[m14] January 2002 Word of the Ward
- From: "Ron" <RGRAMES@xxxxxxx>
- To: "M14" <m14@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 19:05:47 -0700
Word of the Ward
Meridian 14th Ward January 2002
Cherish friendship in your breast?
New is good, but old is best;
Make new friends, but keep the old;
Those are silver, these are gold.
-Joseph Parry
Bishopric Message
Good vs. Essential
We have heard much from the brethren lately about our activities, and how we
spend our time. They have instructed us in the difference between GOOD
activities and ESSENTIAL activities. What, exactly, is the difference? Very
simply put, 1. Essential activities involve covenants, and 2. We will never
be released from essential activities.
Examples of essential activities include duties of husband and wife, father,
and mother, and our Church callings. Examples of good activities may include
coaching a soccer, baseball, or basketball team, taking our kids to soccer,
baseball, or football practice, being a room mother at our children?s
school, doing community service, or possibly even our own church callings.
All these and many other activities are truly good and serve a noble
purpose. They help build character, strengthen the body and mind and help
others. So what can possibly be wrong with these good activities? Nothing,
as long as we keep all things in their proper perspective. We run into
trouble when the ESSENTIAL activities are neglected and the GOOD
activities take a predominant place in our day.
When work or recreation comes before family duties, our priorities are
upside down. When GOOD things take priority over ESSENTIAL things, we have
lost the eternal perspective and are endangering our eternal welfare.
The important thing to remember here is to maintain a proper balance between
these activities. Both are necessary to maintain life and sanity. We need
to play. Recreational activity is vital to our well being. It is not
necessary to spell out specific guidelines and recommendations as to what is
appropriate and what is not. That is up to the individual, the couple, the
family, and the Lord. Let us make sure that, with the beginning of the New
Year, we resolve to maintain the proper balance in all our activities. May
we place the
ESSENTIAL before the GOOD. As we do so, the Lord will bless us so that we
can accomplish every needful thing.
Bishop Barson
High Priests
Ring in the valiant men and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand.
Ring out the darkness of the land;
Ring in the Christ that is to be.
-Alfred Tennyson
The first line of Tennyson's words would seem to be a plea to our own
potential. We are or can be "the valiant men and free," and the formula he
suggests for becoming such is "the larger heart, the kindlier hand." The
result of the valiance is the dispelling of "the darkness of the land." The
ending line leaves no equivocation concerning the reality of Christ's coming
and is a reminder of our need for preparation for such an advent.
These lines of poetry are contained within the LDS Hymn ?Ring Out, Wild
Bells? (Number 215) and is commonly sung at the beginning of a new year.
Almost universally, the New Year prompts the best within us to resolve to
step closer to what we know we are intended to be. May we be blessed with
an understanding of what resolutions would lead us to greater valiance in
the eyes of the ?Christ that surely is to be.?
Elders
Happy New Year 2002!
As we set goals for the year ahead of us, let?s remember the great teachings
we have received from our leaders during the past year. Among the physical,
educational and financial goals, let us resolve to continue holding family
home evening, daily family and personal prayers, and scripture study. Let?s
continue serving one another through true friendship and faithful home
teaching.
May the Lord give us the strength and determination to achieve our righteous
desires.
The Elder?s Quorum Presidency
Relief Society
Our membership in the Relief Society is growing monthly; at last count we
had 175 sisters enrolled. We are happy for this growth and are anxious to
get to know each one of you.
To strengthen our sisterhood, the Visiting Teaching program is a vital part
of Relief Society. As sisters strive to serve one another and act as
representatives of the Savior, in our assignments as Visiting Teachers we
can accomplish much good. In Visiting Teaching both the giver and the
receiver are blessed and strengthened in their church activity by their
caring concern for one another. The Relief Society Presidency will be
holding personal interviews with each Visiting Teacher beginning on Sunday
afternoon, January 13 and finishing on Sunday, January 20. You will be
contacted for the exact time of your interview.
Since New Years Day was our assigned HFPE meeting time, we will be sharing
the building with the 4th Ward on Tuesday, January 15 at 7 PM. Our ward
will meet in the Primary Room and the nursery will be in the regular room.
Please come and bring a friend for a very important meeting. Sister Laura
Brotherson will be our special guest and will tech us about our personal
well being. Start out the new year right and attend this meeting. Don'?
forget to mark your calendars for the rest of the year on the first Tuesday
of every month.
Sister Mary Ellen Smoot, general Relief Society president, said, ?Satan has
a powerful tool to use against good people. It is distraction. The new
format for Home, Family and Personal Enrichment meeting is designed to help
us focus on that which is needful. The choice is ours. As we serve in our
families and in our ward families we will come to know that ?one thing is
needful? coming unto our Savior with full purpose of heart.?
Our focus at HFPE meeting is to share sisterhood, gain knowledge, learn
skills, increase testimony, rededicate ourselves to our homes and families,
and to give service whenever it is needed.
Primary
We had a wonderful year in Primary in 2001. It has been a great opportunity
to learn more about our prophets. We are excited as well for our them this
year of ?The Temple, I?m going there some day.? The theme for January is ?I
love to see the temple.?
We will miss Lance Holmes as he has turned 12 and goes into Priesthood. We
want to welcome some new faces to our Primary board. We are excited to have
Emilee Crofts as our new chorister; Lorie Sterr in the nursery; Brice
Barson, Teisha McOmber and Maureen O?Leary as teachers. We also want to
extend great appreciation to all those who have been released for all the
time and dedication they put into the Primary. Thank you very much.
We wish everyone in the ward a very wonderful New year.
Sunday School
My plea to the teachers of the Church is to study, ponder, and pray for
guidance in your preparation. Use the scriptures and the approved curriculum
materials, teaching with the objective to bless and inspire the lives of
those assigned to you.
M. Russell Ballard
Course of Study for 2002: the Old Testament
Young Men
To be valiant?is to take the Lord?s side on every issue.
Bruce R. McConkie
Young Women
The Young Women met at the church expecting to go caroling on the 12th of
December. Before we left the church, we decided the first song we would sing
would be Jingle Bells. It was a really cold night and we started off at
the Rich?s home. We rang the doorbell and Brother Rich came to the door.
We started singing and then he closed the door. Some of the girls didn?t
know Brother Rich and wondered if he was inactive.
On are way over to the Stott home, we decide to try a different song, maybe
that was the problem. The Stott?s weren?t home so we went on to the Quick?
s home. Sister Quick answered the door and as we started to sing, she
shouted over us that she just didn?t have time for us tonight. While we
were walking to the Cook?s, we started hearing some comments from the
girls?about how Sister Quick would never say something like that and they
knew something was up.
When we knocked on the Cook?s door, one of their daughters answered the door
and said that her little brother had just made a really big mess and she
needed to go. Now some of the young women were really complaining about how
cold it was, and that they got the point, there was no room in the inn. We
went on to the Smith?s home and Sister Smith came and locked the door and
walked away.
We then piled back into the warm cars and headed to the Lewis home where we
were going to have hot chocolate and donuts. We went up to one of their
garages and walked in. Inside was a stable with a manager and hay. We sat
around on the hay and Sister Lewis and her father talked to us about the
Savior. They asked the young women to think about their lives and if they
make room for the Savior. Let us all think about this as we begin a new
year, and let?s make room in our ?inn? for our Savior. We want to express
our thanks to all that the Lewis?s did to make this a great night for the
young women.
We also had a fun etiquette night this month with the Laurels, MiaMaids,
Priests and Teachers. President Hanson came and talked to the youth about
dating and then Sister Hanson did an incredible job talking to them about
proper etiquette. The youth were on their best behavior, maybe because
their dates were their parents. We really appreciate all the mothers and
fathers who came and supported their kids. We would also like to thank the
members of the ward who let us use their china and all those who helped wash
it and get everything cleaned up after the activity, and also all those who
helped serve.
Birthdays for December:
Birthdays for January:
Stephanie Koyle 12/28
Melanie Dixon /2
Ann Croft 12/31
Shalauna Morgan 1/13
Ambur Davis 1/18
Kara Tolman 1/21
Kami Koyle /23
Nicole Vaughn 1/25
Activities Committee
Brother and Sister Sargent are trying to determine if there is sufficient
interest in planning a ward campout for next summer. If you are interested,
or if you have ideas or suggestions, please be sure to make your opinion
known to one of them.
Missionaries & Servicemen
Elder Matt Shaffer
Florida Jacksonville Mission
8651 Bay Pine Road Ste 104
Jacksonville FL 32256
Elder Tim Brown
Kurzbauergasse 3 / 4
1020 Wien
AUSTRIA
Rec. Cox, Brandon K.
2nd RTBN E Co. Plt 2023
MCRD San Diego, CA 92140-5696
Ward Leaders
Bishop Neil Barson 362-9541
Counselor Bill Lewis 288-0829
Counselor Scott Lloyd 362-1981
High Priests Group Leader Joel Dixon 362-9228
Elder?s President JulioPineda 562-8090
Ward Mission Leader Michael Brown 362-9116
Relief Society President Marilyn Lewis 288-1581
Young Men?s President Rex Cook 887-9487
Young Women?s President Kathleen Clements 562-1559
Primary President Marie Morgan 888-2510
Sunday School President Shawn Patterson 362-2671
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