May Enrichment Meeting - "..care for the soul.."

Thanks to everyone who came to Enrichment last night. We hope you felt 'enriched' and rejuvenated by the time you went home.

Chris was busy scooping bath crystals and lip balm into little containers for everyone to have a sample to put into their de-stress bags.

A special thanks has to go to Claire and Jack who did a wonderful job with their presentation - we are grateful to have such talented people in our Ward.

Thanks to so many people who did something to help make the evening event happen

See you all again in a few months time!

PS For all those wondering what the wonderful smell was in the bath crystals it was a pure essential oil, Lemon Myrtle. - Thanks Lynda for kindly donating it to us.

Stake Relief Society Service Activity last Saturday

Last Saturday morning saw some of us out at the Stake Centre bright and early having a yummy breakfast before preparing gift packages for those who lost everything in the Victorian bushfires earlier this year.
What a fantastic job the Stake Relief Society did, there was something for everyone to do, for all skill levels and to see the table full of beautifully wrapped gifts of a cook book, journal and photo album for families to begin keeping a record of their lives again was great to see.

Thanks Stake Relief Society for giving us the opportunity to provide service for those who are less fortunate than ourselves - it was a lovely, simple but worthwhile service activity.

Loved the brief spiritual message at the beginning and the end of the event by the two new counsellors - sad that Sister Fran wasn't there for us to say farewell to (but it sounded like she was having a great time elsewhere!), and good old Sister Betty was hard at work as usual, leaving the kitchen clean and sparkling and making sure we all had plenty to eat.

We are grateful for all the work that the Stake Relief Society Presidency do - we will miss having Sister Fran come to visit us and fortunately we won't miss Sister Betty because she will be back in our Ward more often now! Now it means we will miss Sister Evelynne at times but will also get to have Sister Katie visit with us sometimes (and that's a bonus because she gets to see her sister Claire as well!) and of course the beautiful Louella who brings such a peaceful and sweet spirit with her - we are blessed.

Check out the Mormon Channel

Kristie sent me this link to the new radio station that the church has started. There's also a link to it on the church website so have a look sometime - it's got some great things on it.

http://radio.lds.org/mc/eng/

Thanks Kristie

What happened on Sunday

1. Another lot of lovely sisters visited with us today - so nice to have you with us, as well as the new Stake Relief Society presidency. Thanks for sharing a spiritual message with us all.
2. 5 Minute Music - as a group of sisters we all sang the beautiful hymn "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" - it sounded fantastic, almost as good as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir version we heard the week before ..... ok, I'm kidding, but nevertheless it was inspiring.
3. Our lesson today was from the talk by President Monson entitled "Joy in the Journey" Chernoa's spiritual preparation showed and we were all able to share and learn from this beautiful talk that had so much for us all to learn from. Please take the time to read this talk - it will bless your life. Here's a quote from the lesson:-
"Both abundance and lack (of abundance) exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend...when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that's present - love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us (happiness) - the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth."
4. SEE YOU AT ENRICHMENT MEETING ON THURSDAY NIGHT.

ENRICHMENT MEETING NEXT WEEK

Enrichment Meeting

Thursday 28 May

6.30 pm

Rosny Chapel

"Chicken Soup for the Soul"

"..care for the soul and for the life of the soul."

(D & C 101:37)

What happened on Sunday

Sorry everyone about missing last week - I know your week just wasn't the same as you didn't know 'what happened on Sunday'!!

But I'm back on track so here's what happened today at church:-

1. We welcomed Katarina from Hobart Ward, Margaret visiting again from Hawaii, and Sister Walsh. We hope you enjoyed meeting with us today.

2. Announcements:-
(a) Stake Relief Society Enrichment Activity - on this Saturday, at the Stake Centre - 8 - 9.30 am. Bring along any donations for the victims of the Victorian Bushfires that relate to record keeping - eg blank books for journals, photo albums etc. Please see a member of the Relief Society presidency if you require more information.

(b) Stake Musical Fireside - next Sunday evening at the Stake Centre at 7 pm

(c) AND THE BIG ONE for all the sisters in our Ward is our Enrichment Meeting
on Thursday 28th May, 6.30 pm at Rosny Chapel - "Chicken Soup for the Soul" - come and have a light tea before learning more about looking after our emotional health and wellbeing with Jack and Claire and then we will all be making our own 'de-stress' bag to take home. Please come along, invite those you visit teach, bring a friend and fellowship together. We are looking forward to seeing you all there.

3. 5 Minute Music - Sister Diana played a beautiful rendition by the Tabernacle Choir of "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" that was one of the hymns they sung at the last general conference. It was beautiful. It is sad it is no longer in our hymn book but thanks to Diana we will all be singing it next week in Relief Society (as several sisters voted it as their favourite hymn when we all had to write down our favourite hymn several weeks ago).

4. Piret led us in the lesson today entitled "Responding to Persecution with Faith and Courage". We talked about persecution that we may have received in our lives and how we deal with it and the great example that Joseph Smith is to us. "Fear not, but be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might."

5. Our prayers and thoughts are with Sister Wendy as she is back is hospital with complications from her surgery.

Lesson comments: Fasting with Power

Lindy's lesson on Sunday was pretty profound, and generated some insightful discussion among the sisters. The article she referred to can be found in the April 2009 Ensign, and also online at the following link: Fasting with Power

Lindy introduced us to the idea of fasting as a principle of power.

Proper and consistent fasting
can help us to call down
the powers of heaven.

"What if there were a way to overcome our habits, addictions, and burdens? What if there were a way to gain sufficient confidence in the Lord that you could call down the powers of heaven? What if there were principles you could teach your loved ones that, if applied, would allow them to overcome personal weaknesses and draw closer to God?
As we properly understand and live the law of the fast, these desired blessings can be ours."

Lindy talked us through some key features of an effective fast, and we discussed ways to develop the faith and spiritual strength necessary to receive the blessings of fasting.

Sister Dawn bore her testimony by sharing a childhood experience: her ward in NZ fasted repeatedly for a building missionary who had been severely injured. Even the children wanted to fast because they knew there was an urgent need for divine assistance, and they wanted to help. Dawn said that she knew fasting worked because of the miraculous recovery that the missionary made.

One of the points discussed was how a 24 hour no-food-and-water fast is not appropriate in individuals who are pregnant, breastfeeding or who have certain medical conditions. I appreciated comments from Sister Kristy who told us how (during her first pregnancy) she missed the spirituality of fasting, and sought her Bishop's advice. He also could not do 24 hour traditional fasts due to a medical condition, but told her that they could both still reap the spiritual blessings of fasting by choosing something they would normally have and doing without it.

One of the loveliest parts of our lesson was the scripture Isaiah 58:6-11. Some truly beautiful promises there to each of us, whatever our circumstances.

What happened on Sunday?

1. Maryanne, our Young Women's President, conducted the opening of Relief Society today. It's lovely having the young women meet with us every fast Sunday and reciting the young womens theme together. It was great having visitors also with us.
2. Announcements today:-
(a) Stake Relief Society Activity, Saturday 23rd May - 8 am at the Stake Centre
(b) Ward Relief Society Enrichment Meeting on Thursday 28th May - 6.30 pm Rosny Chapel
(c) Several Young Women Activities - please see a member of the YW Presidency for more information.
3. Sister Barbara shared some extracts from the VT message for the month - please organise time this month to visit your sisters.
4. Our lesson was about Fasting today - the lesson was taken from an article in the April Ensign (P.64) entitled "Fasting with Power". A beautiful article - take the time to read it, you will be uplifted and inspired if you do.

Fasting tomorrow for Wendy

This request has come from the Bishop.


Could we please all remember Wendy M. in our prayers and as we fast tomorrow as she has developed complications from her recent surgery.


Please pass on to any members of the Ward you have contact with today.


Thank you.