Brothers and Sisters, to help help enhance our weekly study of the Come Follow Me lesson, our wonderful Gospel Doctrine Instructors are providing us with their thoughts and insights gained during their study. The excerpt below is from Melissa Rooley.

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Good Morning
Brothers and Sisters!  I sure miss seeing
all of you and hope that you are all well enough. 

I say this
every lesson, but we have started studying one of my favorite sections in the
Book of Mormon.  Who doesn’t love reading
about King Benjamin?  I am sure that we
all wish that we could have brought our families and our tents and listened to
King Benjamin speak to us in person. 

This week, I
had a tender experience as I listened to Elder Bednar relate how he hears the
voice of the Lord.  #Hear Him   https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/blog/hearing-him-with-our-minds-and-our-hearts

The Spirit
spoke to my heart as I watched / listened to Elder Bednar and I knew that what
he was saying was true for me also.  The
spirit helped me want to be better at receiving revelation.  My heart was changed.  The video is about 1 minute and 30 seconds
long and I had tears in my eyes.  The
spirit helped me to see some things in my life that I could change and I
realized my own carnal state and how I have fallen short of my potential.  I have been blessed to have had the gospel in
my life since I was a small child.  I can
only imagine how it must have felt to have heard the joyful message of the
gospel for the first time, as the people of King Benjamin’s day did.  I am so grateful for the message of hope,
love and forgiveness that is found in learning about how to become more like
our Savior. 

I hope that
you enjoyed your readings this week.  I
hope that you let your study be guided by the spirit.  I often start looking at footnotes, then
other scriptures, then talks and then before I know it, I am not even in the
chapter that I started reading.  This is
all good!  Go with what the spirit is
trying to teach you.

I thought
that I would share some of my favorite scripture passages from this week’s
readings.  There are so many things that
I could say about why I love each scripture but I will be brief.  I wish that I could hear what your favorite
scriptures are and why they are special to you. 
Feel free to send me a message if you would like to share your thoughts
with someone. 

(Text:  510-857-7755.  Email:  Bobmelrooley@gmail.com)

Take Care and Be Safe! 

Sister Melissa Rooley

• Mosiah
  4:3  “And it came to pass that after they
  had spoken these words the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were
  filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of
  conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who
  should come, according to the words which king Benjamin had spoken unto
  them.” 

How sweet and merciful it is to be
granted a “Peace of Conscience”.  As we
exercise faith in Jesus Christ and sincerely repent, we receive a remission of
our sins.  Here is a great talk by Neil L
Anderson, “That I May Heal You”

• Mosiah
  4:9-10 “Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things,
  both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power,
  both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the
  things which the Lord can comprehend. And again, believe that ye must repent of
  your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in
  sincerity of heart that he would forgive you; and now, if you believe all these
  things see that ye do them.”

Belief is one thing but action on our
belief is a sign of true conversion and discipleship. 

• Mosiah
  4:11 “And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to
  the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have
  tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth
  such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should
  remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own
  nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy
  creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the
  name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is
  to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.

I found it interesting that we often
speak of retaining “a” remembrance but this scripture talks about “always
retain IN remembrance”.  This means to me
that there is more action required.

• Mosiah
  5:7-9 “And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called
  the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he
  hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through
  faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and
  his daughters. And under this head ye are made free, and there is no other head
  whereby ye can be made free. There is no other name given whereby salvation
  cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all
  you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient
  unto the end of your lives.  And it shall
  come to pass that whosoever doeth this shall be found at the right hand of God,
  for he shall know the name by which he is called; for he shall be called by the
  name of Christ.”

Ye are made free…these words leave me
speechless.  Covenants with God.  Obedience unto the end of your lives.  Taking upon us the name of Jesus Christ.  There is a full lesson on just this
scripture. 

Dallin H Oaks gave this talk about
the ways we take upon us the name of Jesus Christ and it is wonderful.  I learned a lot reading this talk. 

• Mosiah
  5:13 “For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a
  stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?”

I couldn’t help but think of the
perfect example of service that King Benjamin rendered to his people.  He served his people and in turn taught them
Christlike charity and love.  I thought
about the service that we give to our children. 
Are we showing them Christlike Charity and love?

• Mosiah
  5:15 “Therefore, I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable, always
  abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you
  his, that you may be brought to heaven, that ye may have everlasting salvation
  and eternal life, through the wisdom, and power, and justice, and mercy of him
  who created all things, in heaven and in earth, who is God above all.”

…that Christ, the Lord God
Omnipotent, may seal you his.  Is there
anything that we want more than this?

The Church has reached out to our Stake for there is an URGENT need to fill some assignments at the Bishop’s Storehouse.

This is a great opportunity to get out of the HOUSE! 🙂

If anyone is willing and able please see the link below to find a time slot!

Please note the General Requirements below.

Due to the many recent events, many Senior Church Service Missionaries at the Welfare Square Bishop’s Storehouse and Home Storage have selected to stay home.  However, the Magna Bishop’s Storehouse and Home Storage needs to continue to operate and meet a very high volume of patrons with anticipation of growing needs.  This creates an URGENT need for volunteers to help supplement the existing staff to assist patrons in filling food orders, stocking shelves, and packing goods.  Approximately 6 additional individuals per shift are needed (two shifts per day).  If you have been trained to help patrons previously, you are in high demand. Certified forklift drivers are needed.  Ages 16 and older are welcome.  Volunteers over the age of 60 and not immune-compromised are welcome to volunteer.  Missionaries returning from the field that have the time and are cleared medically to serve would be very welcome.

Each day typically has two shifts of between 3-4.5 hours.  You may sign up for one or multiple shifts.  We are looking for a number of volunteers who could serve on multiple days and provide some consistency to the staffing.  We expect the need for additional volunteers to extend between 1-3 months depending on conditions.  Please use good judgment and follow guidelines as outlined by local health officials and recent Church updates.  Individuals who feel ill in any way are asked not to fill their assignments or come to the facility.

Sunset Ridge Ward and Stake buildings are CLOSED until further notice.

Church buildings should not be used for gatherings — even if the only gatherers are from the same household or for a family activity.  We want to stay within the guidelines established by our state and county governments.

Stake Presidency:
With the current changes from the CDC dropping the number of people gathering at one time and knowing that the Coronavirus can live up to three days on a surface, there was some concern from members about cleaning the building after an event/gathering with the possibility of having it been contaminated with COVID-19.

We are closing the building down immediately for any personal use such as parties, family gatherings/events, reunions, and sporting events, etc. We will keep the building open for ward and stake leadership meetings and interviews if needed. This means that those who have the building scheduled will need to relocate or postpone their event. I feel we need to take greater precaution and wisdom to keep our members as safe as possible. We can’t control everything, but the little we can we hope to minimize the spread of COVID-19 in our little part of the vineyard.

I understand the inconvenience placed on families that have already scheduled the building and for those that are looking to schedule it in the near future, but our members safety is our number one concern. A school district Superintendent put it this way, “In the end, it will be impossible to know if we overreacted or did too much, but it will be quite apparent if we underreacted or did too little.” Our scheduler will notify any who currently have the building reserved.

For those of you who were able to watch or listen to President Nelson, he announced that after the morning session of Conference tomorrow morning there will be a Solemn Assembly and Hosanna Shout.

Some may be wondering what this is, as it is not something that occurs very often. The Church News sent out a wonderful article on what this is that you can read here. This is a great resource for those who might not know what this is, as well as others that may need a refresher.

President Nelson instructed that a white handkerchief would be used during the Hosanna Shout. This does not have to be any special handkerchief, it just has to be white. If you do not have one, that is okay. You do not need to go and try and find one or buy one. He said that we can wave our hand instead and it will be just fine. -Bishop Harwood

Starting this week many stores are offering Senior Shopping Hours. Call ahead to see if your favorite store offers these hours. Please help us get the word out!

We love our Elderly and would like to help! If you are unable to shop or would like some assistance, please contact the Relief Society, Elders Quorum President, or a member of the Bishopric.

As of this week, Costco has temporarily set apart one hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays for members who are over the age of 60 or have physical disabilities. 

Senior-only hours: 8-9 a.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays

Starting Wednesday, March 18, Smith’s Food & Drug Stores will dedicate the first hour on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 7:00 am to 8:00 am, solely to the shopping needs of senior citizens until further notice. This group is the most vulnerable to the COVID-19 coronavirus.

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The CDC has all the info we need to know to combat the Coronavirus.

Please follow the link below for info on how to prepare, and protect yourself from the Coronavirus.

Some people may be at higher risk of getting very sick from this illness.
This includes:

• Older Adults
• People who have serious underlying medical conditions like:
  • Heart disease
  • Diabetes
  • Lung disease