Tuesday: What an interesting day... This afternoon while walking to the car from the church I had a "bright" idea... well lets just say it looked good in my brain.. :) I want y'all to picture a spy movie or someone that has successfully ran, rolled over the hood of the car and then started to run again.... Well my brain thought oh you can do it no problem..... so I tried it.. and failed miserably.... Well onto important things.... We were told that we are to start training our branch missionaries on how to do their jobs... so lets just say we are training ourselves on everything... As a companionship we were asked to plan activities and lessons for the young woman’s program. I don't think I have missed pintrest and Google more than I do now.... So needless to say if you know of any fun activities please send them my way :)
Wednesday: Today we were in Annapolis Royal for District Meeting. We were instructed on a few different things. The first was obedience. There is a scripture found in the Doctrine and Covenants Section 130 verse 20 and 21 That says 20 There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated21 And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated. If we expect blessings to come we simply must be obedient. The next part were role plays. For Zone Conference we were asked to be prepared to teach the restoration in under 10 minutes. The Restoration includes eight different principals, they are God is our loving Heavenly Father, The Gospel blesses Families, Heavenly Father Reveals His Gospel in Every Dispensation, The Savior's Earthly Ministry, The Great Apostasy, The Restoration of The Gospel of Jesus Christ Through Joseph Smith, The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, and Pray to Know. Who know you could teach all of that in under 10 minutes?! The First time we tried to teach this we did it in 6 minutes. It is crazy how much information you can tell people in such a short amount of time... By the end of the week we got it down to 4 minutes :)
Thursday: We had a lesson with a less-active member that we have been working with the past few weeks. We were finally able to have a nice calm, quiet lesson. Usually her 3 kids are running around screaming (thank goodness for school). Wow... not a lot to talk about today....
Friday: I honestly HATE Fridays I never thought those words would come out of my mouth. Every Friday we have a three to four hour planning session.. (kill me now) Plus two hours of studies in the morning. Five to Six hours of sitting is so BORING! But on the bright. We had a couple awesome experiences today. After lunch on Fridays we go and visit Ethal, In the nursing home. Its always such a special thing. Whenever you walk in her room you instantly feel the spirit. After visiting with her we went and started to knock on some houses. As we were walking down the street there were kids outside playing soccer. We were so surprised to see the father outside actually playing soccer with his kids. (its not a sight you see very often) We decided to go over and talk with him. We were able to have a great conversation with him (20 mins) and we left him with a Book of Mormon. After supper we were suppose to have a lesson with our investigator but she cancelled. So instead we asked Sister Attridge if there was someone she thought we could stop by. We went and visited Sister Graham. We practice taught her the Restoration and were able to teach it in 4 minutes.
Saturday: Bridgewater sisters came on a visit. It was a blast. We found a flea market. Its crazy how much money people thing they can get out of crap. Throughout the day I was trying to think of how I could finish my talk for sacrament meeting..... I have had the hardest time preparing the stupid thing...
Sunday: This morning during studies we went to the church so that I could use the computer to try and finish my talk. Sacrament meeting was great. I was the first speaker and it went ok I guess... Brother Veinot was the next speaker and he talked about how our homes need to be filled with Gospel Truths. Following Brother Veinot, President Evans the Stake President spoke, he talked to us on why the Sabbath Day is such a huge focus right now. He said that a few days before General Conference the Apostles gather together and decided what the focus for the next few months will be. The past General Conference was focused on The Sabbath Day. Elder Neilson once said, If we can really teach the members to follow the commandment to Hallow the Sabbath Day and keep it holy,....”We can help our members to build faith in the Lord and deepen their conversion to him and to his church. As we learn to better how to Hallow the Sabbath Day, Faith will increase across the world.” and as Elder Ballard said, “We continue to be concerned about lasting conversion, covenant-keeping multi-generational families and spiritually strengthened members of the Church. Of all of the organizational or policy changes or doctrinal training that could hasten the work of salvation at this time. We have determined that elevating the spirit and power of the Sabbath Day would be most influential in drawing members and families closer to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now with that being said, Here is the talk that I had the opportunity to give yesterday during sacrament meeting.
Is your Sabbath a Delight? September 27th 2015 Greenwood, NS Branch
Good morning Brothers and Sisters. I am grateful for the opportunity that I have to speak with you this morning. I pray that the spirit will be with each of us to teach and testify to us. A couple of weeks ago we had the opportunity to hear from Elder Anthony D. Perkins from the First Quorum of the Seventy. One thing that he instructed us on was how we could turn a meeting into a revelatory experience. When you think of a meeting what do you think of? Some examples are boring, a lot of talking, a lot of sitting and so many other “boring” things. So how can we turn a meeting into a revelatory experience?
There is a scripture in 3rd Nephi 14:7 that says “Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” You simple need to ask, go into a meeting whether it be aChurch meeting, a work meeting or any other kind of meeting and you have a question write it down before hand and ponder on that question throughout the meeting and you will be able to have a revelatory experience.
Now lets turn this Sacrament meeting into a Revelatory Experience for all of us. As I read off a list of questions I would ask that you ponder on your answers and identify ways that you can improve your answer.
- Do your actions set the Sabbath Day apart as unique, different, and identifiable?
- Do you leave behind worldly pursuits and pleasures to focus on spiritual matters?
- Do you worship on the Sabbath Day by attending all of your meetings and worthily partaking of the Sacrament?
- Do you feel closer to God and Jesus Christ through your actions on the Sabbath Day?
- Do your Sabbath Day activities rejuvenate you spiritually to meet the demands of the week to come?
Now let me expound on one Questions. It is How can we set our Sabbath Day apart from every other day as unique and different? I think the best way that we set this day apart to be unique and different is by our actions and thoughts throughout the week. Sundayis a day for offering our cleanest and best self to the Lord. Spiritually preparing for this special day shows the Lord we hallow His Sabbath. Reverencing the Sabbath can lead us to personal revelation, and this reverencing should begin well before the Sabbath arrives. There was a Church News article this past June that gave of some examples that I want to share.
A row of Sunday shoes
My mother, a staunch Methodist, taught me a lesson about honoring Sundays without saying a word. Each Saturday afternoon Mother applied liquid polish to the shoes of my six younger brothers and placed them carefully in an open window to dry. The weekly sight of that long line of Sunday shoes drying on the windowsill spoke volumes to my young understanding. I could see that Sunday was a different day, a day apart from the scuffed shoes of the week, a day for offering our cleanest and best self to the Lord. Mother wanted to honor God appropriately, and polished shoes were a sign of her reverence for the Lord’s day. I learned on Saturday that the following day called for thoughtful preparation.
A quiet chapel
Prepared to worship when Sunday arrives, we can bring a new reverence to the environment of the chapel itself. Think how you would feel if you entered a chapel filled with ward members sitting quietly and listening thoughtfully to the prelude music. In such a setting we can concentrate on the purpose of the meeting, feel the Spirit, and receive inspiration. Our hearts are also prepared and our minds taught truth if we attentively sing the sacrament hymn.
When we commence each Sunday prepared and reverent, our depth of Sabbath understanding will be as spiritual food to all members of our family. Faith in the Lord will grow in our homes as we bring our Sabbath day reverence into our living places.
Just as at church, reverence for the divine in a home brings a spirit of truth and learning. Thoughtful preparation for and participation in the Lord's day will surely make the Sabbath a delight at church and at home.
The Sabbath can truly become a delight if we are ready for what it offers. The Savior knew we needed to prepare our minds to fully participate in the sacred things of God.
In what ways does your family prepare for the Sabbath Day?
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
In Preach My Gospel it says “Latter-day Saints should set this holy day apart from activities of the world by entering into a spirit of worship, thanksgiving, service, and family-centred activities appropriate to the Sabbath. As Church members endeavor to make their Sabbath activities compatible with the intent and Spirit of the Lord, their lives will be filled with joy and peace.”
Madison Louise W. - United States
The sacrament is an important ordinance that we participate in eachSunday. We need to be reverent while taking the sacrament and always think of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Sunday is a day that should be treated in a special way, different from all the other weekdays. Sunday is a special, its a day when we dedicate ourselves to God. When we are prepared and we listen to the lesson we will get a lot more out of it than if we just sit there and do nothing. Always be prepared. Let the speakers and teachers know you are listening and are thankful for the things they prepared for you.
McKena Mae S. - United States
I have learned that if you truly pay attention and think about the sacrament, the rest of your Sunday is better and in most cases the rest of the week. The activities you do on Sunday can set up how the rest of your week goes. Keeping the Sabbath day holy is blessing and it can improve your life.
Isaiah 58 13¶If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, fromdoing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speakingthine own words:
Mark 2 27And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:
Now consider the steps you take when you want to start a campfire. You probably gather plenty of dry kindling that will catch fire easily. Then, after the kindling is lit, you feed your fire with larger pieces of wood. And if you want your fire to last a long time, you continue to watch it and add logs as needed. Spiritually speaking, our experiences at church can lead to the fire of revelatory experiences only if we come prepared—if we are in a spiritual condition to receive the spark and keep it burning within us. And this fire will keep burning only if we continue to feed it—as we seek deeper understanding in our revelatory experiences, as we share with others what we are learning, and strive to live the gospel more fully.
As General Conference is coming up this weekend I would encourage you all to write down a few questions you want answered so that you have the opportunity to have a revelatory experience. Each week I am going to start sending a scripture and quote that I have came across throughout the week. This weeks scripture and quote is
Enos 1:8 And he said unto me: Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen. And many years pass away before he shall manifest himself in the flesh; wherefore, go to, thy faith hath made thee whole.
“I testify that bad days come to an end, that Faith always triumphs, and the Heavenly Promises are always kept.” ~Elder Jeffery R. Holland
I hope you all have a great week! I look forward to hearing from each of you!! Love and Miss you all!!
~Sister Hardy :)
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