Working Together in Christ

Hello beloved sisters and brothers,

The summer activities just continue on and on and on…:)

Upcoming Events

Oakcrest Camp for Young Women July 31 through August 4

In August we have an explosion of Activities for Young Adults. The Utah Area is hosting a YSA Conference (Together in Christ) that is composed of multiple events on multiple days throughout the month. Get more information here!

And, the SLCC Institute is hosting Summertime Spectacular events on the 11th, 12th and 13th of August. You can get more information here!
And, the Stake Primary is hosting an activity on August 26th
And, the Annual Harvest Fair will be Saturday, September 9th from 10 AM - 4 PM

Ongoing Events

Every 2nd and 4th Sunday at 3 pm in the stake center Relief Society room there is a group discussion specifically for youth called “Talking Faith”. Hosted by Julie and Ron Henricksen, this discussion time is meant to help youth explore and ask questions related to church doctrine, teachings, and practices. We encourage all youth in the stake to attend and invite friends.

Weekly Message:

Ever since her first exposure to the annual Harvest Fair Espanol, two years ago, Sister Ileana Pluas, a Wasatch Front Service missionary, and her husband Arnaldo, have been focused on collaborating with a local non-profit organization known as Fundacion Unidos Utah to gather children’s backpacks and school supplies to distribute free of charge at the Harvest Fair.

Sister Pluas and her husband are originally from Peru where he served as a Stake President before they emigrated to Utah. For the past seven years, they have been serving as missionaries and helping vulnerable children receive vital assistance to succeed in school.

Not long ago, Sister Pluas and her husband showed up at my home with a trailer full of storage totes loaded with over 300 backpacks and school supplies to give away at this year’s Harvest Fair on September 9.

This is just one example of the kind of cooperation and collaboration the annual Harvest Fair Espanol has engendered.

There are many more!

As we each share, in “small and simple” ways, we are contributing a a much larger whole and living up to the admonition to be,

“anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of [our] own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness.” (D&C 58:26-28)

In a recent General Conference address, President Dallin H. Oaks Espanol gave a contemporary voice to a fundamental principle expressed by King Benjamin centuries ago:

“When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” (Mosiah 2:17)

Next, President Oaks shared an idea from the late Elder Orson F. Whitney,

“God is using more than one people for the accomplishment of his great and marvelous work. … It is too vast, too arduous, for any one people.”

And then spoke of the church’s continuing efforts…

“The Church of Jesus Christ is committed to serving those in need, and…cooperating with others in that effort.”

“…we share the common goal of relieving suffering among God’s children. All of this is part of God’s work for His children.”

In the spirit of Elder Oaks’ and Elder Whitney’s counsel, I recently sought a meeting with a leader in the Utah Sikh Temple on Redwood Road, to invite their participation in the Community Harvest Fair.

I was delighted to hear his positive response as I explained this and other events which the Community Connections Committee leads. He shared with me that one of the Sikh’s main purposes is to promote the well-being of their fellow man. I told him we look forward to their participation in whatever form it may be given.

I invite each of us to prayerfully consider ways we can participate in this year’s Harvest Fair…and ways we can invite friends to participate. If you’d like suggestions, contact Sita Jasper (801) 599-8233

When our love of God and love for our neighbor are the true motivation for our efforts, the power of God will be manifest!

I promise!

I love you all.

President Gardner