Making Plans

Welcome to the Neighborhood News

http://www.thinkstockphotos.com/

Sometimes on a Friday, I just like to share a folk tale. This one is from ancient China, and it’s called Mend the Fold After the Sheep are Lost. (Shouldn’t it be ‘before’ they’re lost? I’m just saying).

“There once was a shepherd. One day he was checking his flock when he noticed a sheep was missing. Seeing that the gate was secured, he began to inspect the fence surrounding the pasture with help from his neighbor. In one of the corners sure enough he found a hole and a fresh pair of wolf prints.

 
“His neighbor worriedly warned him to fix the hole or else the wolves would come again. The shepherd upon hearing this advice thought, ‘The sheep has already been lost, what use is fixing the fence?’ With that he pushed the thought of wolves and fences to the back of his mind. The next day, whilst counting his sheep he found another missing, with fresh paw prints around the same hole in the fences.
 
“He was regretful for his foolishness and with the help of his neighbor fixed the fence, and hasn't lost another sheep.
 
“Often when one meets misfortune he can only learn from the experience and move on. What is important is that we should learn from our mistakes and immediately rectify the problem to avoid future loss.”

We welcome your comments, wish you a great weekend, and remind you to take advantage of our Free Download Friday.

To view a copy of the Neighborhood News for Friday 17 June, click here.

Find Your Talents

Welcome to the Neighborhood News

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has plenty of websites for us to be edified. One of them is LDS Youth, in which you can find articles, testimonies, videos, music and more. The Church has revamped the site and if you have teens at home, take a look.

The following video was taken from that site. Enjoy.

We welcome your comments, wish you a great weekend, and remind you to take advantage of our Free Download Friday.

To view a copy of the Neighborhood News for Friday 13 May, click here.

Just Do it

Welcome to the Neighborhood News

"Any excuse for non-performance, no matter how valid, weakens character." — Spencer W. Kimball

http://www.thinkstockphotos.com/

President Kimball encouraged us to be active, to do what’s right, to keep journals, plant gardens, do missionary work, work on our genealogy, be faithful to our spouses, enjoy family life and respect each other.

There are so many activities we could be involved in, the list above I took from just one talk President Kimball gave back in May of 1978, ‘The True Way of Life and Salvation.'

All we need to do is make a decision about what we want to do with our lives and just go for it. If a prophet of the Lord in these last days tells us that we should plant a garden or keep a journal, shouldn’t we do it? There may be skeptics who probably think we don’t have to do everything is asked of us in the scriptures. Or that we may be given a few stripes and then we'll be saved in the Kingdom of Heaven with our Father.

I wonder how many of us are willing to gamble their eternal lives on an assumption.

We welcome your comments, wish you a great weekend, and remind you to take advantage of our Free Download Friday.

To view a copy of the Neighborhood News for Friday 14 April, click here.

Serve Others

Welcome to the Neighborhood News

“And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.” (Luke 1:28)

http://photobucket.com/

Of the many pictures of Mary and baby Jesus I’ve seen through the years, this one is my favorite.

Her whole face is not shown, but those eyes are so expressive, you can almost see into her soul, and yet there still is that air of mystery about her.

Mary was defined as a virgin (one who has not been with a man yet) and fair. The word fair has many meanings –just is one of them—however, let’s share this one from the Merriam-Webster Online dictionary: 1: pleasing to the eye or mind especially because of FRESH, charming, or flawless quality. Another meaning is: not dark. Origin of FAIR: Middle English fager, fair, from Old English fæger; akin to Old High German fagar: beautiful. So, we can assume then that she was not only nice to look at, but light of skin and beautiful. (Source: here)

The prophecies regarding the most important woman in Mankind call her thus. We also learn a lot about Mary by reading the account of the Annunciation from the book of Luke. We learn about her obedience and humility, and of her desire to serve the Lord, no matter what might happen to her. We know that she was pure and innocent, since she was chosen by the Lord to carry His Son.

“And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.”         (Luke 1:38)

When I look at this picture I see a young mother, holding the most precious Baby in all of history. Does she wonder, as so many of us first mothers do, if she’s up for the job of raising a baby? Or does she worry about how will she protect and teach this little Son of God?

Since she kept all the things about the Lord to herself, we don’t know much about how He was raised, or many special events of His childhood. We can only conjecture and wonder. But we know that she was, like Joseph, of royal lineage. That’s how Jesus through His mortal mother was heir to the throne of David.

She was 'highly favoured' among all the women that had lived until her time, and all the ones that came after that. She was set apart to be His mother, a wonderful blessing!

I hope I can meet this remarkable woman some day, and have the chance to thank her for being my Savior’s mother, nurturer, friend and possibly confidant.

To view a copy of the Neighborhood News for Wednesday, 22 December, please click here.

Be Blessed

Welcome to the Neighborhood News

“… and they were also admonished… being commanded of god to pray without ceasing, and to give thanks in all things” (Mosiah 26:39).

From President Thomas S. Monson we get this portion of a talk:

“Do we give thanks to God “for his unspeakable gift” and His rich blessings so abundantly bestowed upon us?

"Do we pause and ponder Ammon’s words? “Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever.” (Alma 26:37)

“Gracias, danke, merci—whatever language is spoken, “thank you” frequently expressed will cheer your spirit, broaden your friendships, and lift your lives to a higher pathway as you journey toward perfection. There is a simplicity—even a sincerity—when “thank you” is spoken.

“The beauty and eloquence of an expression of gratitude is reflected in a newspaper story of some years ago:

“The District of Columbia police auctioned off about 100 unclaimed bicycles Friday. “One dollar,” said an 11-year-old boy as the bidding opened on the first bike. The bidding, however, went much higher. “One dollar,” the boy repeated hopefully each time another bike came up.

“The auctioneer, who had been auctioning stolen or lost bikes for 43 years, noticed that the boy’s hopes seemed to soar higher whenever a racer-type bicycle was put up.

“Then there was just one racer left. The bidding went to eight dollars. “Sold to that boy over there for nine dollars!” said the auctioneer. He took eight dollars from his own pocket and asked the boy for his dollar. The youngster turned it over in pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters—took his bike, and started to leave. But he went only a few feet. Carefully parking his new possession, he went back, gratefully threw his arms around the auctioneer’s neck, and cried.

“When was the last time we felt gratitude as deeply as did this boy? The deeds others perform in our behalf might not be as poignant, but certainly there are kind acts that warrant our expressions of gratitude.”

To read the complete talk, please click here.

We must also remember to give prayer for all that which we have or have received from the Lord. As Elder Bednar says: “Prayer becomes more meaningful as we counsel with the Lord in all of our doings, as we express heartfelt gratitude, and as we pray for others.” (Pray Always, Ensign, Nov 2008)

We’d like to share with you this video from Mormon Messages in which our late President Hinckley told us about “Lessons I Learned as a Boy.”




To view a copy of the Neighborhood News for Wednesday, 24 November, please click here.

Tidbits

Welcome to the Neighborhood News

http://www.sxc.hu/

Our friend and contributor Cindy Beck wrote this story “The Halloween 5K,” to let us know about her competitive streak. She and her husband participated in a 5K run, and she comments: “Despite having almost killed myself by inhaling my gum in a previous 5K, in Mona, Utah, I’d stupidly bravely decided to try again this year. No, not to kill myself—to run another race.” Cindy blogs at Write Up My Alley; she’s also a published author, and her latest book is out in stores.




 Sarah, a contributor at Thrifty Décor Chick, posted this article and talks about “Out (Tiny!) Fall Porch.” Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with the holidays inside and out of the house, but she seems to have it all together with her decorations. She tells us: “Fall and Christmas are my favorite seasons. It’s these times of year when I love our little porch, because it is so easy to make over for the holidays.”

http://www.sxc.hu/

From Family Home Evening in a Snap, we get this lesson entitled “Being Honest.” With it, we’re aiming to help family members believe in honesty. To do that, we first must be honest with ourselves. All you will need is a mirror.


As usual, on Fridays Positive Music and Downloads offers Free Download Friday. To enjoy this week's download, please click here.


Have a great time this weekend, we hope you enjoy the weekend. Please send us a few words in the comments section; we'll love to hear from you.


To view a copy of the Neighborhood News for Friday, 5 November, please click here.

Welcome Weekend

Welcome to the Neighborhood News

Thank goodness is Friday!

We have so many choices for our weekends. What will it be for you? A bike ride with friends? A get together, picnic, maybe laundry? How about golf, or weeding your garden. Whatever it is, I’m sure you’ll spend your time well.

We start our selections with author Cindy Beck, from “C.L. Beck, Write Up my Alley”, and her story “Frozen Chickens and Overdue Library Books.” With her usual charm and natural ability to weave a good yarn, she brings to life this account of overdue library books, chickens and Mythbusters. You’re going to have to read it to get it.

Our next selection comes from Elizabeth Goodman at “To Be Charmed.” Elizabeth is just head-over-heels in love with the designs from Rie Elise Larsen, and once you visit her website, you’ll realize why. The designs are wonderful, and so artistic.

Our last entry comes from LdsSplash.com, and it’s a Family Home Evening. The lesson is entitled “Endure to the End.” It says: “Tell this story about a boy that always wanted to climb a mountain. Everyone told him he couldn't do it but he knew he could.” If you’re into mountain climbing, you’ll like this lesson. If you’re not, you’ll still like it. :o)

As usual, on Fridays Positive Music and Downloads offers Free Download Friday. Please enjoy “Show Him”, from Man of Honor, by various artists.

To view a copy of the Neighborhood News for Friday, 21 May's, please click here.