{"id":2134,"date":"2010-08-06T12:58:24","date_gmt":"2010-08-06T18:58:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ldswomenofgod.com\/blog\/?p=2134"},"modified":"2012-04-20T16:22:16","modified_gmt":"2012-04-20T22:22:16","slug":"the-secret-to-a-happy-ward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/2010\/08\/06\/the-secret-to-a-happy-ward\/","title":{"rendered":"The Secret to a Happy Ward"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The World, Satan, and Life typically separates us and keeps us feeling alone and powerless.\u00a0 But Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ gather us together in their arms in love. \u00a0\u00a0As members of the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ, we are commanded to mourn with those who mourn, comfort those in need of comfort, and extend the hand of fellowship to ALL man\/womankind.\u00a0 Often we get swept away with the world, Satan, and life\u2014and we forget.<\/p>\n<p>It takes work and devotion to keep feeling those arms around us, and to extend that embrace amongst all those we see.\u00a0 We need to always be on the lookout, teaching and training those who will listen and learn, reaching out to those who are lost.\u00a0 Ours is to not judge unrighteously, but to gather in.<\/p>\n<p>This short list sits heavily on me.\u00a0 If we could master these basic points we would be able to fulfill all of the commandments required of us.\u00a0 We get stumped, time and time again, by the world, Satan ,and life in general, and we must always be humble enough to accept the reminder when it comes.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Consistency\u2014It is very hard to be consistent, but only when goals are set, and ultimately reached, change, for good, happens.\u00a0 \u00a0Ward Council is the perfect place to set these goals. \u00a0As Satan keeps trying to separate us, let us use our councils to unite us, fight back, and take back those lost souls who fall through the cracks, or help the ward to move forward along the path we are all walking.\u00a0 As a unit, we can become strong, and stay strong, through consistent effort.<\/li>\n<li>Home Teaching\/Visiting Teaching\u2014The MAGIC of HT\/VT is the feeling of love that will come and encompass the entire ward.\u00a0 If leaders only care about numbers, the ward will never think of visiting as anything other than a chore.\u00a0 Leaders need to first teach by example, and second, teach\/remind with love.\u00a0 This program of HT\/VT is the most important program in all of the Church.\u00a0 This is how we become the instruments in our Father\u2019s hands, and fulfill the mourning and the comforting that we covenanted at the beginning.\u00a0 Numbers play a role as we challenge ourselves to greater heights, but 100% is only a part of it.\u00a0 Consistent performance will hopefully bring love, fellowship, companionship, and unity to the entire ward.<\/li>\n<li>Meaning\u2014The world, Satan, and life destroy all things that are meaningful.\u00a0 They are all about fun and self-gratification.\u00a0 In contrast, all of our meetings should have meaning.\u00a0 We attend Sunday meetings to receive the Sacrament and feel the Spirit.\u00a0 We hold additional meetings to feel the Spirit, unite, be strengthened, and gain knowledge.\u00a0 Everyone who comes to any of these meetings should feel accepted, valued, appreciated, and loved.\u00a0 A simple smile and \u201cthank you\u201d go a long way in conveying the Spirit we all share; the Spirit is what adds meaning to our lives.<\/li>\n<li>Service\u2014We all need to have a ward service project in which every ward member can participate.\u00a0 It might be consistent projects for the Humanitarian Center, a nearby Care Facility, or hospital, maybe regular aid given to the Homeless Shelter.\u00a0 Whatever it is, adopt it as a ward and offer consistent service.\u00a0 Involve the Youth, Children, Neighbors, members of the ward who don\u2019t have a calling; this is something where everyone can help in some way.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Everyone should be given the opportunity to serve meaningfully and teach with consistency.\u00a0 The world would fill our minds with false images of importance.\u00a0 Gain a testimony of what the Lord finds as truly meaningful.\u00a0 Let yourself love people, and as often as possible, provide opportunity for all to serve.\u00a0 Do for people out of love.\u00a0 The world is full of hate and violence.\u00a0 The only antidote is to preach genuine love, acceptance, and unity.\u00a0 You will discover the secret to a\u00a0happy ward (a\u00a0happy life, a happy marriage, and a happy family) is to love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The World, Satan, and Life typically separates us and keeps us feeling alone and powerless.\u00a0 But Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ gather us together in their arms in love. \u00a0\u00a0As members of the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ, we are commanded to mourn with those who mourn, comfort those in need of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[477,441,484],"tags":[386,621,385,77,316],"class_list":["post-2134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-2","category-ministering-messages","category-relief-society-challenge-ideas","tag-happiness","tag-service","tag-love","tag-unity","tag-visiting-teaching"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Secret to a Happy Ward &#8211; 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