Battlecreek Ward Salem, OR

06/28/2022

07/09/2021

If anyone is available to help, the Belche family need help loading their moving truck today. They are hoping to get it loaded by 3. Head on over if you are able!

04/18/2021

Primary Today 9:30-10:00 in the Primary rm. ☀️🤩🤍

05/24/2020

Thank you for these thoughts from Brother Ben Stewart.
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I hope this finds you all safe and healthy this wonderful Sabbath day. I can’t believe that today is the 11th week of home church. I miss meeting together and sharing the spirit that attends our meetings. I look forward to the time we will be able to worship together again.

In the meantime, I hope that you are all finding ways to bring the spirit into your home and worship with your families. We have found great joy in spending our Sabbath days together as a family and partaking of the sacred ordinance of the sacrament as a family. As you might imagine, with 4 young boys we have varying levels of reverence each week. I have to remind myself of the words of our beloved prophet – “The Lord loves effort, because effort brings rewards that can’t come without it.” I know that the Lord will bless us as we find ways to worship Him and serve Him during this time.

The Elders’ Quorum presidency asked me to share my thoughts on Elder Soares’ talk from General Conference – The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon, and I hope that it might add to your Sabbath day.

Elder Soares has a very special place in my heart as my mission president for the 2 years I served in Portugal. I look forward to hearing from him every chance that I get. I have many memories of listening to him as a missionary as he testified of the truth and power of the Book of Mormon and how it would help us as missionaries become converted, and would help those we taught become converted to the gospel. When I listened to his testimony during conference, my heart was again filled with the spirit as I felt the truth and strength of his words. And as I listened to his words again, I again felt that same spirit. I would encourage you all to listen to his earnest and powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon.

I am eternally grateful that we live in a time where we are blessed with such freedom that allowed the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. On this Memorial Day weekend, I share my thanks to those who have served and sacrificed to protect our great nation and the many freedoms we enjoy. We are blessed to have the Book of Mormon as a guide for our lives and a cornerstone of our faith.

Elder Soares reminds us that the power of the Book of Mormon is not found only in the miraculous and magnificent history of its coming forth, but in its power to change lives. The Book of Mormon answers prayers, provides words of comfort, provides answers to life’s questions, calms troubled hearts, strengthens testimonies, and most importantly helps change our hearts and convert us unto Christ. And what is amazing is that each day we have the opportunity to enjoy the many blessings of the Book of Mormon, and each day we can enjoy one or more different blessings as the Lord sees fit.

Each day that I spend time reading the Book of Mormon, my testimony is strengthened and I feel closer to my savior. That doesn’t mean that every day that I read the Book of Mormon that things go perfectly, or even go well. It means that I have the strength to face the challenges of the day and make it to the next day.

Important in this process is the constant need for the influence of the Book of Mormon in our lives. Elder Soares shared his experience with gaining a testimony of the Book of Mormon line by line, and shares that his testimony continues to grow today. And what must we do to experience this continued growth of our testimonies – we must “continuously search, with a sincere heart, to more fully understand the word of God as contained in this extraordinary book of scripture.”

This made me ponder a few questions that I hope you can take a moment to ponder as well:

· Why is the Book of Mormon central to your faith and what can you do today to make it a bigger part of your faith?

· How has the Book of Mormon influenced your life, your week, your day?

· What can you do to testify of the truth of the Book of Mormon to others?

Elder Soares closes by giving us an invitation and making us a promise. He invites us to take part in the coming forth of the Book of Mormon in our own lives, and promises that we will partake of the rich blessings promised in the Book of Mormon if we prayerfully and consistently study its words. He then offers his testimony:

“I bear my witness that the Book of Mormon is indeed the word of God. I testify that this sacred record “puts forth the doctrines of the gospel, outlines the plan of salvation, and tells men what they must do to gain peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come.” I testify that the Book of Mormon is God’s instrument to bring about the gathering of Israel in our day and to help people come to know His Son, Jesus Christ. I testify that God lives and loves us and His Son, Jesus Christ, is the Savior of the world, the chief cornerstone of our religion.”

I share my testimony that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and it has the power to transform lives. We only need to partake of those blessings by prayerfully studying its words and making them a part of our lives. I know that your life can be changed by making the Book of Mormon a part of your daily life and I hope we all take the opportunity to daily search its words.

I hope you all have a wonderful Sabbath day!

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Ben

03/24/2020

From our area presidency:

Sunday, March 29, 2020, is a Fast Sunday. It is also the weekend just prior to April General Conference. As an Area Presidency, we invite you to join us in a Special Day of Fasting and Mighty Prayer. The purpose of this fast is five-fold:

To ask the Lord to bless and inspire our leaders and their efforts to protect the health and well-being of all people and to find solutions to address the challenges we are facing in all nations.
To pray for all those who are suffering the physical, emotional, and economic impact of COVID-19, that they will be blessed according to their needs.
To pray that the hearts of people everywhere will be softened and turned toward the Lord in humility and that faith in Jesus Christ would increase on the earth.
To pray for spiritual strength to overcome fear and anxiety, for inspiration to protect ourselves and our families, and for the awareness and ability to minister to those in need.
To pray for increased understanding and personal revelation in preparation for the prophetic guidance and messages regarding the bicentennial of the restoration.
Like the prophet Enos, we too can turn to the Lord in mighty prayer in behalf of ourselves, our families, our nations, and those in need. He will hear and answer our humble prayers.



We hope you will invite others of faith to join with us in uniting our faith and prayers. As you do, please consider a generous fast offering and, based on your personal circumstances, a donation to the Humanitarian Fund. As an Area Presidency, we will be looking for significant and meaningful ways to address the immediate and growing humanitarian needs of our area. We encourage you to listen to and share President Russell M. Nelson’s recent media posts on hope and love with your family and friends.



We invite you to join us in a Special Day of Fasting and Mighty Prayer and to unite with others as we pray for heaven’s help and blessings.

03/23/2020

While we miss meeting together, we hope you’re all enjoying this special time of home church! Tag the ward in your photos or send them to us so we can share with the ward family. ❤️