Happy Spring!

Hello Friends!
Who's excited for warmer weather? :D I need to go hiking.
Today was wonderful, and is still very wonderful. Here's what's going on that you need to be aware of:

1. Tonight @6pm is our Ward Missionary Fireside in the Chapel. Please come!
2. Also tonight and kind of a conflict @ 6pm is Stake Choir at the Pioneer Building.
3. Institute is on Wednesday @7pm in B092 JFSB. Ashlyn is teaching, so go enjoy her awesome teaching skills!
4. Saturday night @ 7-9pm is the first session of Stake Conference at the Costco North Chapel.
5. Sunday morning @ 10am is the second session of Stake Conference at the Wilk Ballroom.
6. Our Ward Temple week will be the 17-22. There will be groups going each night and the temple committee is working out the details for us. Look for it in Publicity's email.
7. Saturday the 22nd is a Stake Service Project at Pioneer Park @ 10am.
8. Our ward closing social will be on the 31st from 5-11pm. Carpooling will be scheduled through FHE groups.
9. Please report your visiting teaching. We showed you the form for it today and I've attached the link in my email. I know visiting teaching is a powerful tool that can really help strengthen all of us. It's an automatic friendship program. How can you not love the sisters you teach? :)

Now here's the lesson recap. Natalie did a beautiful job of teaching us about the scriptures from the life of President Joseph F. Smith, chapter 5. Sorry I didn't get all of it down like I normally do, I was multitasking throughout the lesson today. It was a beautiful lesson Natalie!

Natalie:
Alma 31:5

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 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.

I love that it talks about the power that the scriptures have over the mind.
I know that there have been a lot of times in my life where I have come across a scripture that I’ve read a hundred times before and it had a new meaning.
Ryan: The words Christ taught were meant to have more than one meaning. The scriptures are the same way because they are Christ’s words and will have a different meaning for us each time we read them.
Natalie: I was probably 14 when this happened. I grew up in San Diego. Big news down there are wildfires. When I was 14 we got two weeks off of school for a big fire. I live in Oceanside. The ocean was on the west, the east side of our stake was on fire, Camp Pendleton was on fire, the south was on fire. I remember being really scared. I turned to Helaman 5. Nephi and Lehi are preaching to the Lamanites and it doesn’t go over very well, so they’re put in prison. They thought they were going to die. It says they were encircled by fire. I thought I was encircled by fire and was comforted. They found courage in the fact that they were righteous and doing what they were supposed to. My dad comforted me too because he said that even if our house does burn down, we pay our tithing and we’ll be okay. The second week off of school we spent cleaning up our stake. It was really special to me to be comforted and help serve others.
Ashley: I’ve had a few times when I’ve opened the scriptures and the answer has been there that I needed. But I think what happens more often is the Spirit will bring a scripture to my mind or someone will say something that makes sense. I think the important thing is consistently. It’s crazy how doing it consistently will bless you in the future.
Natalie: Even if yo feel like it wasn’t the most spiritual experience the fact that you were willing to open your scriptures shows your obedience.
Arianne: Sometimes when I read the scriptures I like to think of it as reading a journal and I love to get to know each prophet. A little while ago I was reading in Ether. There’s the scripture about having weaknesses and being humble. That one was on my mind a lot. I was having a hard couple of months. The thought popped into my head “who said this and why?” I read a few verses before and got the context. It’s amazing how that’s what hit me. The similarities between what he was struggling with and what I was struggling with really hit me. They’re not just writing down their thoughts, but were inspired and hoped that someone would benefit from it. It makes it more personal.
Natalie: I’ve had that thought before reading the scriptures too. There’s these people in the scriptures that can be hard to connect with, but when you look at it in a broader sense, it makes it more powerful how they had the same struggles.

I love that it was his mom that taught him his love of scripture. It all comes back to the home. For him it was on the prairie, while they were being persecuted, that his mom made that a priority for him and helped him gain his love for the scriptures. I thought it was cool that here’s this prophet where this came back to his family.
What worked in your families to keep scripture study?
Rachel: All of us remember it different. The diligence that my mom did in getting us together. My own sisters are teaching their kids the scriptures now. Their testimonies that they’re sharing with their kids is inspiring.
Kelsey: My family wasn’t really good at keeping it consistent, but I remember when my sisters were learning how to read. It was a painful experience. We joke all the time about how it was a painful experience. Even though we have those memories, it did instill in us a love of the scriptures. It was important enough that if we didn’t get to sit down and read them, my dad would always talk about the scriptures to us.
Jo: Sometimes my siblings would have friends over and my dad would invite them to read with us. It was so embarrassing for my brothers, but it was so fun. They all know it’s a special time for our family.
Rachel: I sat in a q&a with Elder Bednar when I was at school. One of the things I remember him talking about was an experience he had raising his three boys. Some days it was hard, but we did it. Here’s an apostle. Maybe we’re not the best at it, but we tried, and we did it. Just that example is instilled in our heads. The importance of the scriptures. Maybe we don’t remember the verses, but we remember the scriptures.
Natalie: Now my parents love it when I go home and ask if we can study them together. My dad always tries to incorporate the scriptures when we call home and ask for help. The biggest fight my dad and brother ever got into was when my brother snuck out to see warped tour. My dad was waiting to tell him that Nephi could’ve rebelled, but he didn’t. He always tried to incorporate the scriptures.
How can we make it so the scriptures are first in our lives?
Ashley: I think oftentimes we get sucked into popular culture that say how to do anything better. It’s easy to get sucked into that kind of stuff. It’s new and easy. That scripture we read earlier talks about how they change our minds. Elder Packer said “Studying the scriptures will change behavior faster than a study of behavior will change behavior.” I know the scriptures are what will change us quickly.
Ky: I work late at night, and I’ll read the news before I go to sleep. The last couple nights at work have been kind of rough. I realized that if I could sit there and read the news, then why couldn’t I read my scriptures. If there’s time for that, there’s time for the scriptures.
Kate: I don’t know if you guys have read C.S. Lewis’s Screwtape letters, but I love it. He tells his nephew to do small things to improve his prayer. I feel like I can do the same thing with my scriptures by changing my habits just a little bit at a time.
Natalie: Let’s read 2 Nephi 25: 26

And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

I feel like that scripture is the very purpose for the scriptures and why we have them. It’s to testify of Christ and bring others to Christ. He concludes with his testimony.
I want to add my testimony that as we do that we’ll be strengthened in our own trials and be able to strengthen others.

Ky: This lesson made me think back to an object lesson Pres. Ford did a while back. He had a bunch of cups stacked up. Life kind of sucks the water out of us, and it’s important to refill that reservoir by doing the little things each day. As you read the scriptures you’re reading Christ’s words and strengthening yourself.
I’m not the best at it, but I always need to be working on it.