Central Ward

A place where friends and family meet to uplift one another in the Central 1st Ward of the Pima Stake of the Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints
A Monthly Newsletter
Extra! Extra! New Primary Presidency Thanksgiving Dinner Page2 Primary Children Baptisms Activities Page 3

Central News
Our Amazing Youth State Playoffs,, YW in Excellence, and Scout Turkey Shoots made for a busy month. Page 4 & 5

Issue #26 -- December 2012

Faith Experience Sister Carolyn McCormies feels the power of the Priesthood. We welcome the Merrill family Page 6

Message from the Stake Presidency

President Craig Tyler Dear Brothers and Sisters, This christmas season we celebrate the mortal birth of our Savior. One of my favorite scriptures, which I can not read without Handels music providing cadence, is Isaiah 9:6. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,

The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. I love and appreciate the description of the Master as the Prince of Peace. In a world full of strife, war, and contention, it is my prayer that each of us will allow some quiet time to let the good Shepherd help us to lie down in green pastures, and be led beside still waters. As a result of the consummate gift of the atonement, as promised, Jesus Christ can bless us with comfort and peace. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. As we ponder the miracles that began in humble Bethlehem, let us receive the choice and wonder filled gifts offered by the Son of God. I love and appreciate you. Merry Christmas and may Gods sweetest blessing rest upon you. Love, President Tyler

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Central Ward New Primary Presidency

! We are happy to welcome a new presidency in the Primary. President Becky Windsor, 1st Counselor Cami Hayes, 2nd counselor Christi Larson, and Secretary Kari Hull are excited to serve the young people of our ward. ! These women are well qualied to serve in the Primary because between them they have 15 children! They are all extremely thankful to their husbands who support them and to the previous presidency led by Sister Rochelle Claridge who did such a good job. She is

Central Ward Missionary Corner

--Article submitted by Mom, Sister Rachel Whitmer ! Elder Chase Whitmer is scheduled to be released from the Family and Church History Headquarters Mission in Salt Lake City, Utah on December 19, 2012. We will be going to pick him up. We will leave on December 13th and will return on December 22nd or 23rd. ! Elder Whitmer was transferred from the Chile Santiago North Mission to the Family and Church History Headquarters Mission on February 4th. Since that time he has had the privilege to work in the Church History area learning to use Photoshop by correcting scanned historical documents. He has gotten to go to the Temple on a weekly basis. During the summer, when the Salt Lake Temple was closed for maintenance, his Zone Leader made arrangements for them to attend other Temples in the surrounding area. One of Elder Whitmer's favorite activities has been to attend the "Music and the Spoken Word" every Sunday morning. ! Elder Whitmer has been able to use his language by serving in the Foreign Family History section of the Family History Library. Some of the other activities that he has been involved with are Youth Conferences and Youth Firesides. He has enjoyed working with the Senior Missionaries too. Elder Whitmer and Brother Lane Jensen ! At the October General Conference, he had a great surprise seeing and conversing with Brotherand Sister Jensen from Central. Sister Jensen took a picture of Elder Whitmer, his two companions and Brother Jensen; Getting this picture was a wonderful surprise and made the day very special. We look forward to having Elder Whitmer home for Christmas.

Elder Chase Whitmer

Cami Hayes, Becky Windsor, Christi Larson, Kari Hull

leaving large shoes to ll. ! Sister Becky is a stay at home mom who nds great joy in being with her children. She walks/ runs every morning around the elds of Central. If you see her, be sure to wave hello! Cami and Kari are both nurses. Cami works at the hospital while Kari works at EAC and also commutes to Chandler. Christi enjoys crafting and is a substitute teacher for Thatcher schools. She was adventurous and ran in the Turkey Trot this past Thanksgiving. Way to go! ! We are grateful for all of your willingness to serve.

Thanksgiving Dinner
! We would like to thank our Relief Society for the very well attended Ward Thanksgiving Dinner. It was so delicious! Brother Ross Ferrin pit barbecued the turkeys and they were so good! There was plenty of food for everyone. ! The evening centered around good food and friends. Ward members were able to get family portraits taken. We also enjoyed a movie where the primary children said what they were thankful for. ! The Stake Center cultural hall was packed to capacity with about 200 people. It was decorated beautifully. I am sure it took our Relief Society committee all day to prepare. It was wonderful!
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Ward Party

Every year, the most popular item on the buffet table is Shanis Cranberry Fluff. Someone is always asking for the recipe. To accommodate those who have asked for the recipe and others who may want to try it for Christmas, here is the recipe: 4c 3c 3/4c 2c 1/2c 1/2c 1/4 tsp 1c cranberries, chopped in a blender mini marshmallows sugar tart apples, diced grapes chopped nuts salt whipped cream

Cranberry Fluff

Shani Whites

Announcements:
Please Write!
Lets dont forget our missionaries who are serving so far from home. Any letters or care packages will make their holidays bright. This would be a great family home evening activity in December!

Elder Preston Pursley 1977 Heimgartner Lane #17 San Jose, CA 95124 Elder Joe Ward 110 Oak Park Dr. Ste B Irmo, SC 29063

Tithing Settlement
Please sign up for tithing settlement this month. The sign up sheets are outside of the bishops office. It doesnt take long. Let us all show our thanks to the Lord for His bounteous blessings by giving 10% with a joyful heart, knowing that what we give will be magnified many times over. Page 7

Directions: Mix cranberries, marshmallows and sugar and chill overnight or for 4 hours. Combine mixture with apple, grapes, nuts and salt. Add whipped cream right before serving.

Central Ward Faith Promoting Experience

by Sister Carolyn McCormies
One of the things that that strengthened my testimony of both fasting and priesthood power was a story that happened when I was about 11 or 12 years old. It was fast Sunday and we lived in St. David. We were just sitting down to break our fast but had not done so yet. I remember being really hungry! Anyway, I remember hearing a commotion outside and then there was a pounding on the door and some yelling for help. They were yelling that they needed my dad. A boy had been hit by a car and needed a blessing. My dad had not broken his fast yet and ran right away to help anoint the young man. It turned out that it was the son of our friend/ neighbor and another man also ran to helpand this man coincidentally happened to be an Emergency Room physician by tradea trauma specialist. He said quietly to my dad just before they gave the blessing, Brother Pursley, I dont want to alarm you, but before you give this blessing I need to let you know that this injury is very serious. He is showing signs of severe brain injury and I can see brain matter. It is unlikely he will surviveand if he does, I do not think he will ever regain full function. My dad said he understood and got ready to give Hondou a blessing. As he laid his hands on this boys head, he cleared his mind and said what came to him by the power of the priesthood, which was that he would have a full recovery. I remember hearing later that the Dr. who was assisting him was surprised since he was sure that would not, medically absolutely could not happen. The very next week Hondou was in church after having brain surgery and he DID completely recover from being hit by the car on the highway. My testimony of having a righteous father who followed the law of the fast AND who honored his priesthood was strengthened greatly that day. He has blessed my life many times and that day blessed the life of that boy and his family. I know that if we fast with a purpose and live in a way that will bring the spirit into our lives we will be prepared to receive the blessings that can come our way. I testify of the power of the priesthoodI have seen its amazing power and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Central Ward

Primary Children
Jacob Flowers is Baptized
On October 23rd our oldest, Jacob, turned 8. He was so excited it was his birthday but more excited he was finally going to be baptized, he had been asking when he was going to be baptized since he was at least 6. We were so excited he was able to be to be baptized on his birthday, it would be something he could always remember. The day was a full day with school and getting ready for the evening, his teacher said all he talked about was becoming a member of the church that evening. He came from from school and quickly ate something then got dressed and ready. The baptism was an amazing spiritual experience and seeing our oldest get baptized brought tears to our eyes. That night after getting home and settling in to bed we asked Jacob how he felt about his day, he responded by telling us "I know getting baptized is what I'm supposed to do so we can be together forever, and I know Heavenly Father is proud of me. I know the church is true, this is the BEST DAY EVER!". Thank you to everyone that helped make that special day great. !

--Our Central Ward Neighbors-The Merrill Family

We are happy to welcome the Merrills to our Central ward family. They were the only family to join us from the Pima 4th ward when the wards split. They have been a huge asset to our ward. We are blessed to have them. The following is an introduction written by Jennie: Parker and I both grew up in a little town called Hyder, Az. It's between Gila Bend and Yuma and is about 20 miles north of Dateland. Don't worry if you've never heard of it. It's so small that if you sneeze while you're driving past, then you'll miss it. The population in Hyder was about 150 on a good day and the branch had 50 members; 27 of which were the young men with about 6 young women. It presented a problem as far as dating went because you were either related to them or they were your best friends brother or sister, and that would just be gross. Parker's dad had a citrus orchard and my dad had a jojoba farm. Parker's family were our nearest neighbors about a mile and a half away. You would think that we would be good friends with such few people in the community, but Parker and I grew up really not liking each other and tormenting the other one any chance we could. It wasn't until Parker's family moved away that we both realized the reason we were fighting so much is because we liked each other. We dated for a few months before his mission to Paraguay and I went to college. We still liked each other when he got back and after a few months of dating we got married in the Mesa Temple. A year later we bought the house we're in now and have been remodeling it for the last 6 years. It might be finished in another 6 years, hopefully. We have been blessed with three beautiful children. Eliana(5), Brevan(3) and Landen(1). Parker is a certified welder Parker, Brevan, Jennie, Eliana, and Landen and owns a shop in Pima with his uncle. I get to stay home with the kids and have a full time job with that. We love this new ward and are very excited to get to know everyone. Page 6

Primary Pageant
Mark your calendars for Thursday, December 13th at 6:30pm at the old ward building. The Primary will put on their annual Nativity Pageant in their oh so cute costumes that the Relief Society sisters made years and years ago. We all especially love the darling sheep! The Presidency is asking for the kids to get there around 6:00pm to get dressed up.-- I hear a special visitor will be coming.. so you better nice!
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Central Ward

Central Ward Tri- Stake Turkey Shoot

The 14 year old boys had a great time at the Tristake Turkey Shoot this past November 17th. The arrived at the Safford Rifle Range at about 8:30 and fired guns with both fixed sight and scopes. They competed against about 50 other boys. I am proud to report that Tyler and Derrik Adams tied for second place in the scope competition. Central 1st Ward all the way! Congratulations boys it sounds like it was fun!

Our Amazing Youth

YW in Excellence
Shania Phelps

Up Coming Activities
December 5 MutualAll YW - Baby sitting Deacon - Citizenship in the Nation Teachers- Making Bowie Knives Priests- Missionaries Around the World

Breanna Watson, Savannah Long Kelly Jo McCormies and Shiann White Courtney Cook Ashley Smith, Tristie Pursley, Rachel Smith, Christiana Johnson

Did You Know...

This past month ended the fall sports at the schools. Robert Smith and Colton Cook ended the football season with only two losses. Great year! Shiann White led the team to the finals, but they did not win. Ugh! She had a great year though and was this years Runner-up for Player of the Year for the EA Courier. Jason Boren led the Cross-Country team to place 6th at the state race. Madie Windsor was an alternate for the girls team. Everyone is gearing up for winter sports. Colton Cook and Jacob Layton are on the basketball team. Jason Boren is on the soccer team. Robert Smith will be wrestling. And Shiann will be playing basketball. Lets dont forget our cheerleaders, Courtney Cook and Shelby Hughes. Many of the kids are involved with music and clubs as well. We have such talented youth in the Central 1st Ward,
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December 8December 9All Youth Temple Trip 6pm Stake President Fireside 6:00pm

Our young women celebrated their many achievements throughout the year with a beautiful program on November 7th. Courtney Cook organized the whole event for one of her Personal Progress Value Experiences. It was a beautiful evening centered around making good choices. The girls all wore black and white to symbolize choosing between right and wrong. They displayed things that they have been working on throughout the year. Bishop Rob gave an inspiring talk about scuba diving and being obedient.. The evening was nished with delicious refreshments. Congratulations girls on all of your hard work this year. Keep it up!
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December 12 MutualDecember 19-

Combined Activity - Caroling All YW - Class Activity Deacon- TBA Teacher- Bowie Knives Priest - THS Choir Concert No Mutual

December 26December 28!

Youth Dance 8:30-11:00 14-18 yrs old at Safford Stake