Feed My Sheep

At a recent Relief Society presidency meeting, Tia Langston shared with us a talk from a 2007 General Conference called “Feed My Sheep”, by Silvia H. Allred.  Our discussion prompted many inspiring thoughts about how our monthly visits to our sisters can create bonds of love, friendship and trust. Following are some excerpts from Sister Allred’s talk.

Consider the principle taught in John 21:15-17. The Lord asked Peter, “Lovest thou me…?” Peter answered, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.” And the Lord replied, “Feed my sheep.” As deciples of Christ, we too declare that we love Him. So how do we go about feeding His sheep? One of the ways is through Visiting Teaching. Through Visiting Teaching, we build caring relationships with each sister and offer support, comfort and friendship.

To accomplish those purposes, visiting teachers should 1. Visit each assigned sister regularly, 2. Learn of the spiritual and temporal needs of the sister and her family, 3. Offer appropriate assistance, and 4. Give spiritual instruction through a monthly message.

The Lord has blessed women with divine attributes of love, compassion, kindness and charity. Through our monthly visits, we have the power to bless each sister as we extend our arms of love and kindness and give the gifts of compassion and charity. 

Through our regular monthly visits to our sisters, we can create bonds of love, friendship, and trust. If we listen to the promptings of the Spirit, we will increase our awareness of other people’s needs. If we act according to those divine promptings, we can be a blessing to those in need. But we have to be willing to give—of our substance and our time. The true measure of our life is not how much we get but how much we give. Visiting teaching provides opportunities to give as we attend to the physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of each other.

Visiting teaching is also a very effective tool in retention and reactivation efforts. When a shepherd cares, many of those who have wandered away can still be reclaimed. They may respond to an invitation to return to the fold.

We can and should be able to provide meaningful relief. We have the gospel perspective in our lives. We have divine promptings encouraging us to do good. Let us commit to effective visiting teaching. We can provide temporal and spiritual nourishment. We can and should offer understanding and be able to teach doctrine. We can relieve spiritual hunger and feed the sheep. Feeding the sheep might mean strengthening and nourishing the new members, the less active, or even the fully active members.

Let us pledge an increased commitment to extend our arms of love and compassion to bless, help, and strengthen each other as we go about doing our visiting teaching with a willing and joyful heart. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

The Immortality of the Soul

This week's Relief Society lesson was presented by Sister Audrey Kolb and featured Ch. 7 of Teachings of the Presidents of the Church, George Albert Smith.  Chapter 7 is entitled "The Immortality of the Soul".

George Albert Smith served as President of the Church from May 21st, 1945 to April 4th, 1951, right before WWII ended. He was the 8th prophet of the church and served for 6 years. From this chapter, Sister Kolb relates that this mortal life is just a part of eternity. There is also the pre-existence, the "here and now" of our mortal lives, and then the continuation of life in immortality, on the other side of the veil. The sum of all those stages represent Eternal Life. Our purpose here on earth is to prepare ourselves to live with our heavenly father in the next stage of eternity. The fact that life is eternal is a true blessing and a comfort  to know. Death is so sad on earth, but the plan of salvation allows us to know we will see our  loved ones again. We can find peace and comfort in that truth, especially in times of grief and mourning. "Our knowledge of the immortality of the soul inspires, encourages, and comforts us", said President Smith. "When we realize that death is only one of the steps that the children of God shall take throughout eternity, and that it is according to his plan, it robs death of its sting and brings us face to face with the reality of eternal life."

The Relief Society Presidency and all sisters of the Colfax Ward are grateful to Sister Kolb for her loving and energetic spirit as she shared with us this valuable lesson.

Moscow Stake Cooking Class!

Between now and October, the Moscow Stake will be having a monthly cooking class featuring a variety of topics. Watch our blog for these classes to be announced! Topics include Quick Meals, Dehydrated Food, Cheese Making, Food Preservation, Dutch Oven and Grilling, Emergency Food and Water Storage, Soups & Stews, Beans & Lentils, and BREAD, glorious BREAD ! 

May 19th:  Quick meals: Using mixes, simple recipes, dehydrated food - including vegetables, fruit, eggs, etc. CHEESE MAKING demo; Help with menu building – so you know what to shop for and store.

Join us THIS SATURDAY, May 19th, 9-10:30AM at the Moscow LDS Stake Center, 1637 S. Blaine.

Invite your husbands, wives, teens, neighbors and friends!

Presidency Message 5-6-12

Thank you Sis. Aleta Heiner (Young Women's President) for joining us today and teaching us about the Personal Progress program. It's not just for the YW! We can work on it as adult sisters, as parents, or as mentors to the YW. What a great program. You can get more information online at www.lds.org/youth The Young Men have a similar program called The Duty to God program. I spoke briefly about our efforts to transition the YW into Relief Society by including them in some of our visiting teaching this summer.

Visiting Teaching Conference is Coming!

YOU ARE INVITED!
Tuesday May 8th at 6:30 pm at the Colfax building is our Visiting Teaching Conference. All sisters and friends are invited regardless of whether you are a visiting teacher or not. Our theme is "Getting to know YOU". Dinner will be served. See you there!

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