Tuesday, 30 May 2023

ALLOWING GOD TO WORK IN YOUR LIFE

Members

What is emotional resilience and how can I develop it? Learn about the Church’s new resource

By Sydney Walker 27 Sept 2021, 7:08 PM CAT

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A couple from Ecuador laugh and stand in a workshop. The emotional resilience materials are currently available in English and many additional languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, French and Russian.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

As the world continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts, researchers are finding that simple interventions can help build emotional resilience — the ability to adapt to challenges and change — and increase positive emotions.

A recent study conducted across 87 countries by researchers from Harvard, Stanford and other universities found that using a simple method to help people think differently about their situations improved their emotional response.

Developing healthy thinking patterns is one of many topics covered in “Finding Strength in the Lord: Emotional Resilience,” a manual and course offered by Self-Reliance Services of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to help members and their friends adapt to challenges with courage and faith centered in the Savior.

“There’s no shortage of emotional trials or struggles that we’re going to have,” said Derek Hagey, Family Services program manager who helped develop the Emotional Resilience manual. “The development of this program really is to help those who are looking at the future and saying, ‘I want to develop some skills to help me.’ …

“Let’s strengthen our emotional resilience now. Let’s build those skills that we need. Let’s develop that mindset of hope.”

Cover of the manual “Finding Strength in the Lord: Emotional Resilience.”

In addition to developing healthy thinking patterns, the Emotional Resilience manual includes resources for managing stress and anxiety, understanding sadness and depression, overcoming anger, managing addictive behaviors and building healthy relationships.

The request to develop the manual came prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hagey said.

Designed for anyone and everyone, the manual and course are not meant to be a replacement for therapy, he emphasized, but rather an introductory resource for developing skills, building hope and experiencing healthy relationships.

“The central part of all of this is the Savior and turning to our Savior throughout the whole course,” Hagey said. “Christ bore all the infirmities of this world — not just some or not just the sins — but all infirmities, so that He can know how to succor us and help us through our struggles. … With Him, there’s always hope.”

Some Latter-day Saint congregations have started organizing virtual and in-person group meetings, based on local conditions and directions, to go through the Emotional Resilience manual together with a facilitator.

Elizabeth Valencia of the Dayton Ohio Stake is one of many who has participated in an Emotional Resilience group. She described the course as introspective and said she learned how to develop “a healthy response to life experiences rather than be derailed by them.”

Valencia said the most impactful part of the manual for her was Chapter 2: Healthy Thinking Patterns. As a reminder of what she learned, she still has a picture on her computer screen of the Savior talking to a woman at the well (John 4).

“In the picture, she’s looking at Him, and He’s looking back at her,” Valencia said. “I put [Doctrine and Covenants 6:36] there because one of the things you’re talking about is recognizing inaccurate thinking patterns … and to try and look to the Savior in every thought.”

During the weekly meetings, Valencia said, “you talk about dealing with life and how to find strength through the teachings of Jesus Christ and support from other people.”

“You don’t have to share if you don’t want to,” she added, “but you learn a lot about a lot of things … from depression to exercise to taking care of your body to communication with other people. It covers a wide, wide variety of topics that can help us to be emotionally and spiritually stronger than we were when we started.”

A family smiles for a portrait in Ghana. The new emotional resilience materials are designed for anyone and everyone to learn how to better adapt to challenges and change.

Valencia said she would participate in the manualized-study course again. “There is so much content there, and I think at different times in your life, there are different things that you would learn from the different modules.”

Valencia’s husband, Dayton Ohio Stake President Ricardo Valencia, commented on the importance of emotional resilience for members in his area and the enduring impact of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland’s general conference talk “Like a Broken Vessel.”

“We’re so grateful that an Apostle would address [mental and emotional health], and the fact that the Church has continued to see that as a need and come out with a course like this to help address those needs — I think it just makes a great point that the Lord is mindful of us and that He’s putting forth the resources to bless His people,” President Valencia said.

The emotional resilience materials are currently available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Russian and other languages, with 10 additional languages forthcoming. Other self-reliance manuals offered by the Church are titled “Personal Finances,” “Starting and Growing My Business,” “Find a Better Job” and “Education for Better Work.”

Learn more at ChurchofJesusChrist.org/self-reliance/manuals-and-videos.

LINK: https://www.thechurchnews.com/2021/9/27/23216820/new-emotional-resilience-course-manual-self-reliance?fbclid=IwAR2G8D_RWgNt3yqhHQXyY3CjYI1nNvonFLHW46BPz8tBKw_O2vBgmGOqCAc

THE CHURCH NEWS

God reigning in this Southeast Asian nation

Global

Latter-day Saints help celebrate 100 years of Christianity in Cambodia

Church members and missionaries were among the thousands who attended event marking a century of Christianity in Southeast Asian country

By Christine Rappleye May 29, 2023 5 p.m. EDT

Sister missionaries sit in rows of red chairs.

Members and missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were among thousands who helped mark 100 years of Christianity in Cambodia earlier this year.

“We have been blessed by a government that allows us to practice our religion freely,” Cambodia Phnom Penh Mission President Veasna Neang said in an interview with local news organizations, reported the Church’s Cambodia Newsroom. “We have missionaries who leave their homes and serve all over the world. We have many American and Khmer missionaries who serve here.”

They share a message of the gospel and of living prophets today, President Neang said.

More than 95% of Cambodia’s 16.8 million people are Buddhist, which is the state religion, according to the World Factbook. About 2% are Muslim and 0.3% are Christian.

There are more than 16,000 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Cambodia in 28 congregations.

The first Christian missions to Cambodia date back to 1555-56 by a friar of the Dominican Order, but the effort wasn’t considered a success, according to news reports. It was in 1923 when missionaries with the Christian and Missionary Alliance arrived and were able to establish a mission and continue efforts to translate the Bible.

Wednesday, 24 May 2023

For God loves a cheerful giver

YouVersion

Seeking God every day.

2022-11-21

Giving Tuesday: What the Bible Says about Generosity

Illustration of hand putting heart into a box

As Giving Tuesday approaches, let’s prepare our hearts by taking a look at what the Bible says about generosity.

In 2 Corinthians, Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, urging them to help Christians suffering in Jerusalem by giving generously.

Here are 3 things we can learn from Paul about what it looks like to live a generous life.

1. How we give matters.

“… Give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

2 Corinthians 9:7

When life happens or you face financial hardship, it’s not always easy to give with a cheerful heart.

So, how can we give in the midst of our own struggles?

We must remember that everything we have comes from God. We simply get to steward it.

When we shift our mindset from “my resources” to “God’s resources,” it changes the way we live.

We are able to live with an open hand, trusting God with what He’s given us and blessing others with a cheerful heart.

2. God equips us for what He calls us to.

“And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

2 Corinthians 9:8

Are you trusting God with everything He’s given you?

When we choose to live generously, we are surrendering our desires, admitting that we have nothing and are fully reliant on God’s provision.

You don’t need to have a lot to give. You just have to be faithful with what God has given you.

Giving is an act of surrender and complete faith that God will provide.

3. Giving is an expression of thanksgiving.

“This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.”

2 Corinthians 9:12

Generosity is more than a gift to others. It’s a reflection of your heart.

God doesn’t want us to live generously because we have to, but because it is our deepest desire to help others and glorify Him.

When we give out of gratitude, it is a reflection of the transformation we’ve experienced through the Gospel.

The Gospel story is a story of generosity.

Jesus is the perfect example of what generosity looks like.

He gave up His life and died a criminal’s death so that we could be saved through the riches of God’s grace.

As Giving Tuesday approaches, what is God asking you to do?

Join the YouVersion Community as we continue to help people around the world connect with God’s Word.

Together, let’s lean into the gift of generosity.

Give Now

How has God’s Word transformed you? Share your story on social media by tagging @youversion and using the hashtag #GivingTuesday.

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LINK: https://blog.youversion.com/2022/11/giving-tuesday-what-the-bible-says-about-generosity/

YouVersion

Thursday, 18 May 2023

WORKS OF GOD

Global

One important way the Church is helping remove barriers to education in Mozambique

By Mary Richards 20 May 2022, 8:15 PM CAT

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Children in front of the newly built classrooms at Magude Primary School in Maputo, Mozambique. The Church and No Poor Among Us helped the school upgrade to brick-and-mortar buildings in 2022.

Credit: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Imagine trying to learn in a makeshift mud classroom that floods every time it rains — or having no classroom at all, only a spot under a tree.

Many students in Mozambique face overcrowding and lack of infrastructure. More than half of girls drop out of school by grade five. Among students who finish primary school, nearly two-thirds leave the system without basic reading, writing and math skills.

Recently The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the nonprofit organization No Poor Among Us replaced makeshift classrooms in underprivileged schools with brick-and-mortar buildings, helping 2,340 students have space to study and overcome barriers to their education, reported the Church’s Africa Newsroom.

No Poor managing director Josh Phillips — who served a mission for the Church in Mozambique — said one of the schools they assisted was Magude Primary School. “The kids at the primary school were learning in a mud school,” said Phillips. “Every time it rained the school would fall and the school would have to rebuild. As a result, the students lost more than half of their school days, every year.”

Children learning in a dilapidated makeshift classroom at Magude Primary School in Maputo, Mozambique. The Church and No Poor Among Us built new classrooms for the school in 2022.

The Church was able to replace the makeshift buildings with brick-and-mortar classrooms, and build bathrooms as well, reported Newsroom.

At Picoco Primary School, 1,300 children were being taught with just three classrooms. The school’s director, Gilberto Albano Chiburee, said the school had been able to accommodate 200 students among those three classrooms, but the number of students kept increasing.

Students then were divided into three sessions, morning, afternoon and evening. When the number of students passed 500, Chiburee and the faculty started planting trees.

“We used these trees as makeshift classrooms because we did not have any other option. We had sought the help of various companies, nonprofit organizations and the government but to no avail,” Chiburee said.

Children learning under a tree at Picoco Primary School in Maputo, Mozambique. The Church and No Poor Among Us are working together to build new classrooms for the school in 2022.

The first and second graders were given the classrooms, while third through seventh graders learned under trees.

“It broke my heart to have children arrive as early as 6 a.m. only to sit on the hard and uncomfortable ground until noon. Some of the children started experiencing back problems,” said Chiburee.

When the Church and No Poor heard about the school, they arranged to construct five classrooms. Newsroom reported the news was received with great excitement, gratitude and tears from teachers, students and families. Chiburee expressed how thankful he was that no student would be sent home as a result of rain or wind.

The project is expected to be completed by the end of June this year. An additional 900 students will be accommodated.

The Church’s Africa South Area welfare manager, Phillip Moatlhodi, said another project they tackled was Matole Gare Primary School. “The conditions prior to the start of the project were not ideal,” said Moatlhodi. “The parents had started to construct two classrooms to improve the conditions of their children, however, because of the impact of COVID-19 they were not able to complete the classrooms.”

The Church funded the construction of two classrooms and private donors funded the construction of three more. Then they gave five new classrooms to a small, struggling school in the rural area of Mahubo. About 900 additional students can now be accommodated thanks to this effort, reported Newsroom.

LINK: https://www.thechurchnews.com/2022/5/20/23218213/classrooms-church-humanitarian-education-in-mozambique

THE CHURCH NEWS

GOD LEADERSHIP

Leaders & Ministry

Elder Rasband visits southern Africa, meets with Mozambique president

By Mary Richards 22 May 2022, 5:00 PM CAT

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Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gives a copy of the Book of Mormon in Portuguese to Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi, in Mozambique on Thursday, May 19, 2022.

Credit: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

A meeting in Maputo, Mozambique, this week marked the first time an Apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints met with a head of state in that country.

Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi met Thursday, May 19.

Their meeting began with prayer at the invitation of Nyusi. Elder Rasband prayed for the country, for the Lord’s guidance to come to all leaders of the nation, and for the peace of Jesus Christ to be brought to existing conflicts in the land, reported the Church’s Africa Newsroom.

Elder Rasband thanked the president for allowing religious freedom in the country. “It’s no small thing to us that you and your government have created such a wonderful spirit of freedom of religion,” he said.

The Church of Jesus Christ has grown from 50 members in Mozambique in 1991 to more than 15,000 members today, with a temple to be built in Beira.

The temple, which is in planning and approval stages, is a beacon of hope to people in the country, who have dealt with challenges from COVID-19, political unrest, tropical storms and unemployment, Africa Newsroom reported.

Nyusi said they await the temple. “It will add physical beauty, but above all, it will be a place of peace and humility and coexistence between cultures, between people and between generations,” he said.

Seated, Elder Ronald A. Rasband, left, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, with his wife, Sister Melanie Rasband, and Elder S. Mark Palmer of the Presidency of the Seventy, with his wife, Sister Jacqui Palmer, meet with local leaders and dignitaries in Maputo, Mozambique, on Wednesday, May 18, 2022.

Elder Rasband also spoke in the meeting about the Church’s commitment to help alleviate suffering in Mozambique. The Church has spent $17 million on humanitarian projects in the country over the past 10 years, including disaster relief, building classrooms and schools, and training farmers in rural areas.

Nyusi said those efforts give skills and empower the individual, while adding to the fabric of society. In its humanitarian endeavors, the Church can contribute “values of solidarity, values of peace, tolerance, forgiveness, and values of work,” he said.

Also present at the meeting were Elder S. Mark Palmer of the Presidency of the Seventy, Elder Edward Dube, General Authority Seventy who is serving in the Africa South Area presidency, Sister Melanie Rasband, Sister Jacqui Palmer and other local Church representatives.

Samo Paulo Gonçalves, a counselor in the Mozambique Maputo Mission presidency who works as a technical adviser to Nyusi, said the meeting was a great honor for the Church and a historic moment. “There are a lot of leaders in Mozambique, and the president doesn’t meet all of them, but he decided to meet us,” he said.

His wife, Albertina Gonçalves, said: “We are going to work hard as Church members to make sure that the commitments that Elder Rasband made to the president will all take place as he promised.”

‘This is just the beginning’ for Mozambique

Elder Rasband and the other general authorities also met with other dignitaries and opinion leaders while in Mozambique, and held a meeting with nearly 3,000 Church members both in person and virtually.

Elder Palmer said Apostles are called to go out in the name of the Lord and under the direction of the First Presidency to build up the Church and preach the gospel as special witnesses of Jesus Christ.

“To have Elder Rasband come to Mozambique in that capacity … is a great blessing to this country. Not only for our members, but for the country as a whole,” Elder Palmer said.

Elder Dube said the Spirit was powerfully felt on several occasions during the visit: “It has been confirmed to me over and over during this trip that we are led by prophets, seers and revelators,” he said.

In social media posts about the experience, Elder Rasband said he was told the gathering was the largest gathering in the history of the Church in Mozambique, and he told the members “this is just the beginning.”

“As we turn our hearts to the Prince of Peace, the sun is always on the horizon. Despite our very real challenges, we have infinite reasons to hope,” Elder Rasband posted.

He also wrote about giving Nyusi a copy of the Book of Mormon in his language of Portuguese. “I was privileged to share this sacred book with him as another sign of hope of the opportunity for good things to come in this country,” wrote Elder Rasband.

Instruction for leaders throughout Africa South

Before the meetings in Mozambique, Elder Rasband led an instruction meeting with Elder Palmer and the Africa South Area presidency — Elder Christoffel Golden and his counselors, Elder Dube and Elder Ciro Schmeil — for leaders throughout the Church’s Africa South Area.

District presidents, stake presidents, mission presidents and temple presidents from Angola to Zimbabwe were at the Sandton chapel in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Elder Rasband has traveled to Africa six times in the past few years, and was thrilled to meet in person with members as COVID-19 restrictions begin to ease, reported Africa Newsroom.

“Technology is wonderful, but nothing can replace looking into someone’s eyes,” Elder Rasband said following the meeting on Saturday, May 14. “It just feels wonderful.”

Elder Duane D. Bell, Area Seventy from South Africa, left, speaks with Elder Edward Dube, General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the Africa South Area presidency, in Johannesburg, South Africa, on May 14, 2022.

COVID-19 was a theme in many of the challenges that were raised in the session.

“Leaders come to a meeting like this and they’re looking for hope. Just meeting is hopeful, and being able to be with each other and ask these questions — it’s hopeful,” said Elder Rasband.

“[W]hat is wonderful is that we all serve the Prince of Peace, which is Jesus Christ. He is the great Healer, and He’s going to help families and He’s going to help people. And His underservants — the leaders of the Church — are going to do that too.”

Video: Mask project in Mozambique helps traders in dense Beira markets

President Gabriel Chinomwe of the Blantyre Malawi District told Africa Newsroom that many questions that leaders often struggled with were addressed.

“At the same time, I noted that the challenges that were shared by brethren from other units are common in our units,” he said. “It helped me to see that this work is one. We all have common challenges.”

Elder Dunstan G.B.T. Chadambuka, an Area Seventy from Zimbabwe, said the experience was “exceptional,” and inspired of the Lord. “We felt a new brotherhood, a new love for one another, and a desire to go and do better and do more. This has really lifted the brethren up.”

Elder Amândio A. Feijó, an Area Seventy from Angola, said it was an enlightening session. “We’ve been taught things that we already know, but it was so spiritual in a very simple way.”

President Lebohang F. Mosia of the Phuthaditjhaba South Africa District said, “There were moments when I felt like the Lord was literally speaking.”

When Elder Rasband expressed the love of President Russell M. Nelson for each of the leaders present, “it felt so real,” said President Mosia. “It felt like the Savior was saying he loves me.”

LINK: https://www.thechurchnews.com/2022/5/22/23218236/elder-rasband-visits-southern-africa-meets-with-mozambique-president

THE CHURCH NEWS

GOD OF MIRACLES

Global

A joyful flood: Hundreds of baptisms occurring in Mozambique after COVID-19 restrictions ease

By Mary Richards 6 July 2022, 9:52 PM SAST

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Missionaries with baptismal candidates from the areas of Trevo and Liberdade in the Mozambique Maputo Mission, at the Liberdade Ward building in Maputo, Mozambique, on April 30, 2022.

Credit: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, the government of Mozambique implemented rules prohibiting baptisms and other religious ordinances.

The number of people waiting to be baptized grew over the past two years. On April 20, the president of Mozambique announced the restrictions would be eased and baptisms could take place again.

Some 900 people were baptized members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mozambique in the two months since restrictions were lifted, reported the Church’s Africa Newsroom.

Elder Stephen Woodbury, a senior missionary in the Mozambique Maputo Mission, said they hurried to get ready and get started after the announcement.

“Interviews were conducted, baptismal fonts scrubbed and baptismal clothes cleaned in preparations for the first baptisms in Mozambique, set for Saturday, April 23,” Elder Woodbury said. “The first baptism took place at 8 a.m. in Magoanine, where a faithful security guard for the chapel was baptized, after he had cheerfully helped clean and fill the font the day before.”

Antônio and Angelina Pondja, center, on their baptism day in front of the Magoanine Ward building in Maputo, Mozambique, April 23, 2022. Antônio Pondja is a guard for the chapel and waited a long time to be baptized.

Baptisms continued throughout that day and into the evening in 15 areas of the mission, he said, “with a total of 63 people being baptized, limited only by the number of baptismal clothes that were available.”

Africa Biz

Tuesday, 30 May 2023

ALLOWING GOD TO WORK IN YOUR LIFE

What is emotional resilience and how can I develop it? Learn about the Church’s new resource

God reigning in this Southeast Asian nation

Latter-day Saints help celebrate 100 years of Christianity in Cambodia

Wednesday, 24 May 2023

For God loves a cheerful giver

YouVersion

Giving Tuesday: What the Bible Says about Generosity

1. How we give matters.

2. God equips us for what He calls us to.

3. Giving is an expression of thanksgiving.

The Gospel story is a story of generosity.

YouVersion

Thursday, 18 May 2023

WORKS OF GOD

One important way the Church is helping remove barriers to education in Mozambique

GOD LEADERSHIP

Elder Rasband visits southern Africa, meets with Mozambique president

‘This is just the beginning’ for Mozambique

Instruction for leaders throughout Africa South

Video: Mask project in Mozambique helps traders in dense Beira markets

GOD OF MIRACLES

A joyful flood: Hundreds of baptisms occurring in Mozambique after COVID-19 restrictions ease

Read more: Elder Rasband visits southern Africa, meets with Mozambique president

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