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Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Invite a Friend Day

In my church ward, or congregation, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we have been asked to invite a friend to come to church with us this Sunday. Since we only moved to Idaho a few months ago, I haven't really made any friends that are not already of the LDS faith, or Mormons. As I received a reminder text about this from the missionaries this morning, I instantly thought of inviting my friends who are all over the world! You! :D 

I want to invite you all to church this Sunday. Although I won't be there to attend with you, the church is the same all over the world. One of the greatest things about the church in my opinion. What I learn in church will be the same that you will hear. HERE is a great outline of what you can expect when you visit the church. And since it can be a little daunting going somewhere new for the first time, by yourself, of course you can always bring a friend, or a few, or your family members, I will personally call the ward you will be attending and let them know you are coming and that you are my guest. :) (Or you can always just sneak in and sit in the back and be the strange visitor. It doesn't matter. Everyone is welcome ALL the time!)

In order to let the ward know that you are coming as my friend, you've got to help me out, and I'll help you out to! 

On Mormon.org you can click under the link that says VISIT and then Find A Church, or simply follow this link




It will bring you to a map showing you where there are church buildings. See, they are all over the world!



You can enter your address, or just your city, state, and country in the search bar at the top. Enter your street address to help you find the closest building to you.



It will show your area and the church building(s) that are closest. This is the town I live in, and there are four church buildings here.



If you click on one of the church icons, it will pull up the address and the different meeting times that are held in that building. I clicked on my church building, and there are two wards that meet there. One at 9 and one at 11. We go at 11, not out of choice, but because that is the ward my address is assigned to. It makes it easy to keep in contact and serve those that are closest to me in my town, rather than drive all over town to meet with my ward members. You are welcome to go to any time you'd like to. Sometimes there is only one ward that meets in a building, so there may not be options of times. Depending on where you live (like in Utah where there is a high concentration of members) there can be 3 or 4 wards in one building.



If you would like me to phone ahead and let them know that I will be having a guest attend church that day, let me know the information that shows when you click on the church building you will be attending (the church building address, city, state, country, and the name of the ward and time). And let me know what time you will be going to. I will be able to find the information to call them and let them know you are coming so that you can feel welcome when you visit. 


If you are in a different country, it works the same way!! I might have a harder time letting them know you will be there, but I will do my best! Maybe they will speak English, or I also speak German and my husband speaks French and Malagasy if you happen to want to visit the church in Madagascar. We'd LOVE to come with you if you do!  Lol. ;)


If you have any questions, let me know! If you'd like to visit in the future, you are always welcome!! I'd be happy to call ahead anytime if you'd like too! Just let me know! 


You can learn more about our beliefs at Mormon.org, and it is available in many languages. This post is not in anyway affiliated with the church, nor am I am official representative of it. I simply a member of the church who would like to invite you to learn more about us and our beliefs.



IF YOU ARE IN UTAH, Please note: This Sunday is a rare Sunday where they will not be holding regular Sunday meetings. They are dedicating the newly rebuilt Ogden Temple, and will be sharing the temple dedication in place of the regular meetings. You must be a baptized member of the church and age 8 or older to attend. You can learn more about temples HERE. If you would like to attend regular church meetings another week, you are more than welcome to.




UPDATE to add: Why am I posting this on my quilting blog?

My faith is a dear part of my life and makes up everything that I am. Just as quilting is a part of my life, and at times I feel like I am going out on a limb to share a creation that I have spent hours upon hours on making, the Gospel of Jesus Christ has that same special place in my heart. Thinking about what it takes to share the most precious part of who we are with others, I am reminded of this quote by Robert C. Oaks,

"Consider that you are invited to a friend’s house for breakfast. On the table you see a large pitcher of freshly squeezed orange juice from which your host fills his glass. But he offers you none. Finally, you ask, “Could I have a glass of orange juice?”
He replies, “Oh, I am sorry. I was afraid you might not like orange juice, and I didn’t want to offend you by offering you something you didn’t desire."
Now, that sounds absurd, but it is not too different from the way we hesitate to offer up something far sweeter than orange juice..."
I do tend to keep my private life private, and not flood my blog with pictures of my sweet children and other avenues of my life. But I love the opportunities we have to learn about and get to know people all over the world, and learn more about their cultures and what makes them special. I hope you won't be offended by my invitation to try something sweeter than orange juice. And if you aren't interested, just ignore it! It is after all just an invitation. :)

Diane

6 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. Thank you for reading my blog! I'm glad you enjoy my quilting. :)

      I'm inviting because I want to invite anyone that would like to join me. No one has to, and I don't expect everyone to respond. :) no harm done.

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  2. Sharing something that obviously means so much to you personally with passing strangers takes a great deal of inner courage, I really admire that! I think we tend to forget that there are actual people behind blogs and websites with lives beyond one topic. You are very kind to share your life and beliefs with others in such an open manner. I hope I can be better about that too!

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  3. I love your invitations and wonder sometimes if I should do the same :)

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  4. I like what you said about the Mormon service being the same no matter where you are in the world. This is how it is for me too (I'm Catholic) and there is nothing better than feeling at home in church no matter where I am. I also love the quote at the end. And I admire your courage and faith. Keep on, keep on! I'll still be here reading.

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  5. I agree with needle and nest. GOOD FOR YOU!! I'll be here to read your blog for a long time.

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