Higley Community Events

This page is going away!! Hello Friends of Christ and the Gilbert Higley Stake. This page will be going away in a couple weeks and is being replaced by a new Facebook group! We ask that you join our new Stake Facebook Group here: Higley Stake - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

In this new public group setting, EVERYONE in the community will be able to contribute and see faith promoting posts. Please join us and invite your friends! https://www.facebook.com/groups/higleystake

Family meals are an opportunity for family members to come together and build stronger relationships. But getting started can be hard. Read on for six tips on having a more meaningful family dinner.

📆 Make a plan.
Between work and school, it can be tough to find a time to get together as a family. Clear some time on everyone’s schedules in advance. Consider assigning family members to specific roles—they’ll be more invested if they have a special job of their own.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Work as a team.
No one person should have to do all the shopping, cooking, and cleaning on their own. Make it a team effort! Family members can take turns planning meals and choosing the music for cleanup.

🙏 Begin with a prayer.
Regular family prayer will help you draw closer to God and to each other. Prayer doesn’t have to be formal, eloquent, or memorized. You can talk to God like you would any other person. When you begin a meal with prayer, you invite God into your home and encourage a spirit of gratitude and togetherness.

🍎 Keep it simple.
Not every family has the time to cook a fancy dinner every evening, and that’s OK. If a family dinner is too much to plan for, start with a simple snack or breakfast. And don’t worry about cooking everything from scratch. What’s more important is spending time together.

📱 Unplug from technology.
Smartphones and tablets can be great tools for inspiring conversation at the dinner table! But they can also be a distraction. Work together with your family to develop a rule around tech at mealtimes. What works for another family might not work for yours—it’s OK to change it up if things don’t work out like you planned.

🥳 Make it fun.
Family dinners are a time to celebrate accomplishments and get to know each other better. Try to avoid divisive topics and focus instead on keeping conversations fun and interesting. You can even plan theme nights or invite family members to find conversation starters.

Find five more ideas for raising a strong family: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/belong/family/5-keys-to-raising-a-strong-family?cid=41000836

Happy New Year! ✨

I’m sure many of you are setting aside time today to write down your resolutions for the coming year. May I make a few suggestions?

First, resolve to strengthen your spiritual foundation. This may involve setting a specific time and place to study the scriptures, praying more often, making temple worship a bigger priority, and letting God prevail in all aspects of your life.

Second, resolve to be kind to others. When the Savior Jesus Christ visited the Americas, as recorded in the Book of Mormon, one of the first things He taught was the need to eliminate contention in our lives. So, please be compassionate, be understanding, be slow to judge, and be quick to forgive.

Third, resolve to be resolute. The Lord loves effort. The Lord loves consistency. The Lord loves steadfastness. While we surely will come up short from time to time, our persistent efforts to hear Him and follow the inspiration He gives us will help us to “wax strong in the Spirit” (Mosiah 18:26).

May God bless you, my dear friends, and may this be a wonderful year of purpose and possibilities for all of us.

Day 24! Be like Jesus and express love for your parents (or a parental figure in your life). Call them, visit them, or post about them on social media.