Ward Conference 2014

I’ve been pondering different topics to speak on for Ward Conference, which is tomorrow for the Severance Ward.  This year, we won’t have the entire Stake Presidency, only President Epperson attending for our ward - which is nice.  But I do love President Packard and I have the deepest respect for him and he definitely loves the Lord.  As I was pondering different topics for Ward Conference, the following message has come to my heart, through various means, but I do feel as though my Heavenly Father has inspired me to speak on these topics. I plan to use these notes as-is for my talk on Sunday for Ward Conference.

• Brief overview of the past 12 months of the Severance Ward
• February 2017 - ward split
• Reduced our membership from 578 to 330
• Reduced weekly sacrament attendance in half
• We sent members of our ward to 5 different wards and 2 different Stakes
• Ward Activities
• Memorial Day
• 4th of July 
• Halloween
• Christmas
• Easter Cantanta
• Youth Conference
• Girls Camp
• Father/Daughter Campout
• Scout Camp
• High Adventure
• 4 youth temple trips
• Growth
• After the split, we’ve continued to grow, moving from 330 to 381 over the past 11 months —> 15% growth
• Love, Service, Unity
• Ward Council love
• Christmas Giving Tree love
• Place at the Table love
• Many, many secret-Santa stories
• Constant un-solicited love and service
• Supporting families struggling with lost loved ones
• Missionary Experiences
• Weekly stories of missionary experiences
• Jolie Mart has joined our flock
• Ethan Packard joined Thomas Chadwick in the mission field (same mission as well)
• Hana Rasmussen leaves this week for England for her mission
• Temple Experiences
• Our 1st full year with a temple so close to us
• 4 youth temple trips
• Many members serving as temple workers or volunteers
• Monthly temple cleaning opportunities
• Family History and temple work reached a new high for our Ward
• 2017 was an awesome year for the Severance Ward - 2018 can be even better
• Story time
• Tell the story of “Prime the Pump”
• The letter in the pail:
• This pump is all right as of June 1932. I put a new sucker washer into it and it ought to last five years. But, the washer dries out and the pump has got to be primed. Under the white rock I buried a bottle of water, out of the sun and the cork end up. There‘s enough water in it to prime this pump, but not if you drink some water first. Pour in about 1/4, and let her soak to wet the leather. Then pour in the rest medium fast, and begin to pump. You‘ll get water. The well never has run dry. Have faith. When you get watered up, fill the bottle, and put it back like you found it for the next feller. Signed, Desert Pete
• P.S. Don’t go drinking up all the water first! Prime the pump and you can get all the water you want.
• Which choice did the man make? Which choice would you make?
• What do we learn from this story?
• Importance of choices —> as our beloved President Monson taught - do we choose the harder right or the easier wrong?
• Faith —> are we going to come to church each week and drink from the bottle to hopefully get us through the week, or will we take the bottle home, prime the pump at home and learn to fill our homes with the living water of Jesus Christ?
• Selfish vs Selfless —> will we consume the water ourselves to fill our thirst, not worried about our future or those behind us, or will we do as Desert Pete and prime the pump, being sure to re-fill the bottle so that those around us have the same opportunity to quench their thirst?