Doralia Serrano

Today is leap year and that means that our very own, Doralia Serrano, is at least 8 years old! We are happy to introduce you all to her. Doralia is from Mexico City and is an accountant with Wasatch Mental Health - that means she is super smart and likes numbers and spreadsheets. 

From her sister Soraya: "What I love about Doralia is how much she cares about her family. She always wants us to text her as soon as we arrive home or anywhere, so she knows we got there safe. Also, she always tries to make sure that others know (or in this case, her favorite sister know, that will be me..haha!) how special I am. Something interesting about Doralia is that she likes to run, however, she runs so slowly that I can walk next to her while she's running. Another interesting thing about her is that she is learning to play jazz music on the piano because our niece, a girl with special needs, loves that type of music, and Doralia wants to become the favorite aunt of them all."

Doralia is the second oldest of 5 kids. She is currently serving as the secretary in our Relief Society presidency. Her last calling was as the home evening co-chair. Doralia is not only smart, but wise. She is also extremely funny. She is very practical to the point that she doesn't like to take time to cook her vegetables - she eats them raw most of the time. You can often find Doralia at the Provo rec center - she goes regularly and especially likes the yoga classes. She is easy to talk to and so fun to be around. If you don't know Doralia, please take some time to get to know her. And if you have time today, wish her Happy Birthday cause this day doesn't come around every year!

"Hearts Knit Together in Unity and Love"

"And the church did meet together oft, to fast and to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls" (Moroni 6:5).  One of my favorite meetings is Relief Society--a chance to meet with other sisters and to either lift them or to be lifted by them.  I sometimes just want to cry when a sister comments in Relief Society and I think "Somebody knows how I feel!" or when their testimony or insight is an answer to my soul's search. 


So what do emails and Google docs have to do with any of this?  We send these for a few reasons:


1.  We would like sisters to be able to pose questions about upcoming lesson topics that they might need help answering (either during the lesson or by others who can respond in the Google doc).
2.  Some sisters aren't able to attend Relief Society.  This gives them a chance to review lesson notes and feel uplifted by the teaching and discussion.
3.  Not everyone gets a chance to share everything they want to during Relief Society.  This gives anyone and everyone the opportunity to share thoughts maybe they didn't have time to before.
4.  Some are not comfortable speaking up but may be able to express thoughts in writing.
5.  It's another tool that can be used strengthen and lift one another--an ongoing online discussion about gospel topics. 


That said, what feedback do you have?  Is it working for you?  What suggestions do you have that might make this tool more dynamic in reaching more sisters?  We recognize not everyone taps into the same tools and/or resources, which is why there's a blog, a Facebook page, etc.  Please share your thoughts!

I'll be me and you be you - deal?

This calling has really scared me and so far has stretched me and that is a good thing, right? I'm sure it will continue to stretch me and since this life is about growth and progress, I'm grateful for the opportunity. I honestly and sincerely thought if there is one calling in the church I'd never have, it would be Relief Society president. The way I saw it was that I just didn't have the right personality. I'm just not as kind and compassionate and patient as I've observed other RS presidents were. I was comparing myself to every RS president I have ever worked with and it is true, they are much more patient, much more understanding. So when this call came, I felt so overburdened, so scared. How can I do this? It doesn't feel natural to me.

So after only a couple of weeks in this calling, this is what I've learned:

• I am me and I'm not going to try and be anyone else. I'm going to try and be the best version of who I am (with the help of the Lord) so that I can serve Him and His daughters in our Relief Society to the best of my ability.
• He has called me and with this calling He has blessed me with love. Without much effort at all, I'm feeling love for every single one of you and this doesn't come naturally to me. And because of that I know He is simply using me to help you as best I know how. This love I feel motivates me to work hard and use the skills and talents I've developed in life to do the best that I can. God is at the Helm (Elder Ballard, Oct 2015)
• This isn't about me. I realized that while I'm trying to be the best version of myself, I want to get to know more about each one of you so I can help you share your skills and talents and abilities to help build the unity in our Relief Society and to help build His kingdom on earth.
• I cannot do this alone. Our RS presidency cannot do it alone. I know that. I feel strongly that part of my calling is to help you help each other. We need each other - every single one of us has needs and every single one of us can give and serve. If we can do this, we will all be blessed.
• I also know that if we come as we are, not trying to be anyone other than ourselves, willing to share and give and serve, our efforts and individual talents will bless each other in ways we will never imagine. We need you. We love you ... just as you are. Come and lets help each other grow!

I love you all, frills.

Katy Knight (your RSP)

I listened to this talk, "Why the Church" by Elder Christofferson this morning and I wanted to share with you a bit from it:

How does His Church accomplish the Lord’s purposes? It is important to recognize that God’s ultimate purpose is our progress. His desire is that we continue “from grace to grace, until [we receive] a fulness” of all He can give. That requires more than simply being nice or feeling spiritual. It requires faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism of water and of the Spirit, and enduring in faith to the end. One cannot fully achieve this in isolation, so a major reason the Lord has a church is to create a community of Saints that will sustain one another in the “strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life.”

“And [Christ] gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

“… For the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

“Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”

Jesus Christ is “the author and the finisher of [our] faith.” Uniting ourselves to the body of Christ—the Church—is an important part of taking His name upon us. We are told that the ancient Church “did meet together oft, to fast and to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls” “and to hear the word of the Lord.” So it is in the Church today. Joined in faith, we teach and edify one another and strive to approach the full measure of discipleship, “the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” We strive to help one another come to “the knowledge of the Son of God,” until that day when “they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, … saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord.”

In the Church we not only learn divine doctrine; we also experience its application. As the body of Christ, the members of the Church minister to one another in the reality of day-to-day life. All of us are imperfect; we may offend and be offended. We often test one another with our personal idiosyncrasies. In the body of Christ, we have to go beyond concepts and exalted words and have a real “hands-on” experience as we learn to “live together in love.”

This religion is not concerned only with self; rather, we are all called to serve. We are the eyes, hands, head, feet, and other members of the body of Christ, and even “those members … which seem to be more feeble, are necessary.” We need these callings, and we need to serve.