Lakeview Lighthouse Newsletter: Lakeview 8th Ward

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Lakeview Lighthouse: March 2010

LAKEVIEW LIGHTHOUSE
Lakeview 8th Ward Newsletter: March 2010

Over the past several weeks as I’ve thumbed through the newspaper I’ve read some of the following headlines: “Pediatrician’s alleged victims may surpass 103”, “Top Executives not sure problems are solved”, “Classes resume after deadly shooting”, “Man pleads Guilty to terror plot”, “Heroine clings to life after hit-and-run”, etc., etc., etc. The numbers of uplifting stories were seemingly dwarfed in comparison to those that portray the darker side of humanity. But for me, the stories that provoked the most interest were from the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, BC.
As I watched and read about various events I was reminded of the opening theme from the old TV sports program ABC Wide World of Sports where Jim McKay announced “The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat . . . The human drama of athletic competition”. For me this phrase is nowhere better dramatized than in the Olympic Games. Here are young men and women who have put forth the time, the effort, and the sacrifice necessary to be a part of this ultimate competition. They have trained under the guidance of equally dedicated coaches and have listened to the voice of experience, which has led them to athletic prominence. I marveled and watched in fascination at the level of perfection achieved by these many talented athletes in their respective events. To my untrained eye I was unable to distinguish small errors in certain routines that inevitably resulted in lost points and ultimately the chance for higher achievement for these individuals.
One event captured my attention above all others. It was the mens ‘10,000 Meter Speed Skating’. A young man from Holland was the favorite to win the race. He was more than 4 seconds ahead of the all other’s in the field and a clear favorite to set not only an Olympic record but a world record as well. Then, with 8 (short) laps to go he passed a crucial point (cone) on the track, a crossroad of sorts, in which lane changes normally occur. At this point in the race he was expected to stay in the outer lane and he later recounted:

“I wanted to go on the outer lane. Then just before the cone [my coach] shouted: 'inner lane!' I thought he's probably right and [I] went to the inner lane. At first I thought my skates passed the cone on the wrong side…then I noticed in the stadium something was wrong. You have to decide in a split second. Afterwards I should have gone with my own thoughts, but I was brought into doubt. This is a real expensive mistake.”

His coach had made an innocent error by miscounting the number of laps. As a result of listening to that “other voice” this athlete committed a lane infraction which resulted in disqualification from the race and ultimately cost him an Olympic Gold Medal. Truly going from the “thrill of victory” to the “agony of defeat” in a split second.
We may not be athletes preparing for Olympic competition but we are “children of the most High” preparing ourselves to “return and report” to Him our stewardship on earth. Like these athletes, we too have our own moments when we’ve felt either the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat. Considering the time, effort, and sacrifice that we put into achieving our own dreams, some of us would say we experience more of the latter than the former.
How do we then make all of our hard work pay off so that we may reach that seemingly elusive Celestial “medals podium”? May I suggest that even though we cannot stop listening completely to all the “other voices” in our lives, we can listen to “The Voice”…that of the Holy Ghost. On our team is the ultimate coaching staff making the ultimate winning calls for our success. They are a Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. They make no mistakes in leading us at the critical decision points! They impart this wisdom to us through their chosen servants on earth. These Prophets, Seers, and Revelators have the revealed game plan for our individual victory. They also coach us directly through divine promptings that come to us through the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Part of our “celestial” training is learning to recognize and distinguish between Their voices and the “other” voices so that we may make the right decisions at the crossroads in our lives. I hope and pray that we will take the time to stay within their training program as outlined in the Restored Gospel and avoid the pitfalls and distractions of the world that would disqualify us from our rightful reward.

Mark Lekic
2nd Counselor

Relief Society:

The Relief Society Activity in February was a hit! Our night began with an interactive lesson from Memorie Durfee. We discussed how debt enslaves us and Memorie gave everyone a card (to be kept with a credit card) that said “A day of worry is more exhausting than a week of work.” ---Fortune Cookie I CAN’T AFFORD IT! Next Elaine Andelin entertained us by showing how to make whole wheat bread. She shared her bread, hot out of the oven, with strawberry and apricot freezer jams and a relish tray. While we ate refreshments, Melodee Andersen shared her knowledge about storing food and cooking from food storage. She displayed a year supply of food for one person and estimated the cost. She also shared many examples of how we could integrate whole foods (from our food storage) into our daily meals and had some yummy samples of things such as sprouted grains and peas. We were well fed…both spiritually and physically! Thank you to those who helped make the night a success.






Primary Happenings— March 2010

Primary is now settled into the new year and our new classes. We have wonderful teachers and we appreciate all they do to prepare for primary each week. During January and February, our sharing time themes have been about Jesus Christ and His role as our Savior. In March and the months that follow we will be learning about the many wonderful gifts our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have given us to guide us while we are on earth. In March we will be talking about Prophets and how they testify of Jesus Christ and guide us safely back to our heavenly home.

Scripture Power
This year we have set a goal to learn more of our Savior through studying the scriptures. Each week in Senior Primary we mark a scripture relating to our theme of the day. Our teachers are also using scriptures in the classrooms. For this reason, we want to encourage all of our reading Primary children to bring their scriptures each week. We also are sending home a monthly bookmark. This has a list of scriptures relating to the theme of the month. We are challenging the children to read at least a scripture verse a day. The bookmark serves as a reminder of this goal. We hope that parents are helping their children with this goal by discussing the scripture verse with your child as you read. With your help they will be able to read and understand their scriptures.

Activities
We had our first quarterly activity in February. We had special guest presenters (Sister Barnes, Brother Hans Andersen, and Brother & Sister Parkinson) teach us about the origin and preservation of the Old & New Testaments and the Pearl of Great Price. We learned so much we didn’t know before!

Our next activity will be in May and the Sr. Primary children will take the stage as they present skits about their favorite Old Testament stories. This should be great fun for performers and viewers alike!

We are also looking forward to a Faith in God activity on March 13th for all Primary children 8 and older. This is a Stake activity and more details will be forthcoming. It will be at the Stake Center, though time is still pending.

Our Activity Day girls are busy with their biweekly meetings. You may have noticed some homes that were heart attacked! I think these girls might know something about that! They are looking forward to a fun night with their daddies on March 11th. Our cub scout and 11 y/o scouting groups are meeting weekly and are doing great things as the boys work towards their goals and achievements. We so appreciate our dedicated leaders who make this all happen week after week!





Announcements:

PRIESTS:
Priest’s/ Venturer’s Summer Weeklong ActivityAugust 3-7, Cedar City and environsPlease put on your family calendars!

YOUNG WOMEN:

Wed. March 3-Activity
Laurels: Dance card interviews/packing the trailer for Youth Conference
Mia Maids: Dance card interviews/packing the trailer for Youth Conference
Beehives: Cake Decorating

Thu. March 4 - Sat. March 6: Event
Youth Conference (Leaving 3:00 PM Thu. March 4 returning 12:00 PM Sat. March 6)

Wed. March 10- Activity (Combined: Beehives, Mia Maids, Laurels)
Band Night

Sat. March 13-Event
7:00 PM Stake Youth Dance

Tue. March 16- Event (Laurels Only)
Stake Relief Society Commemoration

Wed. March 17-Activity
Laurels: No activity
Mia Maids: Stevenson's Genealogy Center to bind Personal Progress books
Beehives: Talent Show

Tue. March 23-Event
7:00 PM Stake Young Women Camp Kickoff

Wed. March 24-Activity
Laurels: Budget Shopping (Combined w/ Priests)
Mia Maids: Blanket making (Combined w/ Teachers)
Beehives: Scripture recipes (Combined w/ Deacons)

Sat. March 27-Event
6:00 PM Young Women General Broadcast

Wed. March 31-Activity
Laurels: Passover Activity
Mia Maids: Calligraphy
Beehives: Fondue night & budgeting


Stake Relief Society Meeting – Tuesday, March 16th, 7pm.
Celebrating the beginning of Relief Society. ALL laurels and sisters invited.
It will be held in the chapel so we ask that the sisters wear dresses.


Scout Uniforms Wanted!

The 8th Ward Scouts are setting up a scout uniform bank. We want each scout to have a complete uniform and to take advantage of the all benefits that wearing the uniform provides.

The uniform reminds a Scout of who he is and what is expected of him. It identifies him as part of a patrol, troop, council and worldwide youth movement.
He can take pride in being a Scout, and in the achievements shown on his uniform and sash.

The uniform bank will allow us to have uniforms for each boy and will help reduce the costs to the families especially since a boy will outgrow his first uniform before he is out of scouting. So we need all sizes of pants and shirts. Socks, belts, hats and sashes are also needed.

We currently have 14 boys in our troop.

As a reminder, there are three aims to Scouting:

To build character
To build self-reliance, self-discipline, self-confidence and self-respect
To foster citizenship
To foster love of community, country and world, along with a commitment of
service to others and an understanding of democratic principles.
To develop fitness
To develop physical, mental, emotional, and moral fitness that will
stay with a Scout for the rest of his life.

One of Scouting’s methods for youth development is wearing the uniform.

If you have any scout uniforms you would like to donate, please contact Brian Andelin (801-222-9641) or Dave Blair (801-427-5743) and we will come pick them up.

Thank You.

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