Relief Society Lesson: 2-4-12

posted by Christy:

This week we’ve been enjoying some of the bounty from my garden harvest--i.e. roasted butternut squash, Anasazi bean soup, the last of my heirloom pineapple tomatoes, banana squash soup, granny apple pie (gluten-free for my needs and apples from a local orchard-- I didn’t grow those).  Its our pre-Thanksgiving time with my mother-in-law and a nice way to enter into the month of Thanksgiving. AND without pollinators in my garden, there would be no harvest of this deliciousness! 

My thoughts come from Elder Ballard’s talk “Be Anxiously Engaged” from this past October General Conference.

 

I. Elder Ballard recalls:   

“My beloved brothers and sisters, each time I enjoy a fresh, vine-ripened tomato or eat a juicy peach right off the tree, my thoughts go back 60 years to when my father owned a small peach orchard in Holladay, Utah. He kept beehives there to pollinate the peach blossoms that would eventually grow into very large, delicious peaches. 

“Father loved his gentle honeybees and marveled at the way thousands of them working together transformed the nectar gathered from his peach blossoms into sweet, golden honey—one of nature’s most beneficial foods. In fact, nutritionists tell us it is one of the foods that includes all the substances—enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and water—necessary to sustain life.”
My father always tried to involve me in his work with his hives, but I was very happy to let him tend to his bees. However, since those days, I have learned more about the highly organized beehive—a colony of about 60,000 bees. 

Honeybees are driven to pollinate, gather nectar, and condense the nectar into honey. It is their magnificent obsession imprinted into their genetic makeup by our Creator. It is estimated that to produce just one pound (0.45 kg) of honey, the average hive of 20,000 to 60,000 bees must collectively visit millions of flowers and travel the equivalent of two times around the world. Over its short lifetime of just a few weeks to four months, a single honeybee’s contribution of honey to its hive is a mere one-twelfth of one teaspoon. 

Though seemingly insignificant when compared to the total, each bee’s one-twelfth of a teaspoon of honey is vital to the life of the hive. The bees depend on each other. Work that would be overwhelming for a few bees to do becomes lighter because all of the bees faithfully do their part.”

So, my figuring out how to quantify 1/12 of a teaspoon--I was filling a teaspoon with various household items like sunflower seeds and such and found that 1/12 of a teaspoon is about 1 chlorella/ spirulina tablet which is about the size of 1 redhot candy from the cake decorations area in your supermarket.  And 1 lb of honey is little over honey filling a ½ pint jar.

II.  Beehive as a symbol

“The beehive has always been an important symbol in our Church history," said Elder Ballard.  Check out the various references in Elder Ballard's talk-- the Jaredites (Ether 2:3), Brigham Young choosing the beehive as a symbol for the pioneers, the insides and exteriors of some temples and even the Conference Center podium is adorned with the beehive.

Elder Ballard continues, "All of this symbolism attests to one fact: great things are brought about and burdens are lightened through the efforts of many hands 'anxiously engaged in a good cause'” (D&C 58:27). Imagine what the millions of Latter-day Saints could accomplish in the world if we functioned like a beehive in our focused, concentrated commitment to the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ."

III. Savior’s Teaching/ Pure Religion and application:

 

Elder Ballard's draws attention to the following:

The Savior taught that the first and great commandment is:

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. …
“And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
“On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:37, 39–40).

"The Savior’s words are simple, yet their meaning is profound and deeply significant. We are to love God and to love and care for our neighbors as ourselves. Imagine what good we can do in the world if we all join together, united as followers of Christ, anxiously and busily responding to the needs of others and serving those around us—our families, our friends, our neighbors, our fellow citizens," says Elder Ballard.  And he also said, "As the Epistle of James notes, service is the very definition of pure religion (see James 1:27).

　

IV. So, HOW DO WE BEAR ONE ANOTHER’S BURDENS IN OUR EVERYDAY LIVES?

Elder Ballard said the following:

 “We read of the service Church members provide around the world and especially the humanitarian service given in times of crisis—fires and floods and hurricanes and tornadoes. These much-needed and much-appreciated emergency responses should certainly continue as a way of bearing one another’s burdens. But what about our everyday lives? What would be the cumulative effect of millions of small, compassionate acts performed daily by us because of our heartfelt Christian love for others? Over time this would have a transformative effect upon all of our Heavenly Father’s children through the extension of His love to them through us. Our troubled world needs this love of Christ today more than ever, and it will need it even more in the years ahead."

V. MY THOUGHTS:  

This is very pertinent to now with hurricane Sandy in the East hitting right here on our home soil.  And what can we do on a day to day basis?  There is power in a smile.  A kind word/ greeting has made my day on many an occasion.  A laugh/ exchange of humor has changed my attitude for a day and lightened my outlook.  And What about visiting teaching? -- While living in South Africa, I didn’t know how to help. We were living there for 6 months-- I knew it was enough time to be involved and get to know the sisters in the branch. There were real safety issues as racial tensions existed and probably still exist-- we lived there 12 years post-apartheid. Another factor was that I wasn‘t totally comfortable driving on the other side of the road at the time-- later I got really comfortable but I was not comfortable with it at that time. AND I had been told not to go into the nearby township by Joe’s boss.   I didn’t know how I could get involved, but when the RS President picked me up in her car and told me we were going to the township for visiting teaching, I felt no safety concerns. We had a nice time serving.   I needed to be shown the route and helped to serve in that time and place.   I was later able to serve on my own but I had to be shown a way.

Elder Ballard says, "These simple, daily acts of service may not seem like much in and of themselves, but when considered collectively they become just like the one-twelfth teaspoon of honey contributed by a single bee to the hive. There is power in our love for God and for His children, and when that love is tangibly manifest in millions of acts of Christian kindness, it will sweeten and nourish the world with the life-sustaining nectar of faith, hope, and charity."

VI. “?What do we need to do to become like the dedicated honeybees and have that dedication become part of our nature?”

1. Desire. Remember Christ is central. Know he is the path to eternal life-- a basic principle in most Christian religions. 

2. Take on Christlike attributes and assimilate His doctrines.  I loved Sister Burton's talk from this past October General Conference, "First Observe then Serve.”  She said, "Observing and then serving is not always convenient and doesn't always fit our own timetable.” She further stated, “Sometimes we are tempted to serve in a way that we want to serve and not necessarily in the way that is needed at the the moment. When Elder Robert D. Hales taught the principle of provident living, he shared the example of buying a gift for his wife. She asked, “Are you buying this for me or for you?” If we adapt that question to ourselves as we serve and ask, “Am I doing this for the Savior, or am I doing this for me?” 

3.  Pray for the desire to serve and then pray to be able to serve someone during your day.  Elder Ballard said,  "...In your morning prayer each new day, ask Heavenly Father to guide you to recognize an opportunity to serve one of His precious children.  Then go throughout the day with your heart full of faith and love, looking for someone to help. Stay focused, just like the honeybees focus on the flowers from which to gather nectar and pollen. If you do this, your spiritual sensitivities will be enlarged and you will discover opportunities to serve that you never before realized were possible.  President Thomas S. Monson has taught that in many instances Heavenly Father answers another person’s prayers through us—through you and me—through our kind words and deeds, through our simple acts of service and love.  And President Spencer W. Kimball said: “God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs. Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball [2006], 82). 

So, may we all be like bees.  I know we are busy like bees.  May we desire to serve and increase our efforts with our 1/12th of a teaspoon contribution to the hive just like the honeybees.  It will bless all of our lives-- the recipient of service and the giver of service. 

Hugs and love, Sister Christy Huffaker-Bernat

Super Saturday: November 10th 9-1pm

Take a look at our Super Saturday projects.  Feel free to sign up for anything you want to do by adding a comment to this post.  Also, notice the last note about lunch.  If you are willing to bring a soup we'd love it.  Please let us know if you need childcare.  Thanks!

Temporal Salvation for Ourselves and Others

Link to Lesson

Our lesson on Sunday went so fast.  It was a big subject to cover, so I thought I'd put down a few of my ideas.  The lesson was about temporal salvation, specifically being good stewards over our finances/money.

The lesson started out by talking about how the church was so happy they could help people struggling after World World II with the reserves of food and supplies they had put away.  The US government helped them transport the supplies and they were quickly able to send help.  The benefit to having temporal salvation is that you can be self reliant and do the Lord's work of helping and serving those round you.

We talked at length about way to teach our children the value of work. Hard work has always been an important lesson in the gospel.  Many parents try to teach it to their children. I told a story how my parents came up with all kinds of odd jobs for us.  One that I'll never forget is my mom having me pick lint out of the back of her blowdryer with tweezers.  I'll always remember my parent's effort to help us learn the value of work.  It shows me how important the principle was to them.  Most major work days ended in a trip to the malt shop, which we loved.

Part of the lesson talked about having a reserve of food and money. I focused on the reserve of money since we covered food reserves at our monthly meeting.  Also, it's hard to build a food reserve without having extra money to spare. Having savings means that you first have to live within your means.  The principles of financial security are fairly simple. We must live within our means.  We must put away money for savings.  We must pay down or debts and stay out of debt. As i mentioned in the lesson, just having the knowledge of the principles is not enough.  There also has to be internal spiritual and emotional commitment and understanding.

This has become very evident to me through my life. My dad is an accountant.  He spent so much time teaching us to budget money, learn to use financial software, and account for our money.  Even though I had that upbringing, it hasn't all been smooth sailing.  Sometimes it's very tempting to live beyond your means.  Sometimes you are not making enough money to support even a modest lifestyle. Sometimes things happen that bring on sudden debt for a family.  It takes constant effort and commitment to stay on top of your finances and create a reserve and stay out of debt.  It also takes planning and sacrifice.

Shortly after Willie settled into his first job out of school here in Grand Junction, and we bought a house and started to live life, we realized Willie was not making enough money for us to get ahead.  Now realize that the idea you have in your head of what Willie was offered out of school is no where like the lawyer in that movie you just saw.  Lawyers have to pay their dues.  At first we thought it would be more than enough but we greatly underestimated the costs associated with owning a house and having a child.  We had just left student housing at CU which was a sort of garden of eden.  It didn't long and a few sudden emergencies (medical and with our car) to put money on our credit card and we could not save up enough money to pay it down and with each new emergency it grew.  I had whittled down our budget as low as I thought we could go and we still couldn't get ahead.  After much prayer and worry, my dad (the financial guru) confirmed we could not cut our budget anymore and stay in our house so we needed more income.  He told me that he had been doing bookkeeping work for my brother's growing NYC business and he would train me in the basics and turn it over to me so I could start doing it for pay.  As I started to work very part-time from home, we were able to pay down our debt and start saving to protect us from more debt.

As the years have passed, my work responsibilities have grown and I have had more opportunity presented me, including work in professional photography. The opportunities have enriched my life and have been flexible enough to be a good mom.  I have found, though,  that the more money that has come in, the more I've had to try and protect myself from wanting even more money and from wants that never end.  Now I have not given in to every want, but the wanting is a distraction from what is most important. I have also had to try hard to not work more to support an increase in our lifestyle since me working too much can take time from my family, not leave time for me to care for our home, not enough time to be creative, not enough time to serve and not enough time to manage our family finances. The fact that the church teaches us how to protect ourselves from this is so valuable to me.

There are several parts of the lesson that talk about how to protect yourself from loving money, wanting more and being sucked in by a life of consumerism (the feeling that more will make you happy).

1. Put God and true happiness first.

 Matt 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

2. Realize your money isn't yours.  Everything comes from God, even our very breath.  To think we are entitled to our money or that we are the ones to thank for our bounty, is not an helpful attitude.

Let us … look around us in our neighborhood—not leave it to the Bishop and the Relief Society, but let each of us be ministers of loving kindness to those who will need us so much. And whatever we do let us not make those who require assistance feel like paupers. Let us give what we give as though it belonged to them. God has loaned it to us. Sometimes we who have accumulated means [act] as though we think it belongs to us. Everything that we have, our food, our clothing, our shelter, our homes and our opportunities are all given to us as stewards in the Church and kingdom of our Heavenly Father, and if we will … impart of our substance even though it may be but the widow’s mite, we will obtain from him who lives on high the blessings we need in our day here upon the earth, and when the time comes for us to go hence we will find awaiting us the blessing of a loving Father who has appreciated the efforts we have put forth.¹⁶

2.  Give it away.  Be generous by giving money to the church in tithes and offerings.  Also give money to the poor and needy.  Most of our tithing money goes to running the church and fast offerings go to helping members in our ward.  Don't forget local organizations that care for the poor in our area.  We want to support and join in with them in their efforts.

James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

“Wo unto you rich men, that will not give your substance to the poor, for your riches will canker your souls; and this shall be your lamentation in the day of visitation, and of judgment, and of indignation: The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and my soul is not saved!” (D&C 56:16.)

“Wo unto you poor men, whose hearts are not broken, whose spirits are not contrite, and whose bellies are not satisfied, and whose hands are not stayed from laying hold upon other men’s goods, whose eyes are full of greediness, and who will not labor with your own hands!” (D&C 56:17.) …

Hi Sisters,

LouEllen Hunt from the 5th Ward, whom some of you know, passed away.  Her funeral will be held at Callahan on Monday at 10a.m.

Lesson recap: Sept. 30th

Janae Howell taught lesson a wonderful lesson on the word of wisdom last Sunday.  We had a great discussion talking about this fascinating principle.  We talked about the do and donts of the principle and the blessings.  We also talked about the great conversations that start with those not in our faith about the Word of Wisdom.

Here is a link to the lesson:

http://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-george-albert-smith/chapter-19?lang=eng

Here is the handout Sister Howell provided for us.

Service Project

CLICK TO ENLARGE

10 things you might not know you need to store

Let's chat a little about emergency preparedness. I know we hear it all the time, "Have your 72 hour kits!" "Rotate your food storage!" and food storage is a really important thing. But it's not the only thing.
Two years ago my husband's work was laying off people right and left and the work coming in had slowed to a trickle. He took a big pay cut and suddenly that food storage became our only food supply. (This is why I don't store in bulk. I find it hard to rotate out and hard to use when I need it but I digress...) We spent several months living primarily off our food storage, shopping only for milk and small perishables.

And 99% of the time, that is exactly what food storage is for. It's not usually going to be a natural disaster or catastrophic event that has us using those reserves. But, though we are blessed to live in a place where true natural disasters are rare, I'm still a preparedness nut ball. Seriously. Consider me your local 'Doomsday Prepper'. And I'm here to tell you, there are some things you don't think about while stocking those food storage shelves that you might want to consider. So I made you a handy list, cause I'm cool like that.
Yeah.
You're welcome.

1) BLEACH
No joke. in the event of a real disaster most people don't die from the disaster itself, they die from contamination and illness after the fact. Besides being great for keeping things sanitized, bleach can also make drinking water safe and help prevent the spread of disease.

2) TOILET PAPER
Think about it. Yeah, gross, right? Along those lines I also suggest a...

3) PORTABLE TOILET
Basically, any camping store (or even Walmart) sells handy little toilet seats that affix to a bucket. You might never need to use it, but better safe than sorry. Again, hygiene is going to be a big problem if you aren't ready for it.

4) FUEL
By fuel I mean this. You have a fifty pound box of mac&cheese. How do you plan to cook it if the power is gone?

If you have a small home or apartment you can get a pallet of Sterno fuel at Sam's Club for less than $20 and it will give you a safe way to cook indoors. Or, if you have a yard at all, you can also consider a outdoor fire pit/grill that burns wood. (In an emergency, it might be easier to get your hands on wood than propane, just to think long-term.) You can go as fancy or simple as you'd like here, but it's something you need to be ready for. (We added a wood burning stove to our home mainly for this reason, but we also have Sterno fuel and an outdoor fire pit. You don't want to be cooking outside in the snow but you don't want to be burning a wood stove on a 100 degree summer day either)

5) GASOLINE
Not enough to fill your car tank or anything crazy (unless you want. Hey, crazy works too) but enough to power your mowers, tillers, garden equipment, etc. If it becomes a situation where you need to go cut firewood, it helps to have gas for the chainsaw.

6) FIRE EXTINGUISHERS
When you are cooking indoors with Sterno, or even outdoors with a fire pit, you need to be safe. In an emergency, who knows if a fire truck would even be available to help out in a crisis? I recommend at least two small-medium sized fire extinguishers in the home at all times and a small one in the car.

7) BATTERIES
You never realize how much a battery is worth until you need one and don't have one. On that note, I also suggest BATTERY POWERED LIGHTS. Flashlights are good, lanterns are better. Candles are messy and dangerous in the best of conditions.

8) A RADIO
A radio that uses BATTERIES! How many of us own one? Most of us anymore play music on the computer or iPods, right? But in an emergency, you want to have one good old fashioned stand buy.

9) BUG SPRAY & SUN BLOCK
Someday you will thank me for this.

10) FISHING POLES &BAIT
Seriously. We live near a RIVER folks. Which means if times got really desperate, we would always have access to fresh food. I recommend keeping at least one pole, a few cans of artificial bait, and a good fishing knife. Hunting in the city might be hard, but fishing could save your life.
(I've always wanted to say that.)

I think that about does it. My husband thinks I should add a GUN and AMMO to this list, but I know some of us feel less safe with a gun around rather than MORE safe. I will just say that we have one, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. As a word of warning, they say it takes less than 48  hours of real hunger before people adopt a "Mob Mentality". Something to consider. And if you don't like guns, think about a Bow. Seriously. Bows are cool and intimidating, so... two birds, one arrow.

Of course there is always SOMETHING I'm forgetting, so if you'd like to add a tip or idea, please let me know in the comments! Thanks! And happy survival.