Relief Society Newsletter

Fishers 2nd Ward Relief Society Newsletter
Lesson Summary by Kelsey Lambert

Sister Tensmeyer taught our lesson from chapter 23 in the Howard W. Hunter manual, called "No Less Serviceable." The lesson title comes from Alma 48:19, which talks about how Helaman and his brethren served their people just like Moroni did, even though their service wasn't as widely known. President Hunter related this scripture to the everyday service we do and receive. "Most of us will be quiet, relatively unknown folks who come and go and do our work without fanfare." Sister Tensmeyer asked us to share examples of people we know who quietly serve with little recognition. Many of the sisters expressed gratitude for the service of family members, primary and youth teachers, and church leaders. We also had a great discussion about WHY we serve, and here are some of the reasons sisters shared:
- to help those around us
- to be like the Savior
- to feel the love of the Lord
- to follow the second great commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves
- because it's who we are as children of God
- to be obedient
- to help take away or lessen the pain of others
- to help lift us out of our own trials
Sister Tensmeyer displayed a picture of a railroad crossing and shared the following suggestion from President Hunter for how we can become more serviceable. "The sign at the railroad crossing that warns us to stop, look, and listen could be a guide for us. Stop as we rush through life. Look for all the friendly, thoughtful, courteous things we can do, and all the little human needs we can fill. Listen to others and learn of their hopes and problems so that we will be able to contribute in little ways to their success and happiness." At the end of the lesson we listened to a beautiful song reminding us that right around us are those in need of our love and service. We are especially grateful today for the sisters who serve in primary and young women and hope that they feel loved and part of Relief Society as they serve where they are needed right now.

Relief Society Presidency
Cathy Gorge - President
Kelsey Lambert - 1st counselor
Debbie Orcutt - 2nd counselor
Kim Foster - Secretary
Missionary Moment
By Tomo Suzuki

I was feeling that I should make an invitation card for the ward Christmas Brunch, because I thought the Christmas Brunch could be a great opportunity to show my non-member friends what church looks like, what we believe, and how we receive joy through the atonement of Jesus Christ. But my recent busy schedule prevented me from creating one. As the date approached, I started to feel pressure and some guilt for I felt I hadn't done the thing which I should do. Then just a few weeks ago I found a beautiful invitation card posted on Facebook by a sister in our ward. With her permission, I was able to print it out and gave to some of my friends last week. I am thankful for this sister who was inspired to make the card. I believe that the Lord always prepares the way when we desire to share the gospel with others.

Birthdays This week...
12th- Marcie Solis
13th- Joanne Denney
Announcements
We still need 1-2 ladies that can come help decorate for the Christmas Brunch this Friday at 10am. Please contact Traci Norton if you can help. Thank you!

This Saturday, Dec 17th, 10am Ward Christmas brunch
   Sunday, December 18, 10:00 am-11:45 am.  Special Sunday meeting for all ward members to hear counsel from the Indianapolis North Stake Presidency, as well as hearing the new ward boundary changes within the stake.  Please carpool if possible to minimize parking needs.  To prepare for this meeting, be prayerful and ready to receive personal confirmation of the messages and changes presented.
Just Serve Fishers

Our ward serves in the Bishop's Storehouse on the 2nd Tuesday of each month from 8-10 am. Click here to sign up to serve.

We would like to involve more sisters in the giving and receiving of compassionate service. We encourage each of you to sign up for at least one compassionate service time between now and the end of March. A member of the Relief Society presidency or compassionate service committee will contact you letting you know what service is needed for that week. Click here to sign up to serve.

Sister Spotlight!

*Kim James*

1. What is one thing you would put on your bucket list?

 Go bungee jumping

2. If money weren't an option where would you travel?

Japan😊

3. What is your favorite smell?

Apple cinnamon

4. What is your favorite flower?

Lillies

5. Where were you born?

Idaho Falls, ID

6. What is a pet peeve of yours?

Sticky kitchen floors...(sadly mine always is sticky😊)

7. Do you prefer sweet or salty?

I love both together!

8. What is your biggest accomplishment?

Getting a Master's degree (It's in speech language pathology😊.  I'm a speech therapist 😊.) and being a Mom

9. Favorite genre of movies?

Romantic comedy

10. What is one thing you really don't like to eat?

Broccoli

11. What do you enjoy doing in your *spare* time, if you have any? :)

Reading!

12. Favorite food?

Brownies

Compassionate Service Signup

https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/10c0e45aba82baaf94-just

December Relief Society Message

VISITING TEACHING MESSAGE

Family Joy Is Found in Righteousness

Prayerfully study this material and seek for inspiration to know what to share. How will understanding “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” increase your faith in God and bless those you watch over through visiting teaching? For more information, go to reliefsociety.lds.org.

God “established families to bring us happiness, to help us learn correct principles in a loving atmosphere, and to prepare us for eternal life.”1 Of God’s “great plan of happiness” (Alma 42:8), President Russell M. Nelson, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, said: “His plan declares that men and women are ‘that they might have joy’ [2 Nephi 2:25]. That joy comes when we choose to live in harmony with God’s eternal plan.”2

A Christ-centered home provides the greatest opportunities for success. Elder Richard G. Scott (1928–2015) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles describes it as a place “where the gospel is taught, covenants are kept, and love abounds,” where families can live “an obedient life” and become “firmly rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ.”3

President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency, said: “We can decide that we will do all we can to bring down the powers of heaven into [our] family.” And we’re most likely to promote love, service, obedience, and happiness in our homes by “[our children’s] hearing the word of God and then trying it in faith. If they do, their natures will be changed in a way that produces the happiness they seek.”4

Additional Scriptures

3 John 1:4; 1 Nephi 8:12; 2 Nephi 5:27

Christ-Centered Homes

We have role models of Christ-centered homes in the scriptures. After his father, Lehi, died, Nephi took his family and others who believed in the warnings and the revelations of God and who hearkened to Nephi’s words away from the land of the Lamanites. In this new place, the Nephites could keep the judgments, statutes, and commandments of the Lord in all things, according to the law of Moses. (See 2 Nephi 5:6–10.) Yet even among the Nephites, some eventually became disobedient.

And while our family members can sometimes drift away from righteousness like the Nephites did, Elder Scott said that a Christ-centered home still “provides the greatest assurance for peace and refuge in our homes.” He acknowledged that “there will still be plenty of challenges or heartaches, but even in the midst of turmoil, we can enjoy inner peace and profound happiness.”5

Relief Society seal

Faith, Family, Relief

Consider This

What could we do to live more righteously within our families?

Relief Society Holiday Dinner

 

 

Message from our new Relief Society President:

"The Holiday Season can be challenging for all of us with plenty of opportunities to serve, enjoy family and connect with good friends.  There are times the thought might come: how am I going to survive the holidays?  If an apostle of the Lord were to tell you the key to survival would you be interested in listening?  Well, he has!  What is the key, as identified by President Nelson in his October, 2016 conference talk?  Joy!  Our Heavenly Father recognizes our needs and offers us the gift of joy.  It is our spiritual life preserver!

Think about a time you felt joy.  Who were you with?  Where were you?  What were you doing?  President Nelson related a story told by Eliza R Snow about a time she felt joy.  She and her family had just been forced to flee Missouri.  It was in the middle of the grueling winter of 1838.  They spent one night sheltered by a rude cabin along with 80 other Saints.  Her description of this night was "not a complaint was heard--all were cheerful. . .none but saints can be happy under ever circumstance."  President Nelson then taught "the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives."  He continued, "If we look to the world and follow its formulas for happiness, we will never know joy.  Joy comes from and because of our Savior Jesus Christ. . . .When the focus of our lives is on God's plan of salvation and Jesus Christ and His gospel we can feel joy regardless of what is happening--or not happening in our lives."  

How do we claim this gift of joy?  President Nelson promised, "when we choose Heavenly Father to be our God and when we can feel the Savior's Atonement working in our lives, we will be filled with joy."

In this season of thanksgiving and celebration of the birth of the Savior of the World let our voices and hearts ring out with joy!

As some of our favorite hymns resound:

"Joy to the world, the Lord is come;"

"Oh, come, all ye faithful

Joyful and triumphant;

Come and behold Him,"

"But, oh, what triumph shall I raise

To thy dear name through endless days,

 When in the realms of joy I see

Thy face in full felicity!"

"Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives:

  I know that my Redeemer lives!"

It is my prayer that each of us seek this gift of joy as we seek our Savior, Jesus Christ.  In His name, Amen.

 

 

      

Soup Recipes from Holiday Dinner

Mom's Pasta E Fagioli

recipe contributed by Traci Norton

Ingredients:

• `1 lb Farmland Italian Sausage
• 1 1/4 cups chopped onion
• 1 1/2 cups chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 30 ounces fire roasted diced tomatoes with garlic, undrained
• 15 ounces basil, garlic, and oregano diced tomatoes, undrained
• 16 ounces red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 16 ounces white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 70 ounces beef broth
• 3 tsp oregano
• 2 tsp pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoon tabasco
• 5 tsp parsley
• 20 ounces spaghetti sauce
• 8 ounces uncooked mini shell pasta

Directions:

Brown sausage in a skillet and drain fat.  Add sausage to a crockpot with all other ingredients, except pasta.  Cook on high fro 4-5 hours. Add pasta when 30 mins remaining.

Freezing Directions:

Allow soup to cool, then portion into quart freezer bags. Label and freeze. To serve: reheat in microwave for 2-3 minutes or until hot.

Broccoli-Cheddar Soup

recipe contributed by Becky Martin

Ingredients:

• 6 Tblsp Unsalted butter
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 3 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 4 cups broccoli florets (about 1 head)
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 2 1/2 cups grated sharp white and yellow cheddar cheese, plus more for garnish

Directions:

Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook until tender, about 5 mins.  Whisk in the flour and cook util golden, 3-4 mins, then gradually whisk in the half-and-half until smooth.  Add the chicken broth, bay leaves and nutmeg, then season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered, until thickened, about 20 mins.

Add the broccoli and carrot to the broth mixture and simmer until tender, about 20 mins.  Discard the bay leaves.  Puree the soup in batches in a blender until smooth; you'll still have flecks of carrot and broccoli.  Return to the pot. (Or puree the soup in the  pot with and immersion blender)

Add Cheese to the soup and whisk over medium heat until melted. Add up tp 3/4 cup of water if the soup is too thick.

White Chicken Chili

recipe contributed by Stephanie Ingram





Ingredients:

• 1 to 1/2 lbs rotisserie chicken, stripped & shredded or leftover roast turkey meat, shredded
• 3 Tblsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2-3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
• 1 rounded Tblps chili powder
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 jar tomatillo salsa (16 oz)
• 1 quart and 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 can white kidney beans
• 4 handfuls tortilla chips, divided
• 1 handful cilantro leaves
• Juice of 2 limes

Directions:

Heat a heavy bottomed (no pun intended) pot over high heat with the EVOO. Cook onions, garlic, and jalapeno until soft, about 4 mins.  Ass chili powder and cumin and cook for another min.  Add the tomatillo salsa and chicken stock.  Bring up to a bubble and add in the shredded chicken or turkey.  Simmer for 10-15 mins.  Meanwhile, grind 2 handfuls of tortilla chips and the cilantro leaves in a food processor. (I just put the chips on a plastic bag and took out my frustrations of the day!!) Add this mixture to the chili and continue cooking until it thickens, about 8-10 mins.  Right before spooning into bowls, add in the lime juice and serve with some whole corn tortilla chips alongside.

Quick and sooo delicious!!

 

 

Creamy Potato Soup

recipe contributed by Joanne Denney

 

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloved garlic, minced
• 8 potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 4 cups chicken stock, or enough to cover potatoes
• 3 Tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp dried tarragon
• 3 tsp chopped, fresh cilantro
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions:

 





Relief Society Holiday Dinner

 

Visiting teaching: November

Because there is no official visiting teaching message for the month of November, I wanted to post one of my favorite talks from conference. Remember that you are able to choose whatever message that you want to share with your sisters. I hope that you enjoy this one!

“Abide in My Love”

By Elder D. Todd Christofferson

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

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God’s love is infinite and it will endure forever, but what it means for each of us depends on how we respond to His love.

The Bible tells us that “God is love.”1 He is the perfect embodiment of love, and we rely heavily on the constancy and universal reach of that love. As President Thomas S. Monson has expressed: “God’s love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve love. It is simply always there.”2

There are many ways to describe and speak of divine love. One of the terms we hear often today is that God’s love is “unconditional.” While in one sense that is true, the descriptor unconditionalappears nowhere in scripture. Rather, His love is described in scripture as “great and wonderful love,”3 “perfect love,”4 “redeeming love,”5 and “everlasting love.”6 These are better terms because the word unconditional can convey mistaken impressions about divine love, such as, God tolerates and excuses anything we do because His love is unconditional, or God makes no demands upon us because His love is unconditional, or allare saved in the heavenly kingdom of God because His love is unconditional. God’s love is infinite and it will endure forever, but what it means for each of us depends on how we respond to His love.

Jesus said:

“As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

“If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.”7

To “continue in” or “abide in” the Savior’s love means to receive His grace and be perfected by it.8 To receive His grace, we must have faith in Jesus Christ and keep His commandments, including repenting of our sins, being baptized for the remission of sins, receiving the Holy Ghost, and continuing in the path of obedience.9

God will always love us, but He cannot save us in our sins.10Remember the words of Amulek to Zeezrom that the Savior would not save His people in their sins but fromtheir sins,11 the reason being that with sin we are unclean and “no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of heaven”12 or dwell in God’s presence. “And [Christ] hath power given unto him from the Father to redeem [His people] from their sins because of repentance; therefore he hath sent his angels to declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance, which bringeth unto the power of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of their souls.”13

From the Book of Mormon we learn that the intent of Christ’s suffering—the ultimate manifestation of His love—was “to bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance.

“And thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice, and encircles them in the arms of safety, while he that exercises no faith unto repentance is exposed to the whole law of the demands of justice; therefore only unto him that has faith unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal plan of redemption.”14

Repentance, then, is His gift to us, purchased at a very dear price.

Some will argue that God blesses everyone without distinction—citing, for example, Jesus’s statement in the Sermon on the Mount: “[God] maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”15 Indeed, God does rain down upon all His children all the blessings He can—all the blessings that love and law and justice and mercy will permit. And He commands us to be likewise generous:

“I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

“That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.”16

Nevertheless, God’s greater blessings are conditioned on obedience. President Russell M. Nelson explained: “The resplendent bouquet of God’s love—including eternal life—includes blessings for which we must qualify, not entitlements to be expected unworthily. Sinners cannot bend His will to theirs and require Him to bless them in sin [see Alma 11:37]. If they desire to enjoy every bloom in His beautiful bouquet, they must repent.”17

Beyond rendering the penitent person guiltless and spotless with the promise of being “lifted up at the last day,”18there is a second vital aspect of abiding in the love of God. Abiding in His love will enable us to realize our full potential, to become even as He is.19 As President Dieter F. Uchtdorfstated: “The grace of God does not merely restore us to our previous innocent state. … His aim is much higher: He wants His sons and daughters to become like Him.”20

To abide in God’s love in this sense means to submit fully to His will. It means to accept His correction when needed, “for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.”21 It means to love and serve one another as Jesus has loved and served us.22 It means to learn “to abide the law of a celestial kingdom” so that we can “abide a celestial glory.”23 For Him to be able to make of us what we can become, our Heavenly Father pleads with us to yield “to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and [put] off the natural man and [become] a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and [become] as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.”24

Elder Dallin H. Oaks observed: “The Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts—what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts—what we have become.”25

The story of Helen Keller is something of a parable suggesting how divine love can transform a willing soul. Helen was born in the state of Alabama in the United States in 1880. When just 19 months old, she suffered an undiagnosed illness that left her both deaf and blind. She was extremely intelligent and became frustrated as she tried to understand and make sense of her surroundings. When Helen felt the moving lips of family members and realized that they used their mouths to speak, “she flew into a rage [because] she was unable to join in the conversation.”26 By the time Helen was six, her need to communicate and her frustration grew so intense that her “outbursts occurred daily, sometimes hourly.”27

Helen’s parents hired a teacher for their daughter, a woman named Anne Sullivan. Just as we have in Jesus Christ one who understands our infirmities,28 Anne Sullivan had struggled with her own serious hardships and understood Helen’s infirmities. At age five, Anne had contracted a disease that caused painful scarring of the cornea and left her mostly blind. When Anne was eight, her mother died; her father abandoned her and her younger brother, Jimmie; and they were sent to a “poor house,” where conditions were so deplorable that Jimmie died after only three months. Through her own dogged persistence, Anne gained entry to the Perkins School for the Blind and vision impaired, where she succeeded brilliantly. A surgical operation gave her improved vision so that she was able to read print. When Helen Keller’s father contacted the Perkins School seeking someone to become a teacher for his daughter, Anne Sullivan was selected.29

It was not a pleasant experience at the beginning. Helen “hit, pinched and kicked her teacher and knocked out one of her teeth. [Anne] finally gained control by moving with [Helen] into a small cottage on the Kellers’ property. Through patience and firm consistency, she finally won the child’s heart and trust.”30 Similarly, as we come to trust rather than resist our divine Teacher, He can work with us to enlighten and lift us to a new reality.31

To help Helen learn words, Anne would spell the names of familiar objects with her finger on the palm of Helen’s hand. “[Helen] enjoyed this ‘finger play,’ but she didn’t understand until the famous moment when [Anne] spelled ‘w-a-t-e-r’ while pumping water over [Helen’s] hand. [Helen] later wrote:

“‘Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten … and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that “w-a-t-e-r” meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free! … Everything had a name, and each name gave birth to a new thought. As we returned to the house[,] every object … I touched seemed to quiver with life.’”32

As Helen Keller grew to adulthood, she became known for her love of language, her skill as a writer, and her eloquence as a public speaker.

In a movie depicting the life of Helen Keller, her parents are portrayed as satisfied with Anne Sullivan’s work once she has domesticated their wild daughter to the extent that Helen will sit politely at dinner, eat normally, and fold her napkin at the end of the meal. But Anne knew Helen was capable of much, much more and that she had significant contributions to make.33 Even so, we may be quite content with what we have done in our lives and that we simply are what we are, while our Savior comprehends a glorious potential that we perceive only “through a glass, darkly.”34 Each of us can experience the ecstasy of divine potential unfolding within us, much like the joy Helen Keller felt when words came to life, giving light to her soul and setting it free. Each of us can love and serve God and be empowered to bless our fellowman. “As it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”35

Let us consider the cost of God’s precious love. Jesus revealed that to atone for our sins and redeem us from death, both physical and spiritual, His suffering caused Himself, “even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that [He] might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink.”36 His agony in Gethsemane and on the cross was greater than any mortal could bear.37 Nevertheless, because of His love for His Father and for us, He endured, and as a consequence, He can offer us both immortality and eternal life.

It is poignantly symbolic that “blood [came] from every pore”38 as Jesus suffered in Gethsemane, the place of the olive press. To produce olive oil in the Savior’s time, olives were first crushed by rolling a large stone over them. The resulting “mash” was placed in soft, loosely woven baskets, which were piled one upon another. Their weight expressed the first and finest oil. Then added stress was applied by placing a large beam or log on top of the stacked baskets, producing more oil. Finally, to draw out the very last drops, the beam was weighted with stones on one end to create the maximum, crushing pressure.39And yes, the oil is bloodred as it first flows out.

I think of Matthew’s account of the Savior as He entered Gethsemane that fateful night—that He “began to be sorrowful and very heavy. …

“And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”40

Then, as I imagine the distress grew even more severe, He pleaded a second time for relief and, finally, perhaps at the peak of His suffering, a third time. He endured the agony until justice was satisfied to the very last drop.41 This He did to redeem you and me.

What a precious gift is divine love! Filled with that love, Jesus asks, “Will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?”42 Tenderly He reassures, “Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come … will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.”43

Will you not love Him who first loved you?44 Then keep His commandments.45 Will you not be a friend to Him who laid down His life for His friends?46Then keep His commandments.47 Will you not abide in His love and receive all that He graciously offers you? Then keep His commandments.48 I pray that we will feel and fully abide in His love, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Visiting teaching message: October

The Family Is Ordained of God

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Prayerfully study this material and seek for inspiration to know what to share. How will understanding “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” increase your faith in God and bless those you watch over through visiting teaching? For more information, go to reliefsociety.lds.org.

Photograph in front of Buenos Aires Argentina Temple

“In the words of [the Primary song] ‘The Family Is of God,’… we are reminded of pure doctrine,” said Carole M. Stephens, First Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency. “We learn not only that the family is of God but also that we are each part of God’s family. …

“… The Father’s plan for His children is a plan of love. It is a plan to unite His children—His family—with Him.”1

Elder L. Tom Perry (1922–2015) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said: “We also believe that strong traditional families are not only the basic units of a stable society, a stable economy, and a stable culture of values—but that they are also the basic units of eternity and of the kingdom and government of God.

“We believe that the organization and government of heaven will be built around families and extended families.”2

“Everyone, no matter what their marital circumstance or number of children, can be defenders of the Lord’s plan described in the family proclamation,” said Bonnie L. Oscarson, Young Women General President. “If it is the Lord’s plan, it should also be our plan!”3

Additional Scriptures

Doctrine and Covenants 2:1–3; 132:19

Doctrine of the Family

Sister Julie B. Beck, former Relief Society General President, taught that the theology of the family is based on the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement of Jesus Christ:

“The Creation of the earth provided a place where families could live. God created a man and a woman who were the two essential halves of a family. It was part of Heavenly Father’s plan that Adam and Eve be sealed and form an eternal family.

“… The Fall made it possible for them to have sons and daughters.

“[Christ’s] Atonement allows for the family to be sealed together eternally. It allows for families to have eternal growth and perfection. The plan of happiness, also called the plan of salvation, was a plan created for families. …

“… This was Christ’s doctrine. … Without the family, there is no plan; there is no reason for mortal life.”4

Faith, Family, Relief

Consider This

Why is the family the most important unit in time and in eternity?

August 2016 Visiting Teaching Message

                                                                  Nurturing Families Together

                                    

 

Prayerfully study this material and seek to know what to share. How will understanding “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” increase your faith in God and bless those you watch over through visiting teaching? For more information, go to reliefsociety.lds.org.

13288_000_006

A “husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children.”¹ “The home is to be God’s laboratory of love and service,” said President Russell M. Nelson, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

“Our Heavenly Father wants husbands and wives to be faithful to each other and to esteem and treat their children as an heritage from the Lord.”²

In the Book of Mormon, Jacob said that the love that husbands had for their wives, the love that wives had for their husbands, and the love that both had for their children was among the reasons the Lamanites were at one point more righteous than the Nephites (see Jacob 3:7).

One of the best ways to invite love and harmony into our homes is by speaking kindly to our family members. Speaking kindly brings the Holy Ghost. Sister Linda K. Burton, Relief Society general president, asked us to consider: “How often do we intentionally ‘speak kind words to each other’?”³

Additional Scriptures

Romans 12:10; Mosiah 4:15; Doctrine and Covenants 25:5

Living Stories

Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared a childhood experience that impressed upon him the importance of a loving family. When he and his brothers were boys, their mother had radical cancer surgery that made it very painful for her to use her right arm. With a family of boys, there was a lot of ironing, but as his mother ironed, she often stopped and went into the bedroom to cry until the pain subsided.

When Elder Christofferson’s father realized what was happening, he secretly went without lunches for almost a year to save enough money to buy a machine that made ironing easier. Out of his love for his wife, he set an example of nurturing within families for his boys. Of this tender interaction, Elder Christofferson said, “I was not aware of my father’s sacrifice and act of love for my mother at the time, but now that I know, I say to myself, ‘There is a man.’”⁴

Consider This

How does loving and caring for one another invite the Spirit into our homes?