Goodbye and Hello

On Sunday, our wonderful Yuko was released as the Second Counselor to the Relief Society. We will all miss her insight and her strong spirit. She has done so much for us as a Relief Society and is always happy to help with whatever is needed. Yuko, we love you and will miss you. Good luck in New England!
We also got a new Counselor on Sunday and we are so happy to have Sister Renee Oatman as our new Second Counselor. We are so excited to have her and are grateful for her willingness to serve.

Hidden Treasures

Sometimes when you are cleaning out your drawers, you come across something you've kept for a long time, but forgotten about. I have been packing up my things to move to a different house and I had one of these experiences. I found a handout I got from church. I don't remember which ward (there have been more than a few) and I don't know how long it had been hiding there, carried around from duty station to duty station, but when I read it, I knew why I had kept it. I want to share it with all of you. It is a lesson to me about what is important.

Essential- To Receive the Blessings of Eternity
Personal Revelation
Prayer
Daily Scripture Study
Time to Ponder and Fast
Make and Keep Covenants
Love One Another

Necessary- To Become Self-Reliant and of Service
Marriage and Family Relations
Homemaking Skills
Provident Living-Self Reliance
(Spiritual, Physical, Emotional, Social)
Compassionate Service
Temple and Family History
Church Service

Nice to Do- To add Variety to Life, but these won't save us
Crafts and Hobbies
Recreational Reading
Outings with Friends
Movies
Travel
Blogging and Recreational Computer Use

Hope it helped you as it did me to remember the things that really matter in life.
Jaime

Reminder

The Relief Society Presidency is collecting good condition church clothes of any size. If anyone has any gently used church clothes that they would like to donate, please contact someone in the Relief Society Presidency or bring them to church on Sunday. Thanks so much for your support.

Happy Fourth of July!

The Declaration of Independence



"The Declaration of Independence . . . is much more than a political document. It constitutes a spiritual manifesto—revelation, if you will—declaring not for this nation only, but for all nations, the source of man's rights. Nephi, a Book of Mormon prophet, foresaw over 2,300 years ago that this event would transpire. The colonies he saw would break with Great Britain and that 'the power of the Lord was with [the colonists],' that they 'were delivered by the power of God out of the hands of all other nations' (1 Nephi 13:16, 19).

"The Declaration of Independence was to set forth the moral justification of a rebellion against a long-recognized political tradition—the divine right of kings. At issue was the fundamental question of whether men's rights were God-given or whether these rights were to be dispensed by governments to their subjects. This document proclaimed that all men have certain inalienable rights. In other words, these rights came from God."

Ezra Taft Benson, "Our Priceless Heritage," Ensign, Nov. 1976, 33

The Message of the Restoration

Peter, James. and John conferring the priesthood on Joseph Smith

In keeping with the long-established pattern of the Lord, several key events had to occur for His Church to be restored:

The first occurred in 1820, when, through the First Vision, the heavens were opened and Joseph Smith learned the true nature of God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, and received instruction from Them.

Second was the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, providing a second witness of the divinity of Jesus Christ and confirming that Joseph Smith was a prophet.

Finally, the restoration of the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthood provided the authority to administer the ordinances necessary for salvation.

“We declare to the world that the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth.”

—Elder L. Tom Perry

June Activity

Don't forget sisters, tonight is the RS activity for June. It starts at 6:30. We will spend the time learning about different cultures. Please come and join us.

Typo

On the June newsletter, it lists the RS weekly activity as an Evening of the Arts to be held on the 28th at 6:30. This is actually the wrong activity and date. The weekly activity will actually be held on the 21st of June at 6:30 and will be a Cultural Night. Sorry about the confusion, I was relying on an old activities calendar.
Thanks,
Jaime