The purpose of Relief Society is to help prepare women for the blessings of eternal life as they increase faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and His Atonement. To strengthen individuals, families, and homes through ordinances and covenants. To work in unity to help those in need.
This blog was created for the Woodland Hills Ward Relief Society sisters. It's purpose is to share information, unite and help each sister grow closer to Jesus Christ. This is not an official site of the LDS Church, and the opinions and statements are not representative of the church as a whole.
Mormon Helping Hands:Saturday, April 26 -8am to noon at Canoga Park High School Farm. Check in at the corner of Vanowen and Jordan. Cleaning, painting, trimming, and weeding. Kids will enjoy seeing the horse, Llama and farm animals! Please bring any rakes, weed diggers, branch cutters, hoes, shovels, brooms, hat, gloves, and sunscreen. Be sure to mark your tools with your name! Light breakfast, BBQ lunch, and water bottles provided. All ages and abilities needed. Parking across the street at the mall next to the former Sizzler’s.
Please join us at the Easter Celebration Saturday, April 12 from 10-12 at the Ward Building. There will be food, activities for the children, easter eggs and a good time by all.
When my youngest daughter, Hannah, who is now 22 and married, was little, she was a bit of a complainer and a whiner. I got so frustrated with her that I devised a little game and when she would complain, I would add something to it and she would add something to that. She would say, "I’m tired" I would add, "I’m tired and my leg hurts" She would say, "I’m tired and my leg hurts and the sun is in my eyes"_I would continue, "I’m tired and my leg hurts and the sun is in my eyes and I’m hungry."_We would go back and forth until we had a list of complaints far too long to be remembered and she would start giggling and that would solve the problem, at least temporarily.
Being a young child, to her, these complaints were very real and very painful. That's the problem with grief and pain. You may feel completely alone in it because no one ever feels it quite the same way. Our pain generally gets all scrambled up with past painful experiences that are uniquely our own and so no one feels the pain in quite the same way as we do. Knowing that can cause the compound pain of feeling misunderstood and alone.
For instance, if someone else is hungry, it’s an annoyance and they go and get something to eat. If I’m hungry, it is mixed with the memory that there was a time that I couldn’t feed my children properly.
I was asked to speak at a funeral for a baby that died, inexplicably, the day she came home from the hospital. This young couple is dealing with what I believe must surely be the worst pain anyone can feel. Much worse than losing a parent, which is at some point anticipated. Worse than losing a sibling. But even in that greatest of sorrows, each of these two parents are feeling it differently. Most people can’t express all the crazy events in their lives that compose their current hurt. And that makes them feel alone.
There is hope. Understanding the atonement of Jesus Christ can allow us to take comfort in the knowledge that there is someone who understands exactly how we are feeling. Exactly. Because through his atonement Jesus Christ has felt every hurt of every single person who has ever or will ever live. And not just the sorrows, but the anger and the betrayal and the hunger and the skinned knees and the broken hearts and the guilt.
When the world will spoon-feed us platitudes and dismissals like, "Just get over it," or, "Time heals all wounds," or, "I know exactly how you feel," we can take consolation in knowing that there is one person who understands and feels our pain the way we feel it.
The atonement is for everyone
Christ atoned for everyone, whether or not they believe or accept or understand.
The atonement is not just for our sins
The atonement covers our pain, whether self-induced or inflicted by others or by circumstance. We are not alone.
The atonement can heal us
By knowing we are not alone, we can turn to our God and our Savior and pour out our hearts to them and receive comfort through the Holy Ghost.
The atonement is infinite
It does not stop or have a limit in its capacity to cover our ongoing pains and heal us with its power.
This beautiful plan allows us to call on the powers of Heaven to overcome any trouble or pain that we may be in. We can discuss it any place, any time, with or without words, and receive comfort in the knowledge that we are heard, understood and loved without limits.
1 1/2 cups cold cooked rice
1 1/2 cups of coconut milk
2 cups of whole or 2% milk
1/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean, insides scraped out (or vanilla extract to taste)
Directions:
Combine all the ingredients together in a saucepan and simmer
medium-low heat for 40 minutes. Allow to cool and serve.
If you feel unclean, unloved, unhappy, unworthy, or unwhole,
remember, "All that is unfair about life can be made right through
the Atonement of Jesus Christ," Have faith and patience in the
Savior's timing and purposes for you. "Be not afraid, only believe."
Elder Timothy J. Dyches
"However late you think you are, however many chances you think
you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made
or talents you think you don't have, or however far you are from
home and family and God you feel you have traveled, I testify
that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love.
It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of
Christ's Atonement shines." Jeffrey R. Holland
"…Thee are times when we will experience heartbreaking sorrow,
when we will grieve and when we may be tested to our limits.
However, such difficulties allow us to change for the better,
to rebuild our lives in the way our Heavenly Father teaches us,
and to become something different from what we were -- better
than what we were, more understanding than what we were, more
empathetic than we were, with stronger testimonies than we
had before." Pres. Thomas S. Monson, Oct 2013
Sister Kim would like to know if anyone receives the Sunday Newspaper and would be able to give her the coupon inserts. She does not get the paper anymore but could really use the coupons. Let me or Sister Kim know if you are able to help.
Sister Vandoros has some old cans of food storage that she will not be using. They are about 20 or 30 years old but if you would like to take your chances with them and see if any are good then please contact Sister Vandoros and she will bring them to you on Sunday.
When it comes to setting goals, this world champion is easily guided.
You could say that Emily Winegar is pretty good at horse reining. She was recently crowned the American Quarter Horse Youth Association World Champion. She was named the National Reining Horse Association’s Youth of the Year in 2008. She’s rigorously training for the junior U.S. team for the World Equestrian Games.
Maybe we should rephrase: Emily Winegar is really good at horse reining.
Horse reining is a western riding competition in which a horse is judged on its athleticism and controllability by performing a series of circles, stops, and spins. The rider must control the horse with extremely limited movement, and Emily has worked hard to become proficient at it. She says that her many accomplishments can be traced back to one important habit: she sets goals for herself and takes the steps necessary to achieve them.
Emily says that she likes the Young Women Personal Progress program because it encourages setting goals, like reading her scriptures every day and getting married in the temple. But Personal Progress has proven fruitful in other ways, too. For her Knowledge value project, Emily started a dog breeding business. Though the project only called for 10 hours of work, Emily didn’t stop there. Two years later, her business continues to thrive, and she’s earned enough money for college.
Emily completed her Personal Progress and is now doing it for the second time. “A lot of Wednesday nights, we do activities related to Personal Progress, and I started thinking, ‘Oh, I’ve done this before.’ A girl in our ward finished the program about the same time I did, and she started doing it again. I thought it was really cool, so I decided to start working on it again, too.”
Setting goals and meeting them successfully requires ambition, practice, and in Emily’s case, a full schedule. On top of practicing for competitions, she’s a good student as well as an active participant in Church activities, and she makes sure to spend plenty of time with her family. “It’s not as hard as a lot of people think it is. Every night I make a to-do list and make sure I get everything done. It happens line upon line, just like the gospel.”
But Emily has even more to think about: she has to be a good example. “Everyone knows that I’m Mormon, and they watch to discover what that means,” Emily says. “I realize I may be a person’s first introduction to the Church, so it’s important that I radiate the gospel in my life. The scripture I keep on my mind most often is Alma 5:19, which says, ‘I say unto you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands? I say unto you, can you look up, having the image of God engraven upon your countenances?’ I hope others can look at me and see the image of God in my countenance. I want them to know I’m a daughter of God.”
“You can’t be perfect overnight,” she says. “You have to take it step by step, even if it means reading five minutes a day in your scriptures. If you try to perfect the things you do, I think it helps you become a better member of the Church.” Spoken like a true champion.
Name:Emily Winegar
Age:15
Location:Aubrey, Texas
Major Accomplishments:Crowned American Quarter Horse Youth Association World Champion in 2009; named the National Reining Horse Association’s Youth of the Year in 2008; Palomino Horse Breeders Association Youth World Champion for the last four years.
To see a short video about Emily, go to youth.lds.org.
Ingredients:
32 oz package precooked frozen meatballs
13.5 oz can of unsweetened pineapple chunks (put juice aside)
1 large green pepper, diced
1 cup brown sugar
2 TBLS cornstarch
2/3 cup white vinegar
2 TBLS soy sauce
Directions:
Place meatballs in crock pot, and top with green pepper and drained pineapple chunks. In a separate bowl, mix reserved pineapple juice, brown sugar, cornstarch, vinegar and soy sauce. Pour over meatballs, pineapple and green peppers. Cook on low for 3-4 hours or until heated through. Serve with rice.
"I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don't set goals in our life and learn to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When one learns to master the principles of setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life."
There is something of divinity within each of you. You have such tremendous potential with that quality as a part of your inherited nature. Every one of you was endowed by your Father in Heaven with a tremendous capacity to do good in the world. Train your minds and your hands that you may be equipped to serve well in the society of which you are a part. Cultivate the art of being kind, of being thoughtful, of being helpful. Refine within you the quality of mercy which comes as a part of the divine attributes you have inherited.
My name is Francis Toliver, I come from Liverpool. Two years ago the war was waiting for me after school. To Belgium and to Flanders, to Germany to here, I fought for King and country I love dear.
'Twas Christmas in the trenches, where the frost so bitter hung. The frozen fields of France were still, no Christmas song was sung. Our families back in England were toasting us that day, Their brave and glorious lads so far away.
I was lying with my messmate on the cold and rocky ground, When across the lines of battle came a most peculiar sound. Says I, "Now listen up, me boys!" each soldier strained to hear, As one young German voice sang out so clear.
"He's singing bloody well, you know!" my partner says to me. Soon, one by one, each German voice joined in harmony. The cannons rested silent, the gas clouds rolled no more, As Christmas brought us respite from the war.
As soon as they were finished and a reverent pause was spent, "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" struck up some lads from Kent. The next they sang was "Stille Nacht," "'Tis 'Silent Night,'" says I, And in two tongues one song filled up that sky.
"There's someone coming towards us!" the front line sentry cried. All sights were fixed on one lone figure trudging from their side. His truce flag, like a Christmas star, shone on that plain so bright, As he bravely strode unarmed into the night.
Then one by one on either side walked into No Man's Land, With neither gun nor bayonet we met there hand to hand. We shared some secret brandy and wished each other well, And in a flare lit soccer game we gave 'em hell.
We traded chocolates, cigarettes, and photographs from home. These sons and fathers far away from families of their own. Young Sanders played his squeezebox and they had a violin, This curious and unlikely band of men.
Soon daylight stole upon us and France was France once more. With sad farewells we each began to settle back to war. But the question haunted every heart that lived that wondrous night: "Whose family have I fixed within my sights?"
'Twas Christmas in the trenches where the frost so bitter hung. The frozen fields of France were warmed as songs of peace were sung. For the walls they'd kept between us to exact the work of war, Had been crumbled and were gone forevermore.
My name is Francis Toliver, in Liverpool I dwell, Each Christmas come since World War I, I've learned its lessons well, That the ones who call the shots won't be among the dead and lame, And on each end of the rifle we're the same.
