Eric Fairbanks New Bishop's Counselor

   

      Sunday, March 21, Eric Fairbanks (left) was sustained as first counselor to Bishop Eric Holden and ordained to the office of High Priest.  He replaces Tyler Burton who is moving with his wife to Las Vegas. Brother Fairbanks and his wife Suzanne have three children. Suzanne is first counselor in Relief Society.    

   Brother Fairbanks was ward mission leader before being called to the Mokelumne River Ward bishopric. Previous callings he has held in his adult life are executive secretary, young men's president twice, and ward mission leader several times.  When asked how he felt when he was called to the bishopric he said "shocked and overwhelmed! But I know that my family will be blessed for it," he added.

    When Bishop Holden announced in Sacrament meeting that Brother Fairbanks would be his new counselor, he said he had prayed about who the counselor should be and it was very clear who Heavenly Father wanted it to be.  As first counselor, Brother Fairbanks will be over the Teacher's Quorum, Primary, and parts of Relief Society and Young Women.

Amazing Genealogist Dolores Hansen Dies

       Ward member Dolores Hansen passed away February 28 at the age of 88.  She had been a first grade teacher for 24 years.  According to her friend Priscilla Quanstrom, her moto was that all children must learn to read before moving to the second grade. She believed that reading is the key to success.  Joyce Dickerson added that she told  her students "When you learn to read, you can do anything in life that you want, but you must be able to read.  Your report card is like your paycheck."

   As a young girl Dolores became interested in family history and at about age 20 she began genealogical research.  After settling in Lodi she was able to volunteer at the Family History center in Stockton. Even when she became ill, Dolores did not give up on her family history and with the help of a few sisters made trips to the Lodi Family History Center where she entered names into Family Search.

This picture taken by her friend Ardell Gillingwater is just part of one room holding her many finished family history books.  If you were to go into her house, you would see stacks and stacks of genealogy binders, all through the house with only a path to weave your way to another part of the house. She had Loren Perry build extra bookshelves to contain some of these binders. She had stacks of binders for each branch of the family. "Her volumes speak loudly of her zeal to go until she dropped," Priscilla said. At the library over the years she had read miles and miles of microfilm. in her later years she was mostly known for her genealogy work which she pursued with relentless energy.  

     After her death, another friend, Rita Caldwell, was invited along with Priscilla and Ardell to help dress Dolores in her temple clothing before being sent to Seattle to be buried  near her father and mother. Saana Boyer and Marcie Ramos also helped as well as Lisa Clegg and Tami Woods from the Relief Society presidency.  Left to right: Dolores's close friends Rita Caldwell, Priscilla Quanstrom, and Ardell Gillingwater.

  Rita wrote expressing what it means to help dress a friend for burial.  Here is what she said:

   Being invited to help dress a dear sister in her temple clothing is a sacred opportunity to do one last service and say one last farewell. It is seeing her beyond the cares of this life designed to give experience to refine our character so that we can become more like Jesus Christ. With loving hands we dress her in garments representing eternal life. Our hearts are full as we remember her high goals of teaching every first grader to read, to prepare records of generations of her family, to protect her sons from whatever threat she perceived, and to be grateful for all the help she received.

   The dressing completed, Priscilla suggested we sing a song.  We stood together and sent Dolores home with "God Be With You Till We Meet Again," --by His counsels guide uphold you, with His sheep securely fold you, God be with you till we meet again.

Sisters Celebrate Relief Society's Birthday

    The celebration birthday party for the Relief Society is usually a highlight of the year.  Normally it consists of a formal dinner in the cultural hall with the Elders and High Priests cooking and serving.  There's always a nice program after.  But this is another COVID year and none of those things are possible.

   Ward RS activity director, Christy Mecham, came up with a great solution.  She planned a Zoom program that was all video previously recorded and put together on PowerPoint to be shown on the evening the normal celebration would be held.  Here is a brief outline of the program. 

     Spiritual messages were delivered by Sister Bronwyn Webb (left) and our sister missionaries, Hermana Flores Rendon and Sister Caldon.

Ann Kerr (left) gave a demonstration on how to make homemade bread and cinnamon rolls. Cindy Parker (center) showed how to make strawberry freezer jam, and her daughter Cayman (right) shows frozen rolls to use with her mom's freezer jam "because it's quick and easy" she says. Yum!

Young women, future Relief Society members, added a spiritual dimension with their beautiful singing.

    Cathy Leonard says the cinnamon rolls are extra delicious with cream cheese added to the frosting recipe.  Three sisters who have each been vaccinated for COVID decided to watch the celebration together.  They finished with a sweet treat in  the kitchen.

On the screen is Tami Woods, second counselor in the Relief Society, who gave some closing remarks and said the prayer.

Young Women Complete Service Project

     Twenty-five young women put on their masks and met in the cultural hall to put together kits and blankets needed by the Ronald McDonald House in Sacramento.  The purpose of the RM House is to improve the lives of sick children and their families.

    Lisa Holden, second counselor in the Mokelumne Ward Young Women, looked on the "Just Serve" website on the Internet to possibly find a project for the girls.  This turned out to be perfect. Word was put out to ward sisters to contribute needed items identified by the staff of Ronald McDonald.  Many items were collected and some people donated money to buy other things that were needed.

   The picture above shows the girls working to put the kits together.  Sister Holden said, "It was a huge success. The Young Women were awesome! We were completely done with the service project in 30 minutes."  The girls assembled 50 hygiene kits, 70 laundry kits, 25 grab & go food bags, and tied three fleece blankets.  The food bags included such things as fruit leather bars, milk, wrapped pastry, and protein items.

   Finding service projects  can be difficult during the COVID-19 pandemic with its many restrictions.  The girls enjoyed being of service. Sister Holden and her husband, Bishop Holden, delivered the bags and blankets to the Ronald McDonald House and said the staff there was surprised and thrilled by what was accomplished.

February 21, 2021 -- A Long Awaited Day!

    Above, two of the first people into the chapel for Sacrament meeting are the sister missionaries.  Why is this date so important?  Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is the first time members have been able to meet together inside the chapel for almost a year.  

   Bishop Eric Holden showed the missionaries how to take temperatures.  Everyone who came into the building had to be wearing a mask and get his temperature taken.  They were also asked to  social distance inside the building, and not shake hands.  Singing was also prohibited, so as Teresa Sroufe played hymns on the organ, members followed along, silently reading the words from the hymn book.  This was high council Sunday and the excellent speakers were Sister Brenda Crossier from the stake Relief Society and Brother John Godi of the high council.  After the meeting the sacrament was blessed and served to all who were there. 

     If people didn't feel comfortable coming to a meeting where other people would be, they watched the meeting on Zoom from home.  All of the other meetings that day were also on Zoom.

    Here are a few pictures of people either coming to or leaving the building.  It was a wonderful sight to see so many eager people.  We are hoping that the end of COVID-19 is very near.

 

Acts of Kindness

   The Relief Society special activity for February was all about acts of kindness.  Christy Mecham who directs this activity sent out a note for sisters to send in pictures and/or just words about a service they have rendered during the month, or something that someone has done for them.  Quite a few people responded and it was a beautiful program presented in PowerPoint via Zoom.

  The program started with a Church-produced video by a nurse named Sherry (above) who told examples of helping hands she has encountered in her work.  She started her story by telling about her mother who had polio and how she learned about serving and gained a desire to be a nurse. She made the point that "we are the Lord's Helping Hands."

   Below is a rough conglomeration of some of the acts of kindness that were sent in by ward sisters. There were many more.

The program concluded with a PowerPoint made by Vickie Anderson entitled "The Effects of Kindness on our Mental Health."  When helping others, you help yourself.

Our Delightful Sister Missionaries

   

       Our sisters missionaries are so delightful!  It seems impossible for them to talk without smiling and throwing in a little giggle here and there.  On the left is Sister Caldon from Sanford, Colorado.  On the right is Hermana Flores Rendon from Phoenix, Arizona.  She is "Hermana" because she was originally called to the Santiago, Chile Mission, but was sent here first because of the worldwide pandemic of COVID-19. 

        Between the two of them, as well as their priesthood leaders Brother Haynes and Fairbanks, they have come up with a spiritual lesson they give to families via Zoom.  First they call and ask if the family would like to have a lesson with them.  A date and time is set and they send the family the Zoom link to access the lesson.

The lesson is about the wonderful restoration of the Gospel in the latter days. They read the "Restoration Proclamation" and stopped here and there to ask a question and get the family's insight into a particular part of it.  Then they invite the family to pray and help find non-members they can teach about
this wonderful experience.

Relief Society Provides Some Ideas for Valentine Day

 

Amazing Ward Plans Come to Members Every Week

 Due to the size of all these weekly updates, they will not always be on the blog.  They are emailed to everyone in the ward who has provided an email address.  We just wanted to have a record of how well done and beautiful these pages are.  They are designed by Julie Cooper who is the bulletin coordinator as well as first counselor in the primary.

Missionary Update

 

Special Message to All Wards from Stake Presidency

Brothers and Sisters of the Lodi Stake,

We want all members of the Lodi Stake to have increased support from the church.  Therefore, in February each ward and branch in the Lodi Stake will begin holding virtual meetings for Relief Society, Elders Quorum, Primary and Sunday School, joining the youth classes already being held, as part of our Sunday schedule.  Meetings will be abbreviated to avoid holding meetings simultaneously and can still occur during a 2-hour time frame.  Each ward or branch will develop the schedule according to their needs and circumstances following these guidelines. Please be patient and understanding with ward leaders, teachers, and one another as we implement this expanded meeting schedule. 

We look forward to being back in our meetinghouses, gathering and worshiping together, and pray that time will come soon.  While many of the adjustments that have been made in our lives during this pandemic have been challenging, positive opportunities have also emerged.  There are opportunities to minister, to serve, to share, and to lift in ways and at times that may not have been considered prior.  As they received and understood impressions from the Holy Ghost with greater sensitivity, many members have gained new insights and perspectives that will continue to help them, and others, draw closer to Jesus Christ.

Although we would all prefer trials and difficulties of this pandemic to pass sooner rather than later, we are reminded that the purpose of mortality is to learn through all types of experiences and to become more like Jesus Christ in the process.  As we focus on the Savior and heed the prophetic call to “Come unto Christ,” our spirits will be lifted, our understanding increased, and our faith strengthened. As Elder Holland reminded us in October, our burdens will be lifted “by and by,” and we will each eventually see His arm revealed on our behalf.  (D&C 123:17)

We love each member of the Lodi Stake. We are so grateful for your faithfulness and for your wonderful examples. We have been strengthened by your testimonies of both word and action.  We testify that our Father in Heaven and our Savior, Jesus Christ, love us and will be with each of us during our difficulties.  As we strive to draw unto them more fully, we will feel their influence with more and greater abundance. 

With love, Scott Means, Dan Sroufe, Jared Critchfield

Lodi California Stake Presidency

The Inside Story of Sacrament Meeting During a Pandemic

  COVID-19 began to spread so much, the government asked churches not to have their services together as a congregation. 

   We started out with doing a video of the meeting through YouTube.  Bishop Holden asked Ben Carlston if he would be willing and felt that he was able to pull this off.  Ben met with Matt Goodman from the Vineyard Ward and learned how to use the proper software to make that happen.

    When the virus seemed to be slowing down, we did meet once outside, taking all the precautions of temperature readings, wearing masks and social distancing. But the virus continued to spread.

   Then came Zoom.  Fortunately, Ben had worked with it in his occupation and was familiar with how to do it.  Bishop Holden took the picture below which shows Ben doing his work from way back in the chapel.  Bishop Holden made the stand himself. The camera is placed on a tripod in the left of the picture.  

    It must be interesting giving a talk to just Ben and a few other participants in the almost empty room. A member of the bishopric sterilizes the stand and microphone before each speaker.  A special thanks to all those who have been asked to give talks as well as those who will give them in the future.

   The stake presidency just announced that we will have more virtual classes from now on. (See previous  blog entry.)