Ward Members Enjoy Outdoor Activity Featuring Corndogs

 

    The event was planned and produced by the ward Activities Committee, headed on this occasion by Andrea Mogler (with the corndogs) and assisted with Shawna Banks and Tammy Woods.   Andrea purchased 275 corndogs, and no one went hungry.

     Other delicious sides and desserts were provided by volunteer ward members and enjoyed by families, couples, singles, and friends.  It was a beautiful day, and fun to be outdoors.

  Chrissy Plines and her daughter Bella were popular with their face painting on the children.  Christy Macham arranged games for the youth and children.  There was the game of cornhole, as well as volley ball.

      We are not sure what game these girls were playing, but they were so cute we had to take their picture!

Three Beautiful New Babies!

   New baby Cruz Haggard with parents Lucero and Matt. Cruz was born October 13, 2022.

   The Simmons family welcomed beautiful little Rozlyn into their home on April 6, 2023.  Her mom Rebecca reports that she is a good sleeper and often has the hic-ups. Rebecca and Trent are a bonded family and Rozlyn is the first they have had together. They plan to have all the children sealed to them later this year. 

 

   Zachary and Megan Blackwell welcomed their daughter Delilah Rae Blackwell into their home on March 30, 2023.  In the pictures with her parents Delilah Rae is enjoying the blanket and cap made by Joyce Dickerson, a sweet ward member who does this as a service project. 

Beautiful Easter Sacrament Meeting

  President Russell Nelson asked the wards to only have one meeting on Easter Sunday.  It would be dedicated to why Easter is so important in our lives. Our bishopric planned a special program that involved musical numbers interspersed with teachings from the scriptures about the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  The ward choir sang, the primary children sang, there was  a trio of young women who performed a beautiful number, a group of young men sang, an adult brother sang a beautiful rendition.

  Before Easter Bishop Sroufe sent everyone in the ward a letter inviting us to read the scriptures and "Savor these sacred verses and find every way you can to thank our Heavenly Father for sending us His Only Begotten Son. Because of Jesus Christ we can repent and be forgiven of our sins.  Because of Him each of us will be resurrected."  We have a wonderful bishop, and this program was a wonderful, beautiful time to worship Christ and thank Him for His sacrifice.

Many Good Deeds Go Unknown

      There are some callings in the ward that are very time consuming, but they're not done in the chapel or classroom.  Here are two sisters who fall into this definition of service and we would like to tell you about them, then continue to add others throughout the year.

Ardell Gillingwater:  Ardell is the Service Coordinator for the Relief Society.  She has several sisters who work under her.  One of them sends cards and remembrances for a sister's birthday or a family who has a new baby. Others make sure the poor and the sick have meals when needed. Some help when there is some physical work needing to be done. Another works with Ardell to help those who are disabled or ill.  It may be taking them to the doctor, or hospital, making sure medicines are taken on the correct schedule, finding help they may need to get back to a normal pain-free life. They cheer up those in need, home bound, or depressed.  

Joyce Dickerson: Her husband passed away several years ago and Joyce fills her life with all kinds of activities.  She likes to sew so decided to make blankets for new babies. She watches for sales of material and buys enough for five or six blankets at a time. Hobby Lobby is one of her favorite stores for fabric bargains. Joyce keeps awake in the evenings by crocheting warm little hats for the babies. She can make two in an evening. She said she does this because "It makes me feel good!" She says it comes from her heart--not to make fame.  She said God blessed her a lot. He allowed her to make extra money. "It's also an education" she said "because I have to use my brain most of the time to figure out how to do things!"

Here are two babies enjoying the talent of Joyce.  On the left is Cruz Haggard.  On the right is Delilah Rae Blackwell.

Relief Society Sisters and Young Women Join Together for a Special Evening

    The Relief Society had the enjoyment of having the young women join us for our March birthday party. Brielle Farlee (upper right)  introduced the theme for the evening with a talk on cairns, piles of rocks that are placed to guide us along difficult segments of a hiking trail.  

    After a delicious dinner, rocks were available so that each of us could make our own personal cairn to take home. We also adorned our tables with important guide words.

New Sister Missionary

   The sister missionaries are always changing.  Sister Gasser (on the right in both pictures) is the latest.  She joins Sister Fish who has only been with us a short time.  Sister Gasser is from Spanish Fork, Utah. She has spent the last 8 months in the Rancho Cordova area.  She wanted to come on a mission because she loves the Savior and wanted to do something to help pay him back for all he has done for her. 

     An interesting thing happened on her mission: she received her patriarchal blessing.  She wanted to get it before she left, but circumstances didn't allow it to happen, so she got her blessing from one of the patriarchs here in California and was delighted to have it.  She loves our ward and says it's so much fun. The pictures above were taken at the recent Relief Society/Young Women dinner and they enjoyed it so much. 

We Welcome Three Returned Missionaries

   The first two missionaries to return were Wade and Ann Broughton.  They served as senior missionaries in the North Carolina  Mission, after waiting 17 months because of COVID.  They served in the mission office and had lots of interesting experiences.  Brother Broughton said every day was "groundhog day" when new missionaries came in.

    In his homecoming talk Brother Broughton emphasized the value of  "Inspired Choices."  This is making the decision to choose by divine revelation. We need help from God in all our choices. He ended his excellent talk by saying, "May we always choose to make inspired choices."

     Wade was a bishop before going on their mission. He and Ann have chosen to live in Pleasant Grove, Utah. Their ward there will be fortunate to have them. We wish them well.

    Elder Tyler Daley returned from the Missouri-St. Louis Mission. His family welcomed him at the Sacramento Airport.  It was a hard mission, but he had the desire to serve and did his best, one day at a time.  He said he did a lot of learning and growing.  He discovered the importance of doing the little things in life. "You can't expect to see angels and God.  It doesn't work like that."  He said that if you do the small things your testimony grows. Through prayer we can come to know God. This was huge in his mission. He loved God and listened.

    Elder Daley testified the importance of scripture study every day. "Take the sacrament." he said, "and get the remission or your sins. The spirit of God will be with you."  One of the most important things he learned in his mission was the power of Christ's atonement. Elder Daley plans to continue his education at BYU Provo. 

Relief Society Sisters Have Gardening Lesson

     Gardening specialist David Gillingwater teaches classes each year with instructions on how to have a successful garden that will produce healthy food for families to enjoy and add to their food storage for the year.  He spent an evening this year with the Relief Society sisters, giving them additional information on how to get a good foundation in gardening.

    Dave displayed a monthly calendar of what should be done in the garden each month, talked about soil types and demonstrated ways to start seeds indoors using a milk jug or mini hoop house. The picture on the left shows the milk jug with tomato starts inside. On the right is his hoop house (the bag that covers it is pulled back to show the inside) with garlic starts getting ready to be planted in the garden.

   Each person in the class could then fill a styrofoam cup or milk jug with potting soil and plant seeds or garlic starts to bring home and put in a sunny window. The RS sisters thanked Dave for a great class!

                               Three weeks later: 

Karen Sorensen Baptized

 

           Karen Sorensen has been involved in ward activities for many years. Under the tutelage of Stephen and Gina Demetras she saw the importance of being baptized and made a commitment to do it. It was a happy day for everyone in the ward. She was baptized and confirmed  by Brother Demetras. 

     Brother Demetras also made a beautiful baptismal  program for her.  Bishop Sroufe gave both of the traditional baptism and confirmation talks by sitting across from Karen and talking directly to her, with the rest of the members present listening in.  It was very effective and beautiful.  Welcome Karen!

      

Riley Wheeler Baptized

   

 Riley is 11 years old and has wanted to be baptized for some time.  One Sunday she and her grandpa (Brother Rick Wheeler) came up to the sister missionaries at  church and said she was ready to be baptized!  Sisters Fish and Dunn got to know her, worked with her, and prepared her for baptism. The baptism was held on February 24, 2023 and they reported that it was very spiritual and that there was standing room only.  Her grandfather baptized her and Bishop Adam Sroufe confirmed her!

   

We Have A New Sister Missionary

          On the left is our new missionary, Sister Fish, who is a companion to Sister Dunn. Sister Fish hails from Dallas Texas and comes from a family of six children, of which she is the oldest.  Before she came to Lodi she served in the Eldorado area in the Pleasant Valley Ward. She Chose to come on a mission because she has always been blessed by the gospel and wanted to do what she could to share it with others.  We welcome her with open arms.

2023 Ward Theme: I Can Do All Things Through Christ

 

A picture of Elder Gong from the delightful video!