A Christmas Message...

Dear Sisters,

In Ether 12:41 Moroni instructs the Gentiles : And now, I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever. Amen.

We are still instructed to seek “this Jesus” and search after the Christmas spirit.

Then came that night when the angel of the Lord came to the shepherds abiding in the field, watching over their flock, and pronounced, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord”.

These shepherds, personally invited to search for the babe lying in a manger did not procrastinate nor worry themselves with their own possessions.

Throughout Christs earthly ministry He taught men, He blessed the sick, He caused the lame to walk, the blind to see, the deaf to hear. He even raised the dead. He is only asking us to, “Come, follow me.”

As we seek Christ, as we find Him, as we follow Him, we will have the Christmas spirit, and not for one day or a few weeks each year, but we will have Him as our constant companion always. We will learn to forget ourselves, and we will turn our thoughts to others.

As you enjoy the remaining days of 2009 and the Christmas season, it is my prayer that you will seek after Christ, follow him and engage more fully in the things that will allow you to enjoy the Christmas spirit throughout the New Year. May you always have a prayer of Thanksgiving in your heart.

Sending our love to you...Jill, Laurie and Mary.

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving Season...

Those who live in Thanksgiving daily are usually among the world's happiest people.
And they make others happy as well.

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving (click here)

General Announcements

Deseret Industries Toy Drive...

New, unwrapped, multi -cultural toys are needed for children ages 2 - 17. All toys are being collected at Jill Luna's home (959 Paseo Barona). In addition, all bed sized quilts and blankets are needed and appreciated as well. Thank you for supporting families in need through our D.I. program.


Family Home Storage...

The Camarillo Stake canner is available for use at Chuck Stevenson's home. Cans, lids, dry pack pouches and oxygen absorbers are available at cost. Dry Products can be purchased at local markets or you can order thru your Relief Society Presidency from the Bishops Storehouse. Call to set up a canning appointment at 482-6688.


November 5th @ 7:00 All Auxillary Stake Training...

There is a Stake Training Meeting for all Auxillary's this Thursday at the Stake Center. Contact your leaders for more information.

Congratulations Banks Family - what a special day!

Time Out for Women...

Linda Brown forwarded this information: "Time Out for Women". It sure sounds like an uplifting Southern California opportunity. There is something so special about surrounding yourself with women with similar values.

Registration continues until mid October. Check out the web site. http://deseretbook.com/time-out/schedule. (Click on the website for a direct link).

R.S. and Y.W. Sewing Night

We had a wonderful evening with The Relief Society and Young Women last Wednesday. We put our "sewing pedal to the metal" and made neck coolers for our servicemen and women. In addition, we made school bags for the General R.S. Broadcast Service Project.

Venda Kawai was our winner for the night taking home the grand prize of a Private 2 hour Sewing Session with Nancy Larsen.

Sweets were in abundance as we sampled traditional Rice Krispy Treats as well as Scotcheroos. Recipes are available on Sunday on our display table at church. We had guests from "No Room at the Inn" share in the evening (and treats). This year our church will be hosting the event the first week of December. You won't want to miss it.

A fun time was had by all. Just take a look at our slideshow below...

General Conference - October 3 - 4

Need General Conference "helps" or packets for children and teens? Check out our "Helpful LDS Links" on the lower left side of our blog. Muy bueno!

Oxnards Invitation for Super Saturday...

I received a few questions regarding the invitation from the Oxnard Wards Super Saturday Event on the 12th. Following is information I hope will help.

Super Saturday will be on September 12th in the Gary Drive Building (Oxnard) from 9:00 - 12:00. Breakfast will be served. Classes will be taught on:

• How to Make Pie Crust
• Canning Peaches
• Making Freezer Jam

Everyone in the canning class will go home with a jar of freshly made peaches. You can come and participate without bringing anything.

To have adequate supplies kindly RSVP to Gloria Stokes at 985-5022.

Mortal Angels...

Are any of you familiar with "Daily Gems" available from our church website? They are inpirational messages from our Prophets sent to you via email. This one came today and I wanted to share it with all of our angels.

Remember how much your are loved and appreciated. Enjoy this day.

“We are reminded that not all angels are from the other side of the veil. Some of them we walk with and talk with—here, now, every day. Some of them reside in our own neighborhoods. Some of them gave birth to us. . . . Heaven never seems closer than when we see the love of God manifested in the kindness and devotion of people so good and so pure that angelic is the only word that comes to mind."

Jeffrey R. Holland, "The Ministry of Angels, Ensign," Nov. 2008, 30

Elders Quorum BBQ

Another fun Elders Quorum BBQ. We have been getting together every other month to fellowship, enjoy each others company and of course eat delicious food. It was a bit warm today. Maybe next time we will schedule it a little later in the afternoon after it has cooled off a bit and we have all had our afternoon siesta.

Thanks for sharing in the the fun!

What a cute couple...

Cooling off in the house...

We love these E.Q. gatherings...

Another cute couple...

And yet another... (holding an empty cobbler dish that was obviously delicious!)

R.S. Jam Session...

Nothing better than friends gathering together, having fun

and eating fresh strawberry jam with homemade rolls, bread and butter.

It sounds like we were in the pioneer days,

but we were in our own church kitchen on July 9th

making a sweet batch of strawberry jam. Thank you to all who joined us.

We had an excellent group of R.S. and Y.W.

and learned the basics on the wonderful art of canning.

Summer Session #1 - Strawberry Jam

We will be having a "Jam" session this Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m. in the church kitchen. If you have never canned before - this is the class for you. We will go over the basics of making strawberry jam and show you how truly easy it is. Hope to see you there!

Front Page News...

Did you see our own Melissa Brown on the front page of the Ventura County Star? Click on the link below to see the article about our Camarillo Community Band which Melissa has participated in for many years. Way to go Melissa!

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2009/jul/02/community-band-to-kick-off-24th-season-of-music/

Hello there friends...

We welcome you to Camarillo First Ward's Relief Society Blog Spot. We are all updated for July - please feel free to contact me if you have anything you would like to add to our Blog. (Mary Martin)

We're not too sure how many of you are visiting our site. Send me a note at TheOnlyMartinGirl@hotmail.com to let me know if you are. All suggestions are welcome.

We hope the long summer days are allowing you some extra outdoor time.

Know that we love you!

"Summer Fun" Ideas...

Thank you Ruth Fenske for forwarding this information to us. Happy Summer!

FREE MOVIES: 10 a.m. on both days listed Both movies are showing each day.
Edwards Cinema / Camarillo 383-8879

07/07/2009-07/08/2009
Everyone's Hero (G) and Madagascar 2: Escape To Africa (PG)

07/14/2009 - 07/15/2009 Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (G) and Alvin And The Chipmunks (PG)

07/21/2009-07/22/2009
Doogal (G) Surf's Up (PG)

07/28/2009 - 07/29/2009
Space Chimps (G) and Igor (PG)

08/04/2009 - 08/05/2009
The Tale Of Despereaux (G) and Nim's Island (PG)

08/11/2009 - 08/12/2009
Horton Hears A Who (G) and Spiderwick Chronicles (PG)

FREE MUSEUM DAYS...

California Science Center (free all the time) http://www.californiasciencecenter.org/

La Brea Tar Pits (free the first Tues of the month)http://www.tarpits.org/

Pacific Asia Museum (free the fourth Friday of the month)http://www.pacificasiamuseum.org/

The Musuem of Jurassic Technology (free but you can give donations)http://www.mjt.org/

The Getty Center (free admission but need to pay for parking)http://getty.edu/visit/

Muesuem of Neon Art (free the first Tue and the 2nd Thur of every month)http://www.neonmona.org/flash/index.html

Natural History Museum of LA (free admission the 1st Tue of every month)http://www.nhm.org/

Hammer Museum (free every Thurs)http://hammer.ucla.edu/

Japanese American National Museum (free every Thu from 5 to 8, all day every 3rd Thu)http://www.janm.org/helptoday/?next=/

California African American Museum (free all the time)
http://www.caamuseum.org/

Museum of Latin American Art of Long Beach (free every Friday)http://www.molaa.org/index.aspx

Skirball Cultural Center (free on Thurs, free parking)
http://www.skirball.org/

Autry National Center (free on the 2nd Tue of every month)http://www.autrynationalcenter.org/

Kidspace Children's Musuem (free Family night 4 to 8 on the 1st Tue every month)http://www.kidspacemuseum.org/site/PageServer?pagename=index

Long Beach Musuem of Art (free on Friday) http://www.lbma.org/

The Huntington (free to all visitors on the first Thursday of every month with advanced tickets. Hours on Free Day are 10:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.) http://www.huntington.org/
Information found on: http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/consumer&id=6168655

Rancho Tapo Park
http://www.rsrpd.org/park/rtcp/rtcp.htmlRancho Tapo Park will be turning on the water section of the park starting Memorial Day through Labor Day. It will be open from 10am until 7pm. Have fun and get wet!

BYU Women's Conference Website

Just found this great website covering a multitude of topics over the the past 5+ years of Women's Conference. This looks like a good website to peruse. Click on any year of the Virtual Sharing Stations and you will find a list of topics from FHE to activities for the Sabbath. I have included it on the Helpful LDS Links area of our blog. Enjoy.

http://ce.byu.edu/cw/womensconference/archive/sharing_stations.cfm

A n n o u n c e m e n t s . . .

Nancy Banks is the newest member to the Grandmother Club! Charles (Charlie) Tyler Banks was born to Nancy's oldest son and his wife - Brian and Jenn Banks. He was born on May 26th and weighed in at 7 lbs. 4 oz. Everyone is recovering at home and adjusting well to their new schedule (or lack thereof). Congratulations Banks Family!

Mormon Channel...

Listen to Mormon Channel, the Church’s new 24-hour-a-day audio station featuring gospel-oriented programs, music, interviews, and much more. You can access the station through live Internet streaming, podcasts, and iPhone applications, as well as on HD radio.

Look below on our Helpful LDS links and click on Mormon Channel. It's wonderful!

L.A. Marathon

Our wonderful YW's President - Lora Kelly - spent her Memorial Day completing the L.A. Marathon. After months of training, race day finally arrived. With an early morning start she finished the race with complete satisfaction of the awesome accomplishment of running across the finish line. Way to go Lora!

Let Him Do It With Simplicity - Elder L. Tom Perry

Our Teaching for our Times lesson taught by Venda Kawai recounted Elder L. Tom Perry's lesson "Let Him Do It With Simplicity". As always Venda prepares her lesson with highlights from the talk and then we are able to discuss and apply them personally. Following are the quotes we read allowed in class.



1. We can't predict all the struggles and storms in life, not even the ones just around the next corner. But as persons of faith and hope, we know beyond the shadow of any doubt that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true.


2. "The Lord has commanded you to take good care of your body. To do this, observe the Word of Wisdom found in Doctrine and Covenants 89. Eat nutritious food, exercise regularly and get enough sleep. When you do all these things, you remain free from harmful addictions and have control over our life." (For the Strength of Youth)


3. "We do not want to harm our mortal bodies, for they are a gift from God, and part of our Heavenly Father's great plan of happiness is the reuniting of our immortal bodies with our spirits." (For the Strength of Youth)


4. "Worldly trends in women's fashion are always inviting extremes. With their latest styles many fashion designers appear to be trying to make two or three dresses out of the amount of
fabric necessary for one. Mostly, they are taking too much off the top and too much off the bottom of women's clothing, and occasionally they skimp in the middle. Men's fashions are also adopting extreme styles. In my day they would be called sloppy and inappropriate. I believe very casual dress is almost always followed by very casual manners."


5. Modesty in dress is a quality of mind and heart, born of respect for oneself, one's fellowmen, and the Creator of us all. Modesty reflects an attitude of humility, decency and propriety. Consistent with these principles and guided by the Holy Spirit, let parents, teachers, and youth discuss the particulars of dress, grooming and personal appearance, and with free agency accept responsibility and choose the right." (President N. Eldon Tanner, "Friend to Friend", Friend, June 1971, 3)

6. "From my earliest recollections, from the days of Brigham Young until now, I have listened to men standing in the pulpit...urging the people not to run into debt; and I believe that the great majority of all our troubles today is caused through the failure to carry out that counsel." President Heber J. Grant, Conference Report, October 1921, 3)

7. "One of the better ways to simplify our lives is to follow the counsel we have so often received to live within our income, stay out of debt and save for a rainy day. We should practice and increase our habits of thrift, industry economy and frugality. Members of a well-managed family do not pay interest; they earn it.

8. "The Lord has given us a beautiful plan about how we can return to Him, but the completion of our mortal journey requires spiritual fuel. We want to emulate the five wise virgins, who had stored sufficient fuel to accompany the bridegroom when he came."

9. "In righteousness there is great simplicity. In every case that confronts us in life there is either a right way or a wrong way to proceed. If we choose the right way, we are sustained in our actions by the principles of righteousness, in which there is power from the heavens. If we choose the wrong way and act on that choice, there is no such heavenly promise or power, and we are alone and are destined to fail." (Elder William R, Bradford, Ensign, November 1999, 85.)

If we search to obtain relief from the stressed of life, we must earnestly seek ways to simplify our lives. We must comply with the inspired counsel and direction the Lord has given us.

It's just that simple.

Upcoming R.S. Activites...

So here is what we have been thinking about regarding classes and activities.

What do you think about having a canning class in early May? May is the month when our local gold mine of strawberries are at their sweetest. Let us know if you are interested in joining in on the fun and we will give you specifics as the plans come together. Later on we can add a class on the how to's of canning other fruits and vegetables.

How about a park day for our young families? The weather is warming up and we have some beautiful parks in Camarillo. Is anyone interested in getting that going? Nothing fancy - just an opportunity to get families together.

Temple Trips: Diane Barton is so wonderful about planning weekday trips to the Temple. We'll keep you posted as she plans upcoming dates. Is anyone interested in early morning (and I mean early morning) Saturday visits? It enables those with young children to attend and gets you back home late morning.

Gardening Classes...do we have a gardening expert out there who would like to assist those of us who are novices (or with thumbs that are not so green) and who need a kick start to get things going? Let us know and we can then get a class going.

Movie Night: In Ventura there is a $3.00 theatre. The movies have already run their course at the mainstream theatre but sometimes it's nice to simply get away for a few hours after dinner and traditional night time schedules have settled down. If this sounds good to you - let us know and we can put you on a contact list of when these nights get planned. Maybe once a month - maybe more.

These are just a few things that are running through our minds. Let us know what else interests you or if you are the teacher we are looking for.

We sure do love you. Enjoy your week.

Valiant in the Cause of Christ...Lesson #30

We wanted to share with you the wonderful handout Evelyn Maddux prepared for her lesson on "Valiant in the Cause of Christ". As we joined together in this lesson we all recognised that these essentials are continually repeated so that we can truly understand their importance and placement in our lives.

Stand Strong and Immovable In Faith

First, Latter-day Saint women must be strong and immovable in their faith. They can and should excel in living and sharing their testimonies of the Lord Jesus Christ and His restored gospel. We do this as we:

1. Make and keep covenants with Him.
2. Are worthy and worship in His temples.
3. Study His doctrine in the scriptures and the words of prophets.
4. Qualify for, recognise, and follow the Holy Ghost.
5. Share and defend His gospel.
6. Participate in sincere personal and family prayer.
7. Have family home evening.
8. Live principles of self reliance and provident living.

These are essential things which must be done before nonessential things.

165+ years and we're still looking good...

Hello Dear Sisters...

Our Relief Society Birthday celebration with dining and fellowship is this Thursday, March 5th at 6:00 p.m. Sure would love to share this special occasion with you.

If your time is limited, we would love to see you even for a few minutes, so stop by to say hello and we'll make a "to go" box for you.

• Mini Dinner Demo
• Dress Donation Drop-off
• Personal "dresses that have a history"
• R.S. Birthday Celebration

Enjoy your day and see you Thursday evening.

Camarillo 5th Ward Presents...The Seminary Workout

Since you are up and going to get your children to Seminary...

Join us every Monday, Wednesday and Friday (that there is Seminary) from 6:00 - 6:50 a.m. for a morning of "at your own pace" exercise.

6:00 - 6:10 Stretching
6:10 - 6:20 Light and Easy Exercises
6:20 - 6:50 Parking Lot Mile (we will walk, jog and if you choose even run a little)

Conducted by Retired Army Drill Sergeant, Brother Jeff Trickey (Don't let the title fool you, you'll need to go easy on him). Great for all ages.

Pray Always - Elder David A. Bednar

This past Sunday we had a wonderful R.S. lesson given my Venda Kawai. It focused on the October 2008 Conference talk from Elder David A. Bednar entitled "Pray Always".The LDS Gems for this week will be highlighting the quotes that Venda distributed to the women.

Enjoy your day.

2/24 "Prayer becomes more meaningful as we counsel with the Lord in all of our doings, as we express heartfelt gratitude , and as we pray for other with real intent and a sincere heart"

2/25 "Do our spouses, children and other family members likewise feel the power of our prayers offered unto the Father for their specific needs and desires? Do those we serve hear us pray for them with faith and sincerity? If those we love and serve have not heard and felt the influence of our earnest prayers in their behalf, then the time to repent is now. As we emulate the example of the Savior, our prayers truly will become more meaningful."

2/26 "Just as expressing gratitude more often in our prayers enlarges the conduit for revelation. So praying for others with all of the energy of our souls increases our capacity to hear and to heed the voice of the Lord."

2/27 "May I recommend that periodically you and I offer a prayer in which we only give thanks and express gratitude. Ask for nothing; simply let our souls rejoice and strive to communicate appreciation with all the energy of our hearts."

2/28 The most meaningful and spiritual prayers I have experienced contained many expressions of thanks and few, if any requests."

3/1 Morning and evening prayers - and all the prayers in between - are not unrelated, discrete events; rather, they are linked together each day and across days, weeks, months, and even years. This is in part how we fulfill the scriptural admonition to 'pray always'. Such meaningful prayers are instrumental in obtaining the highest blessings God hold in store for His faithful children."

3/2 "Meaningful morning prayer is an important element in the spiritual creation of the day - and proceeds the temporal creation or the actual execution of the day."

- Elder David A. Bednar

R.S. Birthday Dinner...Thursday, March 5th, 6:00 p.m. at the Stake Center

More than 165 years have passed since the Prophet Joseph Smith met with a small group in Nauvoo, Illinois, to organize the women of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We now number over five and a half million Relief Society sisters in 170 countries across the earth. Like those who preceded us, we stand today united in faith, steadfast in following the living prophet, and committed to building the kingdom of God.

On Thursday, March 5th at 6:00 p.m. we will be celebrating the founding of our Relief Society.

Please join us for dinner and a evening to reflect on our motto - Charity Never Faileth by bringing a dress you would like to donate to a woman in need. In addition, you won't want to miss our shortest dinner demo ever as well as time for conversation and laughter.

The book, The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes is our theme for the evening. Summary copies are available at church and can be emailed. Contact Mary Martin 388-7673 or via email at theonlymartingirl@hotmail.com for a copy. It is with hope that you will take the time to read this story prior to our evening together - it is truly unique, as are each of you.

See you Thursday.

Welcome Friends. . .

We are excited to share with you our Camarillo First Ward Relief Society blog where we can share and grow as women in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

We are joined together to do good works. It is the small and simple tasks we do each day that bring us closer to one another and most importantly to our Heavenly Father.

We hope that our updates, lessons, postings, and calendar items will continue to keep us united. Click on the variety of "links" on the left hand side - they will quickly bring you to the lesson or message. Of course, we want to hear from you. "Comment" on our posts and let us know what you would like to see and read about on your blog.

Save us as one of your "favorite" websites and check back regularly - we don't want you to miss out on anything.

Know that you are loved and appreciated.

Look forward to seeing you Sunday.