Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Easter Presentation
March 26, 2013 - Diane Adair



Easter Presentation
Diane Adair


The more we study, pray, and ponder the awesome Atonement, the more we are willing to acknowledge that we are in His and the Father’s hands. Let us ponder, therefore, these final things.

When the unimaginable burden began to weigh upon Christ, it confirmed His long-held and intellectually clear understanding as to what He must now do. His working through began, and Jesus declared: “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour.” Then, whether in spiritual soliloquy or by way of instruction to those about Him, He observed, “But for this cause came I unto this hour.” (John 12:27.)

Later, in Gethsemane, the suffering Jesus began to be “sore amazed” (Mark 14:33), or, in the Greek, “awestruck” and “astonished.”

Imagine, Jehovah, the Creator of this and other worlds, “astonished”! Jesus knew cognitively what He must do, but not experientially. He had never personally known the exquisite and exacting process of an atonement before. Thus, when the agony came in its fulness, it was so much, much worse than even He with his unique intellect had ever imagined! No wonder an angel appeared to strengthen him! (See Luke 22:43.)

The cumulative weight of all mortal sins—past, present, and future—pressed upon that perfect, sinless, and sensitive Soul! All our infirmities and sicknesses were somehow, too, a part of the awful arithmetic of the Atonement. (See Alma 7:11–12; Isa. 53:3–5; Matt. 8:17.) The anguished Jesus not only pled with the Father that the hour and cup might pass from Him, but with this relevant citation. “And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me.” (Mark 14:35–36.)

"Willing to Submit" - Elder Neal A. Maxwell, May 1985




EasterPresentation - Diane Adair - March 26, 2013(Audio)

Monday, March 25, 2013

Daily Scripture


He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.

Psalms 147:3

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Matthew 25; Luke 12
March 19, 2013 - Nancy Baird



Quotes For Matthew 25; Luke 12
Nancy Baird


"Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?"
                        Mary Oliver, "The Summer Day"


"There is a tide in the affairs of men." 
                Shakespeare,  Julius Ceasar, Act IV, Scene 3.)


"When you look back on a lifetime and think of what has been given to the world by your presence...inevitable you think of your art, whatever it may be, as the gift you have made to the world in acknowledgment of the gift you have been given, which is the life itself...That work is not an expression of the desire for praise or recognition...but the deepest manifestation of your gratitude for the gift of life."
 Stanley Kunitz, from The Wild Braid


"That one talent that is death to hide."
    John Milton,  b. 1655.  In despair over his blindness that was preventing him from being able to present a "true account" of himself to his Maker.


"You should paint like a man coming over the top of the hill singing."      
    Robert Henri, American painter, quoted by George Will, Deseret News, March 14, 2013.



Matt25;Luke12 - Nancy Baird - March 19, 2013(Audio)

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Happy Birthday Relief Society


March 17, 1842
"Charity Never Faileth"
171 Years Strong

This great circle of sisters will be a protection for each of you and for your families. The Relief Society might be likened to a refuge—the place of safety and protection—the sanctuary of ancient times. You will be safe within it. It encircles each sister like a protecting wall.
Boyd K. Packer


 

You are now placed in a situation where you can act according to those sympathies which God has planted in your bosoms. If you live up to these principles how great and glorious!—if you live up to your privilege, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates. … If you will be pure, nothing can hinder.
Joseph Smith




“We are part of a grand whole. We need each other to make our sisterhood complete. When we reach out to clasp the hands of our sisters, we reach to every continent, for we are of every nation. We are bonded as we try to understand what the Lord has to say to us, what He will make of us. We speak in different tongues, yet we are a family who can still be of one heart.”
Elaine L. Jack
Twelfth Relief Society General President



“You are members of the greatest women’s organization in the world, an organization which is a vital part of the kingdom of God on earth and which is so designed and operated that it helps its faithful members to gain eternal life in our Father’s kingdom.”

Joseph Fielding Smith



As a new Relief Society presidency, we have sought the Lord earnestly to know what essential things He would have us put in our Relief Society handcart to continue moving His work forward. We have felt that Heavenly Father would first have us help His beloved daughters understand the doctrine of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. As we do so, we know our faith will increase, as will our desire to live righteously. Second, as we have considered the critical need to strengthen families and homes, we have felt that the Lord would have us encourage His beloved daughters to cheerfully cleave to their covenants. When covenants are kept, families are strengthened. Finally, we feel He would have us work in unity with the other auxiliaries and with our priesthood leaders, striving to seek out and help those in need to progress along the path. It is our fervent prayer that each of us will open our hearts and let the Lord engrave in them the doctrines of the Atonement, covenants, and unity.
Linda Burton
General Relief Society President



“Little did the original members of the organization realize … how great their beloved Society would become.”
Amy Brown Lyman


Eighth Relief Society General President

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Matthew 26; Luke 22; John 13
March 12, 2013 - Diane Adair


                                  
QUOTES for Matt 26; Luke 22; John 13
Diane Adair


Note - Diane Taught the lesson for March 26, 2013 today (3/12/13)



"The sacrament…most often repeated ordinance in the church…with so very much at stake this ordinance commemorating our escape from the angel of darkness should be taken more serious than it often is…it should be a powerful, reverent, reflective moment it should encourage spiritual feelings and impressions…as such it should not be rushed…it is not something to get over so that the real purpose of Sacrament Meeting could be pursued…this the real purpose of the meeting…and everything that is said or sung or prayed in these meetings should be consistent with the grandeur of this sacred ordinance to remember…on some days we will have cause to remember the unkind treatment that our Savior received, the rejection He experienced and the in justice oh the injustice He endured when we too face some of that.  His life we too can remember that He too was troubled on every side but not distressed, perplexed, but not in despair…persecuted, but not forsaken cast down, but not destroyed…when those difficult times come to us we can remember that Jesus had to descend below all things before He could ascend above them…and that He suffered pains and afflictions of every kind that He may be filled with mercy and know how to succor His people us, to run to our aid..to relieve us from pain…to those who stagger or stumble He is there to steady and strengthen in the end.  He is there to save us and for all this He gave His life…however dim our days seem they have been darker for the Savior of the world…in fact in an otherwise perfected body our Lord of the sacrament table has chosen to retain for the benefit of His disciples the wounds in His hands and feet and side signs if you will that painful things happen even to the pure and perfect.  Signs if you will, that pain in this world is not evidence that God does not love you…it is the wounded Christ who is the captain of our souls, He who yet bears the scars of sacrifice."
                                                                           Jeffrey R. Holland


"To reap the benefits of love, we must be specific, action must be taken.  The hungry man must not be pitied he must be fed.  The lonesome boy/girl needs not just a quick smile she needs someone to walk with arm in arm."
                              Marvin J. Ashton


This is the talk Diane referred to by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland - "This Do in Remembrance of Me"
"This Do in Remembrance of Me" - October General Conference 1995 - Elder Jeffrey R. Holland



Matt26;Luke22;John13; - Diane Adair - March 12, 2013(Audio)

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Matthew 21-23; Mark 11-12; Luke 19-21
March 5, 2013 - Nancy Baird



QUOTES FOR MATTHEW 21-23; MARK 11-12; LUKE 19-21
Nancy Baird


"All the members of the Sacerdotal order that could be found were put to death.  [Annas] and Jesus, the son of Gamala, underwent frightful insults; their bodies were deprived of sepulture, an outrage unheard of among the Jews.  Thus perished the son of the principal author of the death of Jesus. [Caiaphas, who would have been dead by then]. This was the end of the Sadducean sect, a sect often haughty, selfish , and cruel...Profound was the impression when those aristocrats, so highly respected, were seen cast naked out of the city, given up to the dogs and the jackals.  It was a world which disappeared."   
                          The Life of Christ, Farrar, quoting Renan (1873), 738.

"It is difficult, if not impossible, to teach doctrine without personality."
                            David O. McKay   

"Mark became Peter's interpreter and wrote down accurately, but not in order, all that he remembered of the things said and done by the Lord.  For he had not heard the Lord or been one of his followers, but later, as I said, a follower of Peter..." 
                            Eusibius, quoting from Papias (A.D.120), 129.

"Take all away from me,
but give me ecstasy."
            Letters of Emily Dickinson, 426.


The French are a frugal people who have learned to give so that the recipient feels good in receiving.  Sidney Harris says:  "One of the loveliest examples is a note that Corot the painter sent to his friend Daumier who was nearly blind and facing eviction on his 65th birthday:  'Friend, I have a little house at Valmondois which I could not for the life of me think what to do with.  Suddenly I thought to give it to you.  Liking the idea I have had your ownership legally confirmed.  I had no idea of doing you a good turn.  The whole scheme was carried out to annoy your landlord.  Ever yours, Corot.'  And Daumier wrote gratefully in reply:  'You are the only man from whom I could take such a present and not feel humiliated.'"
                                               private files, Nancy Baird


Matt21-23;Mark11-12;Luke 19-21 - Nancy Baird - March 5, 2013(Audio)