Upcoming Activities and Events:

Sunday, January 5, 6:00PM-7:00PM, Worldwide Event for Youth. Stream or watch on demand at broadcasts.churchofjesuschrist.org

Thursday, January 23: RS Activity. More info coming soon!

Sunday, January 26, 6:00PM. Senior Service Missionary Conference. Senior members who are considering serving full-time, stay at home, or service missions are invited to attend. Location: Lehi Jordan Willows Stake Center 2161 West Grays Dr, Lehi.

Saturday, February 8, 9:00AM: Ward Activity Breakfast. Location: Tanner Ln Building

Ongoing Activities: 

Personal Finance Classes: Begins Thursday, Jan 16th at 7:00PM at the Stake Center Seminary Room. Will discuss budgeting, getting out of debt, investing and more. This class meets for 12 weeks. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/content/ldsorg/topics/self-reliance/personal-finances-na-eng.pdf

Adult Emotional Resilience Classes: Begins Thursday, February 6th at 7:00PM in the Stake Center High Council room. Will discuss healthy thinking patterns, managing stress and anxiety, understanding depression and other topics through the lens of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This class meets for 10 weeks. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/self-reliance/course-materials/emotional-resilience-self-reliance-course-video-resources?lang=eng

YSA Gatherings (ages 18-30): Every Monday night at 7:30PM for dinner and activities. Location: 587 S Saratoga Rd. 

-Addiction Recovery Program (Church website has a directory of meetings). The Church has an interactive website where individuals can find locations, dates, and times for addiction recovery meetings to attend anonymously. Link: https://addictionrecovery.churchofjesuschrist.org/  Also, if you have a loved one who is ensnared in compulsive behaviors and you could benefit from support, you can also access a list of recovery group meetings here: https://addictionrecovery.churchofjesuschrist.org/

January Birthdays

Jan 1           Kola Robison

Jan 3           Quincy Taylor

Jan 6           Irina Kouakou

Jan 8           Jessica Frushour

Jan 8           Sara Rowell

Jan 12             Candace Jackman

Jan 21             Brittany Pahl

Jan 23             Meghan Ung

Jan 28             Kelsie Stone

Jan 29             Bri Mayes

Relief Society Lesson Schedule:  

January 12: Nourish the Roots and the Branches Will Grow by Elder Uchtdorf

January 26: Seek Him with All Your Heart by Elder Budge

*The Conference talks that the RS lessons will be taught from can be found ahead of time on the Gospel Library App, on the Home Page: scroll down to ‘Relief Society Lessons’. Additional upcoming lessons can be viewed by clicking on the three little dots on the right. We encourage everyone to study the lessons ahead of time and come prepared to share your thoughts each week!

Presidency Message:

Happy New Year! We hope you had an enjoyable holiday season and that the New Year will be full of blessings for you and your families.  As a Relief Society Presidency we have pondered and prayed much about a possible theme for our RS for the new year.  We have felt inspired to choose “Better Together”.  In recent leadership conferences we have attended the message of building our relationship with Christ through our covenants has been at the center.  We know that as we strive to do that-building our relationship with Christ through our covenants there is power and strength doing it together.  We are better together as families, we are better together as Relief Society sisters, and we are better together with Christ.  So, throughout this year in our newsletter messages and in our “council together” part of RS we will discuss, discover, and act together to strengthen our relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  I can’t wait! Happy 2025!

Love, Sara

SPOTLIGHT:

Jill Walker: Jill grew up in Dallas, Texas and moved to Layton, Utah before her senior year of high school. Her sisters and their families lived in Utah and Jill had lived a month during the summers with them, so she was lucky to have already made friends here before moving. Growing up, Jill was very involved in sports, including soccer, volleyball, basketball, track and fast pitch softball. Even though she is the youngest in her family, after all of her siblings moved out she still had quite a bit of sibling rivalry at home; her grandmother moved in with them when she was 14 years old as her dementia progressed. She was familiar with Jill, but was not usually aware that she was her granddaughter and saw Jill as competition for her parents’ attention. Oftentimes, Jill could only get her in the car to run errands by bribing her to get an ice cream cone from McDonald’s. Jill began studying elementary education at BYU-Idaho, but changed and finished her undergrad degree in business with a marketing emphasis. A roommate invited her to a business club that led her to national DEC competitions and a business expedition in New York and England. She eventually went back to college to complete licensing to teach in education. Jill met her husband at BYU-Idaho. They were serving as officers in a business society and were both dating other people but kept problem solving and traveling together. Some break ups and a lot of group dates eventually led to them dating each other. Jill had longed to serve a full time mission since she was 9 years old and had started her mission papers when she and Kyle started dating, so she was not willing to discuss marriage until he promised that if she delayed serving her mission to marry him, they would serve together after their kids were grown.  Jill has had a variety of jobs, including one of her favorites: working at pop-up Sweet Salt Clothing booths at Time Out for Women conferences. For many of these shows, she worked with her two sisters; they would travel from different states and meet up to work together. She also worked for BYU-Pathway for two years and taught preschool and pre-K for 5 years when her kids were young. She now works in our neighborhood teaching physical literacy in PE at Saratoga Shores Elementary to K-6th graders. She and Kyle lived in Texas with their family for 12 years, Idaho for 2, then Georgia for a year when he was recruited for a job here in Utah. After praying and attending the temple, they felt that moving here was the right decision and were drawn to their home in Saratoga Springs in September 2019.  They didn’t have a chance to make many close friends before Covid hit, so they have been grateful for cousin gatherings and lots of hikes with family that live in Utah county- which has been a treat as they had not lived near family prior to this move to Utah. Jill has 4 kids: Dallas (20) is serving in the China Hong Kong mission, Kyson (17). Taryn (15), Henley (12) and Luke (10).  In her free time, Jill loves being active, especially outdoors- hiking and playing any sport with a ball are her favorite. She is passionate about reading and is  always reading either a paper book, a digital one on her phone, or an audiobook while working out or driving. She also loves playing card games, crafting, and gathering and learning from others. Jill currently serves as a Ward Missionary.

SPOTLIGHT:
Sara Rowell: I am the 4th out of 6 kids and was born in Rapid City, South Dakota. We moved to Abilene, TX when I was 6 years old.  After my dad retired from being a pilot in the Air Force we moved to Cedar City, Utah where I graduated from High School.  Mike and I met at Utah State University; we lived in the same apartment complex and ward for a year and were great friends. We didn’t start dating until he moved to BYU the following year, so ironically we had a long distance relationship.  I graduated from USU in Elementary Education and taught 5th grade at Provost Elementary in Provo while Mike finished his degree at BYU.  I have had a lot of interesting jobs, some are working at a gas station, testing treadmills, and working in a greenhouse lab, but currently work part time doing Acadience testing for the Alpine School District.  I have 4 children. Alec (21) studying Biophysics at BYU, Allie (19) will be leaving for the Vancouver, Canada Mission Feb. 3rd. Logan (15) is a sophomore at Westlake and Tyler (13) is in the 7th grade at Lake Mountain.  Something most people don’t know about me is that I love horses.  A few years ago Mike and I decided to buy a horse and ended up getting one that was untrained and so we bought a program to help us train him.  It was an incredible experience. I love reading, cooking, cleaning, organizing, and cross-stitching. I also love being outside, and I enjoy all outdoor activities in any season.  We bought my parents cabin to help keep it in the family and because it’s our favorite place to be.  The purchase of our cabin was a big factor in our moving to Utah from Colorado 2 1/2 years ago.  We searched for a home up and down Utah County and was led directly to our home and we love it here.  I currently serve as the Relief Society President. 

SPOTLIGHT:
Emily Curfew: Hi, I'm Emily Curfew, and my family moved into the ward a few months ago, but we didn't move very far. We actually were already in the same Stake (which I love, and have served in the Stake Primary for a few years). We felt prompted to move here to be closer to our kids' schools, where I also part-time substitute teach. I was born and raised in Uptown New Orleans, Louisiana-- a very charming and friendly and colorful place, yet also crime-ridden. I went to BYU, studied Psychology & Business Management. Then followed my 2 college besties down to Huntington Beach, California. There was a HUGE LDS singles ward down there (Pierside Ward) and that is where I met Jeremy. We married in the Newport Beach Temple. During the 7 years of living in Southern California, I worked at a few different Marketing agencies, and enjoyed the rush of "climbing the ladder". I eventually learned the hard way that choosing the job with the best title/money wasn't all it's cracked out to be... (chronic stress and extreme pressure left me a shell of myself). Soon after our precious Pearce was born in 2010, we packed it all up and moved up North to a tiny town in Washington (Cle Elum -- population 1,800) for Jeremy to finish his Masters Degree in Linguistics. It was the most peaceful and healing year of my life! And I enjoyed motherhood far more than I ever imagined! I impersonated the Pioneer Woman (who was popular at the time) and made a few things from scratch: tortillas, applesauce from the Orchard trees, and even mayonnaise! I joined a quilting club where I received little packages in the mail each month to sew a square for each other's quilt. I learned how to follow patterns and sew a few blouses and dresses for Pearce (now 14). I was ready a year later to move to a city with modern conveniences when Jeremy got a job in Salt Lake City. We loved our quaint, tree-lined Sugarhouse neighborhood for 6 years, and welcomed Henry (12) and Kate (9). Seven years ago exactly, during winter break, we were headed out from the City, toward 5-mile pass for a family target-shooting outing, and missed our turn to Cedar Fort. I'll never forget driving along the 2-lane Redwood Road, being in awe of the beauty of the icy lake with the snowy mountain backdrop. I couldn't believe a place like this existed in Utah! A few weeks later I started searching for homes in the area, and the rest is history! Saratoga Springs is the first place that has given me that "home" feeling similar to New Orleans -- welcoming and that everyone belongs just as you are. Ultimately, I'm a "people person", and that is what drew me here.