Did You Know? Provident Living Resources

What is Provident Living?

"Latter-day Saints believe in being prepared and self-reliant. We believe in preparing educationally for employment, in preparing financially for a rainy day, and in preparing temporally for natural disasters or other challenges. Most important, we believe in preparing spiritually for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and for living with our Father in Heaven again. This approach to preparedness is called provident living. Living providently reflects our true eternal nature: we are “to act for [ourselves] and not to be acted upon” (2 Nephi 2:26). The Lord wants us to be responsible and independent (see D&C 78:14). He wants us to live providently because of who we become in the process: responsible, generous, mature, kind. For the more self-reliant we are, the better we can help our families and others. How can we feed the hungry if we ourselves are hungry? How can we impart knowledge if we ourselves lack knowledge? How can we build others’ faith if we ourselves lack faith?"  (Oct 2012 Ensign, "Provident Living Prepares Us For The Future")

The Church has an abundance of resources to help us in our efforts to live providently.  They cover topics such as Education, Finances, Food Storage, Physical and Mental Health and more.  We can each improve in some area and these resources can aid our efforts.  Spending a bit of time exploring their site Provident Living on lds.org would be a good thing to do.

As disciples of Christ, we covenanted at baptism "to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light...to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in".  (Mosiah 18:8-9)   Provident Living is a way of life that helps us to strengthen ourselves and prepares us to strengthen others.  As the old adage says: You can't draw from a dry well.  It is the same with our lives and our ability to share physically, emotionally, and spiritually with others in need.  But before we become overwhelmed with one more thing to do, we need to remember that the Lord expects us to do all things "in wisdom and order" (Mosiah 4:27).  We simply need to start somewhere and move forward.  As long as we are trying, the Lord will bless our willing hearts and efforts.  We will see the blessings in our own lives, in our families and in our ability to bless other's lives.

-Lorie Pierce

Come Gather With Us!

Twice a year, we as sisters in the Columbia Maryland Stake have a chance to gather together with the young women and Primary girls (8+years) for the General Women's Session of Conference.  This session of Conference is always held on the Saturday one week prior to the General Sessions.

It is a great opportunity to hear messages from our General Auxiliary leaders as well as a member of the First Presidency.  We also have the opportunity to socialize with our sisters prior to the broadcast.  This year, with all the recent changes in so many of our wards/branches, that opportunity to socialize will be especially wonderful. It is a chance to see friends from all across the stake.

Hopefully the publicity postcards have made their way into your wards/branches over the past two Sundays.  There were plenty distributed to allow for sisters to use them to invite less-active sisters or non-member friends to join with us that evening.  We would also encourage you to look at the young women or Primary girls (8+years) in your ward/branch - are there any who don't have a mother to accompany them?  Could you fill the void?

We are not serving a meal, but there will be lots of sweet and savory finger foods to enjoy.  Our set up this time will facilitate mingling.  We hope that sisters will take the opportunity to introduce themselves to those they don't know and begin new friendships as sisters of the Columbia Maryland Stake.

Should you have any questions please let us know at columbiastake.rs@gmail.com.

Does It Uplift?

Years ago as a young mother, I attended a family reunion.  My Uncle Jim, as the family patriarch, gathered us all together and took the opportunity to provide some counsel to us.  He spoke of the things we allow to influence our lives, the things we allow to enter our homes, the things we allow to demand our time & attention.  Then he gave us a benchmark question.  "Does it uplift?"  He told us that if we would measure those influences and our decisions regarding our lives, our homes, our time against that question we would find ourselves with more peace in our lives and more confident of our path back to our Father in Heaven.  We came home from that reunion and promptly put a sign above our TV that read "Does it Uplift?".  It was a simple reminder, but yet a powerful motivator to us and our children.

I was thinking about that sign the other day.  Years of moving and changing TV equipment - the sign was long ago lost - but the message stayed with us.  The more we seek to invite the Spirit into our lives, the stronger our filters of the junk in the world becomes.

Last week the sister missionaries came for dinner and afterward showed us a Mormon Messages video.  As I watched that video, I was again reminded of how precious our time is - of how many good choices there are - of all the relationships we can strengthen.  We are truly blessed with good, better and best options.  The Church is doing wonderful things in offering us those options.  If you aren't familiar with Mormon Channel, it is a great place to find uplifting media.

Here is one of my favorite Mormon Messages videos.  If you can't view it on your device - the direct link is below the embedded video frame.

https://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages/moments-that-matter-most-2

-Lorie Pierce

Discover and Deepen our Understanding

Dear Sisters,

As we try to navigate through this earthly existence, we have so many obligations and are pulled in so many directions that sometimes we may wonder if all that we do really even matters.  It is, therefore, imperative that we stop and ponder on what is truly effective as we strive to save ourselves and our loved ones.  The following is an excerpt from a general conference address given by President Henry B. Eyring entitled, “The Power of Teaching Doctrine”:

“There has been a war between light and darkness, between good and evil, since before the world was created. The battle still rages, and the casualties seem to be increasing. All of us have family members we love who are being buffeted by the forces of the destroyer, who would make all God’s children miserable. For many of us, there have been sleepless nights. We have tried to add every force for good we can to the powers swirling around the people who are at risk. We have loved them. We have set the best example we could. We have pled in prayer for them. A wise prophet long ago gave us counsel about another force which we may at times underestimate and thus use too little.

Alma was the leader of a people faced with destruction by ferocious enemies. In the face of that danger, he could not do everything, so he had to choose. He could have built fortifications or created armaments or trained armies. But his only hope of victory was to get God’s help, and for that he knew the people must repent. And so he chose to try one thing first:

“And now, as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just—yea, it had … more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them—therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God” (Alma 31:5)

The word of God is the doctrine taught by Jesus Christ and by His prophets. Alma knew that words of doctrine had great power. They can open the minds of people to see spiritual things not visible to the natural eye. And they can open the heart to feelings of the love of God and a love for truth.”  (emphasis added)

Our Savior knows that we are faced with much confusion which could lead us away from the safety of His fold.  He has not left us alone.  There is a current emphasis in the church to focus on teaching the saving doctrines of Christ.  Due to modern technology, never before have so many sources of misleading information been able to infiltrate our lives, BUT, with the help of modern technology, we can fortify ourselves and our family with pure doctrine so that we can withstand the intellectual storms of these latter days.  “Ongoing historical research, revisions of the Church’s curriculum, and the use of new technologies allowing a more systematic and thorough study of scriptures have all been pursued by the Church to that end.” (Intro to Gospel Essays: see below)

Here is just a few examples of resources the Church has to offer:

1.  Bible Videos-   What a great resource to share with our families and fellow Christian neighbors!   https://www.lds.org/bible-videos/?lang=eng

2.  Come Follow Me and Teaching in the Savior's Way-  Two recent programs to help us be more effective as we teach and learn.  https://www.lds.org/youth/learn?lang=eng

3.  Preach My Gospel-  The new'ish 'not-just-for-missionaries' guide for personal and family gospel study.  Great for Family Home Evening lessons. https://www.lds.org/manual/preach-my-gospel-a-guide-to-missionary-service?lang=eng

4.  Gospel Topics Essays-   (From the introduction...) “The Church places great emphasis on knowledge and on the importance of being well informed about Church history, doctrine, and practices. We (the church leaders) again encourage members to study the Gospel Topics essays cited in the links (below) as they “seek learning, even by study and also by faith.”https://www.lds.org/topics/essays?lang=eng

5.  New BYU/Institute Courses-  Did you know that there are ALL NEW religion courses that focus on doctrine, rather than individual books of scripture? Welcome the new “Cornerstone” courses. https://www.lds.org/topics/education/new-religion-classes?lang=eng

6.  Seminary Courses- Seminary also has a new doctrinal mastery component:     https://www.lds.org/si/seminary

In a quote from Elder M. Russell Ballard, we can sense the urgency for all of us to become students of doctrine. We must consider us all as the  students and teachers he mentions:

“Gone are the days when a student asked an honest question and a teacher responded, “Don’t worry about it!” Gone are the days when a student raised a sincere concern and a teacher bore his or her testimony as a response intended to avoid the issue. Gone are the days when students were protected from people who attacked the Church. Fortunately, the Lord provided this timely and timeless counsel to you teachers: “And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.” https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/evening-with-a-general-authority/2016/02/the-opportunities-and-responsibilities-of-ces-teachers-in-the-21st-century?lang=eng

I pray that we all may be more diligent as we discover and deepen our understanding of the saving doctrines of the gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Sister Jill Goodrich

Save The Date! General Women's Session

This event is for all sisters, young women and Primary girls ages 8+.  It will be a great opportunity to gather and mingle as friends across the stake.  We hope to see many of you there.  Visiting teachers - if you visit a less-active sister, please take one of the postcards to invite her to attend.

Did You Know? "Come Follow Me" Curriculum Supplement Videos

For our teachers of youth the phrase "Come Follow Me" has added meaning.  It is the title for the curriculum they use in teaching Sunday School and YW/YM classes.  When the curriculum was first introduced a few years ago there were a series of videos associated with the monthly themes.  These were available online and eventually some were made available on DVD and provided through the Media Centers in our church buildings.

Today on lds.org something caught my eye and I discovered another source of curriculum videos for the "Come Follow Me" monthly topics.  The topic for August is "Marriage and Family" and this link will take you to a set of videos in the Media Library online that exist for your use.  And since the youth themselves are to be involved in the teaching of these topics - perhaps the teachers, mothers, friends who read this post can share this resource with them too.

Come Follow Me Curriculum Video Supplements

We truly are not alone in this Gospel and in the effort to strengthen one another.  How blessed we are that the Lord has provided technology where by we can develop and share useful and uplifting resources. Resources that can help us build our testimonies, faith and knowledge as well as our family's and those we have stewardship for in the Church.

-Lorie Pierce

Gathering as Sisters - EC

Our "Gathering As Sisters" post series is designed to help us as sisters within our wards/branches see that we are part of a whole - that across the stake there are other groups of sisters gathering together in activities and service to support & teach one another and develop friendships as they fulfill the purposes of the Relief Society in building faith, strengthening families and providing relief.  Each month through the end of this year, we will share one or two highlights from activities within our Relief Societies.

We have truly been blessed with our current Handbook of Instruction that allows each ward/branch to counsel together and then plan with inspiration according to their specific needs. We hope that by sharing some of the wonderful things happening within our wards/branches, we can understand better the individual yet similar needs we share as sisters in the Columbia Maryland Stake.

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Our Ellicott City Ward Sisters:

In July, the Ellicott City sisters got together to celebrate our pioneer heritage, learn new things and have a little fun.  They shared family history stories and pulled taffy.  Sisters were able to learn how to make simple wooden shelves and work on a family history decorative fan chart.  The friendship and sisterhood between these woman was clear as they chatted and laughed together.  How truly wonderful the sisters of the Columbia Stake are!