Sisters and Brothers –
I’m excited to start this with a message of hope that we will be able to expand meetings and activities in the coming days and weeks. A link to the First Presidency letter is found here.
As we move forward, I would ask for each of you to exercise patience as we determine exactly what Sunday services look like for us in our ward. I promise, as I know details, I will forward those details on to each of you. For now, please move forward with the same plan we’ve been using for months. This week, we invite members whose last names begin with A through G. For others, I am authorizing home sacrament again tomorrow. Please contact a member of the bishopric or elder quorum presidency with any questions.
Our Sunday School presidency also has a list of resources to assist families with their “Come, Follow Me” study this week. Those resources can be found at https://riverview-sunday-school-cfm.mailchimpsites.com/.
As we move toward a return to additional activities and classes, I have thought a lot about what each of us will bring back to the church building.
Will we find ourselves unchanged or will we bring a better version of ourselves?
Will we celebrate the chance to build Zion in our neighborhood by worshipping together and learning from our collective experience with service and the Atonement of Christ?
Will we bring the best of our discipleship and be ready to “fast and to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls?” (Moroni 6:5)
My hope is that we will come individually strengthened in our relationships with our Lord, Jesus Christ. I hope that the time away from regular meetings will bring an added measure of appreciation for the chance to meet together. I hope that we will reunite in the same spirit found by the Sons of Mosiah after their missions.
“Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel first appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God.
“But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God.
“And they had been teaching the word of God for the space of fourteen years among the Lamanites, having had much success in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth; yea, by the power of their words many were brought before the altar of God, to call on his name and confess their sins before him.” (Alma 17:2-4)
Alma 17:2-4
I hope that we will find that we are still brothers and sisters in the Lord — with all the familial bonds those titles imply. I hope that we will find that we’ve each been waxing strong in the knowledge of the truth and that we have increased our understanding because we’ve searched the scriptures.
I hope we will find additional grit that comes from trial. I hope that we will have more intimate experiences with fasting and prayer and that through prayer and fasting, we’ve become more familiar with the whisperings of the Spirit that make up personal revelation.
I love you all and hope that you have a wonderful Sabbath day. I genuinely look forward to the organizational progress we anticipate making in the coming weeks and hope that you are, too.
Bishop Bennett