A Message of Thanks from Sallye Johnston

Dear Sisters of the Centralia Stake,
Words cannot alone express my grateful heart for all of
the beautiful notes and the gorgeous silver serving trays.
You are all above and beyond generous with your words,
thoughts and thoughtful gift. I will use them often and
each time I do I will be thinking of each of you!
It has been a pure joy and learning experience to serve
the sisters of the Centralia Stake. I have learned much
through this wonderful opportunity. It has been a pleasure
to get to know so many in the Stake, so many gifted and
talented daughters of God all in our midst.
The Lord gives us many opportunities for growth if we
will trust and say "Yes".
May each of you continue to be blessed as you serve.
My love to each of you dear sisters. I am thankful for each
and every one of you. I love you!
Love, Sallye Johnston

Stand as a Light - Kizoa Video Editor - Movie Maker

Dear Sisters of the Centralia Stake,
We encourage you to view the
Worldwide Leadership Auxiliary Training
Broadcast which was originally aired on
November 5th. 2016 but is available as a
resource and can be viewed at lds.org.
Elder Holland presided over the meeting
and it was very informational. It may be
used for personal instruction, training of
current teachers or the orientation of new
teachers. We hope you will enjoy the use of
 this excellent teaching and training resource.

Addie Simper Stake Relief Society President
Sally Montgomery 1st Counselor
BJ Barnes 2nd Counselor
Heidi Simper Secretary

Thank You

Dear Sisters of the Centralia Stake,

     I want to thank each of you sisters for the love and support that you have  shown to me and those sisters that have served along with me as the Centralia Stake Relief Society Presidency for the past six years. It has been enjoyable! I have enjoyed the opportunity to visit your wards, meet you sisters and be strengthened by you. What a blessing it is to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives and to have an organization that provides what the sisters in the church need to help us be better women, wives, mothers, grandmothers, aunts, friends etc.
     It has been a pleasure to have had the opportunity to get to know so many of you. I so admire your gifts, talents, your willingness to accept assignments and serve in so many capacities as needs have arisen. Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ provide so many opportunities to learn, grown and be strengthened through callings and service to others.  As we put forth effort to do good, look for the good and help one another we grow and are strengthened.
     I was thrilled this morning to raise my right hand to sustain our newly called  Stake Relief Society president, Sister Addie Simper, first counselor, Sister Sally Montgomery, and secretary, Sister Heidi Simper. What wonderful women with testimonies of Relief Society, the Gospel of Jesus Christ and who understand the value and importance of women in the kingdom .
      I have a testimony of the gospel, I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, Joseph Smith is the prophet of the restoration, the priesthood has been restored to the earth at this time for the benefit and blessing to each of us. We have a living prophet today in Thomas S. Monson along with the Twelve Apostles as prophets, seers and revelators. Our Stake Presidency and our bishops have been called by proper authority. My heart is full to know that we live in the last days, much has been given to us and much is expected of each of us as we prepare for the second coming of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ.
     May each of our testimonies grow and  be strengthened as we learn more of our Father's kingdom  here on earth as we strengthen home and family and assist those in need.

Love,
Sister Sallye Johnston

Fourth Sunday Lesson Schedule

               

May Presidency Message

The Gift of Nurturing

The gift to nurture is given to women. To some it is bestowed divinely at birth. To others it is a gift to be sought, exercised through service and developed over the years. Nurturing to me denotes nourishing of body and soul. A support to the spirit and growth of another...Nurture can be a word or a touch. A connection of understanding between friends. Many have shown me what it feels like to be nurtured. I think of Primary, Young Women's leaders and Bishops from my youth. A young sister in our Stake that reached out to me and became a mentor during my high school years or an exceptional elementary school teacher in my fifth grade, a first Relief Society President that became a friend to me while raising my young children and others like my own dear sisters and visiting teachers that through the years have been there to support and sustain me through the ups and downs of life.

As Mother's Day approaches my mind is filled with reflections of those from whom I received the sweet gift of nurture. One was my own Mother, the Mother of nine children and eight and a half months pregnant with number Ten. Mom was both gentle and fierce. One day while my Father was at work she was alerted to the fact that a neighbor woman was at that moment being severely beaten by her husband. Mom saved the day by pushing in the kitchen door to the neighbors house armed with a broom which she squarely applied  and commanded the man to leave...and he did !!!

Mom befriended the forgotten. I remember how she helped to activate a young blind Mother to the Church by picking her up for each activity. Many afternoons were spent in service cleaning and organizing this blind sisters home which enabled her to adopt two additional children. This sister eventually was called to be a teacher in Relief Society and served  faithfully while sharing her extraordinary talents.

I believe my Mom's greatest example of Christianity was how she lived outside of church. She was one of those embarrassing Mothers that would ask Young Mothers at church if they needed any help with several of their squirrely children during Sacrament meeting. She was one to always slow the car down if she saw a young Mother or aged Grandmother struggling with groceries and children to ask if they needed a ride while our cheeks flushed and we shyly sunk to the floor of the car.

Mom would take one or two of us along as she visited shut-ins, the aged, the lonely, the ill or infirm. She invited to our home a man with the Palsy, took me to visit a man who had no nose, only a seeping hole marred by cancer. We sat with the dying and the mentally ill. Making her rounds, checking in to see what was needed. She had teenagers to lend for an afternoon to clean or weed or babysit.

We grew to love others as she loved them, through service. We became adept at recognizing the needs of others as she loved them through service. Empathy for the less fortunate was taught by example. sinners were forgiven, help extended to the poor, food for the hungry, balm to the broken hearted. Mom had a gift for recognizing the unspoken need of another. She was determined to do whatever she could to relieve them even when she had few resources herself. Growing up in Montana my brother describes transients coming to the door of where we lived begging for food. Mother would feed them and then give them the opportunity to earn their meal. On more than one occasion she would be fixing a meal and get a phone call of some family in need. She would pack up the meal and take it to them then return home to fix a different and perhaps less appetizing meal for the family. Many lives were touched by her spirit of inclusion and compassion. Mom fostered a spirit of gratitude. She was quick to send a thank you note even if what she was thanking you for was a card, or something nice she had heard you say. She kept the corner florist in business as she was always the first to send flowers.

After my Mother's funeral and the year that followed, Relief Society sisters would approach us to tell us reverently how my Mother had saved them or served them during times of great need or distress. What they hadn't known during all of those years was the very private struggle my Mother had had with clinical depression, anxiety, migraine headaches, Parkinson's, cancer and various other debilitating maladies. In spite of her own afflictions she was able to reach out and nurture those around her. Her favorite scripture "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4:13

Perhaps it was her own battles that caused her to be so sensitive to the plight of others and caused her to see their need for nurture. As our Mother's health declined in later years she lived life with grace and dignity. She accepted the limitations that advancing years brought her without complaint. The experiences we shared with our Mother during her last years remain sweet memories. I hope to live a life that brings honor to my Mother. The most important gift she gave me was the gospel of Jesus Christ. She also gave me life. She nurtured me and taught me about the Son of God that promises Eternal Life in the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Sister Addie Simper

Stake Relief Society President

Presidency Message April 2016

Dear Sisters,

     Are you so busy checking your electronic devices and crossing chores and errands off your to do list that you have forgotten to enjoy life? If you are zipping through life-its daily tasks and troubles-to get to the next thing, ask yourself what that next thing is. Tomorrow's daily tasks and troubles? Next week's?
     There is no tomorrow to remember if we don't do something today. BUT, that "something" needs to be meaningful in Our Heavenly Father's plan for us. President Ezra Taft Benson stated: "When we put God first,all other things fall into their proper place-or drop out of our lives..." (The Great Commandment, Ensign May 1988).
     Sometimes all we can hear is the loud drumbeat of dissatisfaction, even if the rest of our life offers a constant and beautiful melody. If we are always wanting what we don't have, always wishing for more or different, or being anywhere but here, it's time to take stock.
     C.S. Lewis wrote:"The moment you have a self at all, there is a possibility of putting yourself first-wanting to be the center-wanting to be God, in fact. That was the sin of Satan: and that was the sin he taught the human race... what Satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors [about the fall of man]was the idea that they could 'be like gods',could set up on their own as if they had created themselves, be their own masters, invent some happiness for themselves outside of God, apart from God. And out of that happiness attempt has come the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy." 
     Happiness is a direction; not a place! Every life has peaks and shadows. The Lord in his wisdom, does not shield anyone from grief or sadness. Yet in spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger, wiser, happier as a result.
     Learning to endure times of disappointment, suffering, and sorrow is part of our on the job training. Those experiences, while often difficult to bear at the time, are precisely the kinds of experiences that stretch our understanding, build our character, and increase our compassion for others. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin commented: "Sometimes the very moments that seem to overcome us with suffering are those that will ultimately suffer us to overcome." ("Come What May, and Love It," Ensign Nov 2008)
     What is most important in life goes hand-in-hand with gratitude for our blessings. Be reminded of what you DO have, and that is likely all you need. We may already have what we are seeking. Just as the characters in the "Wizard of Oz" had all for which they were searching. The tin man had a heart of love. The scarecrow had a brain in good working order. The lion had all the courage he needed. Each had to endure some difficult times, but ultimately recognized they already had these things within them. the same applies to us. Heavenly Father gave within each of us all that we will need in this mortal existence.
     In our mortal existence, difficulties and challenges will be tossed in our path. Like those characters in the "Wizard of Oz", we will probably encounter a "witch" or two along the way. Life may not always be a yellow brick road, but nevertheless, a definite path has been laid on which we can travel to return to "never ending happiness" (Mosiah 2:41) in the presence of our Heavenly Father, where we will fully understand "there is no place like home".

Love,
Sister Val Walsh
Stake Relief Society Secretary