T h e C h u r ch o f J e s u s C h r i s t o f L a t t e r D a y S a i n t s
C o l o ra d o F o u n t a i n S t a k e • C o l o r a d o S p r i n g s 1 6 t h W a r d
16th Ward Priesthood
Newsletter
High Priest Group
Group Leader
Larry Mann
Elders Quorum
1st Assistant
Tim Glaves
President 1st Counselor 2nd Counselor Secretary
Josh Choate Scott Berger
Shawn Faleao James Smith
2nd Assistant
Karam Habib
November 2013
Upcoming Events
NOV03 (X) CES Devotional Broadcast
NOV05 (T) Election Day
NOV11 (M) Veterans Day
NOV17 (S) 16:00 Stake Conference
(Priesthood Leadership Session)
19:00 Stake Conference
(Adult Session)
NOV17 (X) 09:00 Stake Conference
(New Member Session)
10:00 Stake Conference
(General Session)
NOV28 (R) Thanksgiving Day
NOV30 (S) 19:30 Michael McLean’s
Musical “The Forgotten Carols”
Sunday Lessons
November 03
Quorum Presidency Message
November 10
Lorenzo Snow: Chapter 21
Loving God More Than We
Love The World
November 17
Lorenzo Snow: Chapter 22
Doing Good To Others
November 24
Teaching For Our Time
Thanks
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the
earth. He separated the light
from the darkness, created an
atmosphere, water, vegetation,
animals, and then man… and
woman. There is a scientific
principle called the Law of Conservation of Matter, which says
that nothing in this life is created, nor destroyed, but is simply re-formed from material that
already existed on the earth.
Our own physical bodies are
created from the “dust of the
earth”. Scientists have actually
identified the exact chemical
make-up of a single thought.
They’ve even measured it’s
caloric output. There is absolutely nothing on this earth that
wasn’t created by divine design
of the Savior.
David Dearden, professor of
chemistry and biochemistry at
BYU, gave an talk called “The
Sacred Gift of Agency” where is
talked about an unusual phenomenon in science called the
Goldilocks Principle where the
balance of the world around us
is “just right”. If the Earth revolved even a foot closer to the
sun, the heat of the sun would
render the earth too hot to be
inhabitable. On the other hand,
if the earth were even a foot
further from the sun, it would
cause an extreme impact on
the atmosphere of the earth,
and our world would be too
cold to make life possible. Did
you know that the earth’s atmosphere is only 20% oxygen?
It’s also 79% Nitrogen, and 1%
other gases. If the atmosphere
were tweaked in either direction, the air would be too flammable or too toxic to live.
Living on this custom-built
world is only the beginning.
Through the Atonement of
Christ, we’ve been given the
gift of immortality. Even more,
He’s given us every gift and
tool possible to allow us to receive God’s greatest gift.
“And if you keep my commandments and endure to the
end, ye shall have Eternal Life,
which gift is the greatest of all
gifts of God” (D&C 10:5).
We’ve been given the sacred
gift of agency, the Gift of the
Holy Ghost and the gift of the
Holy Priesthood after the manner of the Son of God, the gift
of the scriptures. But that’s not
all. When we are worthy to
enter the House of the Lord, we
can receive our endowment, a
personal gift from our Savior.
We also are blessed with the
opportunity to be sealed to a
mate for time and all eternity.
We have so much to be
grateful for. Dig deep, and
take these next couple months
to really think about how
blessed your life is. Sometimes,
at the moment, even when
you’re at your lowest, remember these words from Sally DeFord:
“Every earthly sorrow, every
mortal pain, Every sinner’s anguish; the bitterness of shame,
The weakness and the heartache that burden all mankind
For these the Savior suffered, for
these He bled and died
And the lost and fallen multitudes of all the earth Are ransomed by His offering of love;
But if I alone had stumbled; if
I alone had strayed, If I alone
had wandered from the straight
and narrow way, If I alone bore
guilt for which my all could
never atone - he would have
died for me, for me alone.”
I share my testimony with
President Gordon B. Hinckley,
“Jesus is my friend. He is my
exemplar. He is my teacher. He
is my healer. He is my leader. He
is my Savior and my Redeemer.
He is my God and my King.
Gratefully, and with love, I bear
witness of these things in His
Holy name, even the name of
Jesus the Christ, Amen.”
-James Smith