RS August Newsletter

Sister Spotlight – Rachel Stay

Rachel and her family just moved in to our ward a couple of weeks ago. We are excited to get to know them better! Here are 5 fun facts about Rachel.

1. She moved from Doha, Qatar where her family lived for the last 8 years. Her youngest 2 kids were born there.
2. She graduated in July 2018 from BYU-Idaho online with a degree in public health.
3. She has 4 kids, Elliott is 11, Amelia is almost 9, Lydia is 6, and Simon is 8 months.
4. She loves to read and has been a part of a couple book clubs. She hasn’t had as much time to read the last few months but is hoping once they’re settled to have some time again.
5. She loves visiting new places. Her family didn’t travel a whole lot while they lived over seas, just enough for her to fall in love with visiting new places. If she could, she would travel frequently.

August RS Lessons

August 16 – MacKenzie Ostler will be preparing a study guide from Elder Renlund’s talk, “Consider the Goodness and Greatness of God”. It will be posted here to the website.

August 23 – We will have a live, virtual lesson with the discussion being led by Laura Perry-Hipps @ 1 pm. The topic will be on “A Living Witness of the Living Christ,” from Bishop Gerald Causse. We will send a link out as we get closer to the date.

RS Message -The Songs I Cannot Sing

I had the opportunity to attend church services today with a portion of the ward. How I have missed seeing your faces and worshipping together with you as a whole. It was wonderful to see those whom I saw, and I missed seeing those who were not there. I know in time, we will be able to all worship together and I look forward to that day.

It was a unique experience and I felt the Spirit being there. One of the things that was different among our worship, was that we did not sing the hymns as we sat together. Instead, we sat silently as the hymns were played. We were invited to open our devices and read the words of the hymn to ourselves as the notes were played. I found myself thinking of the words more intentionally than I remember doing when I actually had the opportunity to sing. The messages of these inspired hymns penetrated my heart even though the words were not leaving my lips. I love to sing the hymns and I expected to miss having the opportunity to do so, but a phrase kept coming to my mind from another hymn,

“And Jesus listening can hear the songs I cannot sing.”
There is Sunshine in My Soul, Hymn #227

I knew that although I could not sing these songs out loud, the words in my mind and my heart were being heard by the Lord. He hears the songs we cannot sing, whether that be the literal songs we cannot sing right now in Sacrament meeting, or the songs we wish to sing in our lives, but cannot sing for whatever reason.

I testify of our Savior and Father in Heaven. They know our hearts. They know our desires perfectly. They want us to come to Them! We can be consoled in our afflictions if we but turn to Them. I know this, because it has been my experience and I know it can be yours. I share these things with you in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Stake Women’s Conference Service Project

The deadline for our Stake Women’s Conference is Friday, September 18th. If you have items to donate to Abiding Hope, please contact a member of the RS presidency. If you would like to donate, but would rather have it mailed directly to the organization, you can do so at:

Abiding Hope, Inc
105 Chestnut Street
Mars Hill, NC 28754

If you would are not sure what is being collected and to learn about Abiding Hope, see below.

Abiding Hope
Tri-County Pregnancy Center (Burnsville)

This is a 501©3 organization and are dependent on the generosity of the community to
provide their services cost-free. They are non-profit resource centers for families in local
counties who are facing difficult pregnancies.

They can help to connect parents with local resources such as:

         Prenatal Medicaid
         Community resources – Child care assistance, Pregnancy Care
Management
         Ob/Gyn Physicians
         Childbirth and Infant care classes
         Adoption guidance

“Our Mamas are very thankful for New
or Gently Used Baby/Maternity Items…”

         Diapers & Wipes
         New & gently used baby clothes (up to 2T)
         New baby bottles and pacifiers
         Cribs sheets, and blankets
         New hygiene items (baby shampoo, bubble bath,
lotion, etc.)
         New & gently used Maternity clothes

For safety & health reasons, they do NOT accept the following:
Used baby bottles                  Used car seats                     Cribs