Thoughts, ideas, and messages from leaders, teachers, and members of the Pheasant Valley Ward to support home-centered discipleship.
All members are encouraged to attend in-person to partake of the emblems of the sacrament. If you are unable to attend in-person, please reach out to Bishop Wilson to discuss arrangements for you to partake of the sacrament at home.
As a reminder, this is the link for the sacrament meeting broadcast:
10:30 am - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpm9i4M784zCsdDUm8YWQA
Happy Mothers Day!
Seminary Graduation: Next Sunday, May 18th, 4:00 pm at the stake center.
Tassels and Tacos: June 1st, 5:00 pm, at the church.
Ward Temple Night: 3rd Saturday of every month, the 6 pm session.
Summer Youth Activities: Stake Youth Conference (May 2-3); Ward Youth Rafting Trip (June 6-7); YW Camp (June 23-26); YM Camp (July 16-19)
Primary Activity Days Summer Camp: Wednesday, June 18th, at Camp Maple Dell, for all boys and girls of Activity Day age.
Stonehenge Sacrament Meeting: now at 3 pm. Please feel free to invite your family members to attend and support our local residents and ward members.
2025 Meeting Schedule: Our regular Sunday meetings will be from 10:30 - 12:30.
Come Follow Me Manual: If you would like a physical copy of the 2025 Come Follow Me manual, please contact a member of the bishopric.
Family Home Evening at Stonehenge: The residents of Stonehenge would like to share Family Home Evening with your family! If this would be something you would enjoy sharing with them, please contact Cindy Belt or Sean Durham. You should plan for 6-8 residents to participate. Begin about 6 pm at the Stonehenge facility. Plan a short lesson with a treat, and try to include the residents as much as possible. Thank you!
Spanish-language Temple Session: A Spanish-language session in the Provo City Center Temple is held at 10:00 am every Saturday.
Self Reliance Group: The ward is instituting a Self Reliance Group focused on personal finance. If any individual or family is interested in participating, please contact a member of the Relief Society or Elders Quorum Presidencies, or Mike and Dixie Davis, for more information about meeting dates and times.
Gospel Living App: All adult members are encouraged to use the Gospel Living App (churchofjesuschrist.org) (also known as “Circles”) to stay connected to the ward and to keep abreast of what is going on. There are other benefits as well. The Gospel Living app focuses on living a Christ-centered life. You’ll discover inspiring content like music, videos, images, activities, and goal ideas. And you can create personal goals, plan activities, set reminders, record your impressions, or message your quorum, class, friends, and family.
Temple Recommends & Setting Apart: if you are in need of a temple recommend or have yet to be setfest apart for your calling, we encourage you to meet by the Bishop's office (southeast corner of the meetinghouse) after the 2nd hour and speak with a member of the Bishopric. Temple recommend interviews can also be scheduled for Sunday afternoons by contacting Max Gerasymenko (see information below).
Appointments with the Bishop: if you need to schedule an appointment with the bishop, please contact Max Gerasymenko, our ward executive secretary, at 321-978-8734.
Sunday Worship: all members are encouraged to attend in-person to partake of the emblems of the sacrament. If you are unable to attend in-person, please reach out to the bishop to discuss arrangements for you to partake of the sacrament at home.
As a reminder, this is the link for the sacrament meeting broadcast:
10:30 am - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpm9i4M784zCsdDUm8YWQA
This week’s Come Follow Me: May 12–18: “Seek Ye Earnestly the Best Gifts”: Doctrine and Covenants 46–48
Click to view the 2025 calendar.
Lullaby
A mother cradles her newborn in her arms and sings the babe a lullaby—a beautiful, iconic image of maternal love. We think of a lullaby as a quiet song meant to lull and soothe a child to sleep, but the word may have a much darker, and conversely, profoundly beautiful origin.
A common theory for the etymology or origin of the word “lullaby” is that it is derived from the Hebrew Lilla abi or Lilith abi, which means literally, “Lilith, go away!” In Jewish tradition, Lilith was the mother of all vampires. It was believed that Lilith or one of her children would come unseen while a newborn was sleeping and kiss the child and steal him or her away. A female infant was vulnerable until she was fourteen days old. A male infant was vulnerable until he was circumcised at eight days old. So a mother would sing to her child until it slept, and then she would keep watch over it carefully, in spite of the fact that she was exhausted after the life-threatening ordeal of childbirth. And as she kept watch, if her baby smiled in its sleep, the mother would tap the child on the lips to wake him or her up. It was believed that if the child smiled as it slept, Lilith was kissing it. So the mother would wake the child, driving Lilith away, and then sing to her child once again. In this way, the mother stood guard over her baby, protecting it from the unseen forces of evil.
That’s what a mother does, doesn’t she? She stands watch, protecting as best she can her children from the evils of the world, both seen and unseen. And she does so in spite of exhaustion, pain, heartache, sickness, fear, doubt, and personal danger.
A mother isn’t perfect. Sometimes, she dozes off. Sometimes, she cannot see all the threats her children face. Sometimes, she lets exhaustion, despair, hormones, and other human frailties momentarily overcome her patience. But she selflessly stands guard with all the love she possesses.
My own dear mother isn’t perfect, neither is my dear wife. But our Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother don’t send Their children to perfect mothers. I believe this is by divine design. Our Heavenly Parents allow imperfect mothers and innocent children to grow together. And then, when children are grown, a mother continues to worry, pray, and shed tears for her children. And she continues to beat herself up for her failures.
Young children cannot comprehend the enormous sacrifice of a loving mother. Even adult children fail to see how much their mothers have done and continue to do for them. It is only as a parent of grown children, some of whom have temporarily lost their way to one degree or another, that I can begin to understand all that my mother and my wife have given to guide and protect their children.
They stood guard in the lonely, dark, exhaustive, thankless, doubt-ridden, and tearful watches of the night. And for that, I am profoundly grateful.