lds mothers day sacrament meeting
I don't think it bodes well. But I love my mother, and I miss her, so Im hopeful that the experience will be a good one. Disciples of Christ know what they want and there is not need to celebrate Christmas in front of others that are not faithful. And chocolate. Thanks for all your thoughts. Why do *we* have to have an ideal? So how does tax exemption relate to churches, and especially churches that [], You are so much more than the worst thing youve everdone., http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2008/04/daughters-of-god?lang=eng, http://dandelionmama.wordpress.com/2012/05/08/this-this-is-what-i-believe/, Inside the UK's Mormon missionary bootcamp - BBC, Former mayor, LDS bishop gets prison for child sex abuse - Salt Lake Tribune, The anti-racist Mormon trying to teach his fellow LDS church members - NPR, Mormon Church fined over claim it hid $32bn of investments - BBC, Linda King Newell, Feminist Scholar of Mormon History, Dies at 82 - The New York Times. I am actually traveling with my mother and other members of the family this weekend and showed her this in church to get a laugh. We were each handed full size chocolate bars that had been wrapped at the end of Sac Mtng. He suffered for the sins, sorrows, and pains of all people, providing remission of sins for those who repent and live the gospel (see 2Nephi 9:2123). Up til now, I have endured going because I thought I had to. You then leap to classifying it a family celebration rather than a national holiday. President Hinckley directly addresses mothers in this talk, commending them for the wonderful thing they have done by becoming mothers, but offering insights on their greatest challenge: to be able to answer the question How well have my children done? with happiness. After observing and empathizing with three generations of mothers and thinking of my own dear mother, I surely know that there is no role in life more essential and more eternal than that of motherhood.. The Mothers Day talks in my singles wards have been quite sensitive to childless women, but still pretty women-on-pedestalsy. I wish that EVERY ward had a FD talk on what unrighteousness dominion is, and why it should be the job of every priesthood holder and father to raise sons who understand it and daughters who wont stand for it. I hope none of you mind if I quote from this. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. They may have services on Holy Mother Mary but then again, she left her son behind in Jerusalem and didnt even notice she had forgotten him for quite some time before going back to look for him so not sure about her mothering skills ;)). (If you want to see an example, search mormon tax exemption on Twitter.) Sometimes its good, sometimes its bad. Uchtdorf. I found out the hard way after a long list of them declined to give the talk. Church meetings Sacrament Meeting Overview To find a ward near you, try the Meetinghouse Locator, which will also provide sacrament meeting times, driving directions, and contact information. We are confabbing about how to turn the tables on Hallmark. How about honoring our mothers by not just focusing on what they do or have done for us (guilt trip for those that feel they never do enough) but focus on ways the members can help their mothers throughout each stage of their life. They really did. Well we could have it like the Sacrament Meetings for Father's Day and have it be your usual every Sunday meeting and not even talk about women or mothers. All women should strive to be strong, and can become strong. Alece 100 it is a bit rich for you to interpret that your comment and that quote by Lewis mean the same thing. Just sharing those times with women in the scriptures and what we can learn from them - and NOT have a focus on mothers. Can they not celebrate their own mothers? I would also love all quotes, conf talks, songs be from women to reinforce the value/insight/talent women have. Our ward always does flowers, right after Sacrament meeting, and this is a real problem for me because of my allergies. She talked about how her convert mother negotiated church attendance with her inactive husband, how she brought the gospel into the home to the extent she could while maintaining close family ties and coping with her own faith struggles, and how her example and choices blessed her home. Ive decided to see if I can discern consistent reasons why the good ones are good and the bad ones are terrible. Their talks often included poems about the immeasurable amount of crap mothers had to deal with. He did not have any high-profile ward or stake calling at the time, not that it matters. What do you think should be handed out for Mothers Day? I have an aversion to bringing my family's celebration intochurch and causing other women pain. For those in Europe, is Mothers Day celebrated to the same awful-gut-wrenching extent? I love that song but our ward music coordinator has musical numbers lined up already. (did I mention he and his wife were not parents yet?). Why can't we let women celebrate it how they want at home and focus on Christ at church? Diversity and Unity in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Environmental Stewardship and Conservation, Joseph Smiths Teachings about Priesthood, Temple, and Women, Peace and Violence among 19th-Century Latter-day Saints, The Manifesto and the End of Plural Marriage, Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham. I also have plenty of friends who are single sisters and they mourn growing older and menopause because they wont be able to have the children they want to hold and love. Im amazed that we arent using the most recent conference materials . Or the best of both worldssend all women to RS and have the chocolate there so you get the women to walk through the door instead of to their cars, and so the kids arent begging for it? In addition, there are doctrinal and scriptural classes for . The only thing I might try if I were in charge would be to put out pink, white, red carnations and safety pins and invite everyone in the ward to wear a carnation to honor their mother pink/red if shes living, white if shes passed away. I too am irritated by mother-worshipping in MD talks, but at the same time, I think many Mormon women identify so strongly with being a mother and so many have sacrificed just about everything to focus on that specific role, that they really appreciate a little validation, a little boost of confidence that what theyre doing is significant and has meaning. The story of Martha and Mary each bringing important and valuable things, even though they were very different. (Sorry to barge in madhousewife). to hear my little kids sing and for my older kids to pass out a flower. Alece, But I see where you are coming from. It was an emotional rollercoaster of raised hopes and disappointments. His explanation was not to offend any sister. I have suggested the donate-money-to-the-shelter thing for about four years now; it gets a blank stare, followed by a startled, oh! In honor of Earth Day, you could throw in the topic of Mother Nature also! Replies to my comments Show me a sinless mother and she can be my ideal too. This is Elder Hollands second appearance on this list of LDS talks on motherhood. Didn't Sheri Dew give a talk titled, "Are We Not All Mothers?" That wouldn't let her do such and suchall things in the end that weren't good for her daughter to do, one way of looking at it. Ive never objected to any Mothers Day program, and in my ward, all women get a gift, married, single, divorced, widowed, with or without children. The best Mothers Day talk Ive ever heard was an illustration of this principle. My mother was an ideal, and she is schizophrenic, couldnt cook water without burning the pan, never cleaned a thing in the house while we were children, had rebellious to some degree or another, etc. It is awkward for those who are NOT mothers and I don't think fathers get their due comparibly. I also really like Kristenes suggestion and everything like unto it as EOR suggested. lesson about prayer. I went to Sac. Finally, Elder Holland offers his thanks to mothers around the world. After a lot of thought and prayer I called two sisters to speak on some of the blessings and also the challenges of raising children in the gospel. You can still give the women the day off. If I would obtain the blessing, So this year we are setting up tables and chairs in the gym, hauling in meat and cheese and veggies and chocolate, and the Bishop will talk for five minutes and then we will let everybody socialize while I play the tuba for the entire primary. Ere the sun goes down. My own father would probably appreciate a plant, but fortunately he enjoys cookies too. Even now, 4 years after her passing, I miss her. Mother's Day Last year I used the last verse of "Teach Me to Walk in the Light" and the song "Teacher/Mother Do You Love Me" for the Mother's Day Primary songs in sacrament meeting. With that in mind, there are great ideas in this discussion thread of ways to do exactly that. I dont go to be honored or get a gift. Through this ordinance, Church members renew the covenants they made with God when they were baptized. Her mother didnt come across as being perfect, but rather imperfect but faithfully trying, and her simple persistent efforts turned out to be eternally valuable. I do think a lot of Mormon women enjoy talks that validate their efforts at motherhood, and I think some of these talks get interpreted as angel mother talks when theyre really not. Set them up outside the chapel, or in the kitchen or sometime. The greatest Mormon blog in the universe. Elder Perry uses personal stories and memories of his own mother to illustrate the importance of teaching the gospel inside the home. I dont know how that worked out for him. Which isnt necessarily a bad thing. Alece, I also love CS Lewis, and agree that we should look to higher ground in our mortal journey. It demands that the single day of the year that Mother's are celebrated to a holiday that is solely for adult females and no one else. This year in our ward we are having a missionary farewell for Mothers Daynot the old kind where the new missionary and all his/her family speak, but the new kind where the new missionary will be given a topic. We go to church to grow closer to the Savior, not to get treats or recognition. Great post, Mark! We all do., The relationship between mothers and daughters is at the heart of this talk from Elder Ballard. Yeah, it would be pretty late to be thinking about music now. End of rant. It was part of the talk. Aleah Ingram Disciples should take this personal holiday to their own homes to celebrate it when and how they choose. Watching the Primary children singing to their mothers in Sacrament meeting was the hardest. I have no aversion to motherhood being spoken of in church. on Mothers Day and donate it to a womens shelter. me) before deciding on these speakers. It is even worse when women are so enthused with Father's Day that they want to ignore it completely - as in absolutely not mention it. I dont think sacrament meeting is such an inappropriate place to do that, either. I still dont understand it, which is probably why Im still very nervous about having kids. Many times, it seems bishoprics want to put women on a pedestal for a day, while trying not to offend anyone. Just wondering. Mother's Day became the hardest day of the year for me. Our HC speaker will be talking about forgiveness this Sunday at the special request of our Leadership. She was a wonderful example for motherhood, womanhood, and peoplehood. Ann (#76), Im sorry to hear about your mothers passing. Below, youll find an excerpt from each talk and a link to the full text. I am 70 years old and have never been a mother, but I had one. Being Both a Disciple & a Daughter: Balancing Formality in Prayer. iPad. There there is the secular appeal - it causes a pain to those who are not mothers. I spoke one Mothers Day about Eve and Mary, and thought it was a good talk and well-received. In the same way, when we make a dramatic production of Mothers Day, I fear that we are sometimestrying to compensate for the way we devalue the real and important work they do on the other 364 days of the year. For the past two years, I have been passed over because other women tell the youth passing out the gift, that they need to take one for so-and-so, shes ill today,without looking for women in the room that havent received one yet. Id like to see the swords beaten into plow shares this mothers day And for once ( just once) the SAHM vs working mom verbal cat claws retracted. You can guess how well that went over. I dont recall what the men are given on Fathers Day, but at one time in my ward they gave them nice ball point pens. Aleah served a mission in California and loves baking, Lang Leav poetry, Gaynor Minden pointe shoes, and Bollywood movies. all while X sat smugly on the stand. Then I served in a Branch with 90% women who had absent husbands and who also grew up with absent fathers. What is the trigger to close the thread? I could send you a PDF of the sheet music, but it's probably too late now for your choir and Primary to prepare in time for Mother's Day. This has been a great reminder to be sensitive to all in the congregation with the Holy Ghost as a guide. I wonder if this phenomenon is uniquely Mormon. MD is a day I prefer to play hookey, especially now that my mother is currently lost in alzheimers disease. Thank you for being the kind of people you are and doing the things you do. As a member of our bishopric, I assigned the topics for this weeks talks, all motherhood focused, and I have forwarded your paragraph with Elder Eyrings quote to each of them. Not wordingthat well. The good talks that I have heard tend toaddressthe details ofan individual womans life, in all its messiness and particularity. So I would personally prefer if they didnt do those honor-mothers meetings. I plan to skip church on Mothers Day morning to visit my mother in the home and I will receive my Masters Degree that afternoon! A day focused on mothers is hard enough for many women, and much more so when thats all they hear about at church. Thats the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me! Weve had sermons based on bumper stickers, Willy Wonka, the Grinch, and quite possibly Chicken Soup for the Soul, etc. 2. If you want to deal in rose-colored platitudes, you are probably gunning for the high council, so save it until then. I struggled with infertility for nearly a decade. I have to say that I was almost offended that there would be an assumption that FD would be a piece of cake. Families are good about this but public acknowledgement is hard to come by. Then it gives them the option to (1) print traditional paper programs, or (2) give members access to a digital version of the program on their phones. It isn't in every country so I don't know why it has to be in just a few. All my daily tasks fulfilling, But I still think the Dove bars our bishop chooses rock the holiday. Have You Discovered the Love of The Everyday Christ? My best friend (unmarried, childless at 51) has been asked to speak. This blog post is the result of my musing. This was very informative and interesting. American LDS women who attended Sacrament Meeting were told that they have a lot of innate qualities, such as being righteous, spiritual, pure, or nurturing. I guess plants are pretty and mothers are pretty. Is this really the Mothers Day message I need? But I realize others prefer plants. But from my description, it sounds like the typical platitudinous MD talk. Measure your words with that assumption in mind. See also What to Expect at Church Services. When her dad found out that there was a whole lottashakin goin on without him, he summarily divorced his adulterous wife and took the children to live with him. Last year, I did an arrangement of "I Often Go Walking" for the Primary children and our ward choir to perform together. He gets points for effort and most humorous and memorable! What Can I Do? Actually..mother's day should be everyday. Please use the comments to make your own contributions. What if you brought in padded RS chairs for the YW & PRI workers, including Nursery sisters, so that they can feel a little comfort on that Sunday? I am a single (divorced) old man with no children. And that concludes the story of how NewlyHousewife learned not to attend church on Mothers Day. We once had a bishop hand out frozen TV dinners! I have been called by God to be there and that is where I should be. more guilt and more controversy.). Gospel Q&A: Can Satan Hear Our Prayers? I like the idea of a simple gift for those in attendance. On the road this week I attend Mother's day services with the fourth ward in St George Utah. Where everyone else is happy and interested in celebrating motherhood - those terrible males and those rancorous children in particular - they need to be denied for "me" and "what I want". LDS Hymn Arrangements. One year they handed out Sheri Dews talk Are We Not All Mothers? and I thought that was cool. My oldest, the musical and noisy one, composed parodies of many favorite primary songs about a decade ago when she was under the tyranny of those zealous but misguided young mothers. I am aware of a seminary/institute teacher who is apparently of the firm and unshakeable belief that a pile of pizza must be provided each week without fail. Less than nothing because the message of such a gift is that the person is not important. Im asking this out of genuine curiosity/responsibility for handing stuff out. It just screamed, whoops, we forgot to order flowers in time and ran out to walmart last night and bought up whatever womanly thing we could find. I think it turned out great. So He can be ideal AND real. #93 Ruth I figure maybe in the next life I will be someones Heavenly Mother. Submitting to the will of the Father, He suffered more than we can comprehend: Blood [came] from every pore, so great [was] his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people (Mosiah 3:7). What would happen, if, at the start of sacrament meeting on Mothers Day, the bishop announced that there would be two separate meetings. This talk by Sheri Dew focuses on how motherhood is for all women, regardless if they have children or not. Have all the talks be by women. Those were the kinds of talks I gave, and thats what I would rather listen to. Motherhood as a path to choose to be a better disciple of Christ by caring for those Christ loves.feed my sheep, etc.https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/wanted-hands-and-hearts-to-hasten-the-work?lang=eng. The first one we did was a modified version of "Teacher Do You Love Me". At one point they cut down a tree and paraded it into town to symbolize the mother of the Gods (Asherah, anyone?). Not an official website of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I dont remember all 18 things, but two of them stuck with me, even 15 years later. Maybe, eventually, I will heal and that will change. Not at church anyway. Primary kids singing, oh, 12 songs, and then someone real standing up and talking about the incredible power of hope, even when we feel that we dont measure up, and the wonder of the atonement and Gods love for us. It was my missionary farewell, back when such things were acceptable. It was designed with ward choirs and Sacrament Meeting musical numbers in mind. I come to church to be fed spiritually, and sappy poems and stories are never ever going to measure up to the meat that scriptural examples can provide. But her mother held a yardstick, and if her daughter played the wrong key, her mother smacked her across the back ofher hands, thus providing sufficient negative reinforcement to motivate her to do it right the next time through. It appears that this phenomenon is growing and becoming even more common everywhere in the US church. Bear in mind thatmost of women in the congregation havelives that havent turned out the way they expected. 3. first adult speaker: Motherhood is like a roller coaster: there are lots of ups and downs, and sometimes you just have to close your eyes and scream., second adult speaker, quoting a Native American proverb: The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears., benediction, by a former Bishop: Heavenly Father, we speak with thee every day, and we look forward to the day when we can renew our relationship with Heavenly Mother.. Sacrament meeting is a time for us to renew our covenants, it is a sacred ordinance. Excellent suggestions, Mark. Thats the last thing a mother needs, responsibility for yet another living thing. lol! If you want to hear from real women who haveread scriptures andheld FHEand family prayer, but whose son is in jail or whose 16-year-old daughter is pregnant or whose husband has left her, then you should meet in the cultural hall. As far as Jesus is concerned, he was sinless so is able to stand as an ideal. I always had this huge chip on my shoulder about refusing the flowers because I wasnt a mom (I had kids later in life), but my own mother would force me to take it because it was a free flower. I dont need to socialize at church. The responsibility mothers have today has never required more vigilance. Best Mother's Day Topics, Scriptures, Conference Talks, Etc. http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2008/04/daughters-of-god?lang=eng, Ray (#58) Steve Ps post is evidence that a talk from 2007 which has been essentially corrected is still being recycled today. Thank you to everyone!
