Welcome January Weather

Hello again my friends! I like seeing everyone on Sunday.

Here are the announcements for the week:
1. Tonight is the CES Fireside with Elder Tad R. Callister. It will probably be over by the time this is posted.
2. Ward Prayer will be tonight in FDL garage at 8pm. If you want to play on the intramural basketball team, please sign up tonight. The first game is Friday at 8pm. If you can't play, please support the team!
3. Tuesday is when Bishop and Brother Porter would like to start ecclesiastical endorsements. They're due by the middle of March if you will be a continuing student at BYU next fall.
3. Institute is at 7pm on Wednesday in B092 JFSB.
4. Mark your calendars for the ward temple day on Thursday, January 23rd. Please text 208-630-3933 and specify whether you are going for baptisms, an endowment session, or the sealings with Patriarch Mourik. It will be at 6:30pm and President Ashton would like to meet with our group as well.
5. Sunday, January 26th is a Stake Leadership Training meeting from 7-9pm at the Costco North chapel (probably).

Rachel was wonderful and taught our lesson today. Here we go. Sorry I haven't updated all the missing quotes. Here's the link to the lesson. Please read it. Rachel did a wonderful job preparing and teaching today. It would be a great benefit to everyone to read this lesson.

https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-of-presidents-of-the-church-joseph-fielding-smith/chapter-1-our-father-in-heaven?lang=eng

Joseph Fielding Smith
Loved to play ball, but more so reading. Especially the scriptures. Nervous that he would be called on a mission after getting married. Called to serve in England one year after marriage. One of the hardest things of his life. 0 baptisms. Wife passed away after two children. Remarried, died after 7 children. Remarried a younger woman who loved to sing. Saw the SLC temple built. Called to be prophet in 1970, died 1972.

Noble Father video Mormon Messages
http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages#earthly-father-heavenly-father

I loved that last part: Of all the titles..
What are your thoughts? As you were thinking about our HF and his role.
Adrienne: The kids don’t really think about why they have everything. I kind of do that. He is a part of everything. Everything is there because of him.
Ryan: There are so many times throughout my life where I’ve stopped and been amazed at of all things in the eternitites, He is our father. He may not be there every day all day, but he is working in our behalf. As I was watching that, though he does delegate, I feel like he is actively working on our behalf and I feel a sense of gratitude I haven’t before.

Rachel: Like the father says, I’m far, but near, always thinking of them. He always sees us and knows our needs.
Brittany: I think that video made me think about how tenderly HF thinks of us. All of our hearts melted seeing those kids, so think about that and how we are infants in HF kingdom. We are celestial infants. We stumbled sometimes, but he still feels tenderly for us. He knows that we will get there. It made me think that sometimes I think of HF being very justice oriented, but he loves us very much.
Rachel: We’re just infants in the sense that we might stumble and fall, but HF accepts us in spit of our mistakes.
Natalie: Brad Wilcox: little children don’t learn to walk in a day…. Before we came to the world, we progressed as far as we could. … we left those arms crawling but can return to them running. He didn’t leave us here to do it all alone.
Rachel: It was never the intention of our father in heaven to grope in darkness. … has been willing to give them direction. In what ways have you seen that light HF gives to guide you in your lives? In what ways has HF sent light to guide you?

Amber: Often I see the light looking back. I’m directed and guided but don’t see it until I look back. Often when I’m making decisions and not really knowing what I was doing.
Ashley: Sometimes you see the Lord’s hand the best looking back. The times I've seen it the clearest were the hardest. Why? Sometimes you don’t always know the why, but you can see how the Lord took you out of that state to help you be happy. That’s the big scale, and then every day little things. You build off the big things. This is where I can take that experience and things will turn out.
Rachel: Every trial we have will strengthen us. He gives us trials to help us succeed. For me, one of those things is just knowing who I am as a daughter of our HF. Even though we might make mistakes sometimes, that’s ok. HF loves us unconditionally. That’s who He is. He’s our Savior. Our older brother. What a blessing that is to know that.
This lesson talks a bit about the First Vision and what we learn from that. The world was kind of in a lost state. Think about Christ’s character.
God is our father…. We know that our HF is a glorified, exalted being.
JS talks about the character of Christ: If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves.
Abby: Out of all the things that God is, he likes to be called father. That doctrine means that we understand family. I used to not really care about being a wife and a mother. It was secondary, but understanding that role of HF, our role I’ve really thought about it, I want to do all those things, but my priority now will be focused on motherhood. It helps me understand who I am.
Rachel: What a blessing that we can be the same.
Kiersten: If HF was once like us, he was able to push through struggles. If we didn’t understand the potential to become like him, we wouldn’t be able to progress.
Ky: If we understand Him we can understand our potential and where we’re going.
Ginger: When we understand our relationship with deity, for me it’s been important to understand that’s I’m a daughter of God, and I’ll do some things and not others.
Rachel: There’s a CES fireside that Pres. Uchtdorf gave. He talked about the ugly duckling. He talks about our true identity. We have so much potential. What an incredible thing that is. To be children of this being who created all things. I think that’s just incredible.
The lesson talks about how HF weeps over his disobedient children. It talks about how when Enoch converses with the Lord. HF is weeping. Enoch asks why. … weeping over their agency.
I think about the love HF has for each one of us. Maybe we feel fine, but how much does he weep when we fall away. I have an older brother who is far away from the Church. As I look at all the tears that have been shed over my brother in our own family, I can’t imagine how HF feels about those who go away.
Pres. Eyring tells the story of a grandmother whose grandson is sent to prison. She prays: why do I have this tragedy of a grandson who destroyed his life “I sent him to you because I knew you would love him no matter what he did.”
HF loves us and has sent others to love us. The way will not be easy in a decaying world. God won’t force us. He loves all of his children. The Savior paid the price for all sins.
Thinking about that, here’s our Father in Heaven, just knowing that love, think about the things we can do to reach out to those around us and show our love and care for them. Growing up I don’t really remember having him around. My parents have always welcomed him back with open arms. Our relationship has grown a lot. I think that love we’ve shown him has pushed that. Think about characteristics that we can apply in our lives. Reach out in the ward. That’s our job here. Reach out to our brothers and sisters and love them. Just as our HF loves us. I promise HF will send blessings your way. He will let you know of His love. I can see that. What a wonderful felling that is. He loves us individually. I hope we can build that friendship with him just as our earthly fathers. He will listen.