Angels In the Outfield-Visiting Teaching Conference

We are all on a team, our “Relief Society” team. Our position on that team is to nurture, encourage, uplift, and bear one anther's burdens, to emulate the Savior. When we are offering that relief to others we become a member of a different team, the “Angels” team as we partner up with angels from the other side, just like we saw in the clip from from the “Angels in the Outfield” movie.

How do we know who needs our help? We follow the example of the young boy in the movie and pray for help. Sister Beck challenged us to pray for the gift to be “quick to observe”. If we are sincere in our request – the Lord will let us know what to do. In our Visiting Teaching conference today we really didn't talk about visiting teaching because the heart and soul of visiting teaching is charity. Look at our team scoreboard – our stats are high. The sisters in our ward are doing an amazing job of fulfilling their roles as visiting teachers and as a result our ward is blessed. One of the purposes of the this conference is to motivate us to do even better. Statistics give us a good guideline as to how we are doing but they don’t really tell us if we are truly ministering to our sisters.

Sister Beck gave us a story of 2 sisters who faithfully did their V.T. early every month. They made their appointments early in the month and even prayed before they went out. One time they went to visit a sister whose husband was ill. As they visited the baby was crying downstairs and the husband was unable to help. Amidst all the commotion they shared a well prepared message. Then as they left they said, “if there is anything we can do to help let us know” as they left behind a kitchen full of dirty dishes and a sister who was feeling a little overwhelmed. They completely missed the point of the visit – they weren’t quick to observe. It was easier to leave their sister in the outfield than to help her.

Let’s make sure as we visit teach we are not just filling a statistic. Let’s be aware our sisters in Relief Society who are struggling. Let’s step up our efforts to help them, remember them as we visit teach them, and pray for them individually in our prayers. If we see someone sitting by themselves let’s get up and go sit by them or invite them to sit by us. If there’s not seat let’s at least acknowledge them, touch them on shoulder, smile at them, and talk to them. Let’s look for anyone new or visiting and shake their hand as we introduce our self. Let’s invite them over for dinner or family night or a walk. Let’s call them to see if they want a ride to enrichment or church.

Let’s take a different approach to planning our month. Instead of allowing the busy-ness of life decide for us when we can fit in our visiting teaching, fellowshipping, service, and friendshipping, let’s schedule first those things that are important. We will find we still have time to take care of all the small things that seem to consume our time.

As we visit teach we are "earthly" angels. As we extend ourselves, even if it’s hard, and personally reach out to our sisters, Joseph Smith promised us that: "angels cannot be restrain’d from being our associates"…. ”they will be round about us to bear us up”. D&C 84:88 By Linn Evans

August Cooking Club-Fresh Fruits & Veggies

On August 13th Pam Henderson hosted our monthly Cooking Club. We were very fortunate to have a Lisette Marcotte of Farmer Fresh To You as a guest speaker. She shared her vast knowledge of produce with us and now we're going to share it with you.

As part of the fun evening we each entered our name for a drawing of a Small Box of fresh veggies & fruit that Lisette brought from her business. Linn was the lucky winner!

Watermelon: Did you know that the best way to tell if your watermelon is ripe is to feel the outside of it for ribbing. A ripe watermelon should feel "ribbed".

Small melons: they need to smell fresh and sweet. They should have some "give" to them to be ripe. Cantaloupe should have some "give" at the end where it has been cut from the vine. Ogen melons are a great melon. Try one!

Corn on the cob: Should be eaten within 2-3 days of being purchased. If you are not going to eat your corn right away, pull the silks out and store in your refrigerator. Keep the husks on. Pulling the silks prevents the mold from growing.

Carrots: Purchase with heads on so that you know they are fresh. Then cut the tops off before storing as the tops will pull all the nutrients out of the carrot. Yellow carrots are sweeter than orange.

Tomatoes: Never store in the fridge. Refrigerating causes the membranes to break down and they lose their flavor.

Peppers: All bell peppers start off green. Yellow tend to be a little sweeter than the green and red even sweeter than the yellow.

Cauliflower: Did you know that orange cauliflower has a nuttier and sweeter flavor than the white?

Apples: Don't store apples with any other fruit as they give off ethylene which accelerates ripening.

Fresh Herbs: VERY high in antioxidants. The flavor of fresh herbs is amazing. When cooking with fresh herbs, add them to the END of your cooking.

Garlic: Garlic has HUGE health benefits. It enhances your immune system, healthy heart, blood circulation, antioxidants, digestion, cuts cholesterol, and benefits your skin. It also has healing properties and contains allicin which is an antibiotic. Several women shared their success with using garlic and warm olive oil inserted into the ear for ear infections.

Onions: Spring onions are very good, they have a strong and sweet flavor. You can interchange chives, leeks, green onions, spring onions as they are all onions. Did you know that shallots are a combination of garlic and onion? You can cut off the bottom of a leek and replant in soil and it will regrow. You can also do the same with garlic as it is a bulb.

Turmeric: Best seasoning for everything. Huge health benefits: Anti-cancer, helps with memory loss, antioxidant, anti-diabetes, fatigue, anti-inflammatory, and many, many more uses.

Honey: Best to use honey that is locally grown because its produced by bees in your local environment. Because bees consume foods in your area they have immune stimulating properties that help you to better adapt to your environment.

Video of Children Singing at Temple by Debi Lassen

Click here to view video

Primary Scripture Camp LA Temple Trip

Saturday our Primary took a trip to the Los Angeles Temple.

It was the culmination of the Primary Scripture Camp which had the theme of

"Building My Eternal Family"

Cam 2 combined with Cam 1 for a great event.

The little children felt the Spirit as they walked the grounds.

The children were brought into the foyer of the Temple and sat down as they listened to Bishop Hales and President Murphy. They learned a little more about how special the

House of the Lord is.

Out on the front steps
Brie and her mom
Galante's

Seay's

Carey's

Billings

Lassen & Kent families

Tupou's

Porter's

Say "Cheese"

We call this the "Wedding Tree"

What great smiles!

Special Thanks to our WONDERFUL Primary Presidency for all their planning and work!

We love you!!!

Just a Game?

The following is an excerpt from this month's Ensign. The article is titled, "Just A Game?" If you wish to read this article in its entirety, click on "Just A Game"


"Online role-playing games may be more than a way to pass the time. For some, they can become addictive, leading to lost spirituality, lost opportunities, and lost relationships.

Two weeks ago, Jason* quit the high school track team because the meets and practice times conflicted with his online “guild quests” and “raids.” The trumpet he used to love to play now sits in the corner of his bedroom collecting dust. Instead of being at track practice or band rehearsals, Jason spends his free time playing an online computer game. He often stays up so late at night playing his game that he has begun to sleep through early-morning seminary.

Or consider Michael, at his typical spot after midnight: in front of the computer, headset on, playing an online adventure game with his “friends,” none of whom he has actually met. When his wife, Jenny, gently reminds him, “It’s late, and we haven’t read our scriptures or prayed together,” he replies, “I can’t come right now. We’re right in the middle of a raid, and my guild needs me.”

Then there’s Sara, who discovered online gaming** about a year ago. She was a top salesperson in her department, winning prizes and earning bonuses for outstanding performance. Online gaming, however, has negatively affected her work. She now plays most evenings and weekends, and she has stopped attending singles activities in her stake to make more time for gaming. She often leaves church early so she can continue her online adventures.

Jason, Michael, and Sara are representative of the growing number of people who demonstrate compulsive behavior in playing massive multiplayer online role-playing games (or MMORPGs). In these games, social networking meets virtual computer fantasy to bring players into exciting, collaborative quests. Tens of millions of players are active worldwide, with new players joining every month. The growth of the activity shows that an increasing number of men and women enjoy MMORPGs as a relaxing, recreational activity. But some people (like Jason, Michael, and Sara) are letting recreational, virtual life interfere with their actual lives.

Although many online gamers do not become addicted or even compulsive players, prophetic warnings about the use of our time in this mortal life indicate that online gaming is an activity that warrants caution. Of course, MMORPGs are not the only form of recreation that have the potential to cause problems. There are many activities that can become so absorbing that they rob participants of spiritual, intellectual, and social development. We hope that the explanations, suggestions, and prophetic counsel included in this article may be helpful to individuals and families as they seek the guidance of the Spirit in finding balance in their lives. "

to continue click here http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?locale=0&sourceId=afee15e67b5b2210VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

Council To Youth by Boyd K. Packer

Click on link for an inspiring talk to our youth from Boyd K. Packer





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnOx2qxVpPY