Gathering As Sisters - Savage Mill Ward

What fun to go out and mingle with the sisters in our stake!  My most recent visit was to Savage Mill for an activity centered on recording and sharing the stories of our lives.  It was a relaxed and welcoming evening.  I am grateful I was able to participate with them.
- Lorie Pierce

Below are the highlights from their activity as written by Sarah Christiansen, counselor in their RS presidency:

We started off talking and sharing stories.  Our table found out the Pacini's have THE best worst vacation story... its a good one!  We all have so many amazing and wonderful stories to share that make up our lives.  It was fun to listen and to talk and share.  The second part of our night was centered around recording the stories of our lives through journaling with 3 speakers.

Corinne Edwards shared about her journey of writing and recording her life.  It was inspirational.  She has learned so much through her journaling experiences and had powerful things to say about the importance of recording our histories through journaling.  Corinne shared three important tips: 1. Decide that your story matters because it does.  Every story is unique and wonderful even if you just fold laundry or can peaches!  2. Decide what form of journaling works for you... whiteboards, blogs, computers, sticky notes, notebooks, chatbook, scrapbook, or regular old journal...  3.  Decide to be gentle with yourself.  Don't start every entry with "Oh, I can't believe its been so long since I wrote last.."  Just move forward knowing your life is full and set a goal.  Remove from your head that you need to journal every day.  Maybe start with once a year... on New Years or every Fast Sunday take an hour to write about your life.  Discover what works and keep going! 

Sarah Christianen shared tips on how to create habits of journaling with our families and children.  There is a great article in the September Friend with some prompts and ideas to get kids writing.  https://www.lds.org/friend/2016/09/happy-sabbath-keep-a-record?lang=eng  Another idea was to keep a notebook or journal by each child's bed and every night before they go to bed ask them what the best part of their day was and write it in that book.  A Family Home Evening journal was another suggestion on how to get kids and families journaling together.  You could write testimonies or have the kids write about the topic you learned about in your lesson.  If you can find a way to fit journaling into a routine you are already doing than it will make recording your history a habit.  I also touched on StoryCorps which is a fantastic group that records oral histories.  Some of them have been put to cartoons.  They are real life stories... sometimes a bit raw and gritty, but there are some amazing ones out there.  Here's a story I love, probably because she reminds me a bit of my grandma... https://storycorps.org/animation/no-more-questions/

Angela McGhie shared about the importance of recording our ancestor's histories.  There are so many options available through Family Tree.  Angela shared the app Memories (just type in Family Tree within your app store and it will come up).  Within this app you can make a collage of photos, add typed histories/stories, and record an audio memory.  So when you are at a family reunion or a holiday get together with your family this season and Grandpa starts talking about when he grew up on the farm with his Mom and Dad you can have this app on your phone and record the story right as he tells it.  Then you can upload those stories right to Family Tree under Grandpa's name and his parents.  Go check out Family Tree and this Memories app and put it on your phone.  Try it out the next time you are with family.  These apps are free and imagine the great stories you'll be able to find and share by just capturing them on your phone!

Gathering As Sisters - Clarksville Branch

Last week I had the opportunity to join the Clarksville Branch sisters for their very first Relief Society activity as a new unit.  What an uplifting evening it was!

Their theme was "Things That Matter Most" based on President Uchtdorf's talk "Of Things That Matter Most".  They shared one of my favorite Mormon Message videos entitled: "Moments That Matter Most".

After the video, four sisters shared personal experiences with focusing on the things that matter most in their relationships.  It was a wonderful evening of learning from our sisters and through the Spirit.  We ended with pie and ice cream - can't go wrong there!

Did You Know? JustServe

Thanks to Cari Larkins for this Guest Post all about the new JustServe initiative!

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What is JustServe?

JustServe is a new, inspired initiative sponsored by the Church. It is not a program, but an initiative created to assist Church members and missionaries in following the admonition of the Savior to “love thy neighbor as thyself.” JustServe provides opportunities for Church members, missionaries and anyone else in the community to relieve suffering, care for the poor and needy, and enhance the quality of life in the communities around them.

JustServe is intended to fundamentally change the culture of the church when it comes to service. This initiative is intended to help members create relationships and learn to value experiences serving outside of the church, in their communities.

How does JustServe work?

JustServe is a website and an app for mobile devices. The website/app can be used by anyone in community, whether Latter-day Saint or not.  Users can enter a zip code or the name of a city and state where you are interested in finding service opportunities.  You can peruse the site to locate opportunities that might be appropriate for you, your family, quorum, class, ward, branch or scout troop, school or any other group. Clicking on the opportunity will provide you with more details about each listing.

Once you find an opportunity that you’re interested in, click “Volunteer.” This will either redirect you to the organization’s own website for more information, or enable you to send a message to that organization’s point of contact to let them know you’re interested in volunteering.

How can Church members be expected to participate in JustServe when they have so many other things to do?

There are no quotas or record keeping associated with JustServe. JustServe is a tool that can make it easier for Latter-day Saints to better do that which they are already trying to do—love their neighbors, improve their communities, serve others and be an example.

President Monson has said, “We have a responsibility to be active in the communities where we live . . . to work cooperatively with other churches . . . It’s important that we eliminate the weakness of one standing alone and substitute for it the strength of people working together.”

JustServe is intended to make it easier for individuals, families, quorums, classes, groups etc., to find meaningful service opportunities close to home.

What are the motives of JustServe projects?

There are no underlying motives in serving. Neither Church members nor missionaries should volunteer in the community as a guise for proselytizing. Our motive should be a pure desire to help others in need, regardless of their beliefs.

President James E. Faust said, “I don’t think our motivation for service and community relations ought to be proselyting. I think it ought to be trying to make the world a better place in which to live. Of course, we are happy to share the gospel with anyone who is sincerely interested. But it ought to be a happy consequence of what we’re doing, not the primary motivation for it.”

JustServe service opportunities focus on non-profit organizations or group. JustServe projects don’t involve fund-raising or have a political focus.

How do projects end up on JustServe.org?

The Stake JustServe Committee has spent the last several months contacting service organizations and churches within the stake boundaries, which either need or provide volunteers. Members of the committee work with these organizations to post their opportunities on the site. No service opportunities are posted to the site without the permission of the organization. 

If you’re aware of a service opportunity or organization that you think would benefit from JustServe, contact your ward/branch JustServe specialist or the Stake JustServe coordinator, Cari Larkins at carryoncarryon@gmail.com.

Why JustServe.org when there are already other volunteer websites that do the same thing?

JustServe is a first presidency-endorsed initiative.  While there are other websites that function like JustServe.org (VolunteerHoward.org), JustServe is a nationwide program and will hopefully be easily- recognized and known by more and more communities throughout the country. It is the website that members of the Church and full-time missionaries serving in missions in the States will be encouraged to use as their resource for community service opportunities.

What do I do to start participating in the JustServe initiative?

Visit JustServe.org or download the free app. Register for a free account. Enter your zip code and check out some service opportunities in your area. If you’re familiar with the opportunities that are on the site in your area, you will be better prepared for occasions when groups, quorums, classes, your family are looking for meaningful service opportunities.

Contact the Columbia Stake Director of Public Affairs, Cari Larkins at carryoncarryon@gmail.com with any questions.

Celebrating the Joys of Womanhood

Last night's Stake Women's Social and General Women's Session Broadcast were wonderful!  Thank you to all who assisted in preparing the food tables!  And a extra HUGE thank you to the brethren who assisted us with setup, serving and cleanup - truly without their help we would not be able to accomplish such a nice evening.  Thank you also to all the wonderful Primary girls, young women and sisters who came to mingle with us and listen to the inspiring words of our leaders.  How blessed we are to be able to participate in such an uplifting session of Conference!

Confession - I didn't actually hear much of the meeting last night.  I was in the kitchen with the brethren and then went home early not feeling well.  But I took the time today to listen to the meeting via lds.org   As I listened to the words spoken by Sisters Bingham, Stephens and Oscarson and then President Uchtdorf, I heard messages that I personally needed to hear - promptings of things I need to improve in my life - hope for concerns I have - courage to try more diligently.   My heart and soul were touched.  My testimony and faith in the Gospel message were strengthened.

If you weren't able to listen or watch last night, I would encourage you to take advantage of the video and audio recordings available on lds.org.  It will also be available to read in a few days.

General Women's Session Oct 2016

Our theme for the Stake Women's Social was "Celebrating the Joys of Womanhood".  Each table reflected themes from the Primary, Young Women and Relief Society phases of our lives.











-Lorie Pierce

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