Who is George Albert Smith?

This Sunday our lesson will be taken from the chapter The Life and Ministry of George Albert Smith in our new manual. Because this chapter is so long, we won't be able to cover everything during our lesson. Here are some things you can look for as you read the chapter:

--What is a chronic health problem President Smith dealt with?

--Where did President Smith move to within a month of getting married?

--What happened when President Smith was 33 years old?

--What was President Smith's advice specific to the Relief Society sisters?

Drinking Water Safe Hoses

To follow up with our water barrel class, we would like you to know that we have found drinking water safe hoses for filling up water barrels at Wal-Mart. Different colors and lengths are available. Prices start at around $10 plus tax for a 25 foot hose. (This is the best deal we've found.) You can also purchase fifty foot hoses there. Look in either the sporting goods section or the gardening isle for different options to suit your needs. You will want one or more of these hoses to fill your barrels from your outside spigot. Make sure you have enough length to go from the spigot to the final resting place of your barrel. You can not move the barrel after it's filled! After use, keep your hose in a place where it will be protected from the elements. I keep all of my water barrel "tools" in a plastic box.

Please let me know if you are interested in purchasing water barrels or other smaller containers for water storage. We will be making orders for these in the very near future.

Ward Conference

On Sunday, January 29th, we will have our Ward Conference. We have one a year. This is held under the direction of the Stake President who takes his direction from the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve.
This kind of organized oversight is such a "mark" of a true church.
If we are students of the New Testament or Book of Mormon, we know that the Lord immediately organized His Church upon its establishment.
When the Priesthood/Gospel was restored, the prophet Joseph Smith was commanded to organize the "Stakes of Zion". As the church grew and everyone could not attend a General Conference that was held quarterly, the Lord gave Joseph direction on how to divide and subdivide (think of Moses and the Children of Israel) so that everyone could be part of a conference.
This Sunday, all of the Dallas 4th Ward leadership will meet with their Stake counterparts. We will be asked about the state of our organization - are we using the manuals; do we have organized visiting teaching; are we reporting our findings to the Bishop; and do we follow the direction given to us in our Handbook. These questions are asked in a spirit of love as the purpose of the Stake is to benefit the ward and keep the "integrity" of the Lord's true church intact and uniform throughout the world!
This week, the Stake Relief Society President, Deborah Eccles, will be in our meeting and give us a lesson. She will give us encouragement and suggestions. And we will be further realizing the blessings of belonging to the MOST ORGANIZED true church!

Counsel to Youth

Sisters!

This Sunday is our Teachings For Our Times Lesson. It's THIS conference talk by Boyd K. Packer and it is beautiful and simple. Read it before class!

Here are a few of my favorite snippets from this talk:

• The Prophet Joseph Smith taught, "All beings who have bodies have power over those who have not." So every living soul who has a physical body ultimately has power over the adversary. You suffer temptations because of your physical nature, but you also have power over him and his angels.
• Perhaps the single greatest thing I learned from reading the Book of Mormon is that the voice of the Spirit comes as a feeling rather than a sound. You will learn, as I have learned, to listen for that voice that is felt rather than heard.

More to look forward to in class!

From Stephanie

WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE - WHAT IS SAFE TO DRINK?

Last night we enjoyed a great presentation on Water - that most valuable of all storage items. We need it to drink, to reconstitute our freeze dried storage items, to flush our toliets and to clean our bodies. Yet it is also the most bulky and tricky to store, Kim Adair our instructor tackled that subject in a simple straightforward discussion, that offered many solutions and suggestions for all budgets and space limitations.

The bottom line is that we just need to start DOING SOMETHING. We can begin by buying extra bottled drinking water, and rotating it as needed. We can fill liter bottles with tap water, which could be used to flush toliets in an emergency. Never store water in plastic milk containers, as they will eventually leak, heavier juice or liter pop bottles are a much better choice.

We discussed 55 gallon water drums, 15 gallon water drums, and 5 gallon water containers. The smaller water containers would be portable and a needed addition to your 72 hour kits. As a Relief Society we are going to highlight water storage the first three months of the year. Kim, our R.S Preparedness Specialist is going to be making available an opportunity to buy Water Barrels and various syphons and barrel openers to help get us going.

I think most Sisters understand the need to store some water. Please think about what your budget will allow, what your space limitations are, and how best to protect your family. This targetted 3 months we will help you find the resources that are available.

Those who attended last evening got to taste goodies made from the storage item "Sour Cream Powder", which was made into Cranberry and Blueberry Scones. Kim also gave door prizes of Canned Cooking Heat to the 14 people who attended - we even had three husbands there. Theo Powell made a video of the presentation, and said he would make a dvd, so that anyone who might be interested could borrow it to view, just talk with Theo.

It is a New Year - let's get our water storage going in every home. The question is asked How Do You Eat an Elephant? The answer is, one little piece at a time! That applies to water storage, one little bit at a time - START TODAY!

OUR Hands

A big thank you to all the women who signed up for Visiting Teaching Interviews and made them happen! (We only had one no-show and we are "stalking" her!) We hope for the same result next Sunday.
In these interviews, we are coming to appreciate the compassion and desire to serve in your natures and conversations. This 2012 year, we are going to emphasize "OUR HANDS". We are going to have a specific sister called to oversee SERVICE and all humanitarian needs that come to our attention. We have had so much success with the crocheted baby hats for Parkland (over 1000), food for impoverished schools, and other requests made for help that we want to have an ongoing program as we adopt certain projects that will benefit others in our neighborhood and community.
I do not believe it is happenstance that we are studying the life of the prophet George Albert Smith this year. He was the leader in charge of getting massive amounts of relief to the people of Europe and Asia after World War II. He was a prophet who looked "outside" the church and wanted to make a difference to all of Heavenly Father's children.
Our Dallas 4th Relief Society can make such a difference too - with OUR hands and hearts open to the needs around us.
The Bishop has asked that we make this a focus and we are so on board with this assignment.
Others can do it, but the blessings and joy comes when it is OUR HANDS that are involved.
Get ready! We are all going to be a part of a year of ABUNDANT Blessings!

All About Water Barrels!

We hope you can come to our class THIS Tuesday, at 7:00 p.m., at Kim Adair's house. We've had a great deal of interest in water barrels, and this class will cover everything you can imagine on the subject of cleaning, filling, storing and rotating water in barrels (55 gallon drums). We'll have an empty barrel in the house to show you how it's all done. Also, we'll discuss the tools you need to accopmlish water storage in barrels.

We've delayed our water barrel order until after the class, to give you the opportunity to learn about them beforehand. Please come, even if you don't plan to own barrels for a while. You will be glad you know this information--you will need it in the future. Bring your questions with you and we'll have lots of fun, as we always do!

Love Thy Neighbor

This Sunday the Relief Society lesson will be on the second chapter of the George Albert Smith manual. Please read this chapter to study how we can follow President Smith's example of loving our neighbors.

Visiting Teaching Interviews

We are so grateful for the amazing women of the Dallas 4th Ward Relief Society and the integrity of your visiting teaching efforts. We cannot wait to let you know how much you help us with all you do. On the Sundays of January 15 and 22 (4:30-6:00PM; 15-minute interviews; delicious refreshments available; Relief Society Room), we want to meet with you individually to get the most clear picture possible of the sisters in our ward and how to better serve them. (If you have not signed up for a time to come, you can contact Sister Laurie Johnson or sign up this Sunday.) Listed below are the questions we would like to ask each of you. Thank you for your support!

1. How do you feel about your visiting teaching companionship?
--Are you both able to go?
--How often are you able to give the Visiting Teaching message from the Ensign?
--Is there anything that hinders your ability to get into the homes of the women you teach?

2. Do you have an experience where serving as a visiting teacher has positively impacted your life/testimony?
--What is one talent you have that you could share with them?

3. What is something you have learned about the women you visit teach?

4. Is there anything we need to know about the sisters you visit that could help us serve them as well?

5. What is your most current contact information?
--Home phone
--Cell phone
--email address

Choose to RESOLVE - to read the BOOK of MORMON

Barbara Doerk, our Primary President, has responded to our "Choose to Resolve" post by telling us that the Primary will be reading the Book of Mormon this year. There is a wonderful reading chart in the January 2012 FRIEND. It breaks down the Book of Mormon into 52 weeks of important "golden nuggets" of truth. (Let us know if you would like a copy of it.)
So I have decided that I am going to take the challenge given to our Primary and read along with them. Maybe this is something we can all do together? It would be a wonderful support for them. It will build faith and unity in us. They are our future Priesthood and Relief Society!
This is one resolve that was easy to CHOOSE!

LOOK AT THE WORLD WITH NEW EYES IN THE NEW YEAR!

I hope everyone enjoyed the Christmas season 2011, and the start of a New Year. I had the opportunity to see everyone in my immediate family, about 47 in all at a family wedding. Everyone is so unique and adds to the whole in special ways. I love to watch my children parent their children, I enjoy how my children treat and revere my parents. I love when we all gathered for family prayer - a little quiet island in a sea of holiday and wedding preparations.

I enjoy my teenage grandkids and their bright hope and promise - and wonder if I was that strong and confident at their age. I smile when I see my little toddler grandkids using IPads with amazing skill, and giving unconditional love to everyone who smiles at them.

I got to spend several days with my youngest grandson, who is 2 and a half, and see the world through his eyes. We walked to the playground several days, so that he could run off his abundant energy, and what a learning experience that was. He saw feathers floating in the breeze, he saw a rock that was shaped like a rhinoceros, then he had to stop and watch an ambulance racing down the street with all its bells and whistles, surmising all the while, who might be inside and where it could be going. He found a dime and a penny lying by a mailbox, and then made two wishes, and put them in his pocket. When we arrived at the playground he made a dirt cake, and topped it with used green silly string he found on the ground for frosting. Then he spotted an old straw and stuck it in for a candle, so that it became a birthday cake. Then I joined him, in a fabulous rendition of Happy Birthday.

As a New Year stretches before me, I'm resolving to see the details of my world closer. To take more joy in the floating feathers, and when I find a penny on the ground, pick it up and make a wish. I want to marvel at the strength and talents of the people who are in my life, especially the sisters in the Dallas 4th Ward Relief Society. I want to love without reserve, and serve God without restraint - come what may!

.

USED BOOKS Needed!

Fronda Wiseman and Alison Thorsen are collecting USED BOOKS till January 20th. Bring your books to Relief Society or contact them personally to collect the books being donated. In February, they will sell the books to benefit RISD College Scholarships.
I know we all have stacks of books we can bring to support this worthy service project. No one gives like Dallas 4th!

Our Building - Our Tithe

Back "in the old days", the church building was each branch/ward's responsibility. I remember when we wanted a new building in El Centro California and our Bishop told us that he submitted our request for a "real" ward building. Church Headquarters gave us permission to build but we had to raise 50% of the cost and they would do the rest. It took us two years of fund raisers and constant pleading from our Bishop to get the monies needed to build. We helped with the building and then continued to help clean the building and keep up the grounds.
In the 1990's, tithing funds were such that the "Church" took care of all building needs and maintenance. Our building had its own janitor and then it moved to a cleaning crew that would come in during the week and clean.
Now, we are back to the "good old days" where Church Headquarters (because of global expansion and use of our tithing) is asking us to take care and have full responsibility for the cleaning of our building. To me, it is part of my tithe to the Lord.
Because tithing funds were used to build this building, we all are "part owners" of it. It is only reasonable that we would clean and take care of what is ours. No more "maid service"!
For the next four months, our ward is responsible for the cleaning of the building. We will rotate the assignments by direction of the Bishop. It is a blessing to have this building and it is a blessing to take care of it - especially if we have asked for any help from the ward/Bishop!
Let's make time to help clean the building on the upcoming Saturdays as requested by the Lord, Church Headquarters, our Stake President, and the Bishop!

George Albert Smith's Testimony

“I have been bouyed up and, as it were, lifted out of myself and given power not my own to teach the glorious truths proclaimed by the Redeemer of the world. I have not seen Him face to face but have enjoyed the companionship of His Spirit and felt His presence in a way not to be mistaken. I know that my Redeemer lives and gladly yield my humble efforts to establish his teachings. The philosophies of men can never take the place of truth as revealed to us by the Eternal Father. Individual happiness and world-wide peace will not be permanent until those who dwell in the earth accept the Gospel and conform their lives to its precepts. It is (see Romans 1:16)and obey. It is the kind advice of a loving Father who, seeing the end from the beginning, says: This is the path; walk ye in it, and eternal life and eternal progress and eternal happiness shall be your reward. Every fibre of my being vibrates with the knowledge that He lives and some day all men will know it.

“The Savior died that we might live. He overcame death and the grave and holds out to all who obey His teachings the hope of the glorious resurrection.” (Testimonies, p. 53.)

George Albert Smith

(For the source, click HERE.)