Oct25 Weekly announce

Wed Oct 28th Halloween trunk or treat. Bring candy for your car, kids will go from car to car trick-or-treating, with a little fashion/costume show in the gym.

Oct 31st – Nov 1st Stake conference. 31st priesthood 11:30 – 1:30 pm adults 2-4:00 (so everyone will have lots of time for trick or treating afterwards;) Gen session Sun 1st 10-noon.

Nov 5th Enrichment - see http://kw1ward.blogspot.com/2009/10/info-on-rs-night-in-november.html
it will be fun!

Nov 7th Peanut Butter Assignment (still need a few people)

Nov 17th - Book club - A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle

Nov 20th - Ward temple night

Dec 4th - 5th Nativity and Music exhibit

RS Lesson:
Jenny Pendleton taught the lesson this time on
“What Have I Done for Someone Today?”
By President Thomas S. Monson at our last General conference.

From the talk:
Jack McConnell, MD grew up in the hills of southwest Virginia in the United States as one of seven children of a Methodist minister and a stay-at-home mother. Their circumstances were very humble. He recounted that during his childhood, every day as the family sat around the dinner table, his father would ask each one in turn, “And what did you do for someone today?”1 The children were determined to do a good turn every day so they could report to their father that they had helped someone. Dr. McConnell calls this exercise his father’s most valuable legacy, for that expectation and those words inspired him and his siblings to help others throughout their lives.
Besides Dr. McConnell’s distinguished medical career—where he directed the development of the tuberculosis tine test, participated in the early development of the polio vaccine, supervised the development of Tylenol, and was instrumental in developing the magnetic resonance imaging procedure, or MRI—he created an organization he calls Volunteers in Medicine, which gives retired medical personnel a chance to volunteer at free clinics serving the working uninsured. Dr. McConnell said his leisure time since he retired has “evaporated into 60-hour weeks of unpaid work, but [his] energy level has increased and there is a satisfaction in [his] life that wasn’t there before.” He made this statement: “In one of those paradoxes of life, I have benefited more from Volunteers in Medicine than my patients have.”2 There are now over 70 such clinics across the United States.
Of course, we can’t all be Dr. McConnells, establishing medical clinics to help the poor; however, the needs of others are ever present, and each of us can do something to help someone.

Jenny asked us to share some instances where we had been blessed through serving one another.

Pam talked about getting to know her neighbor, that at first they were skeptical of their new neighbors, but after bringing over a plate of cookies and getting to know them, having a BBQ together, she likes them. That is is hard to have bad feelings for someone you serve.

Nicole talked about how serving others helped her get through post-pardom depression. That when she was feeling down, she could give herself a pick-me-up through finding some area of service for someone. She also talked about how her daughters had watched general conference with her, and were excited to serve after hearing president Monson’s talk.

Carrie Chalburg talked about how when she first moved to the ward she was sick, and homesick. How she was feeling down about not knowing anyone, having to start all over in a new place. How people from our ward brought her dinners, and that meant so much to her.

Jenny also talked about how hard it is to move to a new place, how much you miss family and friends you leave behind. That service can help you connect to the new people you find yourself surrounded by.

Karen J. talked about visit teaching, how through that service she had made some really good friends.

Some quotes from President Monson’s talk:
Have I done any good in the world today?Have I helped anyone in need?Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad?If not, I have failed indeed.Has anyone’s burden been lighter todayBecause I was willing to share?Have the sick and the weary been helped on their way?When they needed my help was I there?13

Some scriptures Jenny passed out to read:
Galatians 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

Mosiah 2: 17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.

I believe the Savior is telling us that unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives. Those who live only for themselves eventually shrivel up and figuratively lose their lives, while those who lose themselves in service to others grow and flourish—and in effect save their lives.

Luke 9:24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

President David O. McKay made this statement: “Man’s greatest happiness comes from losing himself for the good of others.”6

Often we live side by side but do not communicate heart to heart. There are those within the sphere of our own influence who, with outstretched hands, cry out, “Is there no balm in Gilead?”7

Balm of Gilead
Jeremiah 8:22 Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?

Jenny read from Ensign » 1995 » November Relief Society:A Balm in Gilead
President Elaine L. Jack Relief Society General President

In Relief Society we hold constant the virtues relating to women, mothers, families, and righteous living. At peace with this God-defined direction, Relief Society sisters can bring this balm of Gilead to troubled times. We have the spiritual resources of faith, hope, and compassion to apply as the balm.
In ancient days the balm of Gilead was an aromatic spice used to heal and soothe. Made from a bush or a tree that grew plentifully around Gilead, it was a popularly traded commodity, always in high demand. The strength of the balm is familiar to us through the words of a hymn:
There is a Balm in Gilead, To make the wounded whole, There is a Balm in Gilead, To heal the sin sick soul. (Recreational Songs, 1949, p. 130)
As a presidency we desire that every sister in the Church recognize the significance of her service and be magnified in her work in the kingdom of God on earth. Sisters, ours is a sacred calling. As we devote ourselves to the purposes of Relief Society, we will see many of the problems reversed that are plaguing our homes and our communities.


Mosiah 18:8. …as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;

Matthew 25: 34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

14. Matthew 11: 28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

15. Matthew 25:21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

We read through the “warm fuzzies” that President Monsons received on his birthday:

Just over a year ago, I was interviewed by the Church News prior to my birthday. At the conclusion of the interview, the reporter asked what I would consider the ideal gift that members worldwide could give to me. I replied, “Find someone who is having a hard time or is ill or lonely, and do something for him or her.”10
I was overwhelmed when this year for my birthday I received hundreds of cards and letters from members of the Church around the world telling me how they had fulfilled that birthday wish. The acts of service ranged from assembling humanitarian kits to doing yard work.
Dozens and dozens of Primaries challenged the children to provide service, and then those acts of service were recorded and sent to me. I must say that the methods for recording them were creative. Many came in the form of pages put together into various shapes and sizes of books. Some contained cards or pictures drawn or colored by the children. One very creative Primary sent a large jar containing hundreds of what they called “warm fuzzies,” each one representing an act of service performed during the year by one of the children in the Primary. I can only imagine the happiness these children experienced as they told of their service and then placed a “warm fuzzy” in the jar.
I share with you just a few of the countless notes contained in the many gifts I received. One small child wrote, “My grandpa had a stroke, and I held his hand.” From an 8-year-old girl: “My sister and I served my mom and family by organizing and cleaning the toy closet. It took us a few hours and we had fun. The best part was that we surprised my mom and made her happy because she didn’t even ask us to do it.” An 11-year-old girl wrote: “There was a family in my ward that did not have a lot of money. They have three little girls. The mom and dad had to go somewhere, so I offered to watch the three girls. The dad was just about to hand me a $5 bill. I said, ‘I can’t take [it].’ My service was that I watched the girls for free.” A Primary child in Mongolia wrote that he had brought in water from the well so his mother would not have to do so. From a 4-year­-old boy, no doubt written by a Primary teacher: “My dad is gone for army training for a few weeks. My special job is to give my mom hugs and kisses.” Wrote a 9-year-old girl: “I picked strawberries for my great-grandma. I felt good inside!” And another: “I played with a lonely kid.”
From an 11-year-old boy: “I went to a lady’s house and asked her questions and sang her a song. It felt good to visit her. She was happy because she never gets visitors.” Reading this particular note reminded me of words penned long ago by Elder Richard L. Evans of the Quorum of the Twelve. Said he: “It is difficult for those who are young to understand the loneliness that comes when life changes from a time of preparation and performance to a time of putting things away. . . . To be so long the center of a home, so much sought after, and then, almost suddenly to be on the sidelines watching the procession pass by—this is living into loneliness. . . . We have to live a long time to learn how empty a room can be that is filled only with furniture. It takes someone . . . beyond mere hired service, beyond institutional care or professional duty, to thaw out the memories of the past and keep them warmly living in the present. . . . We cannot bring them back the morning hours of youth. But we can help them live in the warm glow of a sunset made more beautiful by our thoughtfulness . . . and unfeigned love.”11
My birthday cards and notes came also from teenagers in Young Men and Young Women classes who made blankets for hospitals, served in food pantries, were baptized for the dead, and performed numerous other acts of service.
Relief Societies, where help can always be found, provided service above and beyond that which they would normally have given. Priesthood groups did the same.
My brothers and sisters, my heart has seldom been as touched and grateful as it was when Sister Monson and I literally spent hours reading of these gifts. My heart is full now as I speak of the experience and contemplate the lives which have been blessed as a result, for both the giver and the receiver.

We become so caught up in the busyness of our lives. Were we to step back, however, and take a good look at what we’re doing, we may find that we have immersed ourselves in the “thick of thin things.” In other words, too often we spend most of our time taking care of the things which do not really matter much at all in the grand scheme of things, neglecting those more important causes.

My we not idle away our time in the “thick of thin things”, but rather in the the thick of meaningful things… learn to joyfully serve – not out of obligation, but out of our free will.

Thanks for a great lesson Jenny!