Hill Cumorah Pageant

Did you know there is a theatrical production held yearly at the Hill Cumorah in Palmyra, New York?  It is known as the Hill Cumorah Pageant.  I haven't been to see it for many, many, many years.  The last time I was chaperoning a Youth Conference trip in the 1990's.  It was quite an amazing production.  Recently, I saw a blurb about it as I was searching online for something else.  It got me thinking about some of the opportunities that are nearby and yet we often seem to miss and I decided to share a bit about the Hill Cumorah Pagent and other Church History sites in that area.  Maybe you and your family or friends will want to make plans to visit there in July for the pageant.

The following is from the Hill Cumorah Pageant page on lds.org and gives a brief idea of what the pageant is about:  Experience the excitement, drama, and pageantry of America's largest and most spectacular outdoor theatrical event, which focuses on the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Witness the trials of Lehi’s family and his descendants, the climactic visit of Jesus Christ to the Americas, and Joseph Smith receiving the plates.

The dates for the 2018 pageant are July 13-14, 17-21.  The pageant begins at 9:15 p.m. and runs for about 75 minutes.  Admission is free. No ticket is required, and no reservation is necessary.  It is held at the Hill Cumorah site grounds (603 State Route 2, Palmyra, New York).  Below are a couple links that can provide further details and contact information:

Hill Cumorah Visitors' Center

Hill Cumorah Pageant Website

While in the Palmyra area there are several more Church Historical sites worth seeing.  My favorite is the Sacred Grove.  I also love the Palmyra Temple and with the Washington DC Temple construction closure - if I'm in the Palmyra area I wouldn't miss the opportunity to attend the temple.  You can find more information about the Palmyra Temple schedule on their lds.org page.  It's a good idea to schedule with them if you want to do a session.  It is a small temple with limited hours and no clothing rental.

To find out more about the other Church History sites see the links below.  I did a previous post in 2015 about the Sacred Grove and the Palmyra area if you want to go back and read that.  Let It Change Your Life, 26 May 2015

The Sacred Grove

Smith Family Farm

Book of Mormon Publication Site

Peter Whitmer Log Home

Martin Harris Farm

While we don't have plans to attend the pageant this year, we love this area and the heritage that all of us as Church members can connect to there.  We will go back to Palmyra again and hope that many of you will find that opportunity as well.

-Lorie Pierce

Farewell to Kim Olivier and Welcome to Mendy Hunter

This past Sunday at Stake Conference Sister Kim Olivier was released as a counselor in the Stake Relief Society Presidency.  We are so sad to say goodbye to Kim, but we truly wish her and her family all the best as they relocate to Pennsylvania.  Sister Mendy Hunter of the Savage Mill Ward was sustained as the new second counselor in the presidency.  We are excited to have this opportunity to work with Mendy and get to know her better.

Mendy was born in raised in York County, PA, the 4th of 8 children. (She grew up in Shrewsbury--the same town her dad's family has lived in since the 1730s!) After graduating from high school, she went to BYU where she majored in English. Before graduating from college, she served a mission in Romania where she fell in love with the warm people and the breathtakingly beautiful Transylvania. After her mission, she graduated from the Y, backpacked through Europe with a friend, and then married Michael Hunter. While Michael finished his schooling, Mendy worked in the staffing industry until her first baby, Maia (19), was born. When Maia was only 3 months old, Mendy and Mike decided to move from Utah back to the east coast, where most members of their families lived. With Mike's family in Virgina and Mendy's in Pennsylvania, he suggested they move to the middle: Laurel, MD--and that's where they've been for the past 19 years! Here, they have added a son, Mason (18), and two more daughters, Marlee (14) and Mackenna (12), to their family. Mendy has remained a full-time homemaker and enjoys volunteering at her kids' schools, reading, doing crafts, and learning new DIY skills. She loves Relief Society and is especially excited to get to know more of the sisters in the stake through this new calling.

Mendy Hunter - Cindy Erekson - Lisa Larson

When We Are Prepared and Ready To Receive

I have been struggling to get over bronchitis the past couple weeks.  I was feeling better yesterday, but felt it was a wiser choice to continue resting rather than attend Stake Conference.  I did not attend the meetings yesterday.  This morning when I woke up I felt significantly better, but was still thinking it wiser to stay home.  However at 9am I was overwhelmed with a feeling of "go to Stake Conference!".  I quickly dressed and headed out the door.  As I sat and listened to the speakers this morning, I knew why the Lord wanted me there.  I received answers to private prayers through the messages shared.  How grateful I am for the preparation of the speakers.  How grateful I am that I didn't question the impression - that I didn't make my excuses and stay home to rest another day.  How grateful I am that I had been faithful this week in my personal reading of the Book of Mormon - even though I really just wanted to lie back down.  How grateful I am that I was indeed well enough to go and spiritually prepared enough to hear what I needed to hear.

For those of my sisters who for whatever reason were unable to be with us this morning at Stake Conference, here are some of the things that impressed my heart and mind.  It's obviously not a complete transcript...just the notes from my scribblings.  Hopefully I have the names of the youth speakers spelled correctly.

Kasey Baird - youth speaker from Columbia 1 Ward
The Savior is the perfect example of how to Minister.  She shared two simple ways for youth (and all of us) to follow Christ's example by ministering: 1.  Being a Friend  and 2. Attend mutual (our RS meetings) with a different mindset - Who Needs Me Today?  We can ask ourselves that question everyday.

Mason Hunter - youth speaker from Savage Mill Ward
Our heart should be in the right place - in the Savior's Way.  We need to choose to Minister for the right reasons.  Love should be our motivation.  Love should be our compass and Ministering our vessel.

Felicity Hancock - Savage Mill Ward
Everyone fights a hard battle.  She has seen direct blessings for their efforts to attend the Temple - peace in difficult times.  She quoted Elder Renlund's 2018 conference talk that spoke of blessings from temple and family history work.   "When ordinances are performed on behalf of the deceased, God’s children on earth are healed."  The best way to keep our youth on the Gospel path is to involve them in temple and family history work.  We matter to our Heavenly Father.  If you're seeking answers and peace - go to the temple.  It's easy for us to over complicate attending the temple, but what we really need is to realize that it is a possibility and work from there.

Sister Christiansen - Maryland Baltimore Mission
Knowing who we are and why we're here on this earth makes all the difference.  When we establish our vision through the Gospel lens, we can see things as they really are.  Faith must be active. Repentance daily. Continuous in keeping sacred covenants. Actively receiving the Holy Ghost.  Each of us much choose to act in faith, to remove distractions, to seek the Lord and to know for ourselves.

President Christiansen - Maryland Baltimore Mission
Our fellowship together is a great opportunity to lift one another.  Do we realize what we know and what we have?  Ministering should be a way of life - looking outward we can find opportunities all around us.  How will you bless?  Who will you bless?  Revelation assists us in knowing who and how to bless.  He also shared this thought from his counselor, President McConkie: Simplicity means focusing on that which is essential.  The ordinances of the Priesthood are essential for us to walk back into the presence of God the Father and Jesus Christ.  We are those the Lord is relying on to prepare the world for the coming of Jesus Christ.  There is an urgency in what we are doing.

President Peterson - Columbia Maryland Stake
In our families we first learn and practice worship of our Father in Heaven.  As we remember the blessings of God for our families we will be able to reverence and worship Him more.  We worship through prayer, through our Sabbath Day observance and through Temple attendance.  We need to set aside time to worship in the Temple.

President Towne - Columbia Maryland Stake
The most important things in life are not things.  Do we really understood how important the Gospel is?  The pearl of great price referred to by the Savior is the Restored Gospel.  He quoted President Nelson:  "What will your seeking open for you? What wisdom do you lack? What do you feel an urgent need to know or understand? Follow the example of the Prophet Joseph. Find a quiet place where you can regularly go. Humble yourself before God. Pour out your heart to your Heavenly Father. Turn to Him for answers and for comfort."  The truth is what is important.  Knowing Christ is what is important.

President Mitchell - Columbia Maryland Stake
He began by sharing his testimony and told us - you can receive a witness for yourself.  Though the Spirit you can feel peace, assurance, calm, guidance and witness that this is His church and knowing that changes our perspective on life.  He also spoke on Ministering.  To be disciples of Christ we need to love one another.  How can we develop more Christlike love?  We need to be mindful of others needs.  Spiritual strengthening is as important as meeting physical needs.  He quoted President Nelson regarding the need for revelation in our lives: “Choose to do the spiritual work required to enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost and hear the voice of the Spirit more frequently and more clearly. -- I urge you to stretch beyond your current spiritual ability to receive personal revelation. -- Nothing opens the heavens quite like the combination of increased purity, exact obedience, earnest seeking, daily feasting on the words of Christ in the Book of Mormon, and regular time committed to temple and family history work.”  He reminded us that the Gathering of Israel is the most important thing going onto today - on both sides of the veil.  The Lord hasn't left us alone.  We should work together in love and unity.  We need to strengthen and help one another.

- Lorie Pierce

Ministering - A Demonstration of Discipleship, Gratitude and Love for God

Sister Jean B. Bingham, General Relief Society President, has said that “our service to others is a demonstration of discipleship and our gratitude and love for God and His Son, Jesus Christ”. I know we all want to be obedient to the commandments.  We all strive to “Love one another” and to “love our neighbor as ourselves”.  But sometimes it’s a little scary to put ourselves out there, to take that extra step and offer our services, to become friends with someone we don’t know and have little in common with.

But whatever our differences, our divine heritage unites us as sisters and daughters of God.  We are united in our love and devotion to God, and our desires to follow His prophet. It really is an exciting time to live, and as I contemplate all of the new information and guidance we have received during and since General Conference, I am awed and humbled by the need to take better care of and more interest in the sisters whom I serve.

We have literally been asked to strengthen one another in the Lord. To go above and beyond what we usually did in visiting the sisters we are assigned to visit, as well as others in our wards and communities.  I know many of you have already been doing this. You have always gone beyond the monthly required visit.  You have taken a personal interest in the sisters you visit and have become a part of their lives. They have moved beyond being an assignment on a piece of paper.

How do we do this now that a monthly in-home visit with a message is no longer required?  The best place I know of to start is with prayer. Pray for your sisters by name.  Pray that you will be open to promptings that will allow you to help them.  Our Father is mindful of all of us.  He knows our hearts, and He knows their needs.  Turn your heart to Him and let Him guide you.

Ask your sisters what works best for them.  A visit, phone call, text, walk in the park, play date with your kids, lunch together, a short conversation at church…all these and more can be part of your Ministering and care. Sister Aburto, General Relief Society 2nd counselor, has said: “It’s not so much what you do, but how you feel and how they feel.  Do whatever it takes so that person knows that you are a true friend and that you will come when they need your help.”

So maybe we need to ask ourselves - What am I are going to do that will be different than I’ve done before?  How can I show more care instead of less?  How will I be able to respond during my quarterly interview with my Relief Society leaders when they ask how my sisters are doing? Will I really know?

I think we’re going to find greater unity in our wards and branches as we implement this new program.  I think we’ll have more needs being met, and more of our less active sisters returning to activity.  I trust that we’ll grow closer as we counsel together and coordinate with our Priesthood brethren. Whole families will be blessed by our care and love.  Isn’t it marvelous to watch our Father’s plans for us unfold?

I’m so grateful for a living Prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, and for his counsel to us to seek revelation. In his words: “In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost."  I pray that you will seek for and follow the guidance you need as you watch over your sisters with love.

- Cindy Erekson
Columbia Stake Relief Society President

All Are Alike Unto God

Over the past few weeks, we have heard announcements about the upcoming commemoration of the 1978 Revelation on the Priesthood.  My own mind has gone back to what I recall about that day.  I was 13 years old when the revelation was announced.  Our family was so excited when we heard the news broadcast.  This was crucial and something we had looked forward to as an event that needed to happened.  To us it was a "sign of the times" - a clear indication that we were growing closer to the Second Coming of Christ on the Earth.  I sat outside in our carport for awhile that afternoon and said my own prayer of gratitude.

I have asked a few family members and friends to share their recollections with us.

Shared by Ann Anderson: I remember being surprised.  Much of my youth had been spent on explaining why all worthy men couldn't have the priesthood.  This was an event that I didn't think would happen in my lifetime.  It was a great day for the whole Church.  President Kimball was the prophet of my youth.  We all loved him. I'm so glad that he was given this revelation.

Shared by Bonnie Peterson: I was so excited that everybody could have the Priesthood and go to the temple that I wrote about it in my journal.  To me that was an amazing moment and I absolutely felt the Spirit and also felt the love of Father for all of His children.

Shared by June Crue: We had a brother in our ward who was a faithful Latter-day Saint and when I heard the news, I and other members in my ward wept for joy.  And when we talked to him, his joy was so great that he couldn't even speak.  We all cried great tears of happiness and thanks to the Lord.  I am overcome right now thinking about it.

Shared by Susanne Rigby: I was only a kid, but remember thinking "It's about time!"

Shared by Cindy Erekson: How well I remember the Priesthood announcement! We lived in SLC at the time and sat glued to our TV set as this wonderful news was shared. I remember the thrill of excitement and the tears pouring down my face.  History was truly being made that day!

Cindy also shared these photos of the news clippings:





The Church is holding a unique celebration honoring the 40th anniversary of President Spencer W. Kimball's revelation on the Priesthood on June 1, 2018 at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City. The event is sponsored by the First Presidency and will include a message from the First Presidency, stories of faith, and musical performances by Gladys Knight, Saints United Voices, Alex Boye, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and another special choir that was formed specifically for this event.

It will be live-streamed on June 1st at 9:30 PM EST.  (lds.org, mormon channel, Facebook and Instagram).  The Washington DC Temple Visitor Center will also show a recording on Saturday morning, June 2 at 11:00 AM EST.

From Mormon Newsroom article announcing the evening: While the June celebration will hail the history of black Mormon pioneers and reaffirm the reality that “all are alike unto God” in His global family, the event is intended to be much more than a celebration. It will also be a renewal of our collective commitment to pursue oneness in our relationships with each other and with heaven. 

Additionally, there is a new video called "Be One" that all are encouraged to watch.  Here is the link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxS89yZtAmM

-Lorie Pierce

Our Sometimes Simple Efforts

This week we get to travel to Scotland with Lorna Browne as she shares her wonderful experiences with searching her family's history.

I was very excited to learn that our first stop was going to be in Wigtownshire, the area of Scotland that my ancestors had emigrated from when plans were first unveiled for my second trip to Scotland with a bagpipe band.  Because I have a very Scottish first name and I play the pipes, I have always felt it was my responsibility to learn more about my Scottish heritage.  Although we knew a few things, we did not know much about my Scottish lines at that time.

It was my plan to rent a car once we arrived to the area and go off on my own and discover what information I could.  I soon found that my plan would not be an easy one to follow as it did not appear that there was any place in Wigtownshire where I could rent a car.  I was discouraged, but soon saw the Lord’s hand in helping me while I was there.  Out of all of the families that band members were assigned to spend the time we were there with, I was assigned to stay with the McCrone family.  It turned out Elsie McCrone’s hobby was genealogical research!

One of the first things that Elsie asked me after I arrived in her home was whether or not I had any Scottish heritage.  I answered that I did.  When I pronounced my ancestors’ surname, “McGeoch” as “McGeel,” she mentioned that she had not heard that name.  A few days later, she asked me to spell this name.  When I did, she said, “Och, ‘McGee-oak!’”  She then told me she would be happy to help me look for what information we could find in the area about my family.

Elsie took me the next morning to the cemetery next to a church that my mother had connected our family to.  There we not only found the names of family members we were looking for, but we also found the names of others.  She then took me to other cemeteries in town.  As we were traveling, she asked me if I knew anything else about the family.  The only thing I knew was that they had lived on a farm with the name of Red Brae.  When we were near the end of looking through the last cemetery, we came across a grave of a person who was buried near the Stones of Torrydon near the farm Red Brae.  When Elsie read this, she was excited.  She had heard of these stones and she was sure that her husband, an electrician, had maps that we show us where the farm was.  

We returned to their home and spread maps around on the floor and looked for the Stones of Torrydon.  I have to admit that I wondered if the farm would still be around, but it was! We then jumped in her car and headed to the area to see the farm.  I was content to take a photo of the farm’s sign and the exterior of the farm, but Elsie wasn’t.  She encouraged me to get out and she knocked on the door.  When the homeowner answered the door, Elsie told her that I had come from Canada and my ancestors used to live on this farm.  She wondered if I could see it?  To my surprise, the woman who then lived there invited us in and told me that the kitchen area that we were in was the entirety of original home.  It was really neat to be there, and I am very grateful that I had the chance to see the home and to learn so much more about my ancestors!

My experiences in Wigtownshire were the first where I received the Lord’s assistance with my family history efforts, but they have not been my last. I will not write about these here, but, if you are interested, ask me about the way things opened up for my family to secure a Czech genealogist to research our family there at a rare time when the archives were open. You could also ask me how my mother learned how to read Cyrillic, Romanian, and Ukrainian to read records released by the Greek Orthodox Church from an area in modern-day Ukraine to take my father’s lines back to the 1700s as it was the only way we could obtain information about these lines.  You could also ask how Ancestry.com’s release of a new batch of German church records helped my family extend a line that we had not been able to do anything with for many years.  It is such a blessing to live at a time when there are so many tools to help us do our family history! Although we sometimes need to travel to some places to gain information, we no longer need to go to all parts of the world to learn more about our ancestors!  I know that temple and family history work is the Lord’s work and that He magnifies our--sometimes simple--efforts as we seek to do it. Through small and simple things, great things do truly come to pass (Alma 37:6).

- Lorna Browne

A New, Holier Way

The Stake Relief Society presidency has been studying, pondering and discussing Ministering as they prepare to help ward and branch presidencies move forward with this new way.  As I have studied, pondered and discussed with them, I have felt the Spirit testify of this shift to Ministering and of the power it can and will have in the lives of each of us and the future generations.

Many of us, including myself, may have heard President Nelson announce the change in Conference and initially thought 'Oh good I can tell my home teachers they don't need to come.'  or we may have thought that less was being asked of us.  The reality is actually something different - something better that will bring us closer to Christ if we allow it.  President Nelson explained, "Sisters and brothers—old and young—will serve one another in a new, holier way." (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2018/04/let-us-all-press-on?lang=eng)  I like that phrase new, holier way, because it truly helps convey the intent behind these changes.  We are being given an opportunity to become more like our Savior in a way that hasn't been emphasized quite like this before now.  My husband recently spoke in our Sacrament Meeting and used the comparison of Home & Visiting Teaching being like the Law of Moses and Ministering being a Higher Law.  The Lord knows each of us and knows our capacities.  He knows that we are ready and prepared to accept this invitation to act.

"For many years, home teachers and visiting teachers have responded to assignments to visit the house of each member monthly, deliver a message, and help as needed. Countless hours of devoted and selfless service have been given in this great work.  Building on that devotion, Church leaders now ask members to increase their focus on Christlike caring for others, both spiritually and temporally. To emphasize that caring, the former programs of home teaching and visiting teaching are now a common effort referred to as 'ministering,' overseen by the elders quorum and Relief Society presidencies under the direction of the bishop."  (https://www.lds.org/mycalling/ministering-faq?lang=eng)

For some of us, Ministering won't actually feel very different from their visiting teaching experiences.  There are many who have already been serving as visiting teachers in the true spirit of ministering to one another.  Today being Mother's Day, it seems only fitting I acknowledge the sweet influence my own mother's example of true ministering had on me.  She truly loved the sisters she was assigned to visit teach and was always watchful for ways she could help them bear their burdens.  She mourned with them and rejoiced with them.  She prayed and fasted for them. She invited them into our home and into her life. She shared her love of the Lord and His Gospel with them.  Her service was never a checklist and her sisters never felt they were an obligation.  She cared so deeply for them, that when she was dying of cancer one of her final requests of me was that I go personally to visit each of them to let them know she had passed and to express her love for them.  What a powerful experience those visits were for me.

As I have viewed the videos available at minisering.lds.org one in particular caught my attention.  It is titled "An Invitation to Act".  At the beginning of it Elder Ballard issues an invitation.  He says, "I invite you to study 3rd Nephi by identifying every reference to the word minister in any of its forms and every reference to the phrase one by one.  Once you have thoroughly identified these words and phrases, please consider what The Book of Mormon teaches about ministering.  I also invite you to seek the Lord's help to understand how ministering applies.  All leaders and members of the Church need to be careful not to just minister to those names on a list but to minister to all of Heavenly Father's children. My brothers and sisters I testify that this is the work of the Lord. May He bless you to implement with power the counsel from the First Presidency."  Sisters, I am accepting his invitation this week as part of my daily study from The Book of Mormon.  I know that this simple thing will increase my understanding and help me invite the Spirit to guide my ministering efforts.  Will you join me?

Many of you may still have questions about implementation and how to move forward.  But just as there are questions, there are many materials being published online to help leaders and each of us understand our new roles and responsibilities and how to effect the changes that may be needed to move this work forward.  One page that contains helpful explanations is the Frequently Asked Questions.  If you've wondered about any of these things listed below, you can go to that page and read to gain understanding for yourself.

I would love to hear from our sisters as they begin to experience Ministering.  If you are willing to share your experiences with the sisters of our Stake, please email me at loriepierce.rs@gmail.com, so I can include them in future blog posts.  We love you sisters and look forward to our continued associations and service together as sisters of the Columbia Maryland Stake.

- Lorie Pierce

Ministering Replaces Home Teaching and Visiting Teaching - Frequently Asked Questions