shall be for [our] good.”

In Joseph Smith’s revelation on the coming civil war, the Lord counsels the Saints to prepare for trials by “stand[ing] in holy places” and Joseph seems to respond by busily preparing holy places: he establishes the School of the Prophets and begins plans for the Kirtland Temple. This is a great example of how our knowledge of coming trials can inspire us to meet those difficulties with courage rather than being paralyzed by fear. 

 

 

Week of December 25 2016: Deal Justly, Judge Righteously, Do Good Continually

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This week:

Read: Alma 39-42

Explore: “Peace and War,” LDS.org, https://history.lds.org/article/peace-and-war?lang=eng

Write: Choose an idea, doctrine, or verse from this week's reading and record your thoughts and impressions.

As this year draws to a close, we pause to reflect on the good and hard things that have come to pass.  Only with time, it seems can we truly understand the patterns of our lives.  This is why the Book of Mormon is so central to our faith; it provides us with a perfectly proportioned view of the dealings of the Lord with His people.  It is broad enough that we see essential patterns come into focus, yet condensed enough that the narrative feels accessible and comprehensible.  it provides us with models for personal, family, and community living in relationship with God.  May your study of scriptures, church history, and your own personal history give you a glimpse into the patterns of your own life in the coming week and year.

This week's personal reflection was written by Theresa Roth of the Woodland Park ward, and a member of the Stake RS presidency.  Thank you Theresa!

Thinking about the atonement in preparation for contributing to our blog, I am reminded:  Sin violates the law.  Justice demands that in order to regain wholeness, blood, free from taint, be the currency to pay the debt.  My understanding of blood sacrifice is scant, but it hints to me that our first earthly parents were welcomed into mortality when blood flowed through their veins.  When it no longer does, we die.  Our Savior’s perfect blood somehow enables life to continue even after we die (immortality).  And His blood provides opportunity for us to live with our heavenly and earthly families forever (eternal life).  O the mercy of our great God!

 

What joy and gratitude to ponder our Savior’s loving sacrifice in fulfillment of our Father's will on our behalf!  Christian, my son lost to brain cancer, yet lives, and although my husband isn’t (yet) a member of the church, I have faith that somehow, someday, my son will be mine again.

 

My dear sisters, it is our Savior’s atoning blood that enables priesthood power to seal families together forever.  What a humbling experience to be proxy in the temple for others, for that purpose.  Just last week, I was able to participate in the sealing of the Johannes Schaible and Anna Maria (born) Höhn family.  Married 23 October 1838 in Vöhringen, Württemberg, Germany, they had thirteen children.  Ten died within days of birth; the three who survived longest died at 5 months, 7 months, and 17 months of age.  Anna Maria, pregnant as she buried baby after baby, knew nothing of the restored gospel and the sealing powers of heaven.  What a blessing to be part of this family’s ordinances that unites them forever!   (If you are interested, you can find the family on familysearch.org; Anna Maria is #L5R9-GS3.)

I send you all my fondest aloha at this glorious season.  May you and I press forward, increasingly grateful in thought, word, and deed, for the love and mercy of the Atoning One, our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

 

Follow the journey on twitter: @SeattleNStakeRS

This week's journey:

Read:  Alma 32, 24, Our Heritage pages 68-72 (attached as a PDF)

Explore: “We Weep When We Remember Zion: Early Latter-Day Saints as Refugees” 

https://history.lds.org/article/we-weep-when-we-remember-zion-early-latter-day-saints-as-refugees?lang=eng

Write:  Write your thoughts on the “infinite and eternal sacrifice” of the atonement (Alma 34:10).  What does the term “infinite” mean to you in relation to the atonement?

We have the opportunity this week, as we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Savior, to deeply ponder some of the most clear, powerful words in the scriptures about faith, our spiritual potential, and the atonement.  I bear you my solemn and sacred testimony that these chapters, restored in the latter days, for this very day, have the power to transform your heart, mind, and life.  Please read and rejoice as you celebrate the Savior!

This week's personal story is shared by Amanda Olson, of the Ravenna Park ward.  Thank you Amanda for your beautiful words!

Alma 5 is a record of Alma the Younger teaching his people about conversion.  In this chapter, Alma is reminding his people of truths their parents knew and observed and that they—one short generation later—have forgotten.  He uses his father’s experience as an example of being truly converted, and he observes that “according to his [father’s] faith there was a mighty change wrought in his heart” (verse 12) that started his father down the path of being truly converted.  I noticed this idea of “a mighty change” as I read this week, probably because I’ve been thinking about needing some “mighty change” in my own life.  What struck me this time was the connection Alma makes between his father’s faith and the change itself:  the change only happened because the faith was there first. 

In the next verse (13), Alma explains that when his father preached the word to his people, they also had a change in their hearts—a change that “wrought in their hearts.”  So because their faith was present, the word of God made them a new heart.  And then Alma explains what that new heart let them do: 

[A]nd they humbled themselves and put their trust in the true and living God.  And behold they were faithful until the end;  therefore they were saved.  (v13; emphasis added)

I want these amazing things in my life.  I want to act out of humility, not out of insecurity.  I want to trust God, trust my patriarchal blessing, trust truths I’ve maybe known but am forgetting.  I want to be believing all the way through instead of giving up and feeling forsaken when it feels like God is absent.  I want to be saved from myself, my pride, the anxiety my doubts create.  Here Alma teaches me that I can have and do and be all of these things.  This is the mighty change.  It is the new heart.  And it comes when I’ve done the hard work to create the faith required to cradle, protect, nourish, and save it.

Week of December 11 2016: Can you feel so now?

Follow the journey on Twitter:  @SeattleNStakeRS

Dear Sisters,

Join the journey today!  No need to catch up--just start your reading and writing today!

This week

Read: Alma 5, 11-12, and Our Heritage, pages 59-67 (see attached PDF in the email)

Write: Alma 5 has been our stake theme this year.  Choose a verse from Alma 5 and write a reflection on its meaning to you.  

 

A huge thank you to Jen Winterton, of the Washington Park ward, for sharing her personal history with us.  

Write about a family member who has made great sacrifices in order to do what's right.

I have never met my great-grandfather, but I am grateful for the life he lived and the example he set for me. He was a man of integrity. I have always felt a particular closeness to him and remember asking my mom over and over again to tell me stories about him when I was little. 

He was a man who made great sacrifices to do what was right--no matter the cost. I've read somewhere that heroes evolve, they aren't born. A heroic moment in my great grandpa's life was merely the product of many small choices he made. One of my favorite stories of his heroism occurred during WWI.

My great grandpa Lou joined the Marines in 1918 and was away from home for several years. During the war, my grandpa fought in the Battle of Belleau Wood, which was renamed "Bois de la Brigade de Marine" (Wood of the Marine Brigade) in honor of the Marines' tenacity. The 4th Brigade was awarded the French Croix de Guerre (Cross of War)--a cross of military valor--in part because of a brave act of my great grandfather. 

At one point during this battle, my great grandfather was with his division in the woods.  From where they were situated, they could see that a French company was walking into a death trap. If they continued their present course, they would be surrounded by Germans on all sides and their escape route would be cut off from behind. Grandpa was concerned and requested his commanding officer for permission to get to them and warn them. It was denied.  His commanding officer said that he couldn't ask anyone to go through enemy lines to send the message; it would be suicide.  Grandpa Lou disobeyed orders and sneaked out anyway.  He got through to the French, let them know where the German troops were, and thus saved the whole company.  He was awarded the Croix de Guerre from the French for his bravery.

Because of his integrity and sheer grit, he went against the better judgment of his commander in order to save the lives of the French company. This story has always meant a lot to me and I try to live my life in such a way that would make my great grandpa proud of me.

-Jen Winterton

Attachments area

Week of December 3 2016: Be Steadfast and Immovable in Good Works

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This week:  

Read:  Mosiah 5, 17-18; Our Heritage, pages 52-58 (Also attached)

Write: Write about a family member who has made great sacrifices to do what is right.

Note: The full reading schedule is also attached.

Join the journey today!  No need to catch up!  You can still reap the rewards of reading the Book of Mormon, church history, and writing your own personal history!

In addition to King Benjamin's magnificent sermon on Christianity, atonement, and the path to exaltation, this week we read of the trials of Joseph Smith and early church members in Missouri.  I was struck, as I always am, by the power of individuals to resist injustice and cruelty--and the fact that we do not always do so.  We have many opportunities in our day to day lives to speak up for justice, kindness, and fairness in the world around us.  Let us always stand up for those who are unfairly accused, persecuted, and neglected!

This week's personal history was written by Cathrine Wheeler, Relief Society President in the Ravenna Park ward.  Thank you Cathrine!

Mosiah 2:17

17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.

It strikes me that some of the service that has touched me the most profoundly is service that I have received as a secondary beneficiary. I have felt deeply indebted to those who have offered up their care and compassion to my family members.

For example:

- The ward members in Idaho that visited my mother during her chemotherapy treatments. Including the friends who gave her a box of different head scarves and hats to try out when she worried about what to wear when her she lost her hair.

- The mother of a classmate at my son’s middle school who read his sad essay, reached out and said, “I remember what that feels like,” and offered him a unique opportunity to get a sneak-peak at a break-through technology device.

- The bishop in Boston that came in the night to bless my sister’s wheezing baby, even though she hasn’t attended church for years.

I’m quite sure that these people never considered the ripple effect that their service would have on me. But when a family member suffers, and for one reason or another I am limited in my ability to ease their suffering, seeing others reach out to them in love fills me with a depth of gratitude that chokes me up every time I think about it.

As a human family, we are so connected that the service given to one ripples out in concentric circles to others around us. I am grateful for those that have touched my life by loving and serving those closest to my heart. I am grateful that the power of love given from one to another can touch many. 

-Cathrine Wheeler, Ravenna Park Ward

Week of November 28 2016: In the service of your God

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Dear Sisters,

Join the journey!  This week:

Read: Mosiah 2-4; Our Heritage pages 46-51 (see attached PDF if needed)

Write: Write about a time when someone provided service to you. 

 

We hope that you had a lovely week, and were able to find time to rest, feast, and give thanks.  This week we were able to read Nephi's final words of prophecy, counsel, and hope, as well as Enos' account of his "mighty prayer" by which he was able to receive forgiveness and peace.  

This week we will be privileged to study King Benjamin's address.  Imagine how powerful it would be if we all could read this together this week, and truly internalize and enact the "equity, fairness, and spirituality" of King Benjamin's mission and message! 

This week's personal history was written by Junko Elliott, of the Thornton Creek ward.  Thank you Junko for sharing your reflection on your own baptism!

Junko's Personal Story:

December 8^th 2007 was the day my husband and I were baptized, almost 9 years ago at the Stake Center building in Seattle. Three weeks prior to that, we were married in the Relief Society room surrounded by our soon-to-be ward family and with our kids Jake and Sinclair by our sides.

 

There are several things that stick out in recalling our baptism day. My then seventeen-year-old son drove himself to the church and made it just in time to sit with us in the front row. It meant a lot to me to have him there, being the only member of our family to witness us “getting dunked”. The room was filled with new friends we had made in our few months of going to church and even some we didn’t know. The feeling in the room was warm and exciting, very different from what I remember of my older brother’s baptism some 28 years earlier when I was a guest in the same font room. That memory was distant, grey and mysterious. My own baptism was shiny, golden and full of promise by contrast. I was married to an amazing man and we were about to embark on a new journey together! I knew it was an important step for us—and the new family we were creating with our two “only children”. Tom Every shared his vocal talent with us and sang a beautiful rendition of “Joseph Smith’s First Prayer”. Sister Romish welcomed me into the Relief Society and joked that I would not know who people were talking to when they addressed me in church since I had two new names to get used to—“Sister” and “Elliott”. (This did happen.)

 

The most poignant and perhaps unusual memory of my baptism was being submerged underwater. Somehow, it is a slow motion memory for me. I remember distinctly seeing the water ripple across and above me overhead from deep within the font. It looked clear and turquoise-blue at the same time. Yet I know that my eyes were shut tight in reaction to being dunked back into the water. I share this knowing some may question how this could be possible, yet it was my experience and is a cherished memory.

 

Interestingly enough, I didn’t really feel any different after coming out of the water, but in looking back over the years I know my sins were washed away and forgiven in God’s eyes. Although I can remember past mistakes it is without feeling terribly dark, weighed down and without hope as I had felt before being baptized. By the grace of God and through Christ’s atonement I am forgiven. Through faith, repentance and belief in Christ I was able to be baptized and I am thankful that one day Christ will be my advocate as I stand before our Father in Heaven.

 

That’s my baptism story (minus a few details but this is already so long!) My husband and I are especially thankful for our dear friends the Everys, the Cooks, the Connells, Bishop Shriber, Sister Romish and the missionaries for making it such a special day for us, and all those who have helped us along the way since.

 

–Junko Elliott

 

 

Attachments area

Preview attachment 2012-02-07-chapter-four-establishing-zion-in-missouri-eng.pdf

2012-02-07-chapter-four-establishing-zion-in-missouri-eng.pdf

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