At our last youth activity, the young men and leaders worked together to clear out the shed, and now it is clear of the clutter of rarely used things, and ready for storage of FIREWOOD for those in need in our ward. We intend to keep this water tight "shed" stocked with OAK FIREWOOD to keep on hand throughout the winter. If you are anyone else you know wants to help those who need a little extra heat in the winter, please contact a member of the Bishopric or Ward Council for more information. STUFF for FREE In the mean time, and for a short time (until Saturday October 22) items that were in the shed that were taken out of the shed are still there, and are available for free as a first come first served basis. Below are some samplings of the items that were taken out and remain outside the shed, until Saturday Oct 22. The shed in the meantime is clear and will be filled with Oak firewood for the upcoming winter. BELOW: Our firewood service activity from last year, except we had to deliver the wood the same day, and there was no reserve for the remainder of the year. Supplies were short. Members had to donate from their personal supplies, and we aim to step our service to those in need up a notch by creating a supply of firewood, a ready to go inventory of firewood stored in the storehouse there on the church grounds.

I don't need new free standing shelves, but if anyone has some used free standing steel shelves that they no longer need or want, I am willing to BUY from you. The cost for new is ridiculously high and I won't buy at that rate. I want something like in this photo, that can hold a lot of weight and it about 2 feet deep. Feel free to call me using the TOOLS app for phone number, or reply here. Thanks

Almost 10 years ago, our ward prepared an in-house document reference for emergency preparedness. We are thinking once again about our state of readiness (or not) for an emergency situation. With fires always around the corner, an evacuation could be a very serious thing. We want to be prepared. As you take a look at the text of this document (which is also located on this website in PDF form, HERE), please see if you feel it is current and up-to-date as it ought to be. If you have any comments, feel free to make them here, and let's learn from each others experience in these matters. Once we have let this ride for a month or so, we can compile the comments and update our Emergency Preparedness Plan. Here is the TEXT: Stake Leader's Responsibilities Before an Emergency: Encourage family storage and preparation for emergencies. Identify resources in the stake for: radio communications capabilities and operators, persons with special skills such as heat equipment operators, special equipment, emergency housing, and emergency medical specialists. This information will be updated yearly. Stake and ward preparation and planning will be coordinated as needed. When an Emergency Strikes: A command post will be set up at each church building in the stake with the central command post at the stake center. The Stake Presidency and the Welfare Committee and the Emergency Preparedness Council will assemble at the Stake Center. Two high councilmen will be assigned to each of the other buildings including the branches to supervise operations in those locations. Communications will be established between each building as has been arranged in advance. The radio specialist will be at the stake center to oversee the communications between wards and with other church authorities. A family survey will be made of all the families in the stake to assess needs and to locate resources to meet those needs. The needs of the families will be communicated through the Area Captains to the Bishops of each ward and from there to the stake or church authorities and civil authorities as is needed. Church leaders will work through the Area Captains to resolve any conditions caused by the emergency and keep both the individual families and the leaders informed. After an Emergency: The stake will continue to work with the wards and civil authorities to resolve all of the five essential needs for each family until the emergency passes and the situation has returned to normal. This booklet was designed to be a basic aid in preparing yourself and family. lt does not have everything in it. Your search for knowledge, and skills, should never stop! 5 Preparing for and Responding to an Emergency Plan and Prepare Church members should be prepared spiritually and temporally to meet both the ordinary problems of life and emergency conditions. The following are suggestions for basic preparations: 1. Hold one or more Home Evenings reading and discussing the information in this booklet. 2. Each family or individual should store at least a 3 month supply of food, clothing and fuel, if possible and legal. These supplies can be used and shared when they are not available in a community following a disaster. 3. Each family member or individual should prepare a three-day survival kit (72 hour kit) with food, water, clothing, first aid supplies, medicines, tools and other items for emergency use. This kit should be placed where it can be picked up quickly. 4. Each head of household should have basic first aid training. Your family's immediate needs in a disaster will have to be met by you. 5. Each family should know where to go, what to take, and for whom he is responsible for. 6. Each individual should be adequately immunized. 7. Each individual should know how to contact community emergency resources (fire, police, ambulance) if communication is possible. Each person should . know the phone number of the out-of-state relative in case local communications is not possible. 8. Each residence should prepare two banners to be kept by their 72 hour kit. These banners should be used in case of an emergency. The banners should be 4" X 36" in length. One banner should be white in color and the other green in color. The green colored banner indicates all is okay and everyone is accounted for. The white banner indicates that immediate assistance is needed. In an emergency the banner indicating your situation should be placed in a prominent place by the front entrance. This will help emergency personnel reach those in need first and as fast as possible. 9. Each individual owning an automobile should keep it in good repair and the gas tank at least half full at all times. 10. Each individual or family should carry adequate insurance and maintain an inventory of household possessions. 11. Include your children in your discussions and planning. Give them responsibilities that meet their age and capabilities. They should have their own pack even if it only has some clothes in it. Professionals say these are some of the ways to ease the fear and stress for young people. 6 FIVE ESSENTIALS AREAS FOR SURVIVAL There are five essentials in any survival situation. We will stress those five essentials over and over. Let's list them so everyone will know what they are and then we'll talk about each one. FIRST AID: During and right after an emergency situation your first concern will be for the health and "well being" of your family. Did you know that in an earthquake about 80% of all accidents happen to the mother and almost all of those injuries are from the knee down? Husbands, do you know what you are going to do about it? WATER: In an emergency situation a person needs as much as 2-4 times the water as normal. An adult can live for a month without food but could be dysfunctional in 24 to 72 hours without water. FIRE: Even a candle can give off enough heat to prevent a person from freezing to death. Consider the heating and cooking needs of your family. What would be best to meet their needs and what would store best in your home. Experts suggest you have at least two different methods of heating in your home. . SHELTER: Staying out of the elements can be the most important factor in staying warm. What can you afford that will protect your family in winter weather, Is a tarp enough or would a good tent be better? In an earthquake your home may not be habitable. Your clothing is part of your shelter. Do you have adequate clothing for winter weather? A hat appropriate for the weather (summer or winter) is essential. A tent marked for 4 people is really a 3 man tent. Do not have open flame inside your tent unless you have a hunter's style tent built to accommodate a stove. FOOD: Most earthquake situations are of short duration. Do you have enough food for your family for one month? Where are you going to get it? An adult can go for a much as a month without food and still be reasonably healthy. However children can't go that long, and won't go a day without letting you know about it. Whereas food is the last essential, you may take care of the other essential in a few hours, while food will be an ongoing concern. Psychological and physical health is often determined by how well the body is fed. The body can withstand extreme cold with the proper nutrition. The Lord and the prophets say to have at least a 3 month supply of food on hand. 7 PSYCHOLOGY SURVIVING MENTALLY - Any kind of disaster is hard on human emotions, thought processes, and physical health. Children are especially vulnerable to emotional problems relating to disasters. If you learn to deal with your own emotions you will be able to help others including your children. Your children will be watching you. They will determine how severe the problem is by the way you act. Children see the emergency as you do but they also react according to their imaginations. You control what they imagine. Here are the most common stressors relating to disasters: Injury, illness, and/or death Uncertainty & lack of control Hunger & thirst Fatigue Isolation All of these stressors can be partly controlled as you prepare yourself for a disaster by having the skills and the supplies you need in an emergency. If you know first aid well and have the supplies you lessen the fear of injury and illness, and fear of not being in control of the situation. If you have a supply of food, you lessen the fear of being out of control, hungry & thirsty, and if you eat well you will not be fatigued. If you have the family plan in place and practice it, the fear of isolation can be greatly diminished. When we aren't prepared, these stressors are manifested in a number of ways. Some of the ways are: Anger . Anxiety . Fear . Depression . Loneliness & Boredom . Guilt . All of these just make the situation worse, but if we recognize what they are we can cope with them. Sit down, breathe deeply, remain calm, and realize that if you can control these emotions you can survive the situation Next get up and start helping your children and neighbors cope with their stresses. Treat the situation as an adventure not as a disaster. Tell your children to treat it like an adventure. Others will be comforted by your behavior. 8 Children's fears are a little different than adults. Their greatest fears are: • That the event will happen again » Someone will be injured or killed »They will be separated from the family They will be left alone . Much of a child's fear can be lessened by: 1. Discussing the possibility of a -disaster happening, what to expect, and what the family's plan is to take care of it. 2. involve your children in the planning - let them have a 72 hour kit even if there isn't much in it. 3. Practice your plan together. . 4. Help the children memorize their family name, local emergency numbers and procedures, and the phone number of your out-of-state contact. 5. Involve even the smallest children in the recovery process. Give them their own responsibilities. 6. One parent needs to stay with the younger children until they are calm and can be left while you care for others. The one that goes to help others after the family needs are met needs to explain where he or she is going and why. 7. lt is said that if you rotate some of your small children's stuffed toys, then get some out after a disaster the children will be so excited about finding their lost friends they won't think about the disaster. If the disaster causes a problem that lasts longer than a few weeks, such as a famine causing a food shortage, husbands and wives remember it is not your fault and it is not the fault of your spouse either. You can get through anything if you stick together, love each other more, communicate better, without rancor, pray and read the scriptures together, accept help and help others. Remember this too shall pass and be for your good (D&C 122:7). After a disaster~hug your children, let them cry if they want, let them know it is okay to feel the way they do, reassure them that all will be well. Husbands these same steps work for wives. Wives no man is so macho that he doesn't need reassurance and extra hugs. Have you noticed that the same things help all people cope? Namely: Increased love and companionship. Increased communication. Lose yourself in the service of others. 9 If these things do not remove the extreme emotions of your loved ones seek professional help as soon as possible. If you don't plan ahead as a family you are asking for severe problems that you will know you brought on yourself. So to remove the last of the emotions, which is guilt, do all that you can now! Also, recognize that you can't do everything and if you have done your best guilt is just another obstacle to the solutions and should not be indulged in. Even if you haven't done your best, still guilt will hinder not help the situation. Preparing for Emergencies We have been advised by our leaders to be "self reliant", being prepared both spiritually and temporally for all emergencies that may happen in our lives. The focus here is on temporal preparedness which gives the individual and family the means to weather all emergencies that come their way. The first step is to-identify what kind of emergency or natural disasters are common to our area. Then as a family make a plan to prepare for those emergencies. Natural disasters are not the only emergency that we can experience. Personal emergencies like health problems or accidents, loss of jobs or unexpected expenses can put stress on families and need to have prior preparation. Some of the natural disasters that are common to our area are first and most dangerous is brush and forest fires. They require evacuation of our homes until the fire is put out. In a family home evening, plan for where to go and in case of separation where to meet. Prepare "run" kits and organize important documents for quick departures. Whereas winter storms, power outages, strong winds, earthquakes and in some cases flooding require us to be prepared to weather the event in our homes. In the following pages you will find ideas to help you prepare ahead of time for the emergencies in our lives. 10 First Aid Kits It is best to have two first aid kits, one in the car and one in the home. Your first aid kits should be tailored to the needs of your family. In an emergency, you are the first responder and need to be able to handle basic medical needs. \ Basic First Aid Kits should contain: Band-Aids (assorted sizes) Sterile gauze pads 2 and 3 inches Adhesive tape Triangle bandage Elastic bandage Neo or polysporin or other antibiotic ointment Rubbing alcohol Hydrogen peroxide Antiseptic soap Hydrocortisone cream (anti-itch) Safety pins (assorted sizes) Sewing needle Scissors Tweezers Thermometer oral and rectal Saline solution (sterile for eyes) Gloves CPR mask Aloe Vera gel Ibuprofen Tylenol Aspirin Masks First Aid Manual 11 Cooking Meals need to be prepared even in times of natural emergencies. If you cook with electric stoves an alternate cooking source will be necessary. AlternatiVe Cooking Fuels Wood Propane Charcoal White gas Sterno or buddy burners Propane stoves can be hand lit for cooking purposes. Wood stoves will cook food just fine. Propane barbeques and camping stoves will also serve the purpose but they as well as charcoal, white gas, and Sterno burners must be used outside only. Fuels for Heating In any kind of natural emergency the power will probably go out. This could happen winter or summer, but more often in the winter which makes heating, cooking and lighting a concern to be prepared for ahead of time. lt is suggested that every home have a safe alternate source of heating. . Heating Sources Wood Stoves Propane Pellet Stoves Electric Heating Generator 12 If propane is your main heat source, remember that if is controlled by an electrical thermostat and sent through your home by an electric powered fan. Pellet stoves also need electricity to function. If a generator is used to supply your alternate power it needs to be outside your house and garage as it creates carbon monoxide gas. You will also need fuel to power it. lt will also need to be stored and maintained in good working order to make sure it works when the emergency is upon you and the time for preparation is past. Lighting When the power goes out, some form of lighting is necessary. Flashlights and battery powered lamps are the safest. Adults should keep a flashlight in an easy to find place (like next to your bed) as it is no fun stumbling around in the dark trying to remember where you last saw your flashlight. Wax and liquid paraffin candles are also a light source but they are an open flame and if not carefully placed or left to burn for long periods can cause an even bigger problem - a fire. The need of children who regularly 'want a night light maybe comforted by giving them a light stick at bedtime. Light Sources Flashlights Battery Lamps Candles Light sticks The use of flashlights and battery lamps extra batteries should be kept on hand and rotated. LED lamps are safe and put out a good amount of light and are said to last 14 to 18 hours of use and again batteries will be needed. Candles and liquid paraffin candles must be handled with care to be safe. They don't put out a great deal of light but are an affordable light source. If there is a suspected gas leak an open flame as in candles should not be used. LED headlamps are a good source of light and have the advantage of keeping your hands free to perform other tasks 13 for the remainder of this document, please refer to the PDF file at this location.

ROOTSTECH CONFERENCE MAR 3-5, 2022 INFO From: Ronald Firestine <ronaldf@sti.net> Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2022, 05:05:30 PM PST Subject: Link to "Relatives" for Rootstech attendees Here is the link to participate in the "Relative" portion of Rootstech. Sign up for Rootstech and add in you information into the "Relative" section and see which of your relatives are attending Rootstech. https://www.familysearch.org/en/connect/787b5034-edf8-465c-b6fa-f301452de294/friend/MMMM-QR9?cid=rar_facebook&fbclid=IwAR2Ys_7_zGiLsI246LYd-VszICn5hgg1Du5row4ZtO9uLP7l-pNjty8wUaI Ron and Judy Firestine Area Temple and Family History Adviser Fresno Coordinating Council Area

Many in The Yosemite Ward are opting to participate in a 30 day challenge, and I want to also extend an invitation to do so to those in our ward. The 30 day challenge, beginning in our Relief Society organization* and spreading to the Children's Primary organization, is motivating others to follow suit as well. I will say that the Youth organizations will also be encouraged to do so. The 30 DAY CHALLENGE officially starts on March 1, 2022, and is this: The March 30 Day Challenge Goal: A closer relationship with Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ During these difficult times many of us have sometimes overwhelming trials, we encourage all to join us in this challenge and see how God can help us through anything if we go ALL IN Challenge: Pick 1-3 spiritual basics that you feel you can do a better job at on a daily basis i.e., Praying twice a day (morning and night) Reading/studying the scriptures every day Studying Come Follow Me with your Family EVERY week Partake of the Sacrament EVERY week – renewing covenants Minister – EVERY week BE ALL IN Some of you might already be doing some or all of the above – so you may need to focus on another spiritual goal. This could be anything that relates to being ALL IN when it comes to being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints – Yosemite Ward Document these 30 days – if willing, we would love to hear about your experiences Our prayer is that we will build unity and strength in our ward, and individually, as we all focus on building our relationship with Heavenly Father by striving to become closer to Him by being ALL IN I love the following quote from Bishop W. Christopher Waddell from October 2020 General Conference: “The Lord does not expect us to do more than we can do, but He does expect us to do what we can do, when we can do it. As President Nelson reminded us in our last general conference, “The Lord loves effort.” * Thanks to Sister Tammy Loveland, Relief Society President, for organizing this effort.

Tithing. Tithing is our opportunity to PROVE THE PROMISES OF THE LORD, where He said: 8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say: Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9 Ye are cursed with a curse, for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house; and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it. The Lord does not need your money. He has all the gold, the diamonds and gems and knows where they all are. But He allows His church to grow at the slower pace where OUR contributions are used to help the church grow, to take the gospel to the world. It is His plan for US to do these things. It is our opportunity to participate, and in the end, reap all of those blessings of living in the NEW JERUSALEM. The scriptures do say, that if we do not pay our tithing, and the 2nd Coming arrives, we would be burned with all the rest of the wicked as taught in D&C 64: 22 And after that day, I, the Lord, will not hold any guilty that shall go with an open heart up to the land of Zion; for I, the Lord, require the hearts of the children of men. 23 Behold, now it is called today until the coming of the Son of Man, and verily it is a day of sacrifice, and a day for the tithing of my people; for he that is tithed shall not be burned at his coming. 24 For after today cometh the burning—this is speaking after the manner of the Lord—for verily I say, tomorrow all the proud and they that do wickedly shall be as stubble; and I will burn them up, for I am the Lord of Hosts; and I will not spare any that remain in Babylon. The Lord distinguishes between those who have been taught, and those who are in ignorance to the laws and ordinances of the gospel. One of these laws is tithing. “Verily it is a day of sacrifice, and a day for the tithing of MY people” He knows where all the gold is, He knows where all the diamonds are. He will use that to build the New Jerusalem, where the scriptures say in Revelation 21: And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; and 12 different kinds including emeralds, topaz and a lot of other difficult to pronounce gems and precious stones, all just for the FOUNDATIONS of the wall. On the 12 gates…21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. He doesn’t need our money, we should not see it that way. You need His blessings, and tithing is one requirement of that. We should not see it as doing the Lord or His church a favor, because we are not doing him a favor. He has done US a favor by letting us come down here to live on this earth, gain a body, have experiences of joy, pain, sorrow, growth, satisfaction, charity, etc. Like King Benjamin taught, we will, no matter how much we serve, be an unprofitable servant, because the Lord already has everything. He owns the earth for instance. This earth experience is our opportunity to do as He commands us to do. Great blessings and rewards are in store for that obedient like life. But lest we beat ourselves up about the unprofitable servants talk by King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon, that teaching is just for our perspective to keep us humble, which we must, but God has said, about US, what He thinks of US. He does not look down on us. He has said: 39 For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. His GLORY is this PLAN of Salvation which is the way to bring to pass immortality as well as eternal life for the obedient. Eternal Life is exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom, being sealed in the temple for all time and eternity, living the gospel and enduring to the end, according to God, qualifies us to enter into that celestial realm. YOUTH The Lord has changed His Church in the last two years. A lot of things are shifting and evolving as the earth and its inhabitants are also shifting and evolving. For example, we have an internet and all the ramifications that go with that, including the way we communicate with computers and phones, or get distracted with the same. This is a rapidly growing culture in the world, the social media, the often fake news mixed with some real news, and the sometimes draconian controls exercised by those who are in authority over or have some kind of power over us, and its not just government. Our choices on what we get to see are being made by private corporations, and the world is becoming smaller and smaller to where now we sometimes care what is happening in faraway countries on the other side of the world. Caught in the middle of all this uncertainty and offerings of the evil gifts spoken about by Moroni where he said to us: 30 And again I would exhort you that ye would come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing. And Jesus Christ to the Nephites taught about our day where He said: 41 And then shall a cry go forth: Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch not that which is unclean; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord. Speaking of “evil gifts” I was in Bishopric meeting last week and pulled up a search engine app on my iPAD to share something on the church website with them, and was presented with pornography, as one of these evil gifts. I scrolled it up to make it disappear, and thought how awful it was that NOW, this huge company has made a choice to put that on the menu of their apps, to unsuspecting persons, and I immediately thought of the youth. What a battle we are in. I never had such evil gifts given to me in the privacy of my cell phone, oh that’s right, because I never had a cell phone or anything even remotely similar to one, let alone a smart phone, we had a rotary dial phone and maybe used it once a day for a simple voice call. That kind of evil gift I saw on my iPAD in a bishops office, was found decades ago in magazines and you had to search them out or purposefully open the cover and look. Before the internet. Today it is not so. It is shoved in our faces, and has been for over two decades, but much more so today. Orders of magnitude. On Apple Music the explicit music and photos are presented. Netflix and Amazon Prime lace their headline areas with all the raunchy movies, mostly R-Rated or unrated or MA, and iTunes is the same. Even though studies show that families don’t watch those ratings very much, and the R-Rated content makes smaller amounts of money, they still push it. Why? Well if it is an evil gift, one can surmise that it was offered by someone with evil intentions, since money is not the goal. Movies and music that are filled with the evil gifts that Moroni was teaching about, the unclean things, these are gifts that are from the adversary, even the devil who is real, …if we touch them, look at them, and eventually embrace them through addictions, we have yielded control of our free agency, and find ourselves in a place where it is harder to feel the Spirit of God, and to be able to come unto Christ. Repentance, and coming to Christ, is the only way out of this. Repentance means change. The prophet Russell M Nelson taught in 2019: “Does everyone need to repent?” The answer is yes. Too many people consider repentance as punishment—But this feeling of being penalized is engendered by Satan. He tries to block us from looking to Jesus Christ. When Jesus asks you and me to “repent,” He is inviting us to change our mind, our knowledge, our spirit—even the way we breathe. He is asking us to change the way we love, think, serve, spend our time, treat our wives, teach our children, and even care for our bodies. Nothing is more liberating, more ennobling, or more crucial to our individual progression than is a regular, daily focus on repentance. Repentance is not an event; it is a process. Brethren, we need to do better and be better because we are in a battle. The battle with sin is real. The adversary is quadrupling his efforts to disrupt testimonies and impede the work of the Lord. He is arming his minions with potent weapons to keep us from partaking of the joy and love of the Lord. Repentance is the key to avoiding misery inflicted by traps of the adversary. These evil gifts are affecting the young and the old. Our late prophet President Monson likened pornography to the bark beetle, which slowly eats away at the tree trunks, but does so under the cover of the bark. Nobody knows, unless they inspect the tree, that it is being attacked. Such is the secretive nature of all of our entertainment channels over the internet, because it has been reduced down to the secret little screens of a smart phone. A smart phone is not an evil thing. Neither is entertainment. But we must all take responsibility for ourselves, our homes, our families, and realize that the main focus of energy to PROTECT against the forces of evil, lies with the family unit. Not the church. The church is here to help support families. The church is not here to compel families, or even intrude on family decisions. We can all make our own choices. The prophet Joseph Smith taught this when he said “I teach them correct principles and let them govern themselves.” SO the choice is with US, our families. Fathers have a responsibility to protect as per the Family, a Proclamation to the world. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. VOLUNTEERS When I lived in the ward many years ago, there would be a clarion call to go and serve at the Lord’s vineyard in Madera every year, and we had around 40 people or more consistently go or show up sometimes all at once. A big group. Today that number of people for whatever reasons, has dwindled to about 10% of that. But the very real welfare needs of the world have only increased in many places in the world. Stepping up is the answer. Commitment is the answer. Willing to sacrifice our time is the answer. It cannot and should not be primarily the leaders who go, because they have. Just last Friday at 1pm I heard we had Tammy Loveland and a few others from our ward helping to clean the temple for instance, and she just had a foot operation. We have a new youth program, that the Lord has created to help them learn and do more, and not depend on older people to figure it out and carry it out. No, the youth have the opportunity to rise up, step up, and do more. But this will only work best if the parents are also involved to help their children succeed, along with support from youth leaders, and to help the youth actually plan and then prepare the activities, many of the details included, asking for help from adults where this is needed (such as driving, shopping, etc). According to what is coming from the Prophet, the Lord is challenging and expecting young people to shift some of their time to this purpose, to serve others. To prepare things and carry them out. Anciently we called things like this an eagle scout project, where if the parents were not heavily involved, that son was usually not successful in it, because they did not get the support needed. Then the 18th birthday arrives and, presto! There is accelerated action. In those kinds of projects, the youth did most of the work, the organizing, and now we are channeling this kind of effort for both young women and young men into a wide variety of activities that have nothing to do with a merit badge. It all has to do with service and focus in four different areas of development, to help us all become more Christlike in our daily activities. Young Women. Young Men. Each are challenged and charged to help prepare and carry out four different kinds of activities. It is not so much about getting recognition anymore, like the merit badge, YW Personal Progress, Duty to God, or the eagle scout award. They don’t get a reward save it be that which they feel from the Lord, the rewards of testimony and personally feeling God’s approval. These older programs were discontinued in 2019 and a new Children and Youth Program was introduced. Then covid hit, activities ceased, and now here we are striving to resurrect it even in still uncertain covid times. These activities are of four types: Spiritual. Social. Intellectual. Physical. The bishopric is now tasked with many duties, including what the discontinued Young Men’s Presidency used to be. Be at activities. Be at campouts. Help youth to actually lead where possible. The Bishopric has adult assistants and specialists who also help in these. Plus the Bishopric is also to be very involved in the Young Women’s program. But there is a growing pains transition taking place as we learn it together. Sometimes it’s an unclear understanding of where these new areas of stewardship and responsibility lay. We must always remember, that this is a family centered church, that comes together as a ward to especially help the young people. Let’s remember that, as much as there are needs, very real needs with older people in the church, we all need to help the youth by collectively building a spiritual GUARDRAIL at the top of the cliffs of temptation, to protect youth, instead of having an AMBULANCE at the bottom of the cliff, and maybe they recover. With this metaphor, we can plainly see that we have not sufficiently built the guardrail of spiritual safety and opportunities for growth, for many have fallen away. It starts at home. Guardrails there. And it extends to the church. Guardrails there too. The church is also there to help. Starting with youth leaders can’t do it well enough without the help of parents, who can encourage their own children to participate, and prepare when needed. To provide a level of support beyond a ride to church. The Bishopric and assistants Young Womens leaders, as well as various specialists are there to help. Help the family. Help the parents. Wouldn’t it be great if each family with youth, and even those older people who no longer have children at home, took great interest in this opportunity to help youth, mentor youth where possible, to help each child and teenager in our ward to succeed at something super important? Recently several of the youth participated in a great service: cutting wood, filling up pickup trucks with chopped and split logs, three pickups full, and taking the wood to one of our widows in need. We coordinated with the Elders Quorum who were the main resource for our youth activity to make it all possible. This elderly sister shed tears of gratitude for being helped. That activity covered 3 of the 4 areas of growth. PHYSICAL lifting heavy logs. SPIRITUAL because souls were touched by unselfish service. SOCIAL as youth got to see up close the people they helped, and talk with her. SACRIFICE of those with resources of wood, trucks, and gas spent. It was a complete TEAM effort. Our ward needs to become a TEAM again. Covid has slowed us down, but it need not do so. We can wear masks if we have to, to be safe and still serve. We can do it. We should do it. Our lives need service. The Bishopric has to be able to focus on the youth. And there are many older people in our ward who can minister to those who are in need of counsel, help, teaching, assistance. This means the Relief Society and the Elder’s Quorum would take much of the responsibilities that bishoprics used to do. Counseling, work projects, helping someone who has a broke fence, pipe, fallen tree, etc., or just talking or being a true friend like Christ would do. Time spent. We need volunteers. When the Elders Quorum or Relief Society presidencies ask for volunteers and don’t get enough people to help someone in need, or move someone, or the vineyard or the temple, or even to help with youth activities… then the leaders get burned out. The Lord wants us all to share the load of helping each other. He has said through His prophet Alma: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; 9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life— 10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?

What is the Bible? Did one man write it? It is the word of God to prophets? Why are there different books in the Bible today? Like Genesis, Isaiah, Luke. Why not just one single book? Why the independent books? Who was in charge of its evolution from the Book of Genesis, to the Book of Revelation? Did it just grow, one book at a time? Or were some of these done simultaneously? Anciently, nobody had a Bible. It’s a modern thing. Printing press. Publishing. Ancient writings on scrolls or sticks or plates were rare. These sacred writings were kept by the prophets and handed down, generation to generation, much like the Book of Mormon records were also handed down generation to generation, by the prophets that would write and add to them from time to time. This is the PATTERN of God. To continually reveal His will to prophets that he chooses. Who made up the idea that the Bible contains all of God’s revelations to prophets? It certainly doesn’t teach that in the Bible. When the a Bible book says, don’t add to the words of this book, it means that prophet who wrote the book said that. He was not talking about the Bible as a whole, because, when those phrases were written some 3500 years ago, there was NO SUCH THING as a BIBLE. Moses didn’t have a Bible. He had some tablets, and may have written on some scrolls, but he did not have a Bible. The Bible we have was compiled by scholars and kings 1000’s of years later. BOOK did not mean BIBLE. It meant merely BOOK, and there are 66 books in the standard Bible today used in most churches. Is the Bible the complete set of prophetical writings that God ever gave to His prophets? I submit that it cannot possibly be the complete set. It only contains writings from prophets on one small area of the earth. What about other continents? Did God ever speak to those people too? Or did He ignore them? Actually Jesus said to His Jewish Apostles that He had OTHER SHEEP, not of the fold of Jerusalem. He said He will visit them also, and they shall hear His voice. The Nephites were one of these folds of sheep He spoke of. There were other writings besides those in the current Bible. The Book of Mormon is a record of part of this. It aslso contains the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Consider how the Bible came together anciently. Here’s how the Bible came together as scripture CANON in today’s world. Let’s rewind to the Council of Rome in 382 AD. The Catholic Church leaders met with their scholars in 382 AD, the Council of Rome, and decided to pick and choose which books would be in their official Canon of Scripture. So they made a list and ratified that list. It closely resembles what is actually in the Bible today but had more books that are not in the Bible now. The Vatican Removed 14 Books From the Bible In 1684 With No Real Explanation. Did God do this? Or did men do this without any authority from God, based merely on their opinions? Did they have authority? Not if there was an Apostasy they didn’t. There was an Apostasy at the murderous deaths of the 12 Apostles. Apostolic authority was lost from the earth about a century after the death of Jesus Christ. The Dark Ages began. Men took authority into their own hands, against the teachings of the New Testament apostles. If you believe that God can do anything, anything He wants, then you believe that He actually CAN communicate with mankind today. If He wanted to, He could call a Prophet, and command that he speak for God. This has been the pattern for over 5000 years. With an open mind, the idea that the Book of Mormon can also come to us in the last days is plausible, if God decides through a prophet of God to bring it forth. The Book of Mormon is actually a wonderful gift to the world. It was literally saved by God specially for the last days. It testifies of Christ and His continuous involvement with an ancient civilization on the American Continent. The Book of Mormon has such great detail as to how those people worshipped, who they worshipped, and the way their prophets and apostles ministered and taught the gospel of Christ to the people. It is very detailed and wonderful. It speaks of Christ again and again and again, over 2000 references to Christ. It is a work inspired by Jesus Christ who literally spoke to and taught ancient prophets on the American Continent. The resurrected Christ even made a personal correction to their scripture canon, and they immediately complied. Jesus was involved in their scripture. God anticipated that many would say that the Bible was the lone record of God’s words. But really, the earth is far bigger than tiny Jerusalem or the middle east. God had prophets all over the earth, among many different civilizations. Most of these populations had no idea who the Jews were. Here is what God revealed to the ancient America prophet Nephi about the Book of Mormon in the last days, 3 And because my words shall hiss forth—many of the Gentiles shall say: A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible. 4 But thus saith the Lord God: O fools, they shall have a Bible; and it shall proceed forth from the Jews, mine ancient covenant people. And what thank they the Jews for the Bible which they receive from them? Yea, what do the Gentiles mean? Do they remember the travails, and the labors, and the pains of the Jews, and their diligence unto me, in bringing forth salvation unto the Gentiles? 5 O ye Gentiles, have ye remembered the Jews, mine ancient covenant people? Nay; but ye have cursed them, and have hated them, and have not sought to recover them. But behold, I will return all these things upon your own heads; for I the Lord have not forgotten my people. 6 Thou fool, that shall say: A Bible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible. Have ye obtained a Bible save it were by the Jews? It would not make sense that those portions of the House of Israel who left Jerusalem anciently to escape Babylonian captivity, some crossed lands, some crossed oceans, and some came to new continents, it would not make sense that they would be forgotten by the Lord their God, given the many promises that God gave to Abraham and his seed, which the House of Israel is a part. God would not forget them, many of these were already worshiping the one true God in Jerusalem. They practiced the law of Moses, and had the Gospel of Jesus Christ as part of their revelations. They knew the Law of Moses was a school of laws to point them to Christ, and they knew that their salvation was in Christ, and not the law. One of these ancient Jerusalem prophets was Lehi. He received visions seeing Jesus Christ, he saw a pillar of fire, he saw the future 12 Apostles of the Lamb following the Lord (1 Nephi 1:9-10), and was told to call the people in Jerusalem to repentance. Those Jews in 600 BC rejected him. They did not listen, but threatened and sought to kill him. He was warned by God in a dream to leave Jerusalem, with his family. God led them to the promised land, the ancient Americas. They traveled by ship, as instructed by God. All told in much detail in the first two books in the Book of Mormon. The Bible has two parts, an old testament, and a new testament. Before Christ. After Christ. God was involved in the creation of the content within the Bible, the individual books in the Bible, because he revealed himself to prophets, and those prophets wrote down the things that they learned from God by revelation. This led to a collection of writings of ancient prophets that built up over 1000’s of years, some of which were able to be copied, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, and so those were found to correlate the writing’s and their sacred nature. However, it is this idea that the Canon is closed, which is false, because the Bible does not teach this. We need to understand HOW the Bible was assembled, Old Testament books first written in Hebrew, and then the New Testament books written in Greek during the generation of Jesus Christ. When John wrote the Book of Revelation, he was on the isle of Patmos, banished, around 100 AD when he did that. He was a prophet living after Jesus was crucified and resurrected, PROVING that the heavens were still OPEN after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We can see that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote their GOSPELS as found in the New Testament, and that they all read a little differently. For instance, Matthew has the great Sermon on the Mount, three chapters worth, but it’s missing from the others, even though Luke speaks to a fraction of it. Its interesting how each Gospel author emphasized different things, but all were inspired to bring different perspectives and focus. It’s a brilliant inspired work of God and they are compatible with each other, these Gospels. Being different does not mean being in conflict. Let this be a principle to all those who would say that God speaks only once, and there can be no differences and no multiple prophets testifying of Christ in different places on the planet earth. Jesus also had 12 Apostles who also taught the gospel in their own words after He died and was resurrected, each with their own perspectives and individual experiences with the Gospel, with their relationship with God through Christ. We have these four Gospels, which differ in content and presentation, but yet EACH ONE fully testifies of the divinity of Christ, and the fulness of the Gospel of Christ. That is the point. Amazing how that works, isn’t it? So, if it is done in the Bible, with multiple witnesses, and we can plainly witness that, then there should be no problem with even more witnesses and testimonies of Jesus Christ outside of the Books contained within the Bible. There is no rule in the Bible writings that says that there can be no more testimony of Christ, or that God cannot call other prophets to speak for Him. If a person were really believe that there is no more scripture to be had, and condemn those who say they have more, shouldn’t these nay-sayers be extremely thankful to the Jews then, who brought these bible words into the world, which they now use as if their own, and yet, there is no such thanks, no such recognition to the Jewish ancient people of the Lord, nor much attempt or desire to redeem them into the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Jews instead have been despised by the world, by the Nazis too, by most in the Middle East, and by the Gentiles in the Gentile nations, and even by the Christians all over the world who read the words that the Jews brought into the world. Jesus also was of Jewish descent. The Book of Mormon was written and brought forth to "show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever—And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations" The Book of Mormon prophets anticipated the negative reaction that some in our modern world would have to bringing forth of the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ, thinking that it was wrong that there could be more scripture from different civilizations. People will say this without any explanation or reason to back up the bias. The Lord said: 7 Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth? 8 Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also. 9 And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and that I speak forth my words according to mine own pleasure. And because that I have spoken one word ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another; for my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, neither from that time henceforth and forever. Who taught this, that there can be no more bible? It didn’t come from the Bible writings! In fact, Jesus taught His Apostles that He would personally VISIT His OTHER SHEEP and that they would HEAR His VOICE, and that did happen at a minimum among the ancient Children of Israel who were on the American Continent. The Nephite and Lamanite nations were visited of Christ, and He did bless them and call twelve Apostle-like Disciples to lead His church among them. That happened. It is recorded in the Third Book of Nephi in the Book of Mormon starting on page 426. 10 Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written. 11 For I command all men, both in the east and in the west, and in the north, and in the south, and in the islands of the sea, that they shall write the words which I speak unto them; for out of the books which shall be written I will judge the world, every man according to their works, according to that which is written. 12 For behold, I shall speak unto the Jews and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the Nephites and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the other tribes of the house of Israel, which I have led away, and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto all nations of the earth and they shall write it. 13 And it shall come to pass that the Jews shall have the words of the Nephites, and the Nephites shall have the words of the Jews; and the Nephites and the Jews shall have the words of the lost tribes of Israel; and the lost tribes of Israel shall have the words of the Nephites and the Jews. 14 And it shall come to pass that my people, which are of the house of Israel, shall be gathered home unto the lands of their possessions; and my word also shall be gathered in one. And I will show unto them that fight against my word and against my people, who are of the house of Israel, that I am God, and that I covenanted with Abraham that I would remember his seed forever.