Mosiah 4:15

• Please make sure you've called and checked in on the sisters you visit teach. The Relief Society Presidency will be calling to get your report and we want to know how your sisters are doing. 
• Thank you for being so diligent in taking care of all the illnesses and such this cold and flu season. We appreciate your service and I know those who have been served appreciate it as well. When we serve one another we grow in our love one to another. 
• Its that time of year again, the final frost date is approaching and its time to prepare your garden plots. Join us at Pilar R. home on Tuesday, February 5th @ 6 pm for the first of our Self-reliance mini-classes. Pilar will show us what we need to do to get things ready for our first seeds and seedlings to go into the ground. Don't have, or don't have room for one? Not a problem, grab a flower pot and begin with just one plant. Nothing tastes better than garden fresh vegetables.
• Mark your calendars for Friday, February 15th, 7-9 pm. We will be having a ward Valentine's Day Cupid Carnival. ALL ward members are invited. There will be games, refreshments, music if you want to dance, and plenty of socializing to be a ton of fun. Oh, and wear something red.
• We have made a few changes to some of the visiting teaching routes. Those changes will be passed out on Sunday. Please see me or Christy L. if you did not get and current list of the sisters you visit.
• When was the last time you wrote one of the missionaries? Send them a card or letter, it's a great Sunday activity and they love hearing from us. See the back of the Ward program on Sunday for addresses.
• Playgroup is meeting every Thursday at Hollywood Park.  This will be a weekly Playgroup from 10:45 a.m. until 12 noon.
• See our "Calendar of Events (to the right) for other important dates to remember.  Also see http://www.lds.org 

Are you enjoying the warmer weather?

I love this video! How many times do we look at another's "dirty laundry" without realizing we're looking through our own biases or "dirty windows"? Let's love each other in spite of short comings, our or theirs, and we will find that Atonement will make up for the rest.

• The Las Vegas Temple is once again open. Check on the Temple picture to the right to see the schedule.
• Mark your calendars for Friday, February 15th. We will be having a ward Valentine's Day Party. More details to come.
• We have made a few changes to some of the visiting teaching routes. Those changes will be passed out on Sunday. Please see me or Christy L. if you did not get and current list of the sisters you visit.
• When was the last time you wrote one of the missionaries? Send them a card or letter, it's a great Sunday activity and they love hearing from us. See the back of the Ward program on Sunday for addresses.
• Playgroup is meeting every Thursday at Hollywood Park.  This will be a weekly Playgroup from 10:45 a.m. until 12 noon.
• See our "Calendar of Events (to the right) for other important dates to remember.  Also see http://www.lds.org 

We missed you...What you missed

If you were unable to attend our Relief Society meeting on Tuesday evening, we missed you. It was a great and informative meeting and I wish you could have shared it with us. When Bishop issued the call of Relief Society President to me, after a few moments of panic, some thoughts came very clear to my mind. The first were about counselors and board members. The second thought was that we, as a Relief Society, need to work on becoming self-reliant; financially, spiritually, physically, and temporally. I thought of the scripture in Doctrine & Covenants 88:118-119, and that these 4 areas made up the floors of our "house." Tuesday night's meeting was what I called "a quick tour" of these floors. I'm adding a few of the notes that were taken during the tour. I hope they whet your appetite for future meetings as we strive to Get Our Houses in Order.

Temporal (food-storage):

•   Begin with BASIC (3 months), then go on to LONG TERM (1 year) and if you've got all that and are rotating then get an EMERGENCY (72 hour) kit together.
•   Budget money each month for food storage, if you just can't afford it in your budget then do the spare change method. Take a jar and every evening dump your spare change into the jar. At the end of the month take the change and purchase something for your food storage, an extra can of vegetables, bag of beans/rice, whatever. The important part to remember is don't spend that money on anything but food storage!

 Physical: 

• Schedule an hour each day that is for you to walk or go to the gym or work out at home. Whatever it is, stick to it and although you don't want to in the beginning, you'll feel better and better about yourself after you have. If you take that hour for you, you will have the time you need for everything else. 
• Water! Drink it all the time. It will reduce the desire to drink soda or anything else and it will help everything inside move as it should. Water is very necessary to our well-being and staying (or getting) fit.

 Financial:

• First and foremost is always pay your tithing.
•  Income 
• get and  keep up on whatever training you need to stay on top of your job/career
•   Insurance
• Retirement and Savings
• don't rely on anyone but yourself for your retirement savings
• you should work towards having 3-6 months of income in savings for emergencies.
•  Debt-do all you can to get out of it.
• The Church has said there are 4 reasons that justify going into debt:
1.  Mortgage on an AFFORDABLE home
2.  Education or training to support yourself and family
3. A WISE business plan
4.  An AFFORDABLE automobile
• But that said we should be working to pay off these debts as soon as we can.

Spiritual: How can we bring and keep the Spirit in our homes? We strive to be disciples. (disciple-knows and does more)(strive-work in progress)

•     Scripture Study-Persist it may not be easy but it is important. 
•           Family Home Evening-Be consistent. Rotate lessons and wholesome FAMILY activities for interest
•         Prayer-Insist on it. 
•         Bear testimony to each other-Bear it, Mean it, Live it 
•         The following ideas about having a spiritual home came from a Senior Seminary class:
•   Family Dinner
•       Have a clean house
•      Regulate the Media "You can't play in the mud and not get dirty" be careful what comes into your home through TV, music, internet etc.
•     Show love
•     Respect each other
•     Talk to each other

Your Potential, Your Privileges

• Tonight is our Relief Society Meeting. We will be meeting at  6:30 pm in the Relief Society Room. The theme is "Putting our Houses in Order" and there will be mini classes on different areas of our "houses" that need to be put in order; Spiritual, Financial, Physical, and Temporal. Child care will be provided. Please join us for a night of fun and learning.
• Saturday, January 19th there will be a special Fireside for all Priests and Laurels at the Anthem Stake Center. It will begin at 7 pm. Because it is a valley-wide fireside there is not room for parents or leaders unless they are driving. 
• This month's "Why I Believe" Fireside will be held at the Viking Chapel at 6 pm. The singer/actor who plays the Phantom in the "Phantom of the Opera" will be singing and his wife will be speaking. Sounds like a great fireside, don't miss it.
• The Las Vegas Temple is once again open. Check on the Temple picture to the right to see the schedule.
• Mark your calendars for Friday, February 15th. We will be having a ward Valentine's Day Party. More details to come.
• When was the last you wrote one of the missionaries? Send them a card or letter, it's a great Sunday activity and they love hearing from us. See the back of the Ward program on Sunday for addresses.
• Playgroup is meeting every Thursday at Hollywood Park.  This will be a weekly Playgroup from 10:45 a.m. until 12 noon.
• See our "Calendar of Events (to the right) for other important dates to remember.  Also see http://www.lds.org 

• This year our 2nd and 3rd Sunday lessons will be from the Teachings of the Presidents; Lorenzo Snow. We are excited to welcome our newest teacher, Dianne' Thompson, who will be teaching Lesson 1 on the 13th. AARON L. WEST Church Curriculum Editor, said "As you study President Lorenzo Snow’s teachings this year, you will come to know him as a prophet, seer, and revelator whose counsel is remarkably relevant today.” Read the rest of the article here.
• Our next Additional Relief Society Meeting will be held on January 15th at 6:30 pm. The theme is "Putting our Houses in Order" and there will be mini classes on different areas of our "houses" that need to be put in order; Spiritual, Financial, Physical, and Preparedness. Child care will be provided. Please join us for a night of fun and learning.
• The Las Vegas Temple will be closed until January 15th. 
• When was the last you wrote one of the missionaries? Send them a card or letter, it's a great Sunday activity and they love hearing from us. See the back of the Ward program on Sunday for addresses.
• Playgroup is meeting every Thursday at Hollywood Park.  This will be a weekly Playgroup from 10:45 a.m. until 12 noon.
• See our "Calendar of Events (to the right) for other important dates to remember.  Also see http://www.lds.org