This weeks Relief Society Lesson

Today I taught the lesson on Opportunities to do Good by President Eyring. They asked me to do it in English today because they felt bad all the lessons are being given in Spanish. It did not go very well today though, I had a really hard time. Today we had leaders from the stake visiting our ward so one spoke for a while to the relief society and I only was left with about 15 minutes to give my lesson. I rushed it so bad. I feel terrible for the translator becuase I talked so fast; I was trying to fit everything in. I wish I would have just cut my lesson in half but I was just so nervous. I guess you get better at pacing after practice. I had practiced my lesson so many times I knew it really well and I just blew through most of it. It was also hard to get people to participate because 98% of the sisters speak Spanish and even though I told them it was ok to respond in Spanish or English I still didn't get much participation. And for the few that do understand English I am sure I talked way too fast for them to keep up with me. I just feel bad :( Next time I am going to try much harder to pace myself better even if I'm not given much time to teach.

Here is my lesson

Opportunities to do Good- President Henry B. Eyring

The lesson today is on finding opportunities to do good in the world around us. President Eyring says; “Always, the Lord’s way to help those in temporal need requires people who out of love have consecrated themselves and what they have to God and to His work.” I thought this was a really amazing statement, that “always” the Lord needs us to help His children here on Earth. We are His hands here and it is our responsibility to provide help to those who need us.

Reader #1- President Eyring said “He has invited His children to consecrate their time, their means, and themselves to join with Him in serving others. His way of helping has at times been called living the law of consecration. In another period His way was called the united order. In our time it is called the Church welfare program.”

Before preparing this lesson I did not know that we have been commanded to help those in need. When we were baptized we made a covenant to help others. We also renew that covenant on Sundays when we partake of the sacrament.

In D&C 81:5 it says to “succor the weak, life up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.” Part of being a member of this Church is service.

One of my favorite hymns is Have I Done Any Good in the World Today. This song really inspires me to think of something I can do to help someone every day. Listen as I read the words:

Have I done any good in the world today?

Have I helped anyone in need?

Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad?

If not, I have failed indeed.

Has anyone’s burden been lighter today

Because I was willing to share?

Have the sick and the weary been helped on their way?

When they needed my help was I there?

Then wake up and do something more

Than dream of your mansion above.

Doing good is a pleasure, a joy beyond measure,

A blessing of duty and love.

Reader #2- "The Lord regularly sends wake-up calls to all of us. Sometimes it may be a sudden feeling of sympathy for someone in need. A father may have felt it when he saw a child fall and scrape a knee. A mother may have felt it when she heard the frightened cry of her child in the night. A son or a daughter may have felt sympathy for someone who seemed sad or afraid at school."

I know that life can get really busy sometimes and we can fill up our days with work, obligations, cleaning and so on. Sometimes we are so busy that we can miss the promptings of the Holy Ghost telling us of an opportunity to serve someone else. We may be the answer to someone else’s prayer and if we are not listening to that prompting from the Lord, we will miss the opportunities and blessings that could be ours by serving that person. One thing we can do is to pray to be led to someone who needs your help and then listen diligently for the prompting. If we are constantly looking for the opportunity to serve we will find it.  

Sometimes I feel like I want to help others but I just don’t know what to do for them. Acts of service do not need to be big though as we often think of them as being. For me as a teacher I thought it was a great service for you to comment in my first class and help me with the lesson so we could all learn together. I also thought it was a great act of kind service when sister Monica made the effort to say hi to me and give me her telephone number when we had just moved here and I did not know anybody yet. I also really appreciated Tania making the effort to talk to me even though I don’t speak very good Spanish yet. I felt so appreciative of her and her kindness. Also sister Vaca introduced herself to me and welcomed me to the ward.

It is a scary thing to move to a new place so far away from home. Our first week here I felt so overwhelmed with all of the new changes. I came home from church the first week and just cried because I did not know anyone, I was called to be a teacher when I am so shy and standing up in front of people is really difficult for me, and my Spanish is no very great yet. I prayed a lot for help to feel more comfortable here and the next week when I came to church the small acts of kindness that many of you have given to me made me feel so much better. Your kindness was an answer to my prayer. Acts of service can be small but so meaningful still. 

Question- Do any of you have examples of either giving service or someone giving service to you that you would be willing to share?

Pregunta- ¿Alguno de ustedes tienen ejemplos de servicio?

All of us have felt sympathy for others and know that urging feeling in your heart when you see someone in need.

Story  

·         After I graduated high school I had a strong desire to visit another country in the world and give service. I love to travel but I wanted to do something good for others as well as see a different country. I went to Peru with a humanitarian aid group and was able to do many amazing projects there for the people of Peru. We spent most of our time helping the people that lived in the mountains of Peru miles away from the city. We helped to pour cement floors, build stables, paint schools, bring needed supplies and other things as well. It was really hard work. We had to mix cement by hand and bring rocks down from the mountain to lay for the foundation of buildings. We were very exhausted every night from our days work but the joy we were able to bring to the people of Peru made it all worth it. The people who we helped had nothing and yet they were so happy, humble, and hard working. It humbled me to see that many people in this world live very hard lives and my life is so easy compared to theirs. It made me wish I could do more for them. I gained a testimony that when we serve others we really gain so much more for ourselves. I was full of joy and happiness which comes from serving others. The people there allowed us to help them and they in return helped us be instruments in God’s hands to help his children. Not every act of service can be as big as the one I did in Peru. There are smaller ways to do good all around us.

President Eyring goes on to talk about the welfare system of the church.

·         Reader #3- “The principles at the foundation of the Church welfare program are not for only one time or one place. They are for all times and all places. Those principles are spiritual and eternal. For that reason, understanding them and putting them down into our hearts will make it possible for us to see and take opportunities to help whenever and wherever the Lord invites us.”

President Eyring shares 4 principles that will help you serve in the Lord’s way.

1.      The first principle is that “all people are happier and feel more self-respect when they can provide for themselves and their family and then reach out to take care of others.”  Helping others to become self reliant is a great way to serve someone else. Once you are self reliant then you are able to give your resources to help others become more self reliant. President Marion G. Romney said, “You cannot give yourself poor in this work.” The Lord will always bless you in return for helping others.

o   My brother is a great example of this. He was able to help a homeless man find a job to provide for himself instead of just giving the man money or something he gave him the ability to support himself once again.

o   Question: What are some ways we can help others become more self reliant?

o   Pregunta: Como podemos ayudar a otros a ser mas autosuficientes?

2.      The second principle is that there is power in unity. When in Peru with my group we became very bonded together in serving others, but we also were able to bond with the people we were serving. President Eyring said an “increased feeling of brotherhood is true for the receiver as well as the giver.” Serving others helps bring you closer together. That is why I think it is important to serve each other in our wards. Serving each other whether through visiting teaching, meals, helping babysit, anything will help bring us closer as sisters in the church.

o   I also had a strong impression to share that it is especially important for us in this new ward to reach across those cultural and language barriers to show each other that we love and care for each other. So many of you are so sweet and great at this and I think it is important that we keep trying to do our best to always smile, say hi, try to be as warm as we can to each other.

o   Question: What are some ways we can serve each other in our ward?

o   Pregunta: ¿Cuáles son algunas cosas que podemos hacer para servir aquí en nuestro barrio?

3.      The third principle is to bring your family into serving with you. It is so important to teach your children the importance of service to others. Teaching your children to serve will help your children develop qualities of selflessness and a kind heart. The world today is very materialistic and teaching your children to serve others will help keep them humble and help them see what is really important in life.

o   Reader #4- "The Lord’s way of caring for the needy provides another opportunity for parents to bless their children. I saw it in a chapel one Sunday. A small child handed the bishop his family’s donation envelope as he entered the chapel before the sacrament meeting. I knew the family and the boy. The family had just learned of someone in the ward in need. The boy’s father had said something like this to the child as he placed a more generous fast offering than usual in the envelope: 'We fasted today and prayed for those in need. Please give this envelope to the bishop for us. I know that he will give it to help those with greater needs than ours. Instead of any hunger pangs on that Sunday, the boy will remember the day with a warm glow. I could tell from his smile and the way he held the envelope so tightly that he felt the great trust of his father to carry the family offering for the poor. He will remember that day when he is a deacon and perhaps forever."

o   I do not have children yet of my own but I do have wonderful parents who have taught me the value of service. My mom is such a great example to me of loving service. She has served in many callings in the church and is right now the stake young women’s president. She always fulfills her calling and gives it her all. Being an example to your children can impact them so greatly. My mother is also constantly making people cookies or things to show her love for them and as I have grown up I find that when I want to do something nice for someone I also make them cookies.

o   Question: How can we teach our children to serve? What are some things children can do to serve?

o   Pregunta: ¿Cómo podemos ensenar a los niños a servir? Cuáles son algunas cosas que los niños pueden hacer para servir?

4.      The Fourth principle is to seek out the poor. The Lord sends the Holy Ghost to help make it possible to find those who need help. Pray to the Lord to send you someone you can serve each day.

o   Question: What can we do to find people to serve? – pray, ask the bishop or relief society president.

o   Pregunta: ¿Cómo podemos encontrar personas que podemos ayudar?

o   Matthew 7:7-8- Ask and it shall be given you: seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you; for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Conclusion

·         Serving is such an important part of the gospel but it is often something that can be put aside because it takes time away from our busy day. Even if you do not have time to serve in big ways try just serving in your family; saying kind things to your spouse, leaving sweet notes, making dinner or a favorite treat, telling someone you love them. When I have service in my heart I am able to love so much deeper and I think it is because the pure love of Christ has entered my heart and increased my capacity to love.

·         Reading this talk has helped me see that I need to pay less attention to myself and more to those around me. It is not an easy thing because the natural man is selfish and does not want to give to others; but if we pray and open our hearts to the spirit of service we will be filled with the love of God and be able to serve His children.

Opportunities to do good - President Eyring