Bishopric Message
In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints we believe in conferences. We hold ward and branch conferences. We have stake conferences, mission and district conferences, regional conferences and, of course, semiannual general church conferences held each April and October. But why do we have these various conferences in the church? Of General Conference, President Gordon B.Hinckley said, “These general conferences each six months are occasions to grow in faith and in love for the Lord and His eternal work.” President David O. McKay said there are four principal purposes of holding conferences of the church. First, to transact current church business. Second, to hear reports and general church statistics. Third, to approve of those names which I [the Lord]have mentioned, or else disapprove of them (D&C 125:155). Fourth, to worship the Lord in sincerity and reverence, and to give and to receive encouragement, exhortation, instruction and council. Thus we hold conferences at various levels of church administration to receive the mind and will of God through His duly constituted servants on the earth. As we approach another General Conferencemay we realize the importance of preparing ourselves to listen, ponder and pray as we are taught by apostles, prophets and others who are selected to speak to us. There is much to be treasured and remembered from past general conferences. They can enrich our lives and give us positive reinforcement against the evils of the world. May we prepare ourselves to hear a prophet’s voice and feel of our Heavenly Father’s spirit this conference season.
Your bishopric
Russell Mathis, Gaylen Atkinson
and Mark Nielsen
GOSPEL DOCTRINE CLASS
Study Schedule for October (Doctrine & Covenants)
Oct 4 GENERAL CONFERENCE
Oct 11 Desert Shall Rejoice Our Heritage p. 81-96
Oct 18 We Thank Thee for a Prophet D&C 21, 43
Oct 25 In Mine Own Way D&C 38, 42
OCTOBER 2009 CALENDAR
SEE LEFT SIDEBAR
WEST VALLEY CITY RECYCLING PROGRAM UPDATE
As a reminder regarding when to put out our
BLUE RECYCLING BINS, they go out every other
MONDAY. So put your blue bin out Oct. 12, 26; Nov. 9,
23; Dec. 7, 21; Jan. 4, 18; Feb 1, 15; Mar 1, 15.
Relief Society
Thank you to you sisters who occasionally substitute for our teachers and music in Relief Society. We appreciate your willingness to prepare the lessons and teach us on a short-term basis. We enjoyed our ‘Homemaking Harvest” night and would like to especially thank Earlene Thaxton and Janeal Atkinson for presenting various canning/drying helps. We had lots of handouts and even a power point demo. Several brought excess garden produce to share, including zucchini, tomatoes, sage, dill seed, banana squash, etc. We even had some fruit salad as a treat! We especially enjoyed visiting with each other for a short while. The only thing better would have been to have had you there, if you missed! We’d love to have you all join with us. Thanks again to those willing sisters who made reminder calls for this event.
Tuesday, October 13, will be a special night for you and your partner to come and listen to Dave Sayer, President Hinckley’s former bodyguard, who will tell of some of his experiences with our beloved prophet. We will meet at 7:00 pm, which is a half hour later than usual for our meeting. We have invited the other wards in our stake to join with us for this special event. There will be no nursery that night.
Relief Society Temple Day will be Tuesday, October 20. Jumpstart your week! Come join us in the Jordan River Temple. We carpool and enjoy this special time together.
We hope many of you were able to go to the predinner at the Stake Center, then to the Conference Center, or watched one of the broadcasts of the General Relief Society Meeting on September 26th. This is an event especially for the sisters, which always includes timely instruction for us. Kudos to those who donated blood for the recent blood drive. It is really a selfless service.
We offer our sincere condolences to Ida and Mark Nielson on the recent death of Mark’s son.
We also want to wish those who are not able to be with us because of ill health to know that we look forward to seeing you again soon.
Welcome to many of you who have recently become members of our ward. We hope you feel welcome among your sisters and brothers in the West Valley Fourth Ward. Help us get to know you better by coming to our meetings and activities.
RELIEF SOCIETY LESSON SCHEDULE
Oct 3-4 General Conference
Oct 11 JS 42 Eternal Family Diane Slade
Oct 18 JS 43 Prophet of God Julie Romero
Oct 25 Gifts to Help Us Rose Bowen
OCTOBER BOOK CLUB
Dear Biblios:
I have to tell you . . . I don't have near enough time to read. Nights up until 2 or 3 AM are just not cutting it! I wholeheartedly admit that I am truly inebriated the majority of time . . . with the written word. Anyone who thought I was speaking of some other inebriation, I will deal with you later. HEE HEE! It is those blasted suspense and mystery novels that I have such a difficult time putting down. I was thoroughly happy making the acquaintance of "Mr. Angell" again, and standing guard against that specter "Cricket Man," as I was given the privilege of fighting the great fight to keep six very special Bibles in the right hands. We met new friends in Andy, Bud, Maggie, Peggy, Prof. Madrigal, Jim and Abbey. We were exhausted chasing all over campus and back and forth to the cemetery . . . a favorite haunt of the "Crow" aka Cricket Man. Of course, as in all good and evil pursuits, we like to see "good" win out and we were not disappointed . . . . at least not until NEXT TIME! For any of you who may think that I truly have been nipping and am just rambling . . . au contraire! Yours Truly was the presenter for our August read of "The Lost Verses." Since I don't want to break my arm with back pats, I am trying to show some restraint andgive you insight into the evening we shared. We definitely had a ton of fun and I thank you all for your support and kind words of just how WONDERFUL my book review was!!!! HEE HEE! Okay, okay, it was good . . . maybe. I shall go "as the crow flies" and leave this alone. We will be visiting another of our Standard Works for the month of October . . . albeit, a fictional slant, on the beginnings of the Book of Mormon. Bring your imagination and prepare to be
entertained as we join Lehi, Nephi, Laban and Pam Magnuson in the captivating story of The Pillar of Fire" by David G. Woolley (Vol. I, Promised Land Series). This is a historical fictional novel remembering those who sacrificed to preserve our sacred scriptures. Jerusalem is weak and broken. Power hungry Elders have banished and murdered the prophets. In the midst of the dissension, we find our stalwarts . . . Jonathan, Aaron, Lehi, Nephi and others. Don't miss this smashing BOM fiction. On your way to the bookstore or library, take notice of the season upon us. Fall is approaching rapidly and that also means the end of the year is nearing. End of the year means our "Books for Kids" Donation Project. Keep your eyes open for Book Sales and help us bring a little joy of the season to the recipients of our Gift of Love.
Until next time . . . .
Your Very Sober Biblioholic,
Kris Humphries
801.963.9706 or 801.808.9783
Book: Pillar of Fire by David G. Woolley
Presenter: PamMagnuson
Place: Gwen's Fire Pit
Date: Tuesday, Oct 27
Time: 7:00 pm
PRIMARY
The theme for this month is "The Family: A Proclamation to the World." We will be learning about how much our Heavenly Father loves us and His plan for our families. Our new chorister, Sara McManama, has been working hard teaching the children new songs for our Primary program, which is coming up on November 8th. We would like the parents to make note of a few things regarding the program. The day before the program, November 7th, we will be having a practice and lunch for the children at the church. We will let you know the details when it gets closer. Also, we would like the children to wear white on the day of the program. We would like to congratulate Ammon Harker on becoming our newest baptized member of the Primary. He was baptized on September 25th. We also had three children turn 12 and graduate from Primary. They are Tiffany Bentley, Caitlin Rosenlof and Michael Neff. We miss them in Primary but are excited to see them grow and learn as young men and women. Tiffany also received her Faith in God award. Great work Tiffany!
We would like to express how much we love all of our Primary children. Being around them and teaching them each Sunday is a joy for us!
YOUNG MEN:
Summer has come to an end, but it has been a fantastic one for the Young Men. Our Teacher and Priest Quorums went to the Teton National Park to run the Snake River. It was fun to see how excited and scared the boys were. We would like to thank everyone that helped provide that opportunity for our young men.
The Young Men are extremely busy during the fall with sports and other activities. Gabriel Rojos, Spencer Rosenlof, Taylor Adamson and Colton
Smith are involved in Tai Chi. Many of our boys are very involved with Granger sports. Tim Marsden and Andrew Marsden are on the swim team, and Adam Bowen is preparing for basketball. Even though they are only sophomores Zach Buchanan and Jordan Hernandez are playing varsity football this year. We are very proud of all of our young men and wish them continued good luck in their various activities.
We would like to welcome Michael Neff to the Deacons Quorum and are excited that within the next five months Alex Smith and Jarron Eccles will also join that quorum.
PROVIDENT LIVING
Our theme for October is Food Storage. From Brigham Young’s time to the present day, prophets have counseled Church members to store food for times of need. President Gordon B. Hinckley counseled: “We can begin modestly. We can begin with one week’s food supply and gradually build it to a month, then three months. We ask you to be wise as your store food and water and build your savings. Do not go to the extremes; it is not prudent to go into debt to establish your food storage all at once.” The new guidelines for food storage and preparedness include:
1. Gradually build a small supply of food that is part of your normal diet until it is sufficient for three months.
2. Store drinking water.
3. Establish a financial reserve by setting aside a little money each week, and gradually increase it to a reasonable amount.
4. Once the first three objectives are achieved, expand food supplies to include a year’s supply of basic foods.
The following survey shows suggested amounts of the basics for HOME STORAGE for one year and allows you to evaluate your personal storage.
Per Adult Total needed On Hand Grains (wheat, flour, oats, rice etc.) 400 pounds
Legumes (beans, split peas, legumes) 60 pounds
Powdered milk 16 pounds
Cooking oil (shortening) 10 quarts
Sugar or honey 60 pounds
Salt 8 pounds
Water (2 weeks) 14 gallons (children 0-3= 50%, 4-6=70%, 7-10=90% of adult amount)
Ways of obtaining food storage:
1. Purchase a little extra each time you shop. Take advantage of case lot sales.
2. Can basic foods at the DRY PACK CANNERY.
3. Can or freeze garden produce.
4. Rotate and utilize the food your store. Check expiration dates on cans.
MISSIONARIES
Elder Joseph C. McManama
eldermcmanama@myldsmail.net
Elder Scott Bowen
Family and Church HistoryMission
Church Office Building
Things are going fantastic on my mission! I am working with a lot of old records that are for the dead. I was put into the technology zone because I am very good with computers. I am always looking at deeds and wills so others who search can find them. It is a very good feeling at the end of the day because I know that I am doing the Lord’s work and He will continue to guide me in all aspects of my life.I am always praying that the spirit will be with me so I can do the Lord’s work the right way. I want the spirit to be with my family and friends so I can be an example for them. I want them to know that a mission is very important to the work of the Lord. I am thankful for my ward family that always encourages me to do my best. I love all of you and thank you again for being there for me.
Love, Elder Bowen
