Relief Society Meeting 5/19/2013

We started off with a visiting teaching message by sister Kim Syme. She shared an experience about the blessings and power of the structure of RS and visiting teaching. She shared the experience of her mother who had a miscarriage and had to be hospitalized on their moving day. She called her friend and told her what happened. Her friend called the RS president, who called her visiting teachers. The faithful visiting teachers dropped what they were doing and came to the house to be with the kids and unpack and ready the house for Kim's mom so that she could rest and not worry after a trying day and visit to the hospital. The Lord is able to send us choice blessings through our visiting teachers. Remember the words "the errand of angels is given to women" from the hymn "As Sisters in Zion." Visiting teaching is one of the Lord's channels through which he blesses His daughters. How eager we ought to be to bless others in this capacity!

Today for the lesson  it was our treat to hear from the lovely sister Caroline Seaton.

She based her preparations on chapter 11 “I Seek Not Mine Own Will, but the Will of the Father” from the Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow manual.

She reminded us of a few precious truths:

• The will of the Lord is designed to bless not burden our lives.
• We may not know today, tomorrow, or even during this life why we are doing something the Lord has inspired us to do. 
• We may not see immediate results when we do the will of the Lord.
• Just because something is good, that does not mean it's the will of the Lord. Try to prioritize good, better, best to determine if it's the Lord's will. 
• The Lord knows what he wants us to be. Life may not turn out how we want it to, but that does not mean things are not going according to plan. The Lord's will is that we become all that we can be. He sees the picture that we can not see, therefore we should trust in His ways.

Caroline shared to inspiring examples of people in her life who have sought to do the Lord's will. Her husband who is preparing for medical school expressed the attitude that if he does poorly on the MCAT and does not get into medical school, then he will know that it is the Lord's will - the Lord knows what He wants him to be. Caroline's mother had always planned to stay at home and not have to work outside of the home, but do to financial struggles, she has had to work from the begging of her marriage all the way up to today. Caroline believes that this unexpected/undesired situation has influenced her mother to be the amazing woman she is today.

Thank you Caroline for the inspiring lesson!!!