Columbus First Ward Relief Society History 2016

The year 2016 was a year full of transitions and growth.  Our Relief Society assisted one sister transition to Motherhood (Stephanie Smith)  others welcome new children, (Kayla Jones, Wendi Thomas, and Bonnie Bingham,)   We helped with funerals as some sisters lost a brother/uncle (Debbie, Cindy, and Libby Kirts) and another lost her husband. (Ilona Ouerkerk).  Still some struggled through surgeries, accidents, and cancers.  We helped a few manage loved ones with a significant mental illness and another struggle with a teenager who seems lost. We’ve seen one sister transition to college for the first time (Annelise Guenther) , one on a mission (Jenessa Vincent), and few get married (Emily Haight and Aleese Thomas).  We’ve given food assistance to those that needed it and encouraged women in their marriages and others in divorce.  We’ve visited people on our rolls who have been baptized but needed to be found again. We’ve sent our love with several as they moved to new locations this past year ( Malya Scheibler, Carol Miner, Jennifer Dobson, Brenna Young, Chrissi Harris,   and Stephanie Smith) and welcomed new ones in. (Nell Hill, Joy Boyd,  and Nicole Hagerdorn)  We’ve encouraged covenant keeping women with our theme (Make and Keep Sacred Covenants) , temple trips, and lessons.  We’ve made shoes for children in Africa, partnered with Catholic Charities and made refugee baskets.  We enjoyed a 4 month long class as we studied Isaiah, We learned about our own personal spiritual gifts and how to learn from, help, and encourage each other with those gifts.  We shared “Our Favorite Things”, learned to make artisan bread, took a self-defense course, and delivered meals to our own ward members in our “Merry Meals”activity. We celebrated Christmas together as a Relief Society with special musical numbers by our sisters and then organized a big Christmas dinner and program for the ward.

We enjoy the sisterhood and love we share in our ward and look forward to getting to know the 5 women who have just been transferred to our ward from the Shelbyville Branch.

          

Debbie Kirts

Our Relief Society sister Debbie Kirts passed away on Thursday January 17. We know she is happy with her parents and brother Mike, who passed away in 2016. We offer our love and condolences to her brother Brad, Cindy, and their kids Libby, Sarah, and Matthew.  

Debbie told me last week that one of her favorite memories was when she and Brad worked in a hotel doing laundry in Jackson Hole, Wyoming one summer. They went on a river rafting trip that she loved and called it her greatest adventure. 

When her niece Libby was a teenager, Debbie accompanied her as her assistant on two different trips. One was to Washington DC for her 8th grade field trip, and the other was on our Stake's Youth Conference trip to Palmyra, New York and the Sacred Grove. I know she loved James Patterson books and I will personally miss her slightly irreverent political Facebook posts that always made me smile.

The arrangements for her funeral are pending. We will let you know when we have the information.

Dalynn Shipley made 50 of these adorable Christmas baby hats and gave them to the Columbus Regional Hospital with a note that said, "From the Columbus 1st ward Relief Society". 

We will be starting a drive to have the sisters make hats beginning in this month. 

2017 Activity Calendar

press forward
& HOLD FAST

Our new Relief Society Meeting night 
is the first Thursday of the month.


February 9th, 2017-   Get to know you activity with 4th ward

March 2nd-  Relief Society Activity 6:30 pm

March 25th- Women's General Broadcast at the church
                            Soup and Salad dinner
April 14th-  Temple Trip 7:30 pm

June 1-  Relief Society Activity 6:30 pm

July 14th- Temple Trip 7:30 pm

August 27th- Visiting Teaching Conference

September 7th- Relief Society activity 6:30 pm

September 23rd- Temple Trip 10:00 am

September 30th- Women's General Broadcast at the church
                                     Soup and Salad dinner

October 21st- Temple Trip 10:00 am

November 2nd-  Relief Society Activity  

December 3rd- Relief Society Christmas Lesson


Save these dates!  We look forward to hearing what our 
Committee has planned for these activities. 

Temple dates will be added soon!

Presidency Message-

By Jackie Fischvogt

Every family is unique, but every family needs love, fun, opportunities to work or serve, and a spot to call home.  A ward family is no different.  We have been sent from our Heavenly Father to this earth with the shared goal of becoming like the Savior.  To help us meet this goal, Heavenly Father has organized the church into “families” called wards where we learn to put Christ at the heart of everything we do.  As we serve one another physically and spiritually, work to serve in our community, and take time for fun together, we begin to love one another and see each other as children of our Heavenly Father. (What Makes a Family?, Carol Lynn Pearson) Additional articles which inspire our mission as a ward family can be found at  LDS.org  Talks titled:  Creating Places of Security, Sisterhood, and First Observe, Then Serve.

Presidency Message-

    More than 700 years before his birth, Isaiah gave us a beautiful prophecy of Christ in one sentence.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. [Isaiah 9:6]

        On New Year’s Day 2000, the Twelve Apostles came out with a document called The Living Christ. I have posted a copy on our Relief Society blog. It is a reminder of who he is and the role he will still play in the future.  It begins like this. “As we commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ two millennia ago, we offer our testimony of the reality of His matchless life and the infinite virtue of His great atoning sacrifice. None other has had so profound an influence upon all who have lived and will yet live upon the earth.” Several years ago, the Young Women made a little flip chart of The Living Christ that had pictures and a phrase on each page. I kept that in my purse and while I was waiting in the car sometimes I would look at it and try to memorize it as some of the Young Women were doing that for their Faith project.  Reading that all of the time ,I developed such a feeling of awe and gratitude for the Savior and role that he chose to play in the Plan.  

            This season we are reminded of his humble beginning as a baby in Bethlehem. The ending words to the song,   Oh Come All Ye Faithful  come to my mind as I  think of that scene.

“Oh Come Let Us Adore Him, Christ, the Lord.”

-Teresa Vincent

The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints
As we commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ two millennia ago, we offer our testimony of the reality of His matchless life and the infinite virtue of His great atoning sacrifice. None other has had so profound an influence upon all who have lived and will yet live upon the earth.
He was the Great Jehovah of the Old Testament, the Messiah of the New. Under the direction of His Father, He was the creator of the earth. “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). Though sinless, He was baptized to fulfill all righteousness. He “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38), yet was despised for it. His gospel was a message of peace and goodwill. He entreated all to follow His example. He walked the roads of Palestine, healing the sick, causing the blind to see, and raising the dead. He taught the truths of eternity, the reality of our premortal existence, the purpose of our life on earth, and the potential for the sons and daughters of God in the life to come.
He instituted the sacrament as a reminder of His great atoning sacrifice. He was arrested and condemned on spurious charges, convicted to satisfy a mob, and sentenced to die on Calvary’s cross. He gave His life to atone for the sins of all mankind. His was a great vicarious gift in behalf of all who would ever live upon the earth.
We solemnly testify that His life, which is central to all human history,

neither began in Bethlehem nor concluded on Calvary. He was the Firstborn of the Father, the Only Begotten Son in the flesh, the Redeemer of the world.
He rose from the grave to “become the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Cor. 15:20). As Risen Lord, He visited among those He had loved in life. He also ministered among His “other sheep” (John 10:16) in ancient America. In the modern world, He and His Father appeared to the boy Joseph Smith, ushering in the long-promised “dispensation of the fulness of times” (Eph. 1:10).
Of the Living Christ, the Prophet Joseph wrote: “His eyes were as a flame of fire; the hair of his head was white like the pure snow; his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun; and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters, even the voice of Jehovah, saying:
“I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father” (D&C 110:3–4).
Of Him the Prophet also declared: “And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!
“For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—
“That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God” (D&C 76:22–24).
We declare in words of solemnity that His priesthood and His Church have been restored upon the earth—“built upon the foundation of ...

apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone” (Eph. 2:20).
We testify that He will someday return to earth. “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together” (Isa. 40:5). He will rule as King of Kings and reign as Lord of Lords, and every knee shall bend and every tongue shall speak in worship before Him. Each of us will stand to be judged of Him according to our works and the desires of our hearts.
We bear testimony, as His duly ordained Apostles—that Jesus is the Living Christ, the immortal Son of God. He is the great King Immanuel, who stands today on the right hand of His Father. He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son.
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