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The Noah’s Ark plan was written for our ward by me when I was Relief Society President about 10 years ago (about 1997). It is being updated now (2008) to include new technology such as cell phones and laptops. This plan includes goals for spiritual preparedness, provident living, basic storage and a 72 hour kit. The items listed in the storage section and also the foods listed for the 72 hour kit are the requirements for 1 adult. This was researched with the information available from church recourses.
June's Installment of
the Noah’s Ark Food Storage Guide
“We will see the day when we will live on what we produce.”
President Marion G. Romney
Spiritual goal – prepared at least one family name for Temple work.
Provident Living goal – Make a goal to have 6 moths wages in savings for emergencies. Write out a realistic plan to make it happen.
Check out this website; Mormon Central; a link to all kinds of LDS Sites
It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.
Miracles of working
at the temple
Ron and Lyn Larsen have been workers at the Cardston Temple for six months. In that time they have seen many miracles as they have come to learn and love this new calling.
Even though the Larsens have attended the temple for years, there was a big learning curve when they became temple workers. A great deal of work behind the scenes happens so that the temple experience is serene for the patrons. The 1026 volunteers at the Cardston temple are organized into shifts. Each shift has two coordinators who give out the assignments for that day. In time all new temple workers are expected / hope to do all of the assignments. Most temple workers come once a week. Some come two days a week every other week (ie Thurs & Friday every second week.)
Sister Larsen has only the use of one arm. Every ordinance worker is expected to learn every task. She asked once “Can I do all these things with only one arm?” The reply was “There is nothing you can’t do.”
Ron said “The Lord loves me enough to let me work at his temple.”
-First all suggestions will be anonymous. Why? In other writing tasks I found that I got more feedback when no name was attached. Some people may feel self conscious about “bragging” about how the did FHE – by making it anonymous there is no bragging just sharing ideas that can help other people. Second: We will leave this section rather open ended for right now. Please think of one practical Every Day Idea and submit it. Within a week or two it will be posted on the website. In time we may focus this section of the website if there people are looking for ideas in one specific area.
While none of us are perfect and know all the answers – each of us has had successes in applying the gospel principles. Your “simple suggestion” might be able to help someone else as they deal with the situations in their lifes.
Please email your Every Day Ideas to rob.ficiur@shaw.ca
It Wasn’t Luck, It was the Lord
by Sherylin Lowry
Our missionary boy asked me to write up the story of his near death experience as a baby. Since Jess turns 21 this week I thought I would get it done for his gift. I love reading the real stories of the people that send stories to you. I've often wanted to send this to the Ensign, but never got to it. Perhaps there's a place in your website for it.
“….A calm thought told me to breathe for my baby. I took first aid as a 15 year old in swimming lessons. I saw it in my head. It was so long ago, and my baby was so teeny. I pinched his little nose and blew a little puff into his mouth. I heard a pop and he inhaled…”
Today this young baby is serving as a missionary in the Texas McAllen Mission. Thank you to the Lowry’s for sharing this miracle with us.
“I learned a very valuable lesson about faith and about relating the scriptures to myself. While my wife and I were silently suffering over a son who left home in high school and embarked on a very destructive path….
The answer came as I realized we had been counseling the Lord in prayer on how we felt our son should be dealt with. We were sincere enough and felt that, as he was our son it was our duty to tell the Lord what we thought would be the best for him.”
Yesterday I spent several hours in the city doing the month's grocery shopping. It's always an adventure, especially when I shop at the store that doesn't bag the groceries for you. I usually end up at the end of the counter, stuffing several hundred dollars worth of food into bags while customers glare at me for taking up all the room.
It amazed me as I walked up and down the aisles to see shelf after shelf, empty. There was no rice, flour, very little pasta, and even the dried beans were picked through. As I walked through the store, I again felt gratitude for the prophet's direction to store food. None of those items were on my list - although I will confessing to buying rice last week when I heard news reports about shortages.
There have been many times in my adult life when my family and I have lived off the food that we've stored. I've always been a firm believer in the concept of food storage and I always plan my grocery list so it includes items we won't use during the month. Whenever I've utilized it before, it's been because of single motherhood or unemployment, never because the shelves in the grocery store were empty.
So yesterday's shopping trip was quite a wake-up call for me. And all the complaining I've been doing in my head about having to plant a garden has stopped. Now I look at it as more security in my basement in the fall.
checkout Stephanie's blog at:
www.shumphreys.blogspot.com
Read the Ensign.
How can that be an everyday idea? Read the Ensign…cover to cover. Read every article.
Years ago when someone suggested that to me, I balked at the idea. Why would I be interested in some of those articles?
Yet, amazingly when I have done it, I have found amazing insights in articles I would previously have skipped.
Upcoming Events
July 19 – Cardston;
On July 19th, 2008 there will be an LDS Home Education Conference in Cardston, AB. It is being put on by LDS Southern Alberta Family Educators. The theme for this first conference is "Teaching Somewhat in All our Learning." (Adapted from 1 Nephi 1:1) Most of us our homeschoolers, but the conference is open to anyone who would like to come. The schedule and speaker information, as well as how to register, can be found at:
http://www.truelightacademy.com/ldssafe.html
Parents are childrens first teachers, and even when they go to public or private school, there is still a lot of learning that goes on in the home. Parents should be involved in their children's education.. no matter what method or means are used for the academic portion.
Conference Sessions include:
Teaching Somewhat in the learning
Effective Scripture Study
Turning our Hearts to our Children
1 Nephi 1:1
Spiritual Journaling
and more.
Costs $25 per person, $40 per couple and $15 for youth.
More information on the conference website:
http://www.truelightacademy.com/ldssafe.html
Should I ask them about the Church?
Should I give him a Book of Mormon? Should I invite her to Church? These kinds of Member Missionary questions plague almost paralyze members as we share the gospel.
Your insights on this subject would be appreciated… but here are some responses.
1. When Nancy asked her friend Jane to take the missionary discussions – Nancy (a Returned Missionary) was nervous. She looked down the road and saw what commitment Jane would / could be making. Nancy gulped back her fear and asked.
Jane replied “Sure.” All Jane had agreed to do was learn about the Church. She hadn’t agreed to go to church for three hours every Sunday, pay her tithing, serve in church callings, send her sons on missions and everything else. we do.
Nancy worried more about the question than Jane did. A year later Jane asked her neigbour Rose to listen to the missionary discussions. This time Jane was nervous because she knew what was involved…
Sometimes because we see so far down the road we worry more than our friends do about taking the missionary discussions.
2. Thurl Bailey was an NBA basketball player with the Utah Jazz. His wife was a member of the Church. During his playing career with the Jazz Thurl Bailey was given more than 30 copies of the Book of Mormon. He said he was touched that people cared about him enough to share their beliefs. He wasn’t offended, he appreciated their thoughtfulness.
While Thurl was playing basketball in Italy – he joined the Church.
3. In post war Germany two Grandmothers stood in a food line. Sister Angel invited the other grandmother to sacrament meeting. There was no special speaker, just a regular Sacrament Meeting. The other grandmother and her adult family members attended Sacrament Meeting. They were touched.
Today that Grandmother’s son is the Second Counselor in the First Presidency of the Church – President Dieter Utchdorf.
4. Some of a carpenters basic tools include a hammer, saw, screw driver and a tape measure. The carpenter uses each tool at different times for specific tasks. The most skilled carpenters know not to use a hammer to put in a screw. In our missionary work we have many tools at our disposal:
-Pass along cards
-Give a Book of Mormon
-Invite to Takes the Missionary Discussions
-Invite to Sacrament Meeting
-Invite to a Ward Activity
-Invite to your house
The list is endless. The most effective member missionaries know which tools to use when. They also know not to keep using the wrong tool if it isn’t working.
Putting it all in Perspective
Today has made a year that my cousin, Darell Cloutier has gone missing. These past couple of months have flown by as I have dealt with my cancer and going from one specialist appointment and one surgery to another.
I have been so wrapped up with my health and pain that everything else just got swept under the carpet so to speak. I haven't spent very much time online (so completely forgot what time of the year it was since my surgery as it has been too painful to check out my sites) but now realizing what day it is has put things into perspective. I may be hurting more then I have ever hurt in my life but at least my family knows where I am.
At least my pain reminds me I am alive and kicking.. well ok maybe not kicking but you get the point.
Stefan, Jaime and Uncle Raymond, my heart and prayers go out to you today and every day.
www.westcoastnana.blogspot.com
LDS Canadian Writers group started.
Are you an LDS Canadian writer? A yahoo email group has been set up to allow LDS Canadian writers to share ideas. Check it out at ldscanadianwriters@yahoogroups.com
LDS Canadian History
On May 25 A Canada wide stake conference was held through the church satellite system. The broadcast was sent to 255 sites in Canada and was translated into nine languages.
Speakers at the conference were Stephen Snow of the 70, Ann Monson Dibbs (Counsellor in General Young Women’s Presidency) M. Russel Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve; and President Thomas S. Monson. The last two speakers served as mission presidents in Toronto.
Personal notes taken from a stake conference and or broadcast like this are for personal use. However, I found a story President Monson shared in his book Inspiring Experiences that Build Faith.
I have been a reader since my earliest days. I can remember the first real book I ever owned — a copy of “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens, given to me by the librarian of the public school I attended. She knew I was in the library for hours on end. My fascination with books has never gone away. My dear Jewish mother, never one to miss an opportunity to exaggerate, once told a neighbor, “My Jeffrey has read every book that was ever written!” I tried, in vain, to disabuse her of this misconception.
Contrast this with friends who hate reading. When I offer them a book, the first question is always, “Does it have any pictures?” If not, forget it. Words hold no attraction for them
To me, illustrations can go a long way in broadening a reader’s interest in a book. But some writers are able to construct their prose in a vivid and lifelike manner. They can bring images to the reader’s mind that obviate the need for pictures. This volume is a good example of such writing.
“Rescue the Prophet” is a great book for kids and young adults. It’s exciting, entertaining, and above all, filled with the richness of the history of the LDS church. I’m so pleased to recommend it.
I do have one complaint: Hey, Covenant, why didn’t you ever send me the first volume??
For much of my life, I've wished I had my very own time machine to whisk me back through the ages so that I could experience things and people as they really were. But since I'm unlikely to run across one,
I have to take the next best thing – and in the case of early Church history, that's definitely this book. Tom and Becky Long are in Palmyra to see the Hill Cumorah pageant and take in a sightseeing tour
at the Grandin Building, where the first copies of the Book of Mormon were printed. But Tom couldn't hear everything that the tour guide was saying, so Uncle Daniel whips out his Time Travelers – little
devices that transport the bearer through time -- and comes to the rescue with a promise of a quick trip to the past. Just an hour, he says, but then they run into Joseph Smith himself.
After saving the young prophet from an attacker, Uncle Daniel is called to accompany Joseph Smith on a mission. He tries to send the kids back to the present, but in his excitement, he sets the Time Travelers incorrectly, and Tom and Becky are transported all of three hours into the future. Now they're stuck in September, 1830, with no money, no food, and no place to stay. Worse, Joseph Smith's attacker
is back, and wants a rematch.
This book was quick-paced and exciting, just slowing down long enough for the reader to catch a testimony spoken by one of the historical characters.
The historical figures are woven neatly into the story so that they have important roles to play in helping the children...
The Cardston Book Shop is excited to make our friends and customers aware of the Canadian Premiere of the movie “Emma Smith: My Story” in Cardston in early July 2008. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints collaborated with the Joseph Smith Jr. and Emma Hale Smith Historical Society in the making of this film. You can read about this collaboration by clicking on this link to the lds.org website.
The movie will play in Cardston on the following dates:
Date Time Location
Saturday, July 5th 3:00 pm Cardston Civic Centre
Advance tickets $6.00 Single tickets
$20.00 Family pricing, this show only (4 tickets, each additional ticket $5.00, maximum of 15 tickets)
$7.00 at the door
Saturday, July 5th 7:00 pm Cardston Civic Centre
$6.00 advance
$7.00 at door
Monday, July 7th 6:30 pm Remington Carriage
Museum Theatre
$8.00
All tickets are being sold in advance
Monday, July 7th 8:30 pm Remington Carriage Museum Theatre $8.00 All tickets are being sold in advance
Contact the Cardston Book Shop for tickets or more details:
403-653-4222 or
1-800-591-9993
email: sales@ldsbookscanada.com
The Restoration, as experienced through the eyes of Emma Smith as told to her daughter, Julia Murdock Smith, is the historical basis of the film. The film has similarities to the Church film "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration" that is shown at the Joseph Smith Building at Temple Square because most of the actors are consistent between the two films.
The net proceeds from the film's showing will go to the Society to fund additional historical research, and further the Society's mission of helping people to come to know Emma better, and understand the suffering that she so graciously endured with her husband, the Prophet Joseph Smith.
“God Loves You”
the 3 words that changed the life of
Ragbir Sopal and his family
“We are atheists,” he told the missionaries who had come to their door. “Go away!”
“God loves you,” the elder replied as the door was shut in his face.
Those three words changed the life of Ragbir Sopal and his wife (and five children and thirteen grandchildren…and the many people these people have touched through out the years).
At that moment Ragbir was touched. He told his wife he wanted to call the missionaries back to hear what they had to say. His wife warned “Don’t do that you’ll never get rid of them.”
After the missionaries left that night – Ragbir decided that they should have family prayer – following the format the missionaries had given them. In his first “church” act of delegation Ragbir asked his wife to say that prayer. She replied “But we don’t believe in God.” Nevertheless the couple knelt down and Sister Sopal said the prayer.
The next day the spirit touched Sister Sopal and she knew that God lived and that he answered prayers.
Conversion stories have their ups and downs. After baptism, Ragbir struggled with activation and the Word of Wisdom. His neighbors (who happened to be BYU graduates) and his branch did not give up on him.
Read the rest of the Sopal’s story – and ponder how those three words from that missionary changed so many lives. “God loves you.”
Ricky Schroeder, TV actor from “Silver Spoons” (1982-1986) and other programs joined the church in 2000. His wife is from Calgary. The following article is about the Schroeder’s presentation to a Young Adult conference in Utah.
University, is doing an academic survey on attitudes towards the Book
of Mormon. He's anxious to get as large a data set as possible. If you
have the time (5-10 mins), please go to:
http://nelsonseawright.bookofmormon.sgizmo.com/
Pass it on!
Two news articles of note from the Church’s official website.
In recent months Polygamy as come front and center on the North American news because of the raids on the Fundamentalist compound in Texas. The Church has gone out of its way to make it clear to the world that these Fundamentalists are not in any way associated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While most of us will sit back and say everyone knows that – the church did a telephone survey in May and found that almost half of those contacted did not know the difference between the LDS church and the Polygamist sect.
With a polygamist group in British Columbia on the news from time to time, Canadian saints must also realize that people in Canada might not know the difference between the two groups.
The following link has some interesting information – and a call for us to make sure our neighbors know
In 1839 when church members were driven from Missouri the people of Quincy Illinois went out of their way to help a starving poverty stricken people. This past month missionaries and members of the Church helped the residents of Quincy as the Mississippi River threatened to flood the small town in Illinois.
