The post I am a Child of God (Soy un hijo de Dios) appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

~by Norma, de México

Todo comenzó el pasado mes de noviembre cuando tuvimos una exposición de la Sociedad de Socorro de dos de las estacas de nuestra ciudad. [Una estaca se compone de varios barrios, o congregaciones locales.] Esta actividad se hace todos los años, sin embargo, me llamó la atención que tradicionalmente la exposición se centra en manualidades que las hermanas han realizado durante el año y en alimentos. Pensé que ante tal exposición la gente en general se iría pensando en que la Sociedad de Socorro es un lugar donde enseñan a cocinar y a realizar bellas manualidades. Estas cosas son buenas, pero quise que la gente entendiera más acerca de la Sociedad de Socorro y lo que es esencial en cuanto a la misión de la Sociedad.

La President General de la Sociedad de Socorro, Julie B. Beck, me ha impactado mucho los cambios de enfoque que nos ha pedido hacer en la organización. Hablando con mis consejeras Anita y Mónica [Norma es una presidenta de Sociedad de Socorro en su barrio], decidimos entrar en acción: comenzamos a preguntar a los asistentes si habían escuchado hablar sobre la Sociedad de Socorro. Ese día fue muy fructífero, ya que logramos dar a conocer qué es la Sociedad de Socorro, cuál es su propósito y objetivos: “aliviar al pobre, al destituido, a la viuda y al huérfano, y de realizar todo acto de benevolencia” (Historia de la Iglesia, tomo 4, pág. 567) y tambien “salvar almas” (Enseñanzas del Profeta José Smith, pág. 293).. Les alentamos a participar activamente en ella, investigamos las direcciones de los diferentes centros de reunión de las dos estacas [grupos de barrios] y sus horarios correspondientes. [Tenemos reuniones por la Sociedad cada domingo, sino cuando tenemos conferencias generales o de estaca, cada una que se hace dos veces por año.]

Se recomienda que cada año mujeres en la iglesia conmemoremos el 168 aniversario de la organizacion de la Sociedad de Socorro conmemoracion. Hay muchas maneras de hacerlo. Algunas hermanas de otros barrios confeccionaron sus gorros de pionera y representaron su fundación en 1842; otras decidieron ir al cine, al campo, comer juntas o ir a nadar.

Pero después de nuestra experiencia con la exposicion, decidimos que lo repetiríamos en nuestro barrio por nuestra conmemoracion. Nos dolio pensar que la gente en general no tuviera conocimiento de una organización tan importante para las mujeres y sus familias; sentimos que había llegado el momento de cambiar esto. Nosotras pensamos que es una prioridad dar a conocer estas cosas y no solo guardarlas y disfrutarlas solo para nosotros. Queremos que nuestras hermanas en nuestra comunidad sepan que también ellas son hijas amadas de Padre Celestial y tienen derecho a las mismas bendiciones que nosotras.

Nos reunimos, intercambiamos opiniones, se propuso el proyecto al Obispo [el lider del barrio] y esperamos su autorización. Invitamos a las hermanas de otro barrio a unirse a nosotras. Trabajamos en consejo durante aproximadamente un mes donde, despues de presentarles la idea general, organizamos a las hermanas en grupos de trabajo para que determinaran cómo habían de dar a conocer la información al público en general.

Se escogió un conocido mercado donde se montó una exposición sobre ¿qué es la Sociedad de Socorro? ¿cuál es su propósito? ¿qué es el programa de Maestras Visitantes? ¿En qué consiste el programa de Bienestar y Servicio Caritativo? ¿Qué importancia tiene el Hogar y la Familia para ésta Sociedad? Invitamos a las mujeres mayores de 18 años a ser parte de nuestra sociedad y les pedimos su información para estar en contacto con estas mujeres.

Recientemente, tuvimos una reunión sobre principios de nutrición y invitamos a las mujeres que atendendieron la exposicion a participar. Esto lo haremos siempre que tengamos alguna reunión y de manera permanente. Tenemos pensado también llevar la Sociedad de Socorro a las hermanas menos activas y no miembros realizando algunos cursos y talleres en sus propios hogares donde ellas puedan invitar a sus amigas y vecinas y así compartir con las demás las hermosas bendiciones que se obtienen al ser parte de esta gloriosa Sociedad — una Socieded que existe por el bienestar temporal y espiritual de todas las mujeres y sus familias.

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[Para aprender mas acerca de la Sociedad de Socorro, se puede leer lo siguiente:

Sociedad de Socorro
La Iglesia Mormona: Sociedad de Socorro
José Smith organiza la Sociedad de Socorro
Website oficial de la Iglesia acerca de la Sociedad de Socorro

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It all started this past November when we had an exhibit of the Relief Society hosted by two stakes in our city. [A stake is an administrative unit made up of multiple wards, or local congregations.] This activity is held every year, but it struck me that traditionally, the exhibit has been centered in crafts that the Relief Society sisters had made during the year, and in food. I thought that after such an exhibit, people in general would leave thinking that the Relief Society is a place where we are taught to cook and make beautiful crafts. These things are good, but I wanted people to understand more about the Relief Society and what is essential to its mission.

The General Relief Society President, Julie B. Beck, has impacted me greatly with the changes in focus that she has asked that we make in the organization. Talking with my counselors, Anita and Mónica [Norma is currently a Relief Society President in her ward congregation], we decided to do something. We began to ask those in attendance if they had heard of the Relief Society. We were able to help people understand more about what the Relief Society is, what its purpose and objectives are: to help the poor, the destitute, the widow and the orphan and other acts of benevolence, and to save souls [paraphrased from quotes in the original]. We encouraged women to come and actively participate in the Relief Society; we found the addresses and the corresponding meeting schedules of the different church buildings in the boundaries of the the two hosting stakes. [We have Relief Society classes nearly every Sunday, except when there are general or stake conferences, each held twice annually.]

In the Church, it’s recommended that every year, the women of the Church commemorate the organization of the Relief Society. There are many ways to do this. Some of the women from other wards made pioneer bonnets and relived some of the foundation of the organization in 1842. Others decided to go to the movies, to go the countryside, to eat together, or to swim.

After this experience with the exhibit, we decided that we would repeat the same kind of event in our ward for our commemoration. It pained us to think that people in general didn’t have knowledge about this organization that is so important for women and their families; we felt that the moment had arrived for us to change this. We thought it was a priority to share these things and not just keep them to ourselves and enjoy them alone. We want our sisters in our community to know that they, too, are daughters of a Heavenly Father and have the right to the same blessings we do.

We met together, we exchanged opinions, we made a proposal to our Bishop [the leader of the ward], and waited for his authorization. We invited the sisters from another ward to join with us. We worked together in counsel for about a month and then, after presenting the general idea, we organized the sisters in work groups so they could determine how to share information with the general public.

We chose a well-known marketplace where we created an exhibit that addressed topics such as the following: What is the Relief Society? What is its purpose? What is the Visiting Teaching program? What do the welfare program and charitable service entail? What significance does the home and family have for this Society? Finally, we invited any adult women 18 and older to become part of our Relief Society, and we asked for their information so we could stay in contact with these women.

Recently, we had a Relief Society meeting about principles of nutrition and we invited those women who attended the exhibit to participate. This we will continue to do every time we have a meeting. We have also thought about ways to bring the Relief Society to women who are not currently active in the Church and who are not members of the Church by holding classes and workshops in their own homes, where these women can invite their friends and neighbors and in this way share the beautiful blessings that come from being part of this glorious Society — a society that exists for the spiritual and temporal well-being of all women and their families.

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The exhibit includes a wide variety of media, including interactive touch-screen video, photographic portraits (featuring the photography of Kent Miles, Mark J. Davis, Craig Dimond and Craig J. Law), and narrative panels.

The display focuses on the personal journeys of individuals in Latin America, sharing how the gospel of Jesus Christ has helped them through the difficulties of life. The entire display, including videos and printed stories, are provided in both Spanish and English.

See another story about the display here.

For more information about the Church History Museum, see here.

The post Noteworthy News: New LDS Church History Museum Exhibit, “Mi Vida, Mi Historia” appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

You can find websites for the following countries (click on the language link next to the country in which you are interested — some countries have sites in more than one language):

Albania  Albanian

American Samoa English

Argentina Spanish

Australia English

Austria German

Belgium (Dutch)

Belize English

Brazil Portuguese

Bulgaria Bulgarian

Chile Spanish

Colombia Spanish

Costa Rica Spanish

Croatia Croatian

Czech Republic Czech

Denmark Danish

Dominican Republic Spanish

Ecuador Spanish

England English

Estonia Estonian

Fiji English

Finland Finnish

France French

Germany German

Greece Greek

Guatemala Spanish

Honduras Spanish

Hong Kong Chinese or Mandarin or Cantonese

Hungary Hungarian

Iceland Icelandic

Italy Italian

Japan Japanese

Latvia Latvian

Mexico Spanish

Netherlands Dutch

New Zealand English

Nicaragua Spanish

Niue English

Northern Ireland English

Norway Norwegian

Paraguay Spanish

Peru Spanish

Philippines English

Poland Polish

Portugal Portuguese

Republic of Ireland English

Romania Romanian

Russia Russian

Samoa English

Scotland English

Singapore English

Slovak Republic Slovak

Slovenia Slovenian

South Africa English

South Korea Korean

Spain Spanish

Sweden Swedish

Switzerland German or French

Taiwan Chinese

Thailand Thai

Tonga English

Ukraine Ukrainian

Uruguay Spanish

Vanuatu English

Venezuela Spanish

Wales English

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For more links that provide information about and from the Church in multiple languages see here and here.

The post Links We Like: International Church Sites appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

– Story about Mormons in India
– MormonWorld shares about Mormons in (or from) Africa, the Middle East, and Asia
– Mormon meetings in Kuwait
– A video talking about a continent-wide service project by thousands of the Church members in Africa (video is also embedded below). The Church works with other organizations in Africa to help eradicate measles there.
-Videos (in Spanish!) about growth of the Church in Singapore and the Philippines (also embedded below)
-Links en Español:

• Si quiere hablar con gente acerca de La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias en Español, se puede buscar aquí.
• MormonWiki en Español se encuentra aquí
• Otro sitio con información acerca de la Iglesia Mormona se puede encontrar aquí (incluye videos)
• El sitio oficial acerca de la iglesia en Espanol se encuentra aquí.

-You can find more about the Mormon Church in many other languages as well. For example, MormonWiki information can be found in the following languages:

The Church also provides General Conference messages and The Book of Mormon (a scriptural companion to the Bible) in dozens of languages.

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Videos mentioned above:

We thought it was interesting to see stories about what is happening in the Church in Singapore and the Philippines translated into Spanish. (Note that the labels on the videos do not match up with the content of the videos…the first is about a new meetinghouse in Singapore, and the second is about training materials that were created for the Church members in the Philippines.)

The post Links We Like — The Mormon Church is a Worldwide Church appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

In English

In Spanish

The post Video: Pioneers (Pioneros) appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.