Willow Park Word - July 2012

Hi Everyone,

Just in case you didn't get a copy here is the Willow Park Word for July!

WILLOW PARK RELIEF SOCIETY   “THE WORD” – July 2012

   

  President:             Margaret Anderson     403 225 2262     margaretandlarry@yahoo.com
 1^st Counsellor       Elizabeth Peterson      403 255 2176     liz@ddf.ca
 2^nd Counsellor      Sherry Norton             403 214 0468     norton88@shaw.ca
 Secretary             Cindy Conaghan           403 255 3929     cindy.conaghan@ffca-calgary.com
 “The Word” Editor  

Presidency Message – Elizabeth Peterson

Often I have read in the scriptures about the miracles wrought by the Saviour during his earthly ministry.  Miracles seem to have been passed out to all and sundry who asked for them, and even some who did not.  When I think of my own trials and see those I love around me struggle with health issues, pain, disabilities, illness or heartache.  I sometimes am led to wonder, ‘did those people who lived at the time of Christ have more faith than we do?  Can we not have access to the same miracles as they?  Why does it seem that sometimes the Lord’s hand is stayed, even among the faithful?’

Of course I know miracles do occur.  The ill are healed, the car lasts one more year, babies come to childless couples.  But sometimes we are called upon to endure difficulties year after year, with little seeming relief, and even the most faithful among us can be let to ask, ‘why?  Where is my miracle?’

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, the poetess, wrote:

It is easy enough to be pleasant,
When life flows by like a song,
But the man worth while is one who will smile,
When everything goes dead wrong.
For the test of the heart is trouble,
And is always comes with the years,
And the smile that is worth the praises of earth
Is the smile that shines through tears.

Sometimes the miracle occurs outwardly in an obvious way, but more often it is a silent, personal miracle – one that occurs within our hearts.  The prophet Joseph Smith once told John Taylor, “God will feel after you, and He will take hold and wrench your very heart strings, and if you cannot stand it you will not be fit for an inheritance in the Celestial Kingdom of God.”  If this is so, can we not also say, that if you CAN stand it, you WILL be fit for an inheritance in the Celestial Kingdom?  And if this is true, if through our trials, pain and heartache the Master is refining us like pure silver, then is not this the greatest miracle of all?

I hope we can remember that when God is feeling after us, and ‘wrenching our … heart strings’, that self-pity, personal withdrawal, or deep despair will not bring the peace, the assurance, or help which are needed.  Rather, we must go forward, look upward, move onward, and rise heavenward; I hope we will remember to trust Jesus Christ, so that His atonement can work its miracle on our hearts, and make us fit for His kingdom.

     A warm welcome to all new sisters who have recently moved into the ward.

    Birthday wishes to all the sisters who have birthdays in July and August

July Birthdays
01 Jan Sobkowicz             12 Christine Borowski          25 Filipinas Acquino        
02 Katie Snape                  17 Sandra Weiler                  25 Mindy Sebastian 
02 Lesley Gross                 17 Jayne Heggie                   25 Shawneen Nauman
02 Judy Hansen                17 Lori Marquardson             27 Vernetta Reed
02 Lesley Gross                 18 Kelly Maret                       29 Sharon Compton 
06 Arana Lyle                    22 Cyndie Vance
06 Suzanne Lee                22 Laura Querin        

August Birthdays
03 Lalainia Atwood           12 Ivetthe Swann                    20 Dorothy Gelling
06 Laurelie Dahl               14 Ellenor Brown                    23 Karen Lloyd
10 Mary Clark                   14 Deanna Vanderveer           25 Rita Wilde
10 Sarah Onia                  19 Elizabeth Peterson

Sunday Relief Society Lessons – George Albert Smith
July 01      Presidency Message
July 08      #12 “An Enthusiastic Desire to Share the Gospel”
July 15      #13 “Doing Our Part to Share the Gospel”
July 22     Ward Conference
July 29      Bishopric

Sunday School Lessons – The Book of Mormon  
July 01      24. “Give Us Strength According to Our Faith… In Christ”
July 08      25. “They Taught with Power and Authority of God”
July 15      26. “Converted unto the Lord”
July 22      27. “All Things Denote There is a God”
July 29      28. “The Word Is in Christ unto Salvation”

UPCOMING EVENTS Ward and Stake

July 01         Fast Sunday

July 02         Canada Day Celebration and Breakfast 9 – 11 AM

Bring your family and friends for lots of food and fun.Everyone, especially the youth and primary, are encouraged to enter a “float” in the     parade.  Decorate your bicycles, wagons, skateboards or even dress up in whatever way you want.  PRIZES will be awarded for the wildest and most creative entries!

July 19         Relief Society Meeting - Shakespeare In The Park Mid Summer’s Night Dream

July 21         High Priest BBQ.  More information to follow, watch your Church Bulletin.

July 22         Ward Conference

August 16   Garden Party Ice Cream Social at the Kennedy’s

August 18     Ward Temple Trip.  (This is a tentative date)

September   Stake Women’s Conference

October 27    Relief Society Meeting - Super Saturday.  Watch for more information.