GAME ON!

Hello Elders,

Tomorrow night at 7:00 we hope to dethrone Scott Sager as the reigning champion at our bowling activity. This year's winner will take home the new trophy, which you can tell from the pictures above is the object of much desire. For all those who are unsure how to get to the lanes here are a few directions:



The address is: 4140 W Vine St, Kissimmee, FL 34741, (407)846-8844 and the best way to get there is to stay on Hwy 192 through Kissimme until you pass Hoagland and then make a left at the sign.
The EQ will be picking up the tab for one game and we'll have some deserts to eat. If you want to play, shoes will cost $4.00 and any additional games are $4.75. You can bring your wife or a friend if you would like to. The high score is the champion!

On Sunday, we will be pleased to hear from Joey Snider as he teaches from the a talk given by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf during the priesthood session of conference titled, "A Matter of a Few Degrees." This was a great talk and we are really excited to council on it. Here is the link: http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-851-21,00.html

Our question to you comes directly from the talk: What can we do to keep pornography, violence, ungodliness, intolerance and any other R rated material out of our homes and lives? Please find the time to study the talk, prayerfully consider this question and be prepared to council on it during our meeting.

The spiritual thought for this week comes from the lesson: "The difference between happiness and misery . . . often comes down to an error of only a few degrees." President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Thank you all for everything you do to keep our quorum great. We look forward to seeing you on tomorrow night at the lanes and on Sunday!

Bryan
Joey
Jon
Sam

Championship Bowling on May 30th!

Hello Elders,

Next Friday will be our annual bowling championship held at the AMF Bowling Lanes in Kissimmee. The address is 4140 W. Vine St. Kissimmee, FL 34741. It will be a blast, with the winner taking home a serious trophy. There will be more details on Sunday, but we hope to see all of you there.

Sunday's lesson will be taught by Jon and will be based on a talk by President Henry B. Eyring titled, "Oh Remember, Remember." Here's the link and please find time to read it before our meeting:

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=88562bce258f5110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1

The question we'll council on is: How do you recognize the hand of God in your life and what do you do to remember those instances in the future?
Please take a minute to think about the question and how it applies to you.

Our spiritual thought for this week comes from the lesson: "My point is to urge you to find ways to recognize and remember God’s kindness. It will build our testimonies. You may not keep a journal. You may not share whatever record you keep with those you love and serve. But you and they will be blessed as you remember what the Lord has done. You remember that song we sometimes sing: “Count your many blessings; name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord has done." - President Henry B. Eyring

We love you all and look forward to seeing you on Sunday.

Joey
Jon
Bryan
Sam

The Council Way...

Hello Elders,

If you haven't had a chance to experience the new method of teaching, then you’re missing out. I think all will agree we have seen a marked increase in the spirituality of our quorum meetings. The main reason for this comes from the power of a good council. Once the question is announced, everyone gets an equal opportunity to express their thoughts or testimony on the subject. This is followed by a challenge issued by the presiding leader over the meeting.

Last week, we counseled on spiritual gifts and were challenged to pray for a spiritual experience from our Heavenly Father this week. As members of the church we thrive off these spiritual gifts from our Father. We need to recognize them more frequently to continually build our testimonies and progress in the gospel. To follow up on this, we will have a few minutes to discuss any spiritual experiences we may have had this week.

However, in order for the council to really work and to ensure all benefit from the lesson material, everyone must read the lesson before class starts. Our lesson on Sunday will be chapter 10 from the Joseph Smith manual and here is the link, in case you want to read it right now:
http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=da135f74db46c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=bb5720596a845110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1&contentLocale=0

Our presidency met on Wednesday and after discussing the lesson in depth we came up with the following question for council: How can we improve our prayers to receive more personal revelation from our Father in Heaven? We can't wait to talk about this subject with you. Many of you have great insight concerning answers to prayers and how you get them. Please prayerfully consider this topic and come prepared to STRENGTHEN THY BRETHREN through sharing your experience and knowledge during the council.

The spiritual thought for this week comes from the lesson material:
“It is the privilege of the children of God to come to God and get revelation…God is not a respecter of persons; we all have the same privilege. We believe that we have a right to revelations, visions, and dreams from God, our heavenly Father; and light and intelligence, through the gift of the Holy Ghost, in the name of Jesus Christ, on all subjects pertaining to our spiritual welfare.” - Joseph Smith

We love you all and hope to see you on Sunday.

Jon

Bryan

Joey

Sam

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Hello Elders,

Don't forget to make your wife or mom breakfast in bed this Sunday!

Last week we learned much from Brother Farnsworth. First he taught our quorum how to council on the lesson material. This was a great experience and hopefully all present learned a lot. In conclusion of the council we were challenged to increase our daily spirituality through an active management of our daily thoughts and actions. As a follow-up, we will discuss the results of this challenge during our week.

Continuing with the training, we will council on chapter 9 this week. Joey Snider will be conducting the lesson and will present the following question for council: What was the last spiritual experience you had and what was happening in your life that allowed you to have it? Now, for the council to really work and to understand the background to the question we all need to properly prepare by reading the lesson before hand. So, here is the link and please take the time to read it:

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=88021b08f338c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=335720596a845110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1&contentLocale=0

Secondly, we had the opportunity to hear from Brother Farnsworth on the principles of finance. During his fireside he taught us some very effective methods of managing money in tough times. His training included 10 steps to improve our finances:
1. As a family, form a financial partnership with the Lord
2. Decide where you want to be financially
3. Figure out where you really are
4. If you find yourself in a hole, then stop digging
5. There are only 2 ways to get out of a hole: earn more or spend less
6. As a family, decide to become an on-purpose spender
7. Prayerfully create an on-purpose spending plan
8. Include a debt elimination feature in the plan
9. Faithfully pay a full tithe and offerings
10. Save a little money and food every month, no matter what
The most important tool he gave us was a small notebook that he committed all of us to use in keeping track of every expenditure we made during the month of May. This is a vital step in helping us with step 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. He also informed us of the website http://providentliving.org/ which has useful debt elimination tools and planning info. We hope all will accept his challenge to follow these steps and use these tools!

The spiritual thought for this week comes from Brother Farnsworth's during his fireside: "I am absolutely sure that the Lord does not care about money...only how we use it."

We love you all and look forward to seeing you in quorum.

Bryan
Sam
Joey
Jon

Fast Sunday

Hello Elders,

We have an exciting Sunday coming up with Brother Farnsworth at the center of the fun. First of all, he'll be teaching our quorum on how to hold a council using our regular lessons from the Joseph Smith manual. This will be a great learning opportunity and will become a real strength to our meetings. The material he'll will be covering comes from chapter #8, which we studied last week. So it should be easy for all of us to participate in the council. Here is the link again and please take a minute to read the chapter again:
http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=88021b08f338c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=da4720596a845110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1&contentLocale=0

Next, Brother Farnsworth will be hosting our financial fireside later that night. Here are the details on the meeting and we'll even have a special musical number by Erika Anderson:
Date: This Sunday
Place: Our chapel
Time: 7:00 pm
Speaker: Scott M. Farnsworth
Topic: Managing Money in Tough Times - learn the principles of debt management, family budgeting, financial planning, the importance of tithing, and general financial stability

We hope to see all of you there! The spiritual thought for this week comes from the lesson again: “The Melchizedek Priesthood … is the channel through which all knowledge, doctrine, the plan of salvation, and every important matter is revealed from heaven.” -Joseph Smith

We love you all and look forward to seeing you on Sunday.

Sam
Jon
Bryan
Joey