A Note from the Presidency

Dear Sweet Sisters....

Seeing you reach out to each other time and time again is so wonderful! It brings me to tears as I think of you giving what you do not have to give, as you push other things out of the way to serve each other...The True light of Christ Shines through you....How pleased our Heavenly Father must be when he sees you quietly serving and loving one another.....I can never thank each of you individually for all you do....but know that our Father In Heaven knows your hearts and is pleased when he sees you listening to the spirit and reaching out to those in need...God Bless You All....real good...I Love you with all of my heart,Sister Crockett

Eternally Encircled in His Love

Bonnie D. Parkin - Ensign, Nov 2006, 108–10

I know that [Heavenly Father] loves us, sisters, as does His Son, Jesus Christ. That love will never change—it is constant.

Our Heavenly Father loved us before we came to this earth. I know that He loves us, sisters, as does His Son, Jesus Christ. That love will never change—it is constant. You can rely on it. We can trust it.Just as the motto of Relief Society reminds us that “charity never faileth,” we must believe that the love of Christ will never fail us. All that we do in Relief Society should reflect the love of our Savior and the love of our Heavenly Father. This great love should be the source of our motivation to serve others. It must be both our point of origin and our destination!

The Lord’s love is often delivered through others as they respond to promptings of the Spirit. Are we hearing and following those promptings?

I fear sometimes we see the Lord’s love only in the big events of our lives; we must also see His love in the smallest of things. Don’t underestimate your ability to share His love through a simple, genuine gesture such as sitting next to another sister and making her feel welcome.

In my morning prayers I ask Heavenly Father to fill me with His love so that I can do His work with more heart. I know that I have been blessed because of this daily petition. As Relief Society sisters, we must strive to manifest the love of Christ, who always sought to please His Father by doing His will. Sisters, we must make every effort to follow His supreme example—to demonstrate such love through our thoughts, our speech, our actions—in all the things we do and are. We must not allow pride or vanity, selfishness or personal agendas to displace our reaching out to others in love. Quite simply and profoundly, we must first allow ourselves to be encircled by God’s love. We do this best by embracing the Savior’s eternal Atonement. Then we can expand that circle to include our family and all others. Such a circle is indeed heaven.

Clothing Exchange & Visiting Teaching Interviews

We wanted to get some info out about the clothing exchange and VT interviews which will be held on Wednesday the 29th of July.


Clothing Exchange Info:
- We encourage you to come and "shop" the clothing assortment and take home some items. The price is right! - It's all FREE ☺

- You do NOT need to donate something to take something home. We do not want to be left with lots of items, so please come.

- Please be selective in the clothing you do donate, be sure your donations aren't stained, or excessively worn.

- IF you are able to, please bring your clothing on hangers. ALL sizes are encouraged. If you aren't able to bring them on hangers, that's ok, just bring them anyway.

- DROP OFF OPTIONS - You may drop off your clothing at 6pm the evening of exchange in the gym, OR You may bring them on Sunday to the Relief Society Room. You may also drop clothes off to Sis. Crockett or Sis. Cockrum throughout the week.

- So far we have collections of baby clothes & shoes, little girls clothing, and ladies clothing. This event is for ANY clothing. Men, Women, Teens, children and baby. So get in those closets and clean out that clutter. ☺

-If anyone would like to help us set up earlier in the day that Wednesday please let me know @ danasteven@conwaycorp.net . We can use your help.

- You may also invite a friend to come participate,if you'd like.

Visiting Teaching Interview Info:

- VT interviews start at 7 p.m., this usually just takes a few minutes.

- If you have any Visiting Teaching concerns or questions, bring those with you to the interview.

-The interviews are for all visiting teachers even if you are not participating in the clothing exchange. If you are unable to meet that evening, please let us know what would be a good time to meet for an interview.

Note from the Presidency

Dear Sisters,
We have our Stake Temple day scheduled this month....Please arrange your schedules so that you can attend! The Lord has promised us blessings untold if we will righteously attend the Temple. I would dare say that we all are in need of the blessings received there.
I would like to challenge you to help another sister get to the Temple this month. We all have over scheduled lives....but if someone that cares about us would encourage us to go...then possibly we would! Ask around and get someone else to go with you! ....I have 5 extra seats in my van, Dana has the same and we will be glad to have you ride with us...We can have a Happy Day together!
Come on Girls....LET"S Go!!!!!!!!!!

Love, Your Relief Society Presidency...Carol, Gloria, Cathy and Dana
p.s. Thanks to all that pinch hit in our absence....you are awesome!

Words from Gordon B. Hinckley

"I would hope that we might go to the house of the Lord a little more frequently. . . . In this noisy, bustling, competitive world, what a privilege it is to have a sacred house where we may experience the sanctifying influence of the Spirit of the Lord."

The Gift to Those Who Enter The Temple

"John A. Widtsoe wrote: 'I believe that the busy person on the farm, in the shop, in the office, or in the household, who has his worries and troubles, can solve his problems better and more quickly in the house of the Lord than anywhere else. If he will . . . [do] the temple work for himself and for his dead, he will confer a mighty blessing upon those who have gone before, and . . . a blessing will come to him, for at the most unexpected moments, in or out of the temple will come to him, as a revelation, the solution of the problems that vex his life. That is the gift that comes to those who enter the temple properly.' ("Temple Worship," The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, Apr. 1921, pp. 63-64.) "Revelation also comes in receiving greater understanding of the endowment as one seeks to comprehend its meaning.
- David B. Haight, "Temples and Work Therein,"

Message for July

Temple Worship: The Source of Strength and Power in Times of Need
Elder Richard G. Scott Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Because I love you, I am going to speak to you heart to heart, without mincing words. I have seen that many times individuals have made great sacrifices to go to a distant temple. But when a temple is built close by, within a short time, many do not visit it regularly. I have a suggestion: When a temple is conveniently nearby, small things may interrupt your plans to go to the temple. Set specific goals, considering your circumstances, of when you can and will participate in temple ordinances. Then do not allow anything to interfere with that plan. This pattern will guarantee that those who live in the shadow of a temple will be as blessed as are those who plan far ahead and make a long trip to the temple.
“Many were the blessings we had received in the house of the Lord, which has caused us joy and comfort in the midst of all our sorrows and enabled us to have faith in God, knowing He would guide us and sustain us in the unknown journey that lay before us. For if it had not been for the faith and knowledge that was bestowed upon us in that temple by the influence and help of the Spirit of the Lord, our journey would have been like one taking a leap in the dark. To start out on such a journey in the winter as it were and in our state of poverty, it would seem like walking into the jaws of death. But we had faith in our Heavenly Father, and we put our trust in Him feeling that we were His chosen people and had embraced His gospel, and instead of sorrow, we felt to rejoice that the day of our deliverance had come.”2
Now I would like to speak of the special meaning the temple has for me. Part of this message is going to be sensitive, so I will appreciate your prayers as I give it so that I do not become too emotional.
Fourteen years ago the Lord took my wife beyond the veil. I love her with all my heart, but I have never complained because I know it was His will. I have never asked why but rather what is it that He wants me to learn from this experience. I believe that is a good way to face the unpleasant things in our lives, not complaining but thanking the Lord for the trust He places in us when He gives us the opportunity to overcome difficulties.
We had the blessing of having children. A daughter, the first child, continues to be an enormous blessing in our lives. A couple of years later a son we named Richard was born. A few years later a daughter was born. She died after living only a few minutes.
Our son, Richard, was born with a heart defect. We were told that unless that could be cured, there was little probability that he would live more than two or three years. This was so long ago that techniques now used to repair such defects were unknown. We had the blessing of having a place where doctors agreed to attempt to perform the needed surgery. The surgery had to be done while his little heart was beating.
The surgery was performed just six weeks after the birth and death of our baby daughter. When the operation finished, the principal surgeon came in and said it was a success. And we thought, “How wonderful! Our son will have a strong body, be able to run and walk and grow!” We expressed deep gratitude to the Lord. Then about 10 minutes later, the same doctor came in with an ashen face and told us, “Your son has died.” Apparently the shock of the operation was more than his little body could endure.
Later, during the night, I embraced my wife and said to her, “We do not need to worry, because our children were born in the covenant. We have the assurance that we will have them with us in the future. Now we have a reason to live extremely well. We have a son and a daughter who have qualified to go to the celestial kingdom because they died before the age of eight.” That knowledge has given us great comfort. We rejoice in the knowledge that all seven of our children are sealed to us for time and all eternity.
That trial has not been a problem for either of us because, when we live righteously and have received the ordinances of the temple, everything else is in the hands of the Lord. We can do the best we can, but the final outcome is up to Him. We should never complain, when we are living worthily, about what happens in our lives.
Fourteen years ago the Lord decided it was not necessary for my wife to live any longer on the earth, and He took her to the other side of the veil. I confess that there are times when it is difficult not to be able to turn and talk to her, but I do not complain. The Lord has allowed me, at important moments in my life, to feel her influence through the veil.
What I am trying to teach is that when we keep the temple covenants we have made and when we live righteously in order to maintain the blessings promised by those ordinances, then come what may, we have no reason to worry or to feel despondent.
I know that I will have the privilege of being with that beautiful wife, whom I love with all my heart, and with those children who are with her on the other side of the veil because of the ordinances that are performed in the temple. What a blessing to have once again on the earth the sealing authority, not only for this mortal life but for the eternities. I am grateful that the Lord has restored His gospel in its fulness, including the ordinances that are required for us to be happy in the world and to live everlastingly happy lives in the hereafter.

June Note from Presidency

Dear Sisters,

I would like to recommend a youtube video that is on http://www.lds.org/. It is from President Eyrings talk, O Remember, Remember. It's just wonderful....He suggests to us that as we contemplate our days activity, that we earnestly seek to see the hand that "God" played in our life that day. As we do this he suggests that we ask ourselves...Have I seen the Hand of God reaching out to touch us? He says that we might pray and ponder....Did God send a message that was just for me? President Eyring is so gentle and kind as he helps us to be aware and grateful for the way that God does bless each one of us.... My prayer is a quote from a dear friend that loved me so......He always said to me.... "God Bless You...real good"

That's my prayer for all of you...
Love, Sister Crockett

Not Only to Relieve the Poor, but Save Souls

"From its beginning, the Relief Society has led out in charitable work. At the first meeting, President Emma Smith said, 'Each member should be ambitious to do good.' (Minutes of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo, 17 Mar. 1842, p. 13.) The minutes of those initial meetings are filled with accounts of how the sisters obtained work opportunities for the needy, took in the homeless, and made donations to help those in need of food, shelter, and schooling.

"A decade after the departure from Nauvoo, sisters trained in the principles of the Relief Society were still leading in efforts to provide for those in need. In a session of conference, President Brigham Young announced that the Saints in two handcart companies were stranded by early snows and suffering in the mountains of Wyoming. He called for immediate help to rescue them, and before they left the Tabernacle many sisters had begun to gather clothing to send to the Saints in the mountains. (See Kenneth W. Godfrey et al., Women's Voices: An Untold History of the Latter-day Saints, 1830-1900, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1982, p. 269.)

In the initial meetings of Relief Society the Prophet Joseph Smith taught that the society 'is not only to relieve the poor, but to save souls.' (Minutes, 9 June 1842, p. 63; History of the Church, 5:25.) A later First Presidency explained: 'One of the purposes of the organization of the Relief Society was that a system might be inaugurated by which study of religious subjects, or Church doctrine and government, might be pursued by women. The administration of charity under the direction of the Bishopric . . . was to be part of their active work. But this was not intended to absorb their activities to the exclusion of the development of faith, and the advancement of women in literary, social and domestic activities of life.' (James R. Clark, comp., Messages of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 vols., Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965-75, 5:217.)

" 'To save souls opens the whole field of human activity and development,' Elder John A. Widtsoe later declared. 'Relief of poverty, relief of illness; relief of doubt, relief of ignorance—relief of all that hinders the joy and progress of woman. What a magnificent commission!' (John A. Widtsoe, Evidences and Reconciliations, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1987, p. 308.)

"That commission included teaching. In a revelation given in 1830, the Lord told Emma Smith that the Prophet would authorize her 'to expound scriptures, and to exhort the church, according as it shall be given thee by my Spirit.' (D&C 25:7.) When she was later selected to lead the Relief Society, her prophet husband referred to this revelation that she would 'expound the scriptures to all' and 'teach the female part of the community.' He declared 'that not she alone, but others, may attain to the same blessings.' (Minutes, 17 Mar. 1842, p. 8.)"

"The Relief Society and the Church," Ensign, May 1992, 34–35