Overcoming Adversity
The Lord said to the
prophet Joseph Smith, "For He will give unto the faithful line upon line, precept
upon precept, and I will try you and prove you herewith."(Doctrine and
Covenants 98:12) The definition of the word prove in this scripture means to
"learn or find out by experience"(Merriam - Webster Dictionary). Our
mortal journey is filled with experiences some of which are trying and
seemingly overwhelming. This is part of the "proving" process.
Adversity, often times,
comes without warning. These times can cause us to draw closer to the Lord or
withdraw from the Lord with bitterness and anger.
May I suggest we be
prepared for adversity by doing the following:
1) Be grateful for what
has been given to us no matter what the circumstances. Remember "when upon
life's billows you are tempest tossed ... Count your many blessings name them
one by one"
(Hymns #241)
2) Search, ponder and live
the scriptures everyday
3) Prayer, morning and
night, for guidance and strength to prepare for and overcome trials and
adversity.
May we patiently prepare
for and endure well the lessons in life that help us become like our Heavenly
Father. May we be more kind and merciful to those around us. Our reward will be the sweet peace of the Holy
Ghost that will soften our hearts and strengthen our resolve to become a little
better. I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Pres. Wagley
You Do Make a Difference!
As we journey through life, we sometimes get
caught up in the daily routines of our lives; we are influenced by pressures of
peers and worldly trends, as well as worldly standards. We find ourselves feeling outnumbered and
overwhelmed by the thoughts of “Will my standing up for what is right really
make a difference in a world so full of negativism and wickedness?” The answer is a resounding, “Yes!” You do make a difference! There are lots of others whom were
outnumbered and should have felt defeated but they continued to live
righteously, realizing that they believed Christ, when he promised to not leave
them comfortless.
One person comes to all our minds when we talk
about standing against the odds, Job. He
was the perfect and upright man who through his afflictions, which were great,
declared: “My witness is in heaven, and my record is on high. My friends scorn me: but mine eye poureth out
tears unto God… I know that my Redeemer liveth.” What
a testimony, against the odds, he continued to stand firm in his
testimony. No matter the trends of the
world, the thoughts of friends or pressure from family. Job, set the example and stayed his
course.
The scriptures are full of those that stood firm
against the odds, like: Adam, whom was
obedient to the commandments of the Lord.
Paul, who was a fearless
missionary and declared “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is
the power of God unto salvation.” (Romans 1:16) Simon Peter who declared, “Thou
art the Christ, the son of the living God” when question who Christ was. Nephi, who with no wavering answered, “ I
will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded…” (1 Nephi 3:7) Ruth, who forsook all to comfort and be with
her mother-in-law while following the true and living God. Mary, Christ’s mother, who stated, “..be it
onto me according to thy word.” (Luke 1:38)
And the list can go on!
The greatest example of course is Jesus
Christ. While on the earth Jesus
completed his duty designated by His Father, He turned His face towards eternal
goals, pledge His heart to His Father and gave His life for us! President Monson shared, “When we obey as did
Adam, endure as did Job, teach as did Paul, testify as did Peter, serve as did
Nephi, give ourselves as did Joseph Smith, respond as did Ruth, honor as did
Mary, and live s did Christ…All power becomes ours. We cast off forever the old self, and with it
defeat, despair, doubt and disbelief. To
a newness of life we come—a life of faith, hope, courage and joy. No task looms too large. No responsibility too heavy. No duty is a burden. All things become possible.”
May we be able to add our names to the list of
those whom the Lord can trust to keep his commandments showing him that we love
Him and are willing and ready to serve in whatever we are called to
endure. Christ stated that “If ye love
me, keep my commandment.” May we be
found showing our love and devotion to our Savior, through our willingness to
keep all of His commandments!
Barbara Federkeil
Youngstown Stake Relief Society President
Scout Camp
The
young men enjoyed a week at scout camp with several different stakes attending.
Even though it rained at some point most days they were able to participate in
both learning and fun activities.
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| Look Ma! No hands! |
They
were allowed and even encouraged to bring bikes to cover the long distances in
between the areas.
They worked on learning new things through merit badge
classes like chess, first aid, archery, shot gun, citizenship in the community,
nation, or world, and swimming.
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| Working on the chess merit badge. |
They
participated in some service for the camp laying mulch paths down.
They
had nightly devotionals that the different stake presidencies gave. President
Harju gave one on Duty to God.
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| Devotional with Pres Harju |
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| Bro Farkas and Pres Harju |
And
they had fun activities like a zip line across the pond.
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| climbing the stairs to the zip line. |
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| Zip line across the pond |
The
families were invited out one evening to spend time with the young men. After
dinner there was a bonfire and skits. They opened the bonfire with the “cupid
shuffle” and the boys from our stake jumped in to participate right away.
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| cupid shuffle |
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| Stay on the sunny side skit. |
They
ended family night with an Order of the Arrow ceremony.
Girl's Camp 2015
What a
great summer it has been so far for the youth! Girls camp went great, the
girls were "on fire" in conjunction with the theme "Girl on
Fire". Sis. Lowrence and Sis. Wiemer did a fantastic job with
the planning and helping the week go great!!
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| Our fantastic cooks!
All the
other leaders as well including cooks, craft leader, music leader and nurses
all helped to make for a successful week!!
|
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| Music time. |
What
makes girls camp successful? A great indicator is the testimonies at the
end of the week, and the testimonies said it all and made it all worth it, the rain,
mosquitos, mud, etc.
We have
wonderful young women!! They have strong testimonies and good, kind
hearts.
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| Pinning bags together for the Beds for Little Heads service project. |
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| The cup song |
I saw a lot serving each other, making new
friends , helping others feel included and at ease at camp.
Oh Ye That Embark!
Oh Ye That Embark!
Youth Conference 2015
"O Ye that Embark in the service of
God" is this year's youth theme. This year's youth conference was great!! Thanks to all
involved!!
The youth had a chance to have some team
building in each of their "crews" with games, classes, and service
opportunities.
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| Human knot |
The large sailboat out in front was a nice
touch to the nautical theme, and it held great analogies to the gospel.
The youth were well instructed by our stake
president, the "Fleet Admiral".
Two of our newly returned missionaries, Elder
Wagley and Sister Connor gave a great "Mission Possible" class as
"agents" in the field.
The youth had a chance to learn blanket tying,
72-hour kits, etc.
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| tying blankets, 2 were donated to each ward. |
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| Filling the bishop's "stache" |
The highlight of the conference was the
service opportunities the next day.
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| Playing at the playground before the service activity. |
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The
youth helped to clean up areas of Mill Creek Park and then afterwards split
into different service groups to a variety of services to visiting a nursing
home, the Veterans, and doing outside cleanup at the stake center.
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| Random acts of kindness - Cheerful chalk drawings at a playground! |
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| Random acts of kindness - popcorn to go with a movie. |
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| Random acts of kindness - Donating to another youth group raiding money. |
Again the cherry on top was the testimony meeting the last morning. I couldn't but be
impressed with the depth of spirituality in our youth. They are examples to
me and us all. My
testimony was surely strengthened and we were all uplifted. The testimonies they
had of service were
amazing they truly felt the spirit of the theme, "O Ye that Embark in the Service of
God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength." What a wonderful
group of Young Men and Women we have in this stake!
