Goals

Brothers and Sisters-

We've attached our Stake/Area Plan (mission statement, vision, etc) and our Stake Steps (goals) for your reference.  Please be a revelatory family and regularly hold family council.  Please have a plan and review your plan regularly.  

We love you and pray for you always!

-The Stake Presidency

Become, and Help Others Become, 

True Followers of Jesus Christ 

and Enjoy the Blessings of the Holy Temple

1. Live the Gospel of Jesus Christ

• Strengthen ourselves and our families by receiving the ordinance of salvation and exaltation and keeping the associated covenants 
• Strengthen our faith in Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ and His Atonement by regularly studying the Book of Mormon and by honoring the Sabbath Day.

2. To Gather Israel through Missionary Work, we will:

• Teach repentance and baptize converts
• Rescue less-active members

3. To Care for the Poor and the Needy, we will:

• Build spiritual and temporal reliance 
• Live the law of the fast and serve others

4. To Enable the Salvation of the Dead, we will:

• Find family names
• Take family names to the temple for ordinance and teach others to do the same

Stake Steps/Goals

• Personal plan for each family/individual (My Plan)
• Every individual or family will counsel and prepare a specific Individual or Family Plan with specific and personal goals relating to the 4-fold mission of the church.  The plan will be reviewed monthly in family council meeting.

• Live worthily of receiving the blessings of the temple and hold an active recommend
• Every adult member will strive to receive the living ordinances of the temple and hold an active temple recommend (limited-use or full recommend).  Every youth will strive to live worthily of the temple and hold a limited-use recommend.

• Attend the temple regularly 
• In each family council, each individual and family will make a goal regarding regular temple attendance and will bring own names for work in the temple

• Read the Book of Mormon daily
• Participate in the stake's Easter to Christmas reading challenge 

• Be registered on JustServe and participate in at least 1 service activity a quarter

Book of Mormon and Goals

Brothers and Sisters of the Orlando Florida Hunters Creek Stake:

I am grateful for this opportunity to share some thoughts regarding the Book of Mormon.  It's not too late to join our stake's challenge!  Start reading now until Christmas and see what blessings come!

By Sunday if you are following the bookmark, you should be at page 196, chapters 25 and 26 of Mosiah.

I love the Book of Mosiah.  It contains the account of the faithful prophet Abinadi. 



Can you imagine what he felt when brought before evil king Noah under threat of death?  This picture depicts Abinadi as an older man yet strong and determined in the face of opposition.  We are privy to some insight in his state of mind and spiritual strength despite such circumstances when we read Mosiah 12.  When the priests were ordered to kill Abinadi he said, "Touch me not...for I have not delivered the message which the Lord sent me to deliver...I must fulfil the commandments wherewith God has commanded me."  Essentially, Abinadi still had work to do and he was committed to doing it irrespective of his current state.  I've read the account of Abinadi many times.  This most recent reading really drove home the principle of persevering always and maintaining faith regardless.  He had such great faith; He was so steadfast and true.  As the world unravels around us, as the inequity and ufairness of mortality weighs heavily on us, we can find strength in Abinadi and courage to continue our personal and ongoing journey of conversion...and we can help others likewise become converted to the gospel.  Abinadi declared powerfully that he believed completely in the Savior and trusted in what would come.  He spoke with power and the authority of God in declaring his belief.  And though almost all those that heard his testimony that day rejected him, one man listened and was touched...Alma.  Alma repented and changed his life and brought the redemptive joy of the gospel to many.  

Despite the challenges of life and irrespective of opposition, we can find joy and peace through Jesus Christ.  When we share our experiences and bear testimony regarding gospel truths, we can help others also find that joy.  We have a work to do.  We are commanded to do it regardless of the hurdles that are in our way.  If we doubt or lack the faith, let's not give up...but rather let's dig in, study, ponder and pray and see what transpires.  

I know that God lives and Jesus is the Christ.  I know that we have much to do and we can do it!  Keep trying, keep working, keep believing!

-The Stake Presidency 

HCS Book of Mormon Blog Post Week of June 18-25th Pages: 126 – 140

This week’s readings are taken from the Book of Jacob. Up till now, all that we have read in the Book of Mormon was recorded by Nephi. Now he challenges his younger brother, Jacob, to take over the record-keeping of his people.

Jacob is the older of Lehi’s two sons born during the eight years of journeying in the wilderness. He has personally not “seen” the former lands or life his family led. What he has seen is his brother Nephi’s dedication to and testimony of Jesus Christ. At this point he is about 45-50 years old and he now “takes up the mantle” of recording on the Small Plates of Nephi and continuing to testify of Jesus Christ to all people.

Jacob is probably best-known for his writings in Chapter 5, “The Allegory of the Olive Tree”. An “allegory” is a story or parable which symbolizes things in real life. The allegory Jacob relates comes from the writings of Zenos (see vs. 1 of Ch. 5), a prophet whose writings are not found in the Bible.

The Allegory of the Olive Tree is simple yet very complex. Much can be gained by reading and re-reading Chapters 5 and 6 of Jacob. While many of our Church leaders have expounded on these prophetic words, it is still up to each of us to gain wisdom and knowledge as we “ponder and pray” about the words of the Lord through his Prophets.

David J. Ridges, the famed Church teacher and scholar, gave this guiding background: “The use of the olive tree as a symbol of the house of Israel is an excellent example of how God uses symbolism to teach his children gospel laws and principles. For centuries the olive tree has been associated with peace. When the dove returned to the ark, it carried an olive leaf in its beak, as to symbolize that God was again at peace with the earth. The olive branch was used in ancient Greece and Rome to signify peace, and it is still used in that sense today in the great seal of the United States where the American eagle is shown grasping an olive branch in its talons. The ONLY true source of peace is Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.”

There is also much symbolism as Jacob relates Zenos’ allegory of the “cultivation” that must take place with the olive tree. If the green slip of an olive tree is merely planted and allowed to grow, it develops into the wild olive tree, a bush that grow without control, tangled and producing only small, worthless fruit. To become a productive “tame” olive tree, the main stem must be cut back completely and a branch from a tame olive tree grafted into the stem. With careful pruning and cultivating the tree will grow healthy and over time produce “good” fruit. In other words, the tree cannot become productive just by itself…it requires grafting and care by the “husbandman” to bring it to its full potential.

This story was and is true of Israel…and more importantly, it is true of you and I. We CANNOT do it alone. While we may have the best of intentions, we are mortal and we sin. Only the “husbandman”, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, can prune and cultivate us to be ALL that we can BE! May we each constantly strive to this end!

BOM Reading Mormon 9

When I search and ponder and seek for God in my life, I find miracles happening all around me.  

Our youth conference a few weeks ago brought blessings of faith to many youth and leaders in our stake.  To see lives change and testimonies grow is an example of miracles.  A heart that softens and changes right before my eyes is a miracle to me.

Photo by Eva Snider

For a sinner like me to have away to return to our Father in Heaven is a miracle.  Through Jesus Christ this is possible:

Mormon 9:13 And because of the redemption of man, which came by Jesus Christ, they are brought back into the presence of the Lord; yea, this is wherein all men are redeemed, because the death of Christ bringeth to pass the resurrection...

I believe that miracles large and small happen to us if we choose to recognize them for what they are... the hand of God in our lives. 

I know we have a Father in Heaven who is aware of us.  I see his hand in my life and for that I am eternally grateful.

Mormon 9:5
And now, O all ye that have imagined up unto yourselves a god who can do no miracles, I would ask of you, have all these things passed, of which I have spoken? Has the end come yet? Behold I say unto you, Nay; and God has not ceased to be a God of miracles.

Happy Father's Day!

BOM Reading pgs 98-112

Brothers and Sisters,

I know 2 Nephi is sometimes a hard book to get through especially, with families of small children like we currently have! However, I appreciate the writings in these chapters because the study of it helps us gain greater understanding of the basic doctrines of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I loved reading and pondering the prophecies from Nephi, Jacob, and Isaiah as they gave prophecy of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in our day, the scattering and gathering of God’s covenant people, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, and the Millennium.

In 2 Nephi 30:9–10, Nephi prophesies of a time when “the Lord God shall cause a great division among the people, and the wicked will he destroy; and he will spare his people.” So the question we need to ask ourselves is what must we do in order to be on the Lord’s side of this great division that is occurring?  The answer I believe is simple in thought (remember our thoughts proceed action so this is a good place to start! 😉) but, sometimes more difficult in action. In order to be numbered among the Lord’s people, we simply need to separate ourselves from worldly ways now! 

So, how do we do this? Elder Neil L. Andersen stated: "Overcoming the world is not one defining moment in a lifetime, but a lifetime of moments that define an eternity. "Elder Larry W. Gibbons of the Seventy said: “In this day of moral relativism we must be prepared to take a stand and say, ‘This is right, and this is wrong.’ We cannot follow the crowd! We can be in the world, go to school, go to work, join worthwhile community organizations, and so forth. But we must hold to the Lord’s standards."

Life is a journey with a beginning and an end. We are striving to live celestial lives here in mortality and I have learned that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Brothers and sisters, walk and stay on the straight and narrow path. In fact, stay in the middle of the straight and narrow path! Don’t drift; don’t wander; don’t dabble; be careful! I know that if we keep the commandments and endure to the end we will receive eternal life and I know that is the greatest gift God has to offer us. He loves us and He wants us to return home to Him after we have completed that which is needed for us to become more like Him. If you are attending church regularly to partake of the sacrament and renewing your baptismal covenants each week then, you are becoming more like Christ. Next step is to help others come unto Christ while striving to live life to be able to enjoy the blessings of the temple.

Wherever we are in our journey, we can take inventory, assess, and make necessary corrective actions to ensure we are on the Lord’s side when he surely comes again. What are some thoughts or suggestions you have that can help ensure we are on the Lord’s side of this great division of good and evil that is occurring? 

Sincerely, 

The Mathis Family

 

George A. Mathis, Jr. - Stake Clerk

Orlando Florida Hunters Creek Stake

Catching up on our blog posts :)

Brother and Sisters, we are super excited that so many of our stake members are engaged in reading the Book of Mormon.  If you are just getting started, keep at it!  If you've fallen behind, don't fret!  The promises are real: "Such simple acts of faith as studying the scriptures daily... shores up our weaknesses, increases our joys..." (Elder L Whitney Clayton, April 2017).

I'd like to share some thoughts and feelings from studying 2 Nephi 2:11, 12 and 25.  In this chapter Lehi is preaching and instructing his children regarding the plan of salvation and the need for opposition and agency.

Sometimes we get frustrated in life when our own unrighteous use of agency and others' unrighteous use of agency causes pain; we might even shortsightedly exclaim, "if only we didn't have to deal with these choices!"  Remember, that there was a plan that included no pain, no misery, no choice and everyone saved regardless...that was the adversary's plan and he asked for all the glory.  Rather, we elected Jehovah's plan, that we might all be able to choose right from wrong, to learn from our experiences and rely on Him (our Savior) to overcome our limitations...and all the glory to our Father in Heaven.  It is only through the Savior's plan/our Heavenly Father's plan that the requisite experiences and training needed for eternal progression and exaltation are given...freely but according to the principles of mercy and justice.

We can often feel frustrated, overwhelmed, under-qualified.  But that's part of the learning curve, the requisite experiences if carefully navigated that will indeed bring eternal joy.  That is our Heavenly Father's goal...and that was/is our goal when we sided with Christ in the pre-mortal existence.  Joy is not possible without opposition and agency.

Members of the Hunters Creek Stake...BE BRAVE!  Have faith and rely on the Lord.  Trust that as you follow gospel principles, that your weaknesses will be shored up and that your joy will be increased.  We love you!

-Stake Presidency      

11 For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.

12 Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught; wherefore there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation. Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his eternal purposes, and also the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God.

25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.

Week 2: BOM Reading Challenge pgs. 15-28

Hello Friends,

For our family reading, we decided to continue our reading from where we were currently… rather than start over at the beginning (as it normally takes us way too long to complete and we were excited about where we were).  If you are reading somewhere in the Book of Mormon and don’t want to start over, just keep reading and try to make it back around to where you are now by Christmas.  

We are currently in the beginning of 3rd Nephi.  I really love this part.  The Laminates and Nephites are actually working together at this time to defeat the Gadianton robbers.  Their wise Governor, Lachoneus, makes a wonderful move and appoints Gidgiddoni as the chief Captain.  The people have a tradition (when they are righteous) of choosing for their “Chiefest” of Chief Captains a man who had “the spirit of revelation and prophecy” (3 Nephi 3:18).   This Gidgiddoni must have been a spiritual man.

Upon Gidgiddoni’s recommendation (3 Nephi 21),  Lachoneus has all the people of the land collect everything they own (family, flocks, provisions) and gather together in one geographic location.  Leaving their homes, fields, work, and normal lives…  In some ways this sounds like an exciting event (like a ward campout with everyone who isn’t a robber).  Logistically it was probably a real nightmare.  I have to remember, they were in fear of their lives and I’m sure it wasn’t anything like what I have in my head.  It says later that they had provisions for up to 7 years!  Imagine that!

Rucker camping - took two trips to get our provisions for 3 days.   More like "glamping" I guess... (sigh...)

My son, the avid RISK gamer, isn’t too sure about the success of this plan. He thinks it will be too easy for the Gadianton robbers to come down and wipe them out.  I won’t spoil the ending for you or my son… keep reading...

What I continue to learn is this… When I really stop and ponder, I’m caught up in the story and the scriptures come alive for me for a while.  My family and I see such parallels to our day and even see strategy we can use to combat our own struggles.  I really love that we are reading the Book of Mormon as a “stake” group.   We usually do better together as a group when we are all focused on something good.  I think that must be why we are continually asked to gather together.  Sunday meeting, weekdays youth nights, home teaching, FHE, youth conference (pic below) the list goes on…  We find strength when we are feeling alone or find ourselves strengthening others in need.  I know many times when I gather with the saints and friends, I leave feeling uplifted, recharged, and blessed.  

Hunter's Creek Stake Youth Conference 2016

Even if we are virtually gathering on this blog, we can feel connected as we all read, ponder, and study together.

Has gathering together ever helped you?
Where are you at in your reading?

May your reading and pondering be consistent and fruitful,

Pres. Rucker