Prayer

Our Heavenly Father

God is the Supreme and Absolute Being in whom we believe and whom we worship. He is “the Great Parent of the universe,” and He “looks upon the whole of the human family with a fatherly care and paternal regard” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 39).

The Nature of God

All good things come from God. Everything that He does is to help His children become like Him. He has said, “Behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39).

Coming to Know God

We can know God if we will:

• 1. Believe that He exists and that He loves us (see Mosiah 4:9).

• 2. Study the scriptures (see 2 Timothy 3:14–17).

• 3. Pray to Him (see James 1:5).

• 4. Obey all His commandments as best we can (see John 14:21–23).

  (For the full lesson, click here)

  
  

Just Married

The beaming bride and groom: Miow-Lin and James Willis! Our heartiest congratulations!

Cebu City Philippines Temple

Public Open House: from Friday, 21 May 2010 to Saturday, 5 June 2010, excluding Sundays

Formal Dedication: Sunday, 13 June 2010 (3 sessions)

Formal Temple Work Commencement: Monday, 14 June 2010

Cultural Celebration of Music and Dance: Saturday, 12 June 2010 at the Cebu Coliseum

Old Testament Flavor is Unique

Russell T. Osguthorpe, Sunday School general president, center,

and his counselors, David M. McConkie, left, and Matthew O. Richardson

"Everything points from the Old Testament to the New Testament," observed Russell T. Osguthorpe, who, with his two counselors in the Sunday School general presidency, discussed this year's course of study in a recent Church News interview.

Added David M. McConkie, first counselor, "We're in a unique position, because as members of the Church, we get to study the Old Testament with the light and through the lens of the Restoration. We can understand things in the Old Testament that can't be understood by the world generally, and if we're teachers, we'll teach it with that in mind."

Teachers should ask themselves, "Is what we're teaching different from what the world could teach," Brother McConkie suggested. If the answer to that question is no, perhaps some rethinking is in order pertaining to approach, he said.

Building upon Brother Osguthorpe's comment, Matthew O. Richardson, second counselor, said, "There is a flavor in the Old Testament that is quite unique. You have over 3,500 years of great anticipation for the Savior's coming. You have a story line of the covenant people looking forward to the Savior, and I think that comes out in the text."

(For the full article, click here)

Becoming Self-Reliant

What Is Self-Reliance?

" 'Self-reliance means using all of our blessings from Heavenly Father to care for ourselves and our families and to find solutions for our own problems.' Each of us has a responsibility to try to avoid problems before they happen and to learn to overcome challenges when they occur. . . .

"How do we become self-reliant? We become self-reliant through obtaining sufficient knowledge, education, and literacy; by managing money and resources wisely, being spiritually strong, preparing for emergencies and eventualities; and by having physical health and social and emotional well-being."¹

Julie B. Beck, Relief Society general president.

A Gospel Responsibility

"As we live providently and increase our gifts and talents, we become more self-reliant. Self-reliance is taking responsibility for our own spiritual and temporal welfare and for those whom Heavenly Father has entrusted to our care. Only when we are self-reliant can we truly emulate the Savior in serving and blessing others.

"It is important to understand that self-reliance is a means to an end. Our ultimate goal is to become like the Savior, and that goal is enhanced by our unselfish service to others. Our ability to serve is increased or diminished by the level of our self-reliance."²

Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

"Self-reliance is a product of our work and undergirds all other welfare practices. It is an essential element in our spiritual as well as our temporal well-being. Regarding this principle, President Marion G. Romney [1897–1988] has said: 'Let us work for what we need. Let us be self-reliant and independent. Salvation can be obtained on no other principle. Salvation is an individual matter, and we must work out our own salvation in temporal as well as in spiritual things.' . . .

"President Spencer W. Kimball [1895–1985] further taught concerning self-reliance: 'The responsibility for each person's social, emotional, spiritual, physical, or economic well-being rests first upon himself, second upon his family, and third upon the Church if he is a faithful member thereof.' "³

President Thomas S. Monson.

Quote - Gratitude

"May we be found among those who give our thanks to our Heavenly Father. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues. Despite the changes which come into our lives and with gratitude in our hearts, may we fill our days—as much as we can—with those things which matter most. May we cherish those we hold dear and express our love to them in word and in deed."

--Thomas S Monson, "Finding Joy in the Journey", Ensign, November 2008, 84-87

Chicken Curry Recipe by Sister Tina Lee

Sister Tina's "mean" chicken curry was the talk of the branch after the service project at the Yayasan Sunbeam Home on 19 December. So, by popular request, she has generously agreed to share her curry secret! Thanks Sister Tina! You are wonderful!

Ingredients:

5 tbsp oil

1 cinnamon stick

1 inch ginger and 4 cloves garlic, pounded

1 tsp aniseed (jintan manis), 1 tbsp poppy seed (kas-kas), and 1 tsp cumin (jintan putih), sauteed in dry pan and milled till fine (make sure not burnt)

4 large onions, shredded

4 to 5 tbsp Baba's chicken curry powder

4 twigs curry leaf

1 whole chicken, cut into pieces

4 medium potatoes, quartered

4 medium tomatoes, quartered

salt and chicken stock to taste

water

juice of half a lime

Method:

1. Heat oil.

2. Add in cinnamon stick, pounded ginger and garlic, and milled aniseed, poppy seed and cumin.

3. Fry until fragrant.

4. Add in onions.

5. Fry till onions are medium soft.

6. Add in curry powder and curry leaves.

7. Fry on low heat till oil floats to the top.

8. Add in chicken, quartered potatoes and tomatoes, salt, chicken stock and water to cover.

9. Cover with a lid and let boil.

10. When boiling, stir to prevent burning.

11. Taste and adjust seasoning.

12. Add in lime juice (make sure not too much or curry becomes sour).

13. Simmer till potatoes and chicken are cooked.

14. Turn off heat.

15. Serve.

Remember the Christ in Christmas

What wonderful and powerful testimonies were borne yesterday during sacrament meeting. We were reminded that Christmas is not about snow or gifts but about Jesus.

Quote - Meeting Challenges

"None of us will escape tragedy and suffering. Each of us will probably react differently. However, if we can recall the Lord’s promise, “for I the Lord am with you,” we will be able to face our problems with dignity and courage. We will find the strength to be of good cheer instead of becoming resentful, critical, or defeated. We will be able to meet life’s unpleasant happenings with clear vision, strength, and power."

--Marvin J Ashton, "Be of Good Cheer", Ensign, May 1986, 66

Mary Did You Know?

"Mary Did You Know"

[Originally written by Mark Lowry and Buddy Greene]

Mary, did you know

that your Baby Boy would one day walk on water?

Mary, did you know

that your Baby Boy would save our sons and daughters?

Did you know

that your Baby Boy has come to make you new?

This Child that you delivered will soon deliver you.

Mary, did you know

that your Baby Boy will give sight to a blind man?

Mary, did you know

that your Baby Boy will calm the storm with His hand?

Did you know

that your Baby Boy has walked where angels trod?

When you kiss your little Baby you kissed the face of God?

Mary did you know.. Ooo Ooo Ooo

The blind will see.

The deaf will hear.

The dead will live again.

The lame will leap.

The dumb will speak

The praises of The Lamb.

Mary, did you know

that your Baby Boy is Lord of all creation?

Mary, did you know

that your Baby Boy would one day rule the nations?

Did you know

that your Baby Boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?

The sleeping Child you're holding is the Great, I Am.

What Shall We Give?

Stand Fast through the Storms of life

Wilford Woodruff, the fourth President of the Church, said: “The Lord told Joseph that He would prove him, whether he would abide in His covenant or not, even unto death. He did prove him; and although [Joseph] had the whole world to contend against and the treachery of false friends to withstand, although his whole life was a scene of trouble and anxiety and care, yet, in all his afflictions, his imprisonments, the mobbings and ill treatment he passed through, he was ever true to his God.”2

• Those who follow Jesus Christ will be tried and must prove themselves faithful to God.

John Taylor, the third President of the Church, said: “I heard the Prophet Joseph say, in speaking to the Twelve on one occasion: ‘You will have all kinds of trials to pass through. And it is quite as necessary for you to be tried as it was for Abraham and other men of God, and (said he) God will feel after you, and He will take hold of you and wrench your very heart strings, and if you cannot stand it you will not be fit for an inheritance in the Celestial Kingdom of God.’ … Joseph Smith never had many months of peace after he received the truth, and finally he was murdered in Carthage jail.”8

• God will support and bless those who trust Him in their times of trial.

“The power of the Gospel will enable us to stand and bear with patience the great affliction that is falling upon us on all sides. … The harder the persecution the greater the gifts of God upon his church. Yea, all things shall work together for good to them who are willing to lay down their lives for Christ’s sake.”9

• The faithful do not murmur in affliction, but are thankful for God's goodness.

On December 5, 1833, the Prophet wrote to Church leaders presiding over the Saints who were being persecuted in Missouri: “Remember not to murmur at the dealings of God with His creatures. You are not as yet brought into as trying circumstances as were the ancient Prophets and Apostles. Call to mind a Daniel, the three Hebrew children [Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego], Jeremiah, Paul, Stephen, and many others, too numerous to mention, who were stoned, sawn asunder, tempted, slain with the sword, and [who] wandered about in sheep skins and goat skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and in mountains, and hid in dens and caves of the earth; yet they all obtained a good report through faith [see Hebrews 11:37–39]; and amidst all their afflictions they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to receive persecutions for Christ’s sake.

• Confidence in God's power, wisdom, and love will help us avoid discouragement in times of trial.

George A. Smith, who served as a counselor to President Brigham Young, received the following counsel from the Prophet Joseph Smith at a time of great difficulty:“He told me I should never get discouraged, whatever difficulties might surround me. If I was sunk in the lowest pit of Nova Scotia and all the Rocky Mountains piled on top of me, I ought not to be discouraged but hang on, exercise faith, and keep up good courage and I should come out on the top of the heap at last.”22

(For the full lesson, click here)

Quote - Tender Mercies

"We should not underestimate or overlook the power of the Lord’s tender mercies. The simpleness, the sweetness, and the constancy of the tender mercies of the Lord will do much to fortify and protect us in the troubled times in which we do now and will yet live. When words cannot provide the solace we need or express the joy we feel, when it is simply futile to attempt to explain that which is unexplainable, when logic and reason cannot yield adequate understanding about the injustices and inequities of life, when mortal experience and evaluation are insufficient to produce a desired outcome, and when it seems that perhaps we are so totally alone, truly we are blessed by the tender mercies of the Lord and made mighty even unto the power of deliverance."

--David A Bednar, "The Tender Mercies of the Lord", Ensign, May 2005

His Hands