Walking on Sacred Ground - Kirtland, Ohio

This past weekend our family took a road trip that culminated at Kirtland, Ohio.  I have been to Kirtland three times now - once with the Columbia Stake Youth about 15 years ago, once when our four children were still young and this time with my husband and our 18 year old daughter.  While each visit has been a little different from the time before, one thing remains consistent - I always get emotional in Kirtland.  My soul always fills with joy, awe and gratitude as I am reminded of the events that occurred in that area and the sacrifices joyfully given by those early Saints.

I call it "walking on sacred ground" because of the sacred events that occurred and the visions & revelations that were received during the time that Joseph Smith and the early Saints lived in Kirtland and the neighboring farms.  (1830-1838)  As I sat on a little bench in a room above the Whitney Store - a room used for the School of the Prophets - and listened to the sister missionary tell of the things that happened there and heard her bear testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ - the Spirit spoke to me again and I knew again the truth of Joseph Smith as a prophet and I knew again the love our Savior has for His children.  This sweet testimony repeated itself in each location we visited.  Kirtland is indeed a place filled with sacred history.

Kirtland is roughly a six hour drive from here.  We broke our visit up into 1 1/2 days and were able to visit most of the Church History sites.  Two full days would have been great to add in the extra sites we didn't get to.  I found this short video about the Kirtland sites featuring Elder M. Russell Ballard.  He says, "Heaven was walking here with the people."  (If the video doesn't load on your device, you can use the "short video" link to view it directly on lds.org.)

While the Historic Kirtland Temple is not owned by the Church, (it is owned and operated by The Community of Christ), it is open for tours and the curators are doing a wonderful job of maintaining the building and preserving it's history.

If you have never visited Kirtland - you should! You really should!  It may be history, but it is sacred history.  It is a marvelous thing to sit in a room and know that Jesus Christ has appeared there - has spoken to His servant Joseph Smith there.  It is a wonderful thing to sit in the Historic Kirtland Temple with the sunlight streaming through the windows and hear the words from Doctrine & Covenants 110 read:

1 The veil was taken from our minds, and the eyes of our understanding were opened.

2 We saw the Lord standing upon the breastwork of the pulpit, before us; and under his feet was a paved work of pure gold, in color like amber.

3 His eyes were as a flame of fire; the hair of his head was white like the pure snow; his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun; and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters, even the voice of Jehovah, saying:

4 I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father.

5 Behold, your sins are forgiven you; you are clean before me; therefore, lift up your heads and rejoice.

6 Let the hearts of your brethren rejoice, and let the hearts of all my people rejoice, who have, with their might, built this house to my name.

7 For behold, I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here; and I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house.

-Lorie Pierce

How Has Relief Society Blessed Your Life?

Gisela Pinargote - Columbia 3rd Branch

How has Relief Society blessed my life?  I'm so grateful for the example and dedication of all my sisters.  The teachings and compassionate service that I have learned and received through all my life has made me be the kind of woman I'm today. When helping others makes it easy to forget all my struggles, I can see that I'm blessed and greatly strengthened.  Being a military wife, a mother of four, I just can't thank enough all my visiting teachers, leaders, friends that help with meals, phone calls, helping with the kids, doctors visits etc.  "Charity never faileth"

I love my sisters in Zion.

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Kellie Nuss - YSA Branch/Savage Mill Ward

The intersection of the spiritual and the temporal that is Relief Society has always been summed up for me by this famous quote from Lucy Mack Smith: 

“We must cherish one another, watch over one another, comfort one another and gain instruction that we may all sit down in heaven together.”

In my mind, the blessings of Relief Society are interwoven completely with every blessing of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Women are beloved by the Savior, and Relief Society puts me in a position to stand with Christ and do His work in a way that reinforces the fact that I can be raised and healed, and I can help others along the way. 

I am grateful that I have always felt a part of Relief Society, even when not regularly attending the Sunday RS meeting because of other callings. I feel this way because cherishing, watching over and comforting others have nothing to do with age, circumstance, or the walls of a particular room in the church building. I have learned this through many years of experience on both sides of those sacred acts. 

Relief Society has blessed my life because it has given me the structure and guidance to live as the Savior would have me live, and thereby brought me closer to Him.

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Sara Nuss - YSA Branch

Relief Society has helped me to better understand my role as a woman. I'm not married yet. I don't have kids. But that doesn't mean that I can't have an impact on the world around me-both in and outside of church. I've learned that I not only have the responsibility to spread the Lord's love and light, but that He qualifies me for this work.

Above all else, I've learned of the impact I can have in my future home with my future husband and future kids. The Relief Society structure has helped me prepare for these future roles so I can be a positive and uplifting influence on my family.

Highlights from Stake Social & General Women's Meeting

On Saturday, September 26, we had a wonderful opportunity to gather as women of the Columbia Maryland Stake to eat, visit and be spiritually lifted through the General Women's Meeting broadcast from Salt Lake.  There were so many sisters who joined us and it was gratifying to see everyone visiting together - strengthening, renewing and making new friendships.  We had around 215 sisters come for the Pre-Broadcast Social and then a few more joined us at 8pm bringing our total to about 225!  It's hard to count moving bodies :-)

Thanks to the sisters who prepared the Taco Salads.  HUGE thanks to the brethren who assisted with set up, food prep, serving, clean up and technical support.  And kudos to the Stake Primary Presidency for the Autumntime decorations.

The "decorations committee" aka our Stake Primary Presidency - Love these women!

If you missed the Broadcast - you really should take time to read it or watch it online.

General Women's Meeting, September 2015

Here are just some tidbits and some more photos:

"I testify that life is a gift. God has a plan for each one of us, and our individual purpose began long before we came to this earth."  --Rosemary M. Wixom, Primary General President

"Many in today’s world are looking for instant gratification and instant knowledge on the Internet. In contrast, we will be exceedingly blessed if we exercise faith and patience and go to our Heavenly Father, the source of all truth, with our concerns. So many answers and assurances can come through daily searching and studying the scriptures and with sincere and pleading prayer, but there are no such promises on the Internet."  --Linda S. Reeves, Counselor in General Relief Society Presidency

"We join with faithful sisters of the past, of the present, and of the rising generation when we join together in the work of salvation!"  --Carol F. McConkie, Counselor in General Young Women Presidency

"God didn’t design us to be sad. He created us to have joy! So if we trust Him, He will help us to notice the good, bright, hopeful things of life. - Now is part of eternity. It doesn’t only begin after we die! - Forever is composed of Nows"  --President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

An Invitation - Will We Accept?

This past Sunday (September 20) the High Council speaker in our ward extended an invitation from President Mitchell.  This same invitation should have been heard in all the wards/branches of our Stake.

The invitation was simple:

Invite - by the end of the year - at least one non-member to a place where he/she could meet the missionaries and then follow through with that introduction.  This could be in our homes, at Church on Sunday, at a service activity, or at another Church event.

I've spent the week thinking about this invitation.  I can count on one hand the non-member friends I have that live locally and my interaction with them is rather limited.  My non-member acquaintances is a slightly larger count, but still not a group that I can immediately think "oh I'll invite her".  But I know that when I follow the lead of my leaders - I am blessed.  My conclusion is this - I will pray for the opportunity - that the Lord will provide me guidance and inspiration to be where I need to be and to hear what I need to hear and to say what I need to say.

So sisters...I'm accepting the invitation and I hope all of you will too!

-Lorie Pierce

A Legacy of Faith and Service - Post Three

In 1999, Sister Valerie Sucher was called as the third president for the Columbia Maryland Stake Relief Society.  She had been serving as a counselor to the previous president, Sister Maureen Johnston.

Sister Sucher had attended a BYU Women's Conference a few months earlier and had been impressed with the scope of the humanitarian service projects.  She had a vision of the sisters of our stake coming together to accomplish something of a similar kind.  This idea came to fruition in the form of the 2000 Women's Conference held at the Columbia Stake Center.

The following is from a news clipping saved in the Relief Society history papers:

This humanitarian service project set the tone for future Stake Women's Conferences and ward level activities.  Our wards/branches have found ways to continue involvement with organizations such as Project Linus, The House of Ruth, Walter Reed Hospital, Grass Roots as well as other shelters and food banks.

The 2001 Stake Women's Conference theme was "Beloved Daughters of God" and Sister Sucher's presidency took on more challenging topics that they could see were of real concern for the sisters in our Stake.  Subjects of depression, abuse, stress, forgiveness, women's health and diversity were addressed.  But the new expectation was the humanitarian project and that year the sisters participated in efforts to bless the lives of children in the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

"Let Your Light So Shine" was the theme for the 2002 Stake Women's Conference.  Again Sister Sucher and her presidency broadened our horizons, as they invited Sister Chieko N. Okazaki, former counselor in the General Relief Society Presidency (1990-1997), to come speak to the sisters in our stake.  Sister Donna Schott of the Hampstead Ward recalled her visit, "I remember her as a vivacious, happy lady.  I think her husband had died recently before her visit, but her talk was uplifting and filled with encouragement."

Another significant part of the 2002 Women's Conference was the inclusion of the newly formed Columbia 3 Spanish Branch.  The sisters of the branch presented a class entitled "Sharing the Latin Heritage".  They shared about their cultural diversity within their common Latin heritage.  

Sister Sucher was released later in 2002 as she and her family moved out of the area.  In the short time, she served as president, many of us were able to realize the ability to reach beyond our small sphere of influence and see a way to help others in a way that would truly matter.  She and her presidency set the bar high as they challenged us to live more fully lives of faith and service within our homes, our ward/branches, our communities and the world.

-Lorie Pierce

Patriarchs and Patriarchal Blessings

With the passing of Patriarch Everard Cox this past week, my thoughts have turned to the role of a Patriarch as an office in the Priesthood and the gift of a Patriarchal Blessing.

Below are links to two incredible General Conference talks about Patriarchs and Patriarchal Blessings.  After re-reading them this morning, I feel that anything I might say would pale in comparison to what they taught.  So I will instead simply share a personal story and bear my testimony.

My father was called as a Stake Patriarch as I was entering High School.  There were five of us children still living at home and things were not always peaceful and happy there.  The evening that Dad and Mom returned from their appointment with Elder Boyd K. Packer, my parents invited us into the living room and told us where they had been and why.  Then Dad said to us that he could not accept the call to serve unless we as his children could remove the contention from our home.  He explained that in order for him to have the Spirit with him as he would need, we must do our part to not only Not drive the Spirit away with our arguing, but that we must also Do those things that would invite the Spirit to be in our home.  I don't think my youngest two siblings really comprehended what the significance of the request or his new call was, but me and my older sisters certainly did.  There was a change in our home from that point on.

My oldest sister became Dad's first scribe.  He would record his blessings on a pocket tape recorder and then with a headset and typewriter, she would transcribe the words.  Dad would then laboriously listen to the tape and compare it to what my sister had typed.  He would then make any corrections and she would type the final copy.  As my typing skills improved and my older sisters married and moved away, I became his scribe.  It was a very unique and precious assignment - one that I cherish.  I was always amazed at how powerfully I could feel the Spirit each time I sat and transcribed a blessing.  I knew without a doubt that it wasn't my father who was guiding those statements, but rather it was the Lord guiding my father to say the words for each individual person.

My own Patriarchal Blessing is a precious gift to me from not only my Father in Heaven, but also my Dad as he place his hands on my head and pronounced that blessing.  That was 36 years ago and still I am seeing the fulfillment of those blessings in my life.  How grateful I am for a loving Heavenly Father, who has provided me with my personal guide, my personal scripture, and as President Monson taught, my personal Liahona.

Sisters, if you have yet to receive your Patriarchal Blessing, I would encourage you to speak with your Bishop/Branch President and learn what you need to do to prepare for that event.  It is a gift worth seeking.

You Have a Noble Birthright, Julie B. Beck, April 2006

Your Patriarchal Blessing: A Liahona of Light, Thomas S. Monson, October 1986

-Lorie Pierce

Teachers and Learners

In the Church, we are all both teachers and learners.  Some of us are better at one or the other of those categories and undoubtedly we all have room for improvement in both areas.

In the past few years, the Church has made great efforts to improve our opportunities within our Church based classrooms.  The Come Follow Me youth curriculum is just one example.  The Church website at lds.org provides a wonderful resource for both teachers and learners.

There is currently a post on the homepage of lds.org announcing the 2016 Churchwide Curriculum.  This statement caught my attention:

"Where possible, students and teachers are encouraged to use digital versions of 2016 curriculum materials, which can be found online and in the LDS Gospel Library mobile app. If you haven't tried the app, now is a good time to experience the ease of preparing, teaching, and learning from a library of gospel resources that fits in your pocket."

Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson, Young Women General President stated the following:

“An ordinary teacher prepares to teach a lesson. An extraordinary teacher prepares to ignite a spark which kindles a testimony and changes lives.” 

In thinking about that statement and in thinking about what I 'get out of' my Sunday meetings - it occurs to me that the same principle applies to the learner as much as to the teacher.  So my flipside would read:

An ordinary learner prepares to hear a lesson.  An extraordinary learner prepares to allow a spark to ignite which kindles their testimony and changes their life.

In the course of 2016, we will have approximately 156 hours of Sunday teaching and learning opportunities (give or take for Conference weekends).  How will we approach those opportunities?  Will we reach then end of 2016 having grown both as teachers and learners?  I know for myself - I am going to ponder and decide a course to improve my own preparation and participation, so that those 156 hours will be for my benefit rather than passive meetings I sit through.

-Lorie Pierce