President Monson to Celebrate 85th Birthday

Church President Thomas S. Monson will celebrate his 85th birthday on August 21. A gala event called "Golden Days: A Celebration of Life"  will be held at the SLC Conference Center on Friday  August 17th.

President Thomas Spencer Monson, born August 21, 1927.



Beloved Broadway selections and other of his favorites will be performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra at Temple Square and notable guest artists. “We are very pleased that talented solo artists will be joining the choir to honor this great man,” said choir president Mac Christensen. “I happen to know the songs being performed will delight President Monson.”



The evening will also take a nostalgic look back at President Monson’s illustrious life from his childhood, marriage and stint in the Navy during World War II to his decades of service. President Monson was called as a bishop of a congregation at age 22 and has served for nearly a half century as a general authority of the Church and ultimately as president. Monson became the 16th president of the LDS Church on February 3, 2008.

This celebration is a great way to let him know how much he is loved and appreciated.
Free tickets are required to attend. They will be given out through a random selection process. If interested, go to www.lds.org/events. The program will also be shown at various LDS stake centers over the Church satellite system on Saturday, 18 August. We will be sure to announce if the event will be broadcast at any of our Colfax/Pullman/Moscow buildings.

June 2012 Visiting Teaching Message

Visiting Teaching - a Sacred Assignment

As visiting teachers, we have an important spiritual mission to fulfill. “The bishop, who is the ordained shepherd of the ward, cannot possibly watch over all of the Lord’s sheep at one time. He is dependent on inspired visiting teachers to help him.”  Seeking and receiving revelation as to who should be assigned to watch over each sister is essential.

Inspiration begins as members of the Relief Society presidency prayerfully discuss the needs of individuals and families. Then, with the bishop’s approval, the Relief Society presidency gives the assignment in a way that helps sisters understand that visiting teaching is an important spiritual responsibility.

Visiting teachers sincerely come to know and love each sister, help her strengthen her faith, and give service when needed. They seek personal inspiration to know how to respond to the spiritual and temporal needs of each sister they visit.

“Visiting teaching becomes the Lord’s work when our focus is on people rather than percentages. In reality, visiting teaching is never finished. It is more a way of life than a task.” To read the original source of this message, click here to go to LDS.org

In October of 2009, Julie Beck, then Relief Society General President, gave an outstanding talk entitled ," Relief Society: A Sacred Work".  You may wish to read this talk to enlarge your testimony and understanding of Relief Society as a faith-based work. She speaks of the purpose of this work, and how we become ever-more effective in our roles as visiting teachers.

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!