The Birth of Jesus Christ

Alright, I've been slacking on this since our Relief Society has been split in to RS 1 and RS 2. It felt weird to summarize one lesson and not the other. Gonna have to figure that one out!

We were combined today though, because a lot of people are out of town. So that makes it easy.

Esther gave a great lesson that was centered on the birth of Jesus Christ. We spent a good amount of discussion time talking about the significance of the angels announcing Christ's birth first to the shepherds who were in the field. I'm gonna make a list of some of the points that were made because lists are great.

1. One of the titles by which Jesus Christ is known is "The Great Shepherd," so it is interesting that the angels appeared first to the shepherds.
2. The shepherds were humble people who found joy in the work they did, and weren't necessarily looking for any kind of personal gain or reward. They were grateful when they received this great blessing and they recognized the importance of the babe lying in the manger. They dropped what they were doing and rushed to meet him.
3. They left their flock to go find the one. This is symbolic of what Christ did and taught throughout his life.

I love the Lord and I love this Christmas season, along with the reminder it brings to be grateful and to share Christ's love with others. Feel free to add your own comments about the lesson below and I hope you all have a merry Christmas!

-Lisa

Behold the Handmaid of the Lord

Lacee gave a wonderful lesson today on Mary, the mother of Jesus. A lot of the lesson was centered around the scripture found in Luke 1:38 "And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her."

Mary had just had an angel appear to her and tell her that she was going to have a baby, and that her baby would be the savior, Jesus. Instead of being troubled and wondering what her community would think of her (because she was only engaged but not yet married to Joseph), she simply asked "How?" and after the angel explained it, she relied on her faith in God and accepted what was going to happen.

This story is a good example to me of how I should be trusting what God has in store for me. I should do what I can to figure things out, and then have the faith that everything is going to be okay in the end. The "twenty-somethings" are difficult years of life. They're hard because we are figuring out what we want to study, where we want to work, when to start a family, and where to go after we graduate. I know that if we do everything in our power to figure things out, that the Lord will help us know what to do through promptings that come from the Holy Ghost. I have seen this happen many times in my own life, and I'm sure it will keep on happening as long as I remain worthy of the Spirit.  :)

At the end of the lesson we all wrote down a gift that we want to give to the Savior this Christmas season. It could be something like serving others, spending more time reading the scriptures, going to the temple more often, etc. Make sure you remember to give your own gift to the Savior if you weren't there to think about it in Relief Society today. It's a great way to focus more on the Savior during this holiday season.

Hope you all have a great Sunday!

-Lisa

Which Way Do You Face

This weeks lesson was given by the lovely Shelly Myers and was based on the talk "Which Way Do You Face," by Elder Lynn G. Robbins. Give it a read if you want a little extra spiritual boost sometime this week.

We talked about the questions asked for a temple recommend interview, and how one of those questions in particular (the one asking if you support any organizations that oppose the Church) has a more relevant meaning for most of us today.

When we were younger, that question was a breeze to answer but more and more we are seeing organizations, sometimes even from within the Church that oppose what we believe, yet make themselves look good in the eyes of lots of people. The peer pressure can be difficult, and we need to be constantly asking ourselves which way we face. Do we face towards the enticements and pressures of the world or are we facing towards our loving Heavenly Father?

I love this quote from the talk:

Trying to please others before pleasing God is inverting the first and second great commandments (see Matthew 22:37–39). It is forgetting which way we face. And yet, we have all made that mistake because of the fear of men.

It is possible to love others who oppose our views and value system, while still living what we know to be true in an unpretentious way. Jesus Christ did it all the time. He chastened the Pharisees and others, but he loved all men so much that he was willing to sacrifice his own life to save us all. He did not yield to the pressures and enticements of men, He didn't even yield to the temptations of the devil. He always did the will of the Father and consistently faced in the same direction.

I love our savior Jesus Christ and our Father in Heaven. I know that as we follow the commandments and love and serve each other, our lives will be guided and we will know what we should be doing and where we should be going. And we will feel more grounded as we consistently face in the right direction.

And here are some fun 5x7 printables if you would like to post a reminder somewhere in your house!

The Sealing Power

Today's lesson was on the sealing power and temple blessings. I loved the various discussions we had  during the lesson because hearing other's comments and experiences, and thinking about temple sealings made me extra grateful for the opportunity we have to be sealed to our families forever. It was just nice to take some time to think about it today.

My husband was actually the first person I was ever sealed to. I got sealed to my Dad and Step-mom about a year later, but the sealing power has made a special impact on me because I spent the first 20-something years of my life wondering if I would actually see my family in heaven or not. I always knew things would work out in the end, but the song "Families Can Be Together Forever" was actually kind of a sad song for me to sing back then.

It was a huuuge comfort to know, after my husband and I were sealed in the temple, that we would be together forever and I'm still so happy to know that no matter what changes happen in our lives, we can count on each other to always be there.

Here are some points I picked up from the discussion we had on how the sealing power affects us:

1. It is comforting
2. It allows/encourages us to see the big picture
3. It makes us want to work harder at our marriages
4. It makes us realize that God is an eternal part of our marriage relationships (we both are sealed through his power)

Another aspect of the lesson was how important it is to do family history work and to go to the temple, to do ordinances for our deceased relatives. You never know who might be waiting for you to find their name, and to perform temple work for them. I have seen tiny miracles happen as I have done my family history work, and it was great to hear all the other experiences people have had with family history work during the lesson today.

Anyways, thanks for the lesson Kim, and I hope you all have a great Sunday!

And don't forget, now that we have had this lesson, ask yourself "now what?" and change something in your life starting now.  :)

Found this over at McKenna Woolley

Eternal Marriage

"According to the law of the Lord, every marriage should endure forever. If all mankind would live in strict obedience to the gospel and in that love which is begotten by the spirit of the Lord, all marriages would be eternal."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that quote is from the manual, and is something that Joseph F. Smith said. Esther had it written up on the board during her lesson today and it really does sum things up well.

We talked a lot about how staying married is a choice that we each make with our spouses every day. The triangle below was referenced during the lesson, it illustrates how the husband and wife need to strengthen their relationship with God (individually and as a family), in order to draw closer to him and to each other, so they can better become one.

We have a fantastic bishop and his comment during the lesson really struck me. I am going to butcher this, but basically he said we should not let ourselves get wrapped up in our spouse's shortcomings, or things that may be wrong with our marriage. Instead we should always be working at strengthening our relationship with the Lord, and then husband and wife will naturally draw closer to each other. Healthy marriages don't just happen, they are carefully worked at by both the husband and the wife.

I am so grateful for my husband and the things he does for me. I have noticed that when we each draw closer to the Lord, we do naturally draw closer to each other. Maybe it is because we both have a heightened level of the spirit, which helps us better meet each other's needs.

Anyways, marriage is great - feel free to leave your comments below!

Modesty

I have seen a lot of blog posts, news articles, and YouTube videos about this topic lately. It is interesting to see people's varying view points on modesty. For me, seeing different people's varying opinions on modesty brings home the fact that dressing modestly is a choice that we each make individually. For many of us dressing modestly is a journey; one where we each learn by experience what brings the spirit in to our lives, and what doesn't.

Dressing modestly (or not so modestly) shouldn't be a result of peer pressure, it should be a choice that you deliberately make every day when you put clothes on. I like to dress modestly because it makes me feel comfortable. Dressing modestly allows me to feel peace and to not worry about covering certain body parts up when I move a certain way. I don't like to think too much about myself and dressing modestly allows me to stop thinking so much about how I look, and to think more about the needs of those around me.

We shouldn't judge others because they don't quite fit in with our standard of modesty. We are all walking our own path when it comes to following any commandment. Dressing modestly just happens to be a commandment that is easily seen by others when broken, and there are varying levels of following that commandment. I'm sure the Lord would rather have an immodest women coming to church to show her love for him, than not coming to church at all. We should all help each other feel welcome at church, no matter which commandments we may individually be struggling with.  :)

Anyways, that's my little spiel on modesty. I tried to cover what the Stake Relief Society Presidency covered in the lesson, but I'm sure I missed some things. Also I hope I didn't offend anyone... feel free to add your thoughts below!

Here is a video that kind of relates to the topic:

Love you girls!
-Lisa Stoddard

What Are You Thinking?

This week's Relief Society lesson was given by Shelly, and she did a fantastic job. It was based on the talk by Elder W. Craig Zwick called "What Are You Thinking?" 

We mostly focused on the scripture that Elder Zwick cited in his talk from Paul: “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but [only] that which is good [and] edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29).

I think most often corrupt communication comes out of our mouths around those who we love the most (our husbands, parents, siblings, children...), because they are around us most often and we aren't necessarily trying to make a good impression on them all the time. However our lives would be so much better, and our homes more peaceful if we tried to speak (especially to those we love the most) with integrity, empathy, and without being too quick to anger.

Shelly came up with an awesome list of 10 things to help us communicate better with each other:

1. Pray to have God's love
2. Learn to control your tongue
3. Reason together
4. Break the cycle (of arguing the same things over and over)
5. Speak softly and calmly
6. Develop compassion
7. Seek first to understand
8. Be kind over being right
9. Search for truth in other opinions
10. Breathe before speaking

I especially like number three because that is the main way my husband and I solve most of our problems. Neither of us ever really have much of a temper but we do occasionally get frustrated with each other. Rather than avoiding the problem, it helps us to come together and objectively talk about the situation until we figure out a solution that works for both of us. Open, honest communication is so important and it has really helped us to draw closer together as a couple.

Looking at the list again, all of those points are important in their own way. Which ones have you tried that have worked in your marriage or communication with others?