In his address, President Russel M Nelson said, "We can give thanks for our families, friends and loved ones." During the last year with the pandemic, many of us have felt a lot of different emotions. We wanted to focus this month on how we can use gratitude to help feel more connected.
Sis Marlene Robbins shared this quote during our activity meeting. "In some quiet way the expression and feelings of gratitude have a wonderful cleansing or healing nature. Gratitude brings warmth to the giver and the receiver alike." Robert D. Hales
As we reach out to each other, as we connect more, perhaps these expressions can help us heal from these hard times we have been experiencing. Jesus Christ is our greatest example of friendship and connection. He referred to us as his friends in John 15:13-15. He wants us to extend ourselves and to be His hands.
In the email we sent out, we included some envelope templates to be creative with. Every body loves a little happy mail. Feel free to use these to send a little note to your sisters you minister to or your friends and family. What are some other ways that we can be more connected? What are some ideas that are 'out of the box' that we could do? Feel free to share in the comments.
I am so grateful for all of you that have prayed for our family to find a new home. I started to lose faith a tiny bit as we were getting down to the last few days when we had to come up with a new place to live before Mike leaves on deployment. All of your prayers helped and I appreciate all the love you send our way. I have made up some of the envelopes and can't wait to send them out.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you found something! We were sure praying hard because we did not want to lose you!
DeleteI am thankful for all of the sisters in our ward. You are such a wonderful example to me and my family! I was trying to think of some 'out of the box' ideas, which is even more challenging with covid going on right now! I think just a quick text or handwritten note to say "hello" and "just thinking about you" goes a long ways. Also, there's cute interactive digital cards you can send which are always fun to get! Maybe offering to help someone with their family history or setting up a time/evening to play games together (like kahoot).
ReplyDeleteThe beautiful thing about ministering is that you can minister to anyone! I've come to find that techniques and things that I've learned through ministering can easily be applied to helping our neighbors and friends, whether they're members or not.
Human connection is one of life’s fundamental needs. A brand new baby cannot thrive unless held and touched and given nourishment. I don’t believe we ever grow out of that. Other than being able to feed ourselves the need for that human connection is always there. Familial connection is most important but so are connections outside our family. I grew up in a family of 9. I miss them terribly. Having a ward family and the connections I have made with the RS sisters has filled part of that void and brought me so much comfort. My thought is not “out of the box” by any means but each of us has the ability to stay connected to each other through the technology at our fingertips. It’s always been there, we just need to act. Play an online game with a ministering sister if appropriate, send a text to say your thinking of her, friend or follow her on social media and respond to comments made in a positive way, send an email and share an inspiring thought or message that impressed you, make a phone call to check in and chat, send a card, if they have recently given a talk or a lesson let them know you enjoyed or appreciated their talk, take advantage of their talents and ask for their help if you’re in need. We are here to be ministering angels to those around us. Ministering helps us build lasting connections with each other. I am grateful for the opportunities I have had in the past to make connections and am grateful for the reminder to make even more connections as I seek to minister in new and more needful ways ... one of the many blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ that brings us together.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lindsay. It means so much to receive a random letter, text or email that someone is thinking and praying for you. It really goes a long way. That’s something I’m not very good at but truly appreciate those that do think of me. We have such a strong ward family. I have witnessed for myself and have heard other testimonies of the strength of our ward. Sometimes we don’t realize the strength until it is needed. I am forever grateful for my ward sisters (and brothers).
ReplyDeleteThe last few months have been different for me and it was hard for me to want to connect with anyone because I was just really focused on my family's needs at the time and that was about all I could handle emotionally. But when people did reach out, I asked them to pray and especially to fast with us and I felt such strength and joy from knowing many of our family and friends were fasting with us. There truly was power in that unity and I felt gratitude and connection with everyone who was participating with us and with the Savior. I'm grateful for people who love us enough to fast for our family and for a Savior who hears our pleading and pours out blessings.
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