My Love of Service and a little Star Wars

When the Relief Society president was announced I was excited and stressed out. I thought about how this would pan out. One of the thoughts I had was this, "The bar's been raised people." The bar has indeed been raised in our Relief Society. ("There's been an awakening, have you felt it?" If you like that Star Wars quote then visit this link http://lyndsiehrm.blogspot.com/2010/09/what-ifdarth-vader.html?m=1 It's me dissing on Darth Vader)

Sometime ago, I remember another transitional relief society experience I had. I was Visiting Teaching Coordinator at the time. I felt I wasn't doing enough with my calling or could do better. (I think this way a lot. If I'd let you see my patriarchial blessing you'd understand why I do.) The bar got raised. I knew where the bar was and I had been hanging off of it trying to figure out how to get to the next one. The next one up was just barely where I could reach it. This is where I believe the bar has been placed now in relief society. Dear sisters, the time has come to either step up or get stepped on.

"Go and do, don't sit and stew" 

-John Bytheway

I've tried to do more with my current calling. I'm always grateful for sisters who are willing to volunteer. It would not be as fun if I didn't have you guys. The church is a dedicated place or sanctuary. The chapel is a sacred place where we renew our covenants. I know this to be true. Let me share a story (I know how some of you like my stories ;)) A couple months ago the chapel was very dirty. There was leaves and dirty and the regular paper trash everywhere. It was decided that it should be vacuumed. To be honest I didn't feel like vacuuming on a Sunday was Sunday appropriate but there I was going up and down the rows with the organ being practiced in the back ground. I'm not sure what was louder the organ or the vacuum. I do remember though the spiritual atmosphere change of room. I was about half done and the building seemed to say thank you. It just felt so much better in there and I took a second to listen to the organ being played and the beautiful, instead of ugly, spirit. The chapel stayed clean and was noticeably different next Sunday.  

I know the building is a dedicated building and that it is a house of the Lord. We are so lucky to have this chapel that is so close to a beloved temple. 

"Divine nature breathes into us the desire to serve others"

Service is something I've grown up with. I've stayed after to clean up after activities and went with my Dad to clean the building on Saturdays. I had the most fun washing the windows and vacuuming the rooms. When I moved to Utah I brought that service attitude with me. In 2011, my YSA ward began meeting in the old Chapel to west of Hobby Lobby in Orem. When it was our ward's turn to clean the building I always wanted to be there. I remember Saturday March 10th, 2012, I was trying to get people to come clean the building as I was riding public transport up to see my Dad in the hospital. My phone kept going off and all I got was people saying they couldn't. It think it was 3 people out of about 12-14 who actually could.

One of the reasons I wanted to go through the temple was because I wanted to clean the temple. I did for the first time a few months ago. While I was doing that I was singing primary songs. I sang "Give Said the Little Stream", "Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam", even "Once Their Was A Snowman". Nobody could really hear me very well because of the vacuum or at least I think. Follow this link for another example of serving in the temple https://www.lds.org/ensign/2016/03/how-could-i-not-stay-to-the-end?lang=eng

I'm so happy to share all this with you Sisters. Please take the time to sign up to clean the church on Sunday. I promise you will be blessed for your service. If you're having second thoughts consider the following. If you feel like there is something missing in your life the answer is usually service. I've included the following link for the sign-up HERE. Otherwise you can copy and paste this address -https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Gm46Hnu6e1tPQorMgADe53ohNPoL1T-JWPiYKgS0yUM/edit?usp=sharinghttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Gm46Hnu6e1tPQorMgADe53ohNPoL1T-JWPiYKgS0yUM/edit?usp=sharing

Lyndsie Medlyn (Building Cleaning Coordinator)

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.