Jean

The most inexpensive place to buy religious art is the DI. There are many estates, etc that give their things to the DI and you can get them next to nothing. They might be a little dusty but clean them up and you have some good stuff to go on your walls.

This had a profound effect on me also. I read it many years ago when the book "Miracles of Forgiveness" came out. President Kimball also quoted Elder Ballard in his first chapter entitled "This Life is the Time". I know you can reference this to spiritual attributes you need to work on but I also used it for talents. For exmample I played the piano but I needed to improve. It made sense to me that I could certainly do this better with my body so I took more piano lessons and music has been a big part of my life in the church. I know we can't do everything, but it helps me to think about this doctrine and try more things in this life.

If you remember attending M Men and Gleaners when you were single. If you taught or attended junior Sunday School. If you learned a new hymn in Sunday School during practice time in opening exercises. If you gave a 3 minute talk in Sunday School opening exercises. If you went to Relief Society classes on weekday mornings and attended classes that were called cultural refinement, homemaking, mother education, or social relations. If you attended or taught Primary in the middle of the week after school. If you attended or took part in a visiting teaching program by Janice Kapp Perry called "Only A Visiting Teacher" There are probably many more, but that's all I can think of for now.

I was thrilled to read about the focus for next year on Christ. It has been very hard to teach these lessons about visiting teaching to the inactive sisters I visit this year. They focus the visiting teaching lessons on various aspects and we've taught about Christ many times in the past. Nothing new! :)

"Slow does not necessarily mean reverent." That is a true statement. It drives me crazy when hymns are turned into dirges too. I notice that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings their music at a good clip. It's hard to make a joyful noise when you are doing it in slow motion.

Pay off my debts. Pay off my family members' debts Keep some for emergencies -- than I would give the Bishop several million dollars at the time he begins tithing settlement. I think it would be so cool for members to come in for their tithing settlement and then have the bishop tell them one of their blessings for paying tithing is a rich anonymous donor wants to pay off all their debts including their house. (We have a poor ward so it would be doable) Then those people that never show up for tithing settlement would be sorry!

When I've gone through hard spots or even struggling with my testimony, I only concentrate on the Savior. I don't care what other people are doing in church or if the kids are running around. I put my focus on God and the Savior by immersing myself in scripture, in conference talks, writings of the general authorities, etc. Taking an institute class helped me a lot in going deeper with my relationship with God. Feeling a closeness to Heavenly Father makes a huge difference in my life. Have you had your patriarchal blessing? If you have, read it again. If you haven't, get your recommends and go for that spiritual experience. It's wonderful to concentrate on Heavenly Father's plans for you. I'm sorry about your wife. I'm sure your still in grieving process. What we put our focus on defines us and our quality of life.

I've been relief society meeting coordinator for about 3 years now. I'll admit it can be a ton of work. When I was first put in we had monthly meetings. Now we don't have them every month, but we at least have them quarterly as the handbook suggests. We always celebrate the RS birthday in March. We've used people in our ward who are talented in various areas. We've had one successful relief society on cooking healthy. We've had game nights tied up with service projects. We wrote down a service we could do and posted it on a bulletin board. The winning sisters of the games would go and pick a service as their prize. That was successful because people actually came through with their service project. I think it's important to work with the RS presidency on the needs in the ward and tailor your activities... ie self-esteem, marriage builders, sewing, date nights, etc. to whatever would be most helpful to the women in your ward. I think it's important to have a committee and different people can focus on the 4 aspects of the meeting -- publicity, food, whatever decorating is necessary and the activity. There are quite a few ideas you can get from the internet. There are even RS pinterest boards. Good luck with your calling.

I think you should pray before you go to RS and see if there is someone that needs your friendship. You can be directed to talk to the person who needs you. I've experienced this and it's a good feeling to be led by the Holy Ghost.

If you can't solve your problems, manage them. I've often thought about this quote and know that some problems don't go away. But if I think about them, I can usually figure out something that will help. It makes me feel more in control.

Hi -- Mintamintasticeh. Welcome! I've been lurking on here for a long time and enjoy these boards.

I love southern gospel music and some CCM. I especially love Laura Story's song, Blessings. I've been a member of the church a long time (like over 40 years) but I come from a born-again background. My father was a minister and I played the piano for church since I was in 6th grade. I grew up on "The Old Rugged Cross", "He Lives", "Until Then", "I'll Meet You in the Morning", "What A Friend We Have in Jesus", etc. I had the honor of having my Dad live with me for the last 6 years of his life. (He passed away two years ago.) Anyway, I took him to his church, Assembly of God, as much as I could and listened again to a lot of the old songs. I also attended my own ward so spent a lot of time on Sundays in church. I'm very close to my two sisters who are nonmembers and almost every time I visit I attend church with them also. (They have lived in towns where there have been no LDS chapels.) Anyway I'm one of the unusual active LDS members who have kept up on southern gospel and some CCM. I just attended a week ago a Blackwood Brothers concert. They are really old-school southern music, though. I actually really love southern gospel. I like quite a bit of CCM but some of the songs are so repetitive it gets on my nerves. I do like much of the music of Steven Curtis Chapman; Michael Smith; Brandon Heath; Casting Crowns; Phillip, Craig & Dean, etc. I like a lot of LDS music besides the hymns too. Are you familiar with Kenneth Cope, Michael McLean, Hilary Weeks, etc.? Thanks for asking this. Just in case you can't tell, I love music. It touches my soul like nothing else can.

This can be a gut wrenching topic. Speaking as a mother who has a daughter who at the age of 8 was touched inappropriately by a 42-year-old neighbor man, and I called the police when I learned about it, my feelings are definitely -- protect your children. They depend on you and this is not a theoretic discussion. I do feel that the Holy Ghost can guide you. That's the only thing you can do in this life -- pray with all your heart and use wisdom in all things. Teach your children that if an adult tells you to keep it a secret -- tell the nearest trusted adult. Adults should not tell children to keep secrets and our children should be taught this. As far as not going to church because a child sex offender is in attendance, I would go. But I would be fasting and praying all the while. Different wards handle this in different ways. My daughter, who is now an adult, told me that a few years ago in their ward a child was assaulted during mutual which was on a Wednesday night. Evidently one of the mutual workers brought their children to an activity, and the assault took place in an empty classroom. A member of the bishopric read a letter to the Relief Society the next Sunday stating that members should know where their children were in the building at all times. They also stated that the person who committed this act had a restraining order placed against them and was not allowed to come within a certain distance of the church. I had never heard of this before so found it interesting. This is an extremely difficult subject and my sympathies go out to victims. Gentlesoul

This is an interesting question to me because I did get married in a civil ceremony and 6 days later was sealed in the Mesa Arizona temple. This happened in 1969 in Nebraska where there was no temple close to me at the time. I was a convert of 9 months and my father was a minister. Our bishop wrote to the first presidency and they gave permission for me to do this and have my father perform the ceremony after an interview with the local bishop and stake president. I didn't get married in a civil ceremony because of all the pomp and circumstances. I was the oldest child in my family and also the oldest granddaughter on my father's side. I had aunts and uncles tell my parents they were making arrangements to come to the ceremony even before the invitations were sent out. It was all about family love for me. In fact, it was at my wedding that my mother's side was all there for the last time before my grandpa died. The sealing was beautiful -- only my husband and his best friend and wife attended. My patriarchal blessing told me that a temple sealing would make my marriage here in this life more meaningful also. I'm grateful that I was sealed in the temple. I've been married for 43 years now and have absolutely no regrets on how it was handled. I'm glad that my family was able to be there and that my father performed the ceremony. It brought our family closer together and made absolutely no difference to having a forever family. Gentle Soul

Dravin -- That is an excellent thought. So many people are the stars in their own heads that they can't comprehend people thinking differently.