Lesson Recap and Video link

Daughters of God: Listening to the RIGHT Voice Inside of Us

Given by Devon Linn

Sunday, May 12 (Mother's Day)

So this topic today seems to be something the Lord wants us, as sisters in our ward, to discuss, and it has come from multiple promptings. First, I asked the Bishop a couple of months ago if there was anything new he wanted us to focus on for the year, and he told me that he felt really strongly that the sisters in our ward need to remember to try to see themselves the way that the Lord sees them. I mulled that over for awhile and we have planned a few lessons and activities around that general theme. But then I prayed for promptings of what we needed to hear during General Conference last month and I suddenly felt really strongly during President Uchtdorf's talk during the Priesthood Session that what he was saying was really really important for all of us to think about. As I went back to re-read what the Bishop had directed me on, I was amazed how exactly they aligned.  

I am going to read the portion of President Uchtdorf's talk that the Spirit struck as me being the most important thing for us all to hear (but since it was given during the Priesthood session, I am taking the liberty of changing all of the "sons and brothers" to "daughters and sisters" since the message is universal):

One title that defines all of us in the most fundamental way is [daughter] of Heavenly Father. No matter what else we are or do in life, we must never forget that we are God’s literal spirit children. We were His children before we came to this world, and we will be His children forevermore. This basic truth should change the way we look at ourselves, our brothers and sisters, and life itself.

Unfortunately, none of us quite lives up to everything that this title implies, “for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

It can be discouraging at times to know what it means to be a [daughter] of God and yet come up short. The adversary likes to take advantage of these feelings. Satan would rather that you define yourself by your sins instead of your divine potential.  [sisters], don’t listen to him.

We have all seen a toddler learn to walk. He takes a small step and totters. He falls. Do we scold such an attempt? Of course not. What father would punish a toddler for stumbling? We encourage, we applaud, and we praise because with every small step, the child is becoming more like his parents.

Now, [sisters], compared to the perfection of God, we mortals are scarcely more than awkward, faltering toddlers. But our loving Heavenly Father wants us to become more like Him, and, dear [sisters], that should be our eternal goal too. God understands that we get there not in an instant but by taking one step at a time.

I do not believe in a God who would set up rules and commandments only to wait for us to fail so He could punish us. I believe in a Heavenly Father who is loving and caring and who rejoices in our every effort to stand tall and walk toward Him. Even when we stumble, He urges us not to be discouraged—never to give up or flee our allotted field of service—but to take courage, find our faith, and keep trying.

2013 April General Conference, Four Titles, Priesthood Session - By  Dieter F. Uchtdorf

So we are HIS DAUGHTERS. We should know what that means, but we often forget to think of ourselves first and foremost as "daughters of God." I think this can be best shown with the example of how we, as women, think and talk about ourselves. One example is how women can become such complete pros at giving disclaimers or excuses over all sorts of things..."this gift isn't perfect...I look awful cause I'm not wearing any mascara...my house isn't clean (when it sure looks it)....I'm the world's worst Visiting Teacher..." even my personal favorite "I shouldn't be allowed to teach this lesson -- I should be sitting there listening to someone else teach it, cause I'm not perfect at this topic yet..." (which obviously doesn't apply to this lesson, since I can't say that NOW that we're talking about it.)

President Uchtdorf gave a perfect example of this habit of women in his talk "Happiness, Your Heritage" (from the Relief Society Broadcast in Sep. 2008).  He explained the differences between how his wife feels when she cooks a perfectly prepared, delicious, beautifully presented meal and yet always has some disclaimer about needing a bit more ginger, or using just one bay leaf next time. President Uchtdorf, on the other hand, feels proud of his cooking when he burns toast or cooks fried eggs extra runny.

Even if you think, "oh, I don't do that" you occasionally do it without even realizing it, whether it's about your house, your clothes, a gift you give, your strengths and weaknesses, or even your thoughts or behavior. But it's not the disclaimers themselves that's the problem -- the root problem is HOW we are seeing and thinking of ourselves and where those voices and thoughts are coming from. 

I think it's important we understand the "why" and look inside our hearts and honestly ask ourselves some questions:

Why do we do this? What makes us feel that we need to focus on the negatives about ourselves?

Answers from class:

• Feeling insecure in ourselves and our strengths
• Fear of Being Judged (and partly, by judging others)
• Feeling less than others because of comparing ourselves unfairly
• Fear of being thought to be imperfect (or feeling guilty that we AREN'T perfect)
• Fear that we aren't as good or loved as others
• We are focused on OUR imperfections, yet only see other's presentable best
• Feelings of our unworthiness, and disappointing the Lord
• Feeling that we have to do everything ourselves, and fear of falling short.

ALL OF THESE COME FROM LISTENING TO THE WRONG VOICE! It is Satan who is making us think and feel these ways, as not good enough, not righteous enough, not worthy enough, not pretty enough, not friendly enough, not enough, enough, ENOUGH!

So we need to ask ourselves another question:

How can we stop listening to Satan's Lies and instead listen to the Savior?

• Spend our time and energy doing the things that help us feel the Spirit on a consistent basis. He is the real "JUDGE" to help us listen to the right voice.  This includes all of the "Sunday School answers" like pray, scripture study, and church attendance.

• Pray for DISCERNMENT specifically and often - that we can see ourselves the way the Lord does. Pray for EACH OTHER -- especially your fellow sisters in the gospel  Pray that they see themselves more positively.

• Remind each other! When we hear each other saying negative things about themselves, maybe say..."Oh, none of that. Give yourself a pat on the back this time, you are amazing!"

• Take the time each week during the sacrament to pay attention to the right voice to guide you in your focus to overcome weaknesses. What a perfect time and place to renew that covenant with the Lord and aligning to His plans for you!

• EVALUATE OUR PROMPTINGS CAREFULLY (Guilt vs. Shame)  If we're doing something that goes against the Lord's commandments for us then the Spirit can tell us to change -- but the Spirit is never going to make us feel bad about ourselves for things that aren't spiritually important for ourselves or others. President Coe talked about this at the Adult Session of stake conference last week when he talked about Guilt versus Shame.  He taught that we need to evaluate what things in our life give us a sense of guilt -- what things make us feel the euphoria of confidence in the Lord -- and what things make us feel shameful and alone. He taught that the Lord, even when He shows us our faults, always uses a spirit of Hope. We need to focus on listening to the promptings to change that bring us the Lord's confidence and to avoid the voices that pull us into shame and isolation.

Start Today: Listen to the RIGHT Voice! 

True joy, the elusive thing we are all searching for, comes only through a firsthand, personal, intimate daily relationship with Jesus Christ–this is our goal. Don't let Satan's lies keep you from Him.

Quote: Don’t let fear of failure discourage you. Don’t let the voice of critics paralyze you—whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside. -Dieter F. Uchtdorf

  

You are each amazing women, and I hope that the point of this lesson resonates with our gospel knowledge that we are divine daughters of God.  We are great as we are... with make-up, without make-up, with enough money, without enough money, with a dirty kitchen or a burnt dinner or a gift someone doesn't want....the Lord sees us as amazing and "good enough" because we are HIS, and He made us!  I know that someday we are going to be blown away when we realize what He sees as really important, because I have seen that in you. The service you all give so readily, the comfort to those in need, the ministering to your visiting teaching sisters....YOU ARE AMAZING!!!!!!!  Please start recognizing that in your lives.  Please give yourself the same benefit of the doubt that the Lord expects us to give each other.  And you will find, in humility with the Spirit this truth-- you are the Lord's creation that you are often throwing darts at.  You are HIS, and the great things you do are gifts from him.  Don't throw mud on His masterpiece.

And if you need help reminding yourself what the RIGHT voice sounds like, it will sound something like this:

You are a DAUGHTER of God.  You are his child!  He loves you unconditionally. He knows your individual potential and progress. He does not rank you or compare you with anyone else. He KNOWS you're not perfect, yet he is proud of your righteous desires!

And above all remind yourself that no mistake, no weakness, no past behavior or trial is outside of the healing and redemptive power of the Atonement. His grace is sufficient to make you whole.  And we need to bear testimony to that truth by how we treat and think about ourselves everyday.

Here is the video we didn't get time to watch, because we were too busy eating cheesecake. Enjoy watching, and remember that each of us are individuals and that we are HIS daughters!

Mormon Messages: Daughter of God Video (2 minutes)

Upcoming Quarterly Relief Society Activity

When Life Hands You Lemons...

Tuesday, May 7

7:00 pm

Dessert will be provided

Dress Comfortably if you'd like 

to participate in the yoga instruction

Hope to see you there!

The Best Is Yet to Be

I plead with you not to dwell on days now gone nor to yearn vainly for yesterdays, however good those yesterdays may have been.

The past is to be learned from but not lived in.

We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes.

And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead and remember that faith is always pointed toward the future.

~ Jeffrey R. Holland, The Best Is Yet to Be, Ensign, Jan. 2010, 22–27

e

Church News addition to monthly Visiting Teaching message

Each month, the Church News publishes a message to complement the Visiting Teaching message found in the Ensign magazine. This article is based on the July 2010 theme, "Strengthening at every opportunity."

 
This is Sister Julie Maree Beugre Powa from Africa's Ivory Coast.  Sister Powa served as first counselor in the Cocody Ivory Coast Stake Relief Society presidency during the Ivorian civil war in 2002 and is now the stake Young Women president.  She tells of the struggles that the sisters and the families faced during their civil war, and how the gospel helped to strengthen them.

In the Church News article, Sister Powa emphasized how the members relied on visiting teaching and food storage to help them with the difficulties they faced in the Ivory Coast.  In addition to their hard work and provident living needs, here is an excerpt about how the members spiritually handled their struggles.

"We taught them that they should keep their faith; most of them did keep their faith," she said. "You have to rely on God. If you don't have hope, your life is gone. You have to keep praying that the war will stop; you shouldn't give up."

Eventually, the war did end, but members still face difficulties every day. What amazes Sister Powa about her ward and stake are the people who walk miles and hours to and from church, who have tough challenges in life and who sell goods on the street to feed their families when no other jobs are available. These people come to church with smiles on their faces, excited to be part of the gospel, she said.
 
It's a great article, and if you'd like to read the rest of it, you can find it here.  It's so faith inspiring to read how members all over the world use their faith to assist them in their trials, and it makes me want to be better too!  Plus, this gave me a lot more to think about when reading this upcoming month's visiting teaching message.  Strengthening families and homes really can be life and death in different times and areas around the world, and it makes me really think if I could do the same when hard times come to me.  I hope you get a chance to read and enjoy this inspiring article!
 
Devon

Video: Good Things to Come

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland recalls his days as a poor young father with a broken-down family car and testifies that for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, there are better days and good things to come. Read the entire talk here: http://bit.ly/9lZUYI

Providing Stability and Hope

The last two things that followers need from their leaders is stability and hope. [Read part 1 and part 2 first.]

Stability

Providing a solid foundation, being someone others can count on in a time of need, provides followers with security, strength, support and peace. Let your core values be stable, to buffer for times of change.

Hooray for righteous fathers and husbands who give stability to our homes, good teachers who give our children constant support and encouragement, and great women like you who do what is right consistently in your lives.

Nothing creates stability like transparency or being open about where we are going and how we are doing. This applies in all types of organizations. Families who know a little of the family budget can help support financial decisions, vacation choices, and purchases large and small. Couples who talk openly and often about goals near and far, and even hopes and dreams will strengthen their marriage. Wards who pull together to support and help one another create a stabilizing unity.

Studying the scriptures daily, praying and holding family home evening and counsels give stability to our lives and our families. These small simple practices add up of the years and make us strong for times of adversity.

Sharing our lives with each other as sisters will strengthen and stabilize each of us. And we know that happens in Relief Society meetings, and visiting teaching and in service to one another.

Sister Beck as the leader of our Relief Society just reiterated:

This society has at its very core the responsibility to help sisters increase faith and personal righteousness, strengthen families and homes, and seek out and help others who are in need. Through Relief Society, sisters can receive answers to their questions and be blessed by the combined spiritual power of all the sisters. Relief Society validates the true and eternal nature of daughters of God. It is a sacred trust, a guiding light, and a system of watchcare that teaches and inspires women to be strong and immovable. Its motto, “Charity never faileth,” is embodied in all good women. April Conference link

And never failing is about as stable as you can get!

Hope

We want stability in the moment and hope in the future. Direction, faith and guidance too.

We find that in the doctrines of the gospel, in the words of our prophets, and in our experiences with the Spirit.

We can provide that for those who follow us, especially our families. In this world of chaos and complexity we need to share our testimonies with family and others as we have just been counseled to do. We need to initiate good things in our lives and families and not just react to immediate needs.

President Uchtdorf’s talks always speak of hope and something else closely related...

May we ever remember the lesson of Kirtland and hold on a little longer—even when things look bleak. Know and remember this: the Lord loves you. He remembers you. And He will ever sustain those who “endure in faith to the end”. January 2010

and this...

Love is what inspired our Heavenly Father to create our spirits; it is what led our Savior to the Garden of Gethsemane to make Himself a ransom for our sins. Love is the grand motive of the plan of salvation; it is the source of happiness, the ever-renewing spring of healing, the precious fountain of hope.

As we extend our hands and hearts toward others in Christlike love, something wonderful happens to us. Our own spirits become healed, more refined, and stronger. We become happier, more peaceful, and more receptive to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit. April 2010

and once again...

Love is the healing balm that repairs rifts in personal and family relationships. It is the bond that unites families, communities, and nations. Love is the power that initiates friendship, tolerance, civility, and respect. It is the source that overcomes divisiveness and hate. Love is the fire that warms our lives with unparalleled joy and divine hope. Love should be our walk and our talk. October 2009

Hope is directly tied to love, the Lord’s for us, as our ultimate leader, and ours for those who follow us. And that brings us back to the first attribute in what followers want, compassion. It is the most direct way we can be like our Savior.

Sisters, think about your leadership qualities, about those who follow you either in the home, extended family, at school or in the workplace.

Strive to the kind that builds the trust, compassion, stability and hope in others lives.

e

Photo credit

Trying to Be More Positive

I read a number of women’s business blogs and nothing can hold a candle to the truths of the gospel. Still, every once in a while I stumble on some inspirational ideas that shed light on a truth.

This author talks about how being more positive attracts more positive people around you, in an article titled We Attract Who We Are.

Give thought to what you value most in yourself or others. Keep a running list in your journal. Here’s the essence of how I see it.

Positive persons are:

• Committed to developing compassion towards themselves and others, and having an open heart
• Courageous about following their dreams
• Those who seek to be authentic and believe in themselves, even when externals are crumbling
• Aware of their darkside and trying to heal it
• Willing to learn from mistakes

Positive persons aren’t:

• Perfect, phony or positive all the time
• Beating themselves to a pulp over shortcomings or a black hole of pessimism
• Constantly mired in fear or tolerant of letting their hearts harden
• Squeaky clean do-gooders who neglect their own well-being.
• Saccharine pleasers who ignore their darkside and unconsciously act it out at the expense of others.

Never forget: we’re talking about real human beings with pluses and minuses. What sets positive people apart, though, is a determination to do their best and not succumb to what’s negative in themselves or externals.

Thanks all for doing your best, following your dreams, and having open hearts. I love being around you!

Ellen

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I resolve to...

 ...what? 

Part 1 - Tell us what your plans for improvement are this year.

For some practicing more faith is a top priority in 2010. Which one attribute of the Savior would I like to emulate the most, that would have the greatest positive impact in my life?

For some it is a hot topic for much reflection.

Should you set a goal or a resolution? Which is better?

Does it really matter that you keep your resolutions? Turns out it does.

Be specific, write it down, review it often. These along with 9 other tips can help you stick to your resolutions.

Mine tend to remain the same from year to year...more sincere prayers uttered more often, to be more authentic, to practice more faith, hope, and charity.

Feel free to share a couple of yours in the comments below or e-mail me with a longer write-up.

Part 2 - “I resolve to write more”

I challenge you to resolve to do more writing in the new year. You are invited to write as a guest blogger for our blog!

This year I'm trying something different for our guest bloggers...assigned topics for each month. Choose from this month's topics:

- What are your 2010 New Year's resolutions? [telling us may help you keep them!]

- What are you proud of for 2009? Tell about your successes at meeting a goal or keeping a resolution.

- Tell about a New Year's resolution you didn't keep and why. We could all be instructed.

This could be a good way to record some stories for your personal history, so set a goal to meet my challenge.

Funny, serious, lighthearted or spiritual...I'll take them all. Also, if you have a photo or a photo essay to accompany your posting, please send that too.

Happy writing! and Happy Resolution Making!

Ellen
egkmail [at] verizon [dot] net

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Scriptural Insights: Optimism

Guest blogger: Miranda Searle

Because the times are tough for many with the economy and high prices, a scripture story that I have read many times, really stood out to me.

I was reading the Book of Mormon in first Nephi chapter three, where Nephi and his brothers have just been told by their father, Lehi, to "go unto the house of Laban, and seek the records, and bring them down hither into the wilderness."

In vs. 5-7, Lehi says "thy brothers murmur, saying, it is a hard thing which I have required of them; but behold I have not required it of them, but it is a commandment of the Lord." Then he commends Nephi, "thou shalt be favored of the Lord, because thou hast not murmured."

Now Nephi shows his amazing example of faithfulness. He says, “I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded.” In contrast, in the following verses, the brothers continue to murmur.

I have heard this story many times, but this lesson really stood out to me: In these times when life is difficult and it seems like we are surrounded with things to murmur about we should strive to be more like Nephi.

I have always strived to be a positive person and find the best in all situations. I do not consider myself a complainer or a pessimistic person, but as I read this story I had a new desire to always be like Nephi and not murmur, for I want to be "favored of the Lord.”

Let's all be like Nephi and not murmur about our trials, but go forward with faith.

The scriptures are true and we are so blessed to know that. I testify of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and I hold them close to my heart.