Welcome to April
Re-Cap Of Butte Second Ward Relief Society April Lessons
April Scripture
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth…”
Romans 1:16
April Quote
“This thing we call testimony is the great strength of the Church. it is the wellspring of faith and activity. It is difficult to explain. It is difficult to quantify …, yet it is as real and powerful as any force on the earth.”
President Gordon B. Hinckley
Come join us in April as we learn how to grow our faith and strengthen our testimonies.
Press Forward In Christ
As We Learn About Growing Our Faith and Strengthening Our Testimonies
Larene Hildreth: Butte Second Ward Relief Society President
April 9, 2023 General Conference Re-cap
Lesson: General Conference
Click below to read or listen to General Conference Talks.
We did not have a lesson today, because it is Easter.
Below are some thoughts from our sisters of what they thought of General Conference.
Easter Sunday
Comments
Elder Uchtdorf talked about the risk Heavenly Father takes as He sends His spirit children to us as parents. He talked about our responsibility to our children. He says, “They have limitless potential. They are destined to become glorious beings of goodness, grace, and truth. And yet they come to earth completely helpless, barely able to do anything besides cry for help.”
As parents, we don’t have everything figured out, yet God allows us to raise these spirits. We must love our children. We must teach them by being a good example. God does not let us alone in these tasks. He gives us things we can use to teach and be an example. Things we have are the love we have for our children, the desire to be good parents, the knowledge of the Atonement, and most importantly revelation.
“God is eager to pour out His Spirit to guide parents. As you are prayerful and sensitive to the Spirit, He will warn you of hidden dangers. He will reveal your children’s gifts, their strengths, and their unspoken concerns. God will help you see your children as He sees them beyond their outward appearance and into their hearts. With God’s help, you can learn to know your children in a pure and heavenly way.”
We can obtain revelation concerning our children by going to the temple with them, by going to church and taking the sacrament with them, by studying our scriptures with them, by having family home evening with them, and by enjoying activities with them. When we do these activities with our children, we get to know them and as we do, God reveals information to us—which is revelation.
I also liked President Eyring’s talk about finding personal peace. He tells us that when we find peace, we should pass it along to others. I also like what he tells us about finding peace with children who choose not to follow a path in the church.
He says, “The scripture (Proverbs 22:6) promises: ‘Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart form it.’ It will require the one charged with the child’s care and nurturing to be worthy of this gift of peace.”
Charity Lovshin
When we speak by the spirit, we will be given the words to say at the time we need to say them.
When we listen to prophetic counsel, we can stand the heat of the latter-days.
The light of Christ is given to every newborn child, and if we train those children in the way of Christ, even though they may depart from it temporarily, they will have the foundation of Christ’s love and can be brought back to the gospel.
When we choose to yield to heavenly powers, we have the power to access Jesus Christ’s power. We unite ourselves to God through the covenants that we make and keep.
Being one is bending to the authority of God. Unity requires harmony. Unity in the church is being one in Christ.
President Russell M. Nelson wants us to be disciples of Christ in our words and actions. He wants us to be peacemakers and examples of disciples of Jesus Christ. We should examine the way we treat others. When we act as peacemaker’s we build up others and inspire them. We must have compassion. Charity defines a peacemaker—it’s kind and does not think evil. Charity bears one another’s burdens and as we are charity, we stand as a witness of who Christ is. We should end personal conflict in our hearts. Charity is peace. What you judge in others you will be judged the same.
The Savior’s Atonement overcame all evil.
Contention drives away the spirit. Choosing to contend is a choice. We see that the world can be angry, hostile, contentious, abusive, bullies, and give silent treatments. Thes are not the ways of being disciples of Christ.
The Lord encourages us as members of His church to preserve our family history, to learn from our ancestors, and to make the necessary arrangements for them to receive the necessary ordinances in the gospel to help them progress along the covenant path so they can be blessed to have eternal families.
Linda Lovshin
April 23, 2023 Lesson
Lesson: "Follow Jesus Christ With Footsteps of Faith"
By: M. Russell Ballard
Click below to read the talk.
Teacher: Sherlyn Willis
M. Russell Ballard
Teacher: Sherlyn Willis
Comments
In today’s lesson, we learned that when we get lost, there is always hope. We can get lost in all sorts of situations that life throws our way, but if we keep having faith in Christ, we can find our path back to safety and surety.
We learned that hope is strengthened when we include Jesus Christ. The temple, blessings, and scriptures are a place to find hope. These are places and things that lead us to Christ and can give us strength.
We learned that we can find hope and strength in understanding who our ancestors are and past pioneers. Pioneers is a noun and verb. “As a noun it can mean a person who is among the first to explore or settle a new territory. As a verb, it can mean to open or prepare the way for others to follow.”
How can we be pioneers? President Nelson said that we must take charge of our testimony. We must work for it. We must own it. We must care for it and nurture it so that it will grow.
When we replace the word testimony with purpose, we read—"We must take charge of our purpose. We must work for it. We must own it. We must care for it and nurture it so that it will grow.”
Fear often gets in the way of our accomplishing our designed purpose, but we all have our own unique purpose and what a shame it is for those that don’t fill it and own it, because not only do they lose out on the possibilities of becoming more, but the people around them lose out on that legacy they should have left and one we could have learned from.
But if those people do own and nurture their testimony and fulfill their purpose, and we study their legacy, we get to gain strength and walk in footsteps of faith as we create possibilities for our posterity and future generations.
Eliminate fear and go forth in faith with every footstep.
Charity Lovshin
Re-Cap
Growing Our Faith And Strengthening Our Testimonies
As I think of this month’s theme, I think of small and simple acts that our Savior asks us to do every day, like praying, reading our scriptures, serving others, and doing those little things that grow our faith. As we grow our faith by doing these simple things, our testimonies are strengthened.
Larene Hildreth
Springtime in the Rocky Mountains can be challenging. Frequent snowstorms and cold temperatures are common. Sometimes it feels as if winter will last forever.
I tend to focus on the daylight hours getting longer as we approach the summer months. It always gives me a sense of hope that the seasons are changing. How fortunate for us that we are able to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ at this time of year, at a time when we are so anxious for more light, for comfortable warm days, to begin planting seeds, and to witness nature awakening around us.
Jesus taught, “I am the light of the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
Jeffrey R. Holland bore his testimony about brighter days when he said, “I testify that the father and the Son live and that They are close perhaps even closest via the Holy Spirit, when we are experiencing difficult times. I testify that heaven’s kindness will never depart from you, regardless of what happens. I testify that bad days come to an end, that faith always triumphs, and that heavenly promises are always kept. God is our Father, Jesus is the Christ, and this is the true and living gospel found in this, the true and living Church.”
Sisters, I know that as we look to the Savior, He can and will be our light as we navigate through the different seasons of our lives.
Larene Hildreth