What is the LWML?

The Lutheran Women’s Missionary League (LWML) is the official women’s auxiliary of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. For over 65 years, the LWML has focused on affirming each woman’s relationship with Christ, encouraging and equipping women to live out their Christian lives in active mission ministries and to support global missions.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Merry Christmas!




I received this card from a friend and absolutely loved it! Merry Christmas all my fellow sisters in Christ! I hope your Christmas is full of family and friends as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Please take notice of our Janruary planning meeting it is on Saturday Janruary 16th 2010 at 9:30am at Marie Callendars in Holladay (right across from St. Marks' Hopsital) We have lots of stuff to go over so society presidents/congregational reps please plan on attending. If you are not able to make it please send representation from your congregation. Some of the things we need to discuss are listed below. Please bring your theme ideas and suggestions along with you:

*Bylaws
*Spring Events
*Elections: Zone President, Vice President Pastoral Counselor
note: (Nominating Committee Carole, Charlotte, Cindy and Elaine)
*Timberlakes Retreat
*Fall Rally
*Bible Brunches/Mission Activities
*Teen LWML
*Convention Update

Also, check out our new District website http://utahidaholwml.com/
Nice job Julie!

May God bless you and your service to Him in 2010!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

St. Paul's Retreat

"Sweet Life Cafe"
Where Women Savor Time With God

At Sweet life Cafe you'll satisfy your cravings for friends, God and spiritual growth. It's a retreat you won't want to miss. Join us as we savor time with God and with girlfriends. Together we'll experience meaningful Bible studies, flavor-filled activities, and scrumptiously delicious Fun!!

St. Paul Lutheran Church in Ogden
Saturday November 14th, 9:30-4:00pm
$20.00 per person--lunch included
Pre-registration is required so please email (with questions too)
Jeannie Barrette- wbarrette1@msn.com

There will be a collection of non-perishable food for the local food bank and stuffed teddy bears for the Odgen Police Department. Thank you!

Want to see what we did last year? Check out our "older posts" labeled God's Grace Filled Seasons in October of 2008. You won't want to miss it!

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Check this out...

Hey ladies!

Our idea is catching on! Check out this link for a new blog that LWML President Janice Wendorf just launched! We love it President Jan!
http://www.lwml.org/blog/


Have a wonderful weekend!

Friday, August 21, 2009

Pictures From the Zone Retreat in Timberlakes

At the beginning of the month we traveled to a beautiful place East of Heber City call Timberlakes. Our sister in Christ, Kris (St. Marks) offers her home to us every year for our Zone Retreat. We shared a bible study, fellowship, lunch, some brainstorming, recipes, prayers and a craft. Here are some pictures from the day. Thank you everyone for coming!


A buck that wanted to check us out, maybe he smelled the coffee.
He wouldn't hold still for a good picture!





The lovely lady in the yellow shirt was our "creative consultant"
thanks Jean for the craft project!







Listening closely to directions...


After some serious concentration and a few do-overs...this is the finished product! Jean picked out a beautiful cross stamp just for us! Then Kris found some verses and prayers from Portals of Prayer and we chose our favorite for the front cover. Aren't these notebooks so cute??? And..the pens match! Some of us made 2 and gave one away to a friend, others said they were going to use theirs as a prayer journal. Cute, cute.



Thank you Kris for sharing your home with us!
We sure enjoy our time together every year!

Fall Rally at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Logan, Utah


We are headed up north this year on Saturday September 19th 2009. We are going to have bible study, business. lunch and a Dessert In The Dark. There will be devotions and activities geared towards learning more about and even experiencing a "taste" of what it would be like to be blind. All proceeds from the Dessert In The Dark will go to Lutheran Blind Mission below is a link to their website and an article from their organization. Please share this information with your congregations and friends at church. Ask them if they would like to donate to our Dessert In The Dark. Invite all women to join us and if they are not able to make it, maybe they would be willing to send a donation with someone else. I found this article on their website that could be read during announcements at church or put on a flyer to hand out to the congregation. Please take advantage of it and we will see you in Logan on September 19th!
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Missionary Moment Narration


Mission work is an important activity of our church. In fact, it was Jesus’ last mandate: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

And so the first disciples went to many nations. Paul and Barnabas, Philip and Peter, and so many more, were sent by the Spirit to share the good news of salvation. And so, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod has sent missionaries all over the world.

One often overlooked group of people right here in the United States are those who have lost their physical sight. Often, when people lose their sight, they become isolated and separated from society. Sitting alone, with little or no physical sight, they become angry at God.

In the United States there are 12 million blind and visually impaired people and 95% are unchurched. They are of all ages.

Lutheran Blind Mission is LCMS World Mission’s mission arm to reach blind and visually impaired people. It has reached out and served this group of people for over 80 years.

The Lutheran Library for the Blind is North America’s largest lending library of Braille, large type, and audiocassette Christian materials. Thousands of people are strengthened through the magazines and devotionals such as Portals of Prayer.

Through Lutheran Blind Mission’s outreach centers hundreds of blind and visually impaired people are helped and the Gospel is shared.

One of these people is Ruth. She was a Braille reader and an active user of The Lutheran Library for the Blind. She enjoyed receiving books that were inspirational, spoke of God, and not full of sex and violence. During the past few years, however, arthritis took its toll. Just as age can take the sight of some people, the arthritis took the use of Ruth’s hands. It became too painful for her to read Braille any more.

Ruth didn’t lose her joy nor did she give up reading. She turned to the recorded books the Library has on audiocassette tapes. She continues to keep an active mind, a healthy heart, and an active faith in Jesus. She is thankful to Lutheran Blind Mission for its materials that she can read.

Because most of the people served by Lutheran Blind Mission are living below the poverty level, all of our materials and services are provided at no cost.

There are many ways we in this congregation can help. Please consider a gift in today’s door offering. Keep this work in your prayers. Consider volunteering your time. You can look at the bulletin insert for ideas and contact information. In this way we play an important role in mission work right here in the United States.

Lutheran Blind Mission
Helping Blind People See Jesus


Monday, July 20, 2009

Zone Retreat at Timberlakes



Join us in two weeks for our annual Zone Retreat in Timberlakes. Kris (St. Marks. Provo) is kind enough to let us invade her quite cabin every year for a few hours of fellowship, food, bible study and devotion. And... a little bird tells me that she has a fun craft project up her sleeve so bring $4 to participate. (Anyone remember the cute post-it holders she made for us last year? I have a feeling it will be fun!) Email me for directions, food assignments or for more information ashleywby2@aol.com
I hope to see you all there!

As we speak there aproximatly 10 women for our district in Alaska teaching VBS! They are sleeping on cots, cooking meals and showering there at the church which is 45 miles outside or Anchorage, Alaska. In fact, our very own Cindy (Grace, Sandy) made the long journey to share the love of Jesus with children. Please keep them in your prayers this week.

Also, Camp Perkins was last weekend. I know there were a few ladies from our zone who went, did you have a good time? Please email me with pictures and let me know how it went! I wasn't able to make it this year and we'd love to hear all about it!

Our Banner











Here are the pictures of our banner (sorry it took me so long..) It was Utah Zone's turn to make the District banner for convention this year. May I just say; ladies of the Utah Zone....WOW! You're amazing! Thank you, thank you, thank you to the many hands that put this beautiful banner together. Everyone loved it, I heard lots of wonderful comments!






Portland 2009

Well we survived! The National Convention in Portland, Oregon 2009 is over. I hope all of you enjoyed it as much as I did. On behalf of the Utah Zone I would like to throw out a big THANK YOU to each and every one of you that worked at the convention. It warmed my heart to see all your familiar faces behind those green worker aprons. I would like to share a few highlights with you...


The convention delegates voted on a new mission goal for the 2009-2011 biennium and it is....
$1,875,000,00.00


Wow! And don't forget, that is only 25% of our mites. 75% stays in our Utah/Idaho District. I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for our mites. 70% of the 1.825 million goes to projects and grants and the other 30% goes to operating expenses. Praise God!

The final credentials report showed 3,310 women (and men) registered for convention. That includes the convention body and all the delegates. Just to put things into prospective at the worship service on Friday night; $37,000 was collected towards our new mite goal. Check out the National website for more information on the grants we adopted. http://www.lwml.org/conventions/index.htm

But convention is not all about numbers that is for sure! We laughed with Jan Struck "humerus interruptor" as she learned all about what it's like to be a Lutheran Woman at convention. We cried with Heidi Floyd as she shared her AMAZING story of cancer survival and the miracle of her unborn baby that survived chemotherapy. We were moved by bible study from Dr. Mary Hilgendorf as we dove a little deeper into the stories of Ruth and Deborah. It was truly an amazing weekend. From our zone- Marie, Kathy, Jenny and Lily (Holy Trinity, Logan) came to Portland Oregon together. Great-grandmother, grandmother, mother and daughter, these sweet ladies below make up four generations of LWMLers! What a blessing!





I will leave you with one last bit of news. Utah Zone and Utah/Idaho District get ready because in 2017 the whole nation is coming to....





SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH!!!

That's right ladies! They're coming here! When it was announced at convention we all stood up and cheered...loudly. We've got our work cut out for us so please start praying, but with God's help we can show 'em all a great time. 2017 in Salt Lake City- whoo hoo!

Monday, June 1, 2009

Portland Updates!


Hello Everyone!

It's almost here...can you believe it? A little over 20 days and we will be attending the 2009 33rd Biennial LWML Convention! I am just finishing up a few last minute plans, how about you? Our zone has had the honor and privilege of making the Utah-Idaho District banner. District President Melody Rosenwinkel will be hoisting it high for us during the processional so watch for it! We hope you like it! I hope to have pictures up on the blog before we leave. I have some updates and information for you. If you have any questions about Portland please don't hesitate to contact me. If you are still thinking about going...do it! There is still plenty of time to register and the National LWML website makes it so easy. http://www.lwml.org/.

IMPORTANT: Utah/Idaho District Caucus Thursday June 25th at 4pm in room E142

DISTRICT PHOTO: Exhibit hall A at 5:45 on Saturday

Have you made contact with your National Delegate yet? She is waiting to hear how you would like her to vote in Portland in a few weeks. Here are the links for the LWML National Candidates and Grants, please take a moment and look through them they are the future of the LWML. I just printed mine off and I am going to look at them right now!

Candidates: http://www.lwml.org/resources/quarterly/2009/s09/candidated.pdf

Grants: http://www.lwml.org/conventions/docs/portland/2009_proposed_mission_grants.pdf

After you find whom and what you would vote for, please report those findings to Andrea your National delegate here is her email address- lwml_andrea@yahoo.com

I am praying everyone has a safe trip!

See you in Portland!



Friday, April 17, 2009

Just a reminder...



Bible Brunch at Light of the Valley Lutheran Church
Sunday April 26th
Join us for their service at 10:30 am
Bible Brunch following at 12 noon

3383 W 12600 South
Riverton, Utah
84065
801-571-6769

Join us for a Bible Brunch at the Utah Zone's newest addition to the family- Light of the Valley Lutheran Church! We will be having lunch together and Pastor Borcher will be offering a bible study for us. Come and enjoy fellowship with your fellow sisters in Christ!

Monday, April 6, 2009

Important updates for our zone....

Hi Everyone!

Thank you for visiting our blog to check in. Please save this site and use it to stay updated with Utah Zone Events. Below is new information, please share it with the other ladies in your congregations. Please let me know if you have any questions, thanks for your support! Lots of exciting things going on right now, praise God!

I hope everyone enjoys their Holy Week. Happy Easter- He is risen!

Ashley

-April-
Saturday April 26th at 12pm Bible Brunch
Light of the Valley Lutheran Church in Riverton
Lets all show our support to the newest congregation in our zone. Come and enjoy time together with fellowship and a bible study. Please bring a salad or dessert to share, we'll see you there!

Don't forget to register for National Convention in Portland!
There are some great airline rates right now...

Collecting Shampoo
Our Zone is collecting shampoo for hygiene kits that will be assembled at National Convention for parents of children at Doernbecher Children's Hospital . We have bee asked to collect 300 bottles of shampoo so please ask your congregations to help! Please bring them with you to any zone event especially the work party in May! We need to ship them by May 20th 2009!

Have you considered going on the District Mission Trip to Alaska?
We will be teaching VBS to children at a church in Palmer, Alaska. Commitments are needed at the end of this month. Please contact me if you need more information.

-May-
Saturday, May 9th at 10am- Work Party
Christ Lutheran Church, Murray
We will be working on special puzzle piece pins that will be used as a witnessing tool and the district banner for National Convention! Here is the design for the banner, we are in need of materials and expertise in this area. (Nice job Joan Shrank from St. John's and Elaine Holt from Grace, Sandy. They were the inspiration for the design!) Please contact me if you would be willing to help. We are going to need as many hands as we can get!



Have you contacted your Zone Delegate?
Before National Convention, take a moment to contact Andrea (St. Paul, Ogden) and let her know your thoughts on how she should vote to represent our zone. She is YOUR delegate, and would love to hear from you.
Andrea
lwml_andrea@yahoo.com

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Our Mission Fair- Spring Event 2009



We had a wonderful event at Christ Lutheran Church in Murray last month. Thank you so much to everyone who traveled to attend. Ladies came all the way from Provo to Idaho to share the day together and God blessed our time. District President Melody Rosenwinkel even joined us all the way from the mountains of Idaho! We began our morning with coffee and a light breakfast provided by Society President Meredith and the ladies at St. Johns. Pastor Krause from Cross of Christ Lutheran Church in Bountiful lead us in a bible study about service in action, we learned about being "cheerful givers" (1Cor 9:7-8) and that God comes to us and serves us through His means of grace (Phil 2:1-11).

There were three speakers who came and shared their time with us. Tami Champo from Salt Lake County Youth Services was our first speaker. She shared how we can all donate goods and our time to help youth who are in between foster care or in state custody.
Our second speaker was Chris Croswhite, his picture is below. He is the Executive Director of The Salt Lake Resucue Mission. Chris oversees the complete ministry and day to day operations of the Rescue Mission (for men) and Rescue Haven (for women). They are a Christian based shelter in downtown SLC they offer emergency housing, daily meals, showers, clean clothing and a recovery program to the homeless and drug-addicted community. The Rescue Mission has big plans to relocate and expand their mission- so please keep that in your prayers. Thank you Chris for sharing the day and your passion with us!




Chris brought a wonderful surprise with him- she was a young woman by the name of Missy. She is a senior in the program at the Rescue Haven, and she shared her story with us. What an inspiration she was! Once living in a car and storage unit, she was a perfect example of God working through our hardships and tough times, all to His glory. She spends her days in prayer and bible study and is learning how to transition back into society, starting with a job. Thank you Missy for coming to our event, you truly opened our eyes and touched our hearts; we will keep you in our prayers.

Thank you everyone who donated goods for our in gathering, below is a picture of what we sent back with Chris and Missy. There were hygiene items, sheets, socks, underwear and clothing. They are also in need of used men's clothing and pillow cases.

Last, but certainly not least, we heard from Donna Neward who is a Stephan Ministry leader at Grace Lutheran Church in Sandy. She spoke with us about Stephan Ministry which is fairly new to our area. Also a Christian based organization; they offer specialized training for people to assist the Pastor in congregations by visiting, listening and offering support to those in need. We learned people in our congregations and communities are in need of our love and support and Stephan Ministry offers a confidential, safe environment for those hurting and in need to share their thoughts and concerns.

We finished up our day by spending some time marking bibles for the prison. There were a few of us who had never marked prison bibles before, it was really fun! We had Spanish and English bibles along with a guide that helped us mark certain verses and write certain phrases. St. John's in SLC and Christ in Murray are apparently veteran "prison bible markers", so thank you for the tutorial ladies!
Thank you again to Tami, Chris, Missy and Donna our wonderful speakers. Also to Pastor Krause and the ladies of Christ Lutheran Church, thank you for all your hard work.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Mission Fair- Spring Event



March 14th from 9-3pm
will be our Spring Event at Christ Lutheran Church in Murray.
Here is some information:

Place:
Christ Lutheran Church in Murray
240 E 5600 Murray, UT 84107-6113

Registration:
$5
9-9:3o until 3pm

Activities:
Bible study including a special teen bible study, mission speakers, luncheon, servant events. Come and get new mission ideas!

Speakers and guests:
Rescue Mission of Salt Lake City, Stephan Ministry and special Youth Speaker.
http://www.rescuesaltlake.org/
http://www.stephenministries.org/

In gathering to support Rescue Mission in Salt Lake City:
Hygiene items
Disposable razors
New men's socks and underwear
Used men's clothing



Please join us for this exciting event! We would love to have teen ladies join us too, they are welcome to come for a special youth speaker, teen bible study and lunch. Or stay the whole day! Ask your congregations to help by bringing items for the in gathering. There are so many organizations in our area that could use our support, and we are going to hear a little more about how we can help. We will all be pitching in with child care so moms if you need to, bring the little ones!

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Light of the Valley Lutheran Church Grand Opening



The ladies of Light of the Valley Lutheran Church have asked the Utah Zone LWML if we would be interested in sponsoring coffee and treats after their Grand Opening service on February 22nd. If you can, please make a treat or dessert of some kind for after the service. If you would like to come to the service that would be great too! It will be a great opportunity to offer the new church our support and meet some of the ladies there. Remember we have a Bible Brunch on April 26th... it will be a wonderful way for us to introduce ourselves!

Here is a link to their website and information for that day. Thanks everyone!

http://lightofthevalley.com/worship_services.htm

Bible Class and Sunday school- 9:30
Worship 10:30
Refreshments following worship

3383 W 12600 S
Riverton, UT
84065
801-571-6769

Friday, January 16, 2009

Zone Board Meeting


Just a reminder...

Our Zone Board Meeting is next Saturday January 24th at 10 am. We have so many things to discuss and I'd love to hear from each and every church. We will be planning our Spring and Fall Events, talking about National Convention in Portland, planning our Zone retreat and enjoying Christan fellowship together. Please email me with any questions (ashleywby2@aol.com)

Here is the information again...

Marie Callendar's Restaurant
1109 East 3900 South
Salt Lake City

Society Presidents, please plan on attending. If you can't make it, please send someone from your society or church to attend for you. It is so important that we have every one's input. I know some of you have elections in December, if you are no longer the president or leader please help your new leadership understand the importance of our bi-annual meetings. Or maybe, you could even attend with your new president! Our zone board meetings coincide with the district board meetings I attend in Idaho, so that way I am able to transfer information between our zone and district more easily. That communication is crucial. Here is a reminder about the structure in case you were wondering...


National LWML
District
(Utah/Idaho)
Zone
(Utah Zone)
Society
(at the individual churches)


If you notice there are link on this blog to the district and national websites. There should also be a link to each of the churches in our zone. Thank you for your support, I will see some of you Saturday!