Upcoming Activities and Events:

• Tuesday, September 22nd 6pm at the church: Ward Pinewood Derby (each family has one race car-kits have been distributed). If you need one, contact Kim Warburton. 

• Thursday, September 24th at 6:30pm at the church: Stake RS Women's Conference, featuring Jon Bytheway. Girls 16 and up are welcome to attend. Dessert and a flower bar will be provided. Please bring canned goods to share with Tabitha's Way. 

September Birthdays

Sept 7 Arianne Taylor

Sept 12: Brylee Warburton

Sept 15: Holli Belt

Sept 18: Alisa Mears

Sept 19: Cadence Lewis

Sept 26: Brittany Corbett

Sept 28: Tammy Dean

Ongoing Activities: 

Personal Finance Classes: PAUSED UNTIL JANUARY. Personal finance classes will be held Sundays, 4:00 pm, Font Room, Stake Center / Facilitated by Bill & Lisa Miller. Will discuss budgeting, getting out of debt, investing and more. This class meets for 10 weeks. Come any week to join. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/content/ldsorg/topics/self-reliance/personal-finances-na-eng.pdf

Adult Emotional Resilience Classes:STARTS SEPTEMBER 3RD. (SEE FLYER ABOVE!) Adult emotional resilience classes will be held Thursdays, 7:00 pm, High Council room, Stake Center / Facilitated by Melinda Petersen and Vicky Corbett. 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

Healing Through the Savior: Addiction Recovery Program: Please see the Life Help information on the stake website: https://www.saratogaspringsutahstake.com/lifehelp
(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/

Family Services Information: Please see the Life Help information on the stake website: https://www.saratogaspringsutahstake.com/lifehelp

YSA Gatherings (ages 18-30): Every Monday night at 7:00PM for dinner and activities. Location: 587 S Saratoga Rd. https://www.saratogaspringsutahstake.com/ysa

Lesson Schedule:

Sept 20th: Elder Causse: Love All, Love Each

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2026/04/27causse?lang=eng

Sept 27th: Elder Gilbert: Come Home

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2026/04/15gilbert?lang=eng

October 4th: General Conference

Oct 11th: Elder Bednar: All Who Have Endured Valiantly

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2026/04/16bednar?lang=eng

*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’. We encourage everyone to study the lessons ahead of time and come prepared to share your thoughts each week!

Presidency Message:

Sisters, ponder the question: What brings you joy?

Joy is pure contentment and deep happiness. I have spent much of the last eight weeks resting and slowing down. In April, an unexpected and shocking moment changed my life when I learned I had breast cancer and would need surgery. This emotional and physical journey, with its unexpected periods of recovery, has made me think deeply about what brings me joy.

I found joy in simple things: sitting on the couch with my son watching a movie, receiving service from a son who wants to lighten my load, talking with my daughters about what matters most to them, walking each night with my husband and sharing our hopes, worries, and blessings, and visiting and walking with wonderful neighbors and friends.

But mostly, I have reflected on how painful and difficult life can be—and how the only real joy I can find amid grief is joy in Jesus Christ.

I have had to learn to stay with Him and trust Him, even when I don't understand why cancer happened to me. I am constantly realizing that I am not in charge—and He really is doing what is best for me. I finally gave my will to Jesus and submitted to surgery. That was undoubtedly the right decision, because the surgery revealed more areas of cancer than we originally knew about.

I learned that waiting with Jesus, instead of waiting for what I think should happen, brings joy.

After surgery, I thought I was on the road to recovery. But God had different plans. Sister Johnson shared last year, “When you do hard with Jesus Christ, the hard becomes holy. You become holy women.”

I have pondered what it means for someone to become holy. I think it means becoming more refined, more spiritual, and more like Jesus—and sometimes that refining comes through intense difficulty.

My pathology results showed that I would need radiation: 19 days of going to the hospital, slowly experiencing fatigue and inflammation. This wasn't supposed to happen. Again I had to ask, How can I find joy in this?

I learned that holiness can be a sacred space where I consecrate myself to Jesus and tell Him I am willing to do whatever He asks so I can grow.

My lonely radiation room became my holy place. It became a place where I could consecrate my will to Him and know that Jesus would wait with me.

This consecration is changing me. It is helping me gain the characteristics I need to become more like Jesus so that when I see Him, I will recognize Him—and He will recognize me.

Walking has been something I have needed every day for the past eight weeks. There were many days when I looked down, monitoring every step, thinking about the difficulties ahead. But as I began to understand joy, I learned to look up.

I looked up and saw beautiful clouds, mountains, and reflections on the water.

Joy comes from seeing the bigger picture—not expecting perfection, letting life happen, worrying less, and learning to wait with Jesus.

Sisters, what brings you joy?

I know that taking time to find real joy in your life is worth the effort. Jesus Christ is real. He loves you. He cares deeply for you.

Come to Him. Stay with Him. Wait with Him. And you will find real joy.

I love you! 

Annie

Spotlights:

Sara Holmer

I was born in Germany, spent time in Oregon and Washington, but most of my

memories are from growing up in Orem. I am a Utah girl! Mountains? Yes

please!! I love nature walks, including, and sometimes especially, when they are

straight uphill. After serving a mission in Bulgaria and graduating from BYU with

a degree in education I moved to SLC to teach and met Brandon at the U! His

career choices (Army National Guard and DEA) have given ME some crazy life

experiences and added massive depth to my spiritual growth. We’ve lived in

Arizona, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Utah, including 18 years in Saratoga.

We have five kids. Started with a set of premature twin girls (What a ride!),

followed by three boys. I cried the day Jason started first grade after being

blessed to do the full-time mom thing for about 19 years. After that God pushed

me in a different direction, back to school to get a master’s in special ed. I’ve

been an elementary resource teacher for the past four years. It’s NEVER too late

to get more education!

I was born with a bad case of wanderlust and am super thankful for the world’s

diversity! Some of my more unique travels were China, Tanzania, and Kuwait. I

also love flowers, children’s picture books, a good laugh, and tasty food that

someone else cooked. Along this beautiful-sometimes-awful learning journey the

Lord has orchestrated for me, I’ve learned to run to the temple for peace and

focus on things that bring Jesus into my life. Looking forward to 50 more great years!

Below: First outing after they opened things up during COVID. Such joy getting out of the

house! (Spiral Jetty)