Last night I prayed for a “snow day.”

“Just a foot or so, dumped at about 5:55am so they cancel school? Please? I could use a day off!”

I knew it was selfish, but I relished the thought of sleeping in, and another long weekend!

The thought haunted me through the night, though, and I write this to share why.

After the initial guilty pleasure at the thought of a possible “snow day,” I remembered that maybe someone else was praying that no snow would come. Someone who was two weeks overdue who had scheduled today as the day for their baby to be born! Someone who needed to travel to visit a sick mother, or attend a funeral, or a major business meeting. Or someone who just couldn’t take one more snow storm!

There are times when conflicting prayers are sent up to God:

Prayers by opposing sports teams, hoping that their team might come off victorious
Prayers by opposing armies in battle, each thinking they’re in the right
Prayers by one that a son might live and be healed, while others pray for his sweet release

Even the Savior, Jesus Christ prayed such a prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. As He knelt, knowing that He would have to suffer for our sins, He prayed:

“O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me…”

There was one big difference, though, as He continued:

“nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Matthew 26:39)

He knew that God, our Heavenly Father, was mindful of Him, and He wanted to do God’s will. He knew that His Father saw the big picture, and trusted in Him. He had learned that our way isn’t always the best way.

I am learning to do the same: I’ve learned to pray for safety for the players in a game, or that life lessons will be learned if my team’s losing. I’m learning to pray for people to be able to feel peace and God’s love even when they’re surrounded by conflict or devastation. I’ve learned to prayerfully turn things I can’t control over to God who knows if it would be better for someone to live on or pass on, or which angel to put in my path. As I do so, I realize I’m allowing God to work on my behalf, unfettered by my limited understanding.

So I took my prayer back, and left the weather in God’s hands. And, miraculously, I’ve been able to enjoy a quiet morning at home writing about Him and His love. A morning I wouldn’t have had with all the kids home. He knew better than I did that I would need that time alone, without kids, to be able to write about His Son’s great example of humble prayer, and of the blessings of praying “Thy will be done.”

And somewhere, maybe someone is having their baby, or traveling clear roads, or enjoying the beauty of a blue sky because I was willing to “let go and let God.”

That is my prayer now.

The post First Person: Praying for a Snow Day appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

p.s. We know for each widely-publicized story, there are thousands of other stories that may not make headlines, but are also powerful and meaningful. But we need your help to find and share these stories! If you have links like these to share, please include them in the comments, or send us an email so we can share them in future Links We Like posts.

Paul Cardall shares his journey and faith as he records thoughts, feelings, and experiences while waiting for a heart transplant (which he recently received!) Hear an interview with Paul here — the end of the interview is what really caught our attention. He says: “I wouldn’t trade my life with somebody’s else’s…. I think it’s made me a better person…. I hope that what I go through can help inspire other people never to give up; no matter how hard life gets, there’s always a bright side on the other end of things and you may go thruogh some fog for a time, but the fog clears.”

Stephanie Nielson (aka NieNie) recently marked one year since the plane crash that took the life of the pilot, put her husband in the hospital, and left her in a coma in a burn unit for months, hovering between life and death. She writes of family, faith, and finding joy in simple things. Other recent posts we like include: “My Perfect Life,” “Moments” and “Critical Condition.”

Read a recent story (“Blessed by adversity….”) published about Gary Ceran, a man who keeps on keeping on, even after he has “lost three children to cancer. He’s lost twins to premature birth. He’s lost businesses to the economy. And that was before his wife Cheryl and children Ian and Julianna were killed when a drunken driver plowed into the family car on Christmas Eve in 2006.” [In fact, though it’s been nearly three years since the accident, you might want to first read the very powerful story that appeared shortly after this tragic accident: “Holding on: 3 cling to faith, each other.”]

Gary’s swift and heartfelt forgiveness was talked about much in the news during that time.  That spirit of forgiveness was also mentioned, along with other profound stories (including that of the Amish people who reached out in forgiveness when a milkman killed six children in their schoolhouse), in a talk by President James E. Faust given in a Mormon General Conference meeting in April 2007.

What people inspire *you* to keep on keeping on? Please share their stories! We don’t all have extreme trials like the ones above, but we all have trials to face, and we all need a boost now and again.

Do you have an experience you would like to share that helped you face your own challenges? Please feel free to email us at gmail, with the username ‘mormonwoman’

For more Links We Like, see here.

The post Links We Like: Facing Trials with Faith appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

Have you ever heard Mormons speak about our church before and found some of the terms unfamiliar? We are here to help! Today, we’ll focus on concepts associated with local church organization.

The smallest congregation in the Mormon church is called a ward. An average ward has about 300-350 members. Wards are organized based on geography – we attend in our wards with the other members of the Church that live in the same area, and we usually go to the church building closest to our homes.

A ward is led by a bishop. He has two counselors to help him with his responsibilities, which include helping care for people in the ward boundaries spiritually and temporally. These three men also counsel together to organize the ward, extending opportunities for service to ward members. Ward jobs (or “callings“) are unpaid, even the job of bishop. All local callings rotate as well, so after a few years, a new bishop is called and the former bishop is “released” and eventually given a new assignment.

A ward is further divided into smaller groups: all women 18 and over make up the Relief Society, all children 18 months through 11 years are in the Primary, teenagers are in either Young Women or Young Men, and all adult men are in Priesthood Quorums.  Each of those groups has its own president and counselors to over the organization (women preside over women, young women, and the Primary, and men preside over men and young men). Each of those who presides over an organization reports back to the bishop or one of his counselors. These leaders all meet together once a month to talk about how they can serve and help those who live in their ward boundaries.

Sometimes there are not enough members of the Church in a particular area to make up a full ward – in that case, the congregation is called a branch. Smaller groups that exist in a ward (e.g., Primary, Relief Society, youth groups, etc.) usually exist in a branch as well. Each ward or branch of the church meets for three hours every Sunday.

Several wards (or a combination of wards and branches, usually around 5-8 congregations) are combined to form a stake. A stake is run by a stake president. Similar to a bishop, a stake president has two counselors to assist him. The stake president also has the help of a high council – a group of twelve priesthood members from the stake that also help the stake president get things done. Other organizations listed above (e.g., Relief Society, Primary, and the youth organizations) have presidents and counselors at the stake level as well, who help guide and train the ward/branch leaders in their respective positions.

Twice a year, all members of a stake are invited to a stake conference.  A stake conference might have meetings for adults on a Friday or Saturday evening, and always a two-hour meeting for all members on Sunday.  Normal Sunday meetings for each ward are replaced by the two hour Stake Conference on those two Sundays each year.

Stake Conferences are usually held at the Stake Center (which many members of the Church once referred to as “the Stake House,” but since it sounds so much like a “steak house,” the  lingo has changed).  A Stake Center is a normal church building, except that it may be a bit larger than a other church buildings, to hold the extra people during Stake Conference.  Other terms you might hear for a church building include ward building or meetinghouse.

In areas of the world that don’t have many members of the Church, there may not be enough people for a stake. In this case, several branches will be combined to form a district, a smaller version of a stake. Districts are led by a district president, who does the same work as a stake president. Districts also have district conferences, just like a stake conference. (For example, Elder Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles just addressed a district of LDS Church members in the military gathered for a conference in Afghanistan.)

If you’re ever listening to a Mormon speak and hear a term that’s unfamiliar – ask for clarification!  We’re happy to help.

**Please note: The answers in “Ask a Mormon Woman” and (other content on this site) reflect the thoughts and perspectives of the administrators at Mormon Women. Although we strive to have our content consistent with the Church’s doctrine and teachings, we do not speak officially for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. For official information about or from the Church, please visit www.mormon.org or www.lds.org.

For more Ask a Mormon Woman questions, see here.

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We just found an enjoyable Mormon Times article that tells a little of the history of Women’s Conference. The Conference began in 1976, and was entitled “The LDS Woman: Potentialities and Promises.” Belle S. Spafford, who gave the opening address for the conference, predicted that it would someday be an event that would fill the Marriott Center. She wasn’t far off.

The first conference that year had about 900 participants; now around 20,000 women gather to listen, learn, serve, and strengthen one another. Sister Ardeth G. Kapp, former General Young Women’s President, who was involved in the early years, is quoted saying that BYU Women’s Conference “has become kind of a gathering place.”

For the many of us around the world who were not able to attend physically, we can gather virtually on May 14 and 15 to hear rebroadcasts of some of the addresses from the 2009 Women’s Conference. They will be available on May 14 and 15. More information can be found here.

And don’t forget that sharing station information and transcripts will be available on the official Women’s Conference website in the coming weeks. (While you are waiting, consider enjoying content from past years!)

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