Banbury Ward of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

STAKE CONFERENCE THIS WEEKEND, APRIL 25-26

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

We warmly invite you to the Meridian Idaho North Stake Conference on April 25th and 26th. The Stake Presidency and other stake members will share messages of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. The General Session is for all individuals, families, and friends, and will be held at the Stake Center on Sunday morning, April 26th at 10:00 am. We strongly encourage all to attend in person, particularly those with youth, recognizing there is great strength in worshiping together. We encourage all to arrive early to enjoy beautiful prelude music.

Other sessions will include:

• Saturday, April 25th —Adult (18 and older) Session from 6:00 pm to 7:15 pm (with refreshments to follow)

• Sunday, April 26th — Priesthood Leadership Session from 2:00 pm to 3:10 pm (with refreshments to follow) – see list of attendees below.

• Sunday, April 26th — Youth Session from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm (with refreshments to follow)

Saturday Evening and Sunday sessions will also be available online, links below:  

• Saturday evening:   https://www.youtube.com/live/ZyMaogr9njE?si=BK5PqGSxrRKsIaiE

• Sunday morning:  https://www.youtube.com/live/mOGtuC6jC_4?si=D0b1K4LXi5vjU1ra

Attendees for Leadership Session held at 2:00 p.m. on April 26th include:

• Stake Presidency

• High Council

• Stake and Ward Clerks and Executive Secretaries, including Stake and Ward assistant Clerks and Secretaries

• Stake Young Men's Presidency and secretary

• Bishops and Bishop Counselors

• Aaronic Priesthood quorum advisors

• Elders Quorum Presidencies and secretaries

• Stake Sunday School presidency and Ward Sunday School presidencies, including secretaries

We look forward to being together and being uplifted as a stake.

Sincerely,

President Adam Maxfield, President Tom Mortell, and President Benjamin Hom

Message from the Bishopric

Last week, Brother Bates taught the deacons how to read and use a map and compass. They learned that after correctly orienting the compass to the direction they needed to go, they must then find a reference point in that direction and walk straight toward it. Once they arrive at that reference point, they check the compass again and repeat the process.

They also learned that using a compass without a reference point will result in slowly drifting off course. Even small deviations—just a few degrees—can quickly add up, leaving you far from where you intended to go.

In many ways, our daily personal worship is how we “check the compass” and choose a reference point—turning ourselves back toward the Savior again and again.

Both the Young Men's and Young Women's themes teach the youth the importance of repentance as part of daily worship.

When we hear the word repentance, it is often easy to think of it only as reviewing our mistakes—listing where we have fallen short and asking for forgiveness. Certainly, that can be an important part of repentance. But I wonder if sometimes we unintentionally make repentance feel heavier than the Savior ever intended.

In the Old Testament, the word repent comes from the Hebrew word shuv, which means simply “to turn” or “to return.”

Elder Neil L. Andersen taught, “The invitation to repent is rarely a voice of chastisement, but rather a loving appeal to turn around and to ‘re-turn’ toward God.”

To repent is simply to turn toward God.

When prophets invite us to “repent daily,” I do not think they mean that each day we must rehearse every weakness or relive every mistake we made that day. I do not think they want us to feel discouraged or weighed down. Constant guilt and shame are Not part of the gospel of Joy.  Rather, daily repentance is an invitation to a daily returning—a steady, consistent reorientation of our hearts toward Jesus Christ.

We can do this in simple, powerful ways.

When we kneel in sincere prayer, we turn to Him.

When we open the scriptures and seek His word, we turn to Him.

When we choose kindness, offer service, forgive, or love when it is difficult—we turn to Him.

When we speak of Christ or testify of Him, we turn to Him.

When we partake of the sacrament, we turn to Him.

You might say that anytime we do anything that brings us closer to Christ, we are allowing His Atonement to cleanse and change us.

Each day, we can simply ask: Am I turning toward Him?

I testify that as we consistently turn to the Savior through daily personal worship, we will feel His love more deeply, and our daily repentance will become less about perfection and more about progress and direction.

Love Brother Coltrin

• April 2026 Cleaning Assignments - Please come to the church Saturday morning at 8:00am on the assigned day or trade with another family. 

  • April 25: Cambron, Chaffin, Clark, Clark, Coltrin, Cook, Cranney, Crawford, Crawford, Daniels, Davis

• Youth Camps this year will be the week of June 22-27.

  • • Young Women's Camp - It will be at Hayfork campground near Idaho City (an hour away)

      • • Girls Camp: YCL's will leave Monday, June 22 to set up camp. The rest of the girls will come up Tuesday morning, June 23rd. Everyone will clean up camp and go home Thursday, June 25th.

    • Young Men's Camp – June 24-27th at Northwest Passage Campground - McCall & Garden Valley.  All Young Men - Deacons, Teachers, and Priests are invited.

• Sunday Youth Assignments

  1. • May Chair Set-Up - Priests.  Please come at 8:30 a.m. to help set up chairs.

     • May Greeters - Young Women 14-18 Class

• Seminary registration for the upcoming school year is now open. All youth entering grades 9-12 are invited to participate. Parents should register their student at myseminary.churchofjesuschrist.org and select Religious Release.

• April 25-26 - Stake Conference

  1. • April 25th Adult Session 6 PM

     • April 26th General Session 10 AM

     • April 26th Priesthood Leadership Session 2 PM

     • April 26th Youth Session 7 PM

• April 27 - Blood Drive - See flyer below

• May 2 - Primary Potluck - Saturday May 2nd at 5:00 p.m. at the Bishop's house

• May 8-9 - Stake Young Men & Fathers Campout - PinetopCampgroud, Idaho City (see flyer below)

• May 28-31 - YSA Conference – More info to come

• The Remember Him Area Initiative, which invites us all to focus on Becoming Lifelong Disciples of Jesus Christ, is featured on the Area website. All members are invited to:

  • • Share the Remember Him Video featured on the Area Website.

    • Invite families and individuals to visit the site and discuss the video message at home.

• Missionary Meals - We can invite the missionaries to dinner any day or night of the week; there is no longer the requirement to have a non-member present. Please reach out to our Ward Missionary Leader, Larry Nelson, if interested, and for further details and options. The missionaries will not be passing a calendar around, you will need to schedule directly with the missionaries. 

• Are you interested in being called as a Temple and Family History Worker with the assignment to work in the Family Search Center? Like a temple worker, this would be a weekly commitment, however each shift is only 2.5 hours. This is an extremely fulfilling calling and an opportunity for anyone to serve the Lord in a meaningful way.  Those who work at the center are witnesses to the miracles that happen there and the joy that the work brings into their lives.  Please reach out to a member of the bishopric if this is something you would like to discuss.

• "To allow for greater access to the words of the living prophets, printed copies of Church magazines are now available at no cost. These magazines include the Liahona, For the Strength of Youth, and Friend. This policy will eventually apply to every area of the Church.

  • • • Members can use their Church account to choose their preferred subscription(s) on a yearly basis at MagazineSubscriptions.ChurchofJesusChrist.org"

      • Please contact a member of the Bishopric, Relief Society Presidency, Elders Quorum Presidency, or your ministering sisters/brothers if you have any questions about this change or if you need assistance with subscribing for no-cost print magazines.

• For temple recommend interviews with the Bishopric and other meetings with the Bishop, please call or text David Swenson at (208) 447-8903.

• All temple recommend interviews with the Stake Presidency must be scheduled ahead of time. There are no walk-in appointments at this time.  For recommend renewal interviews, please visit https://calendly .com/minorth/temple to see available times and schedule an interview with the stake presidency.

Worldwide Church Events

The following link will take you to the church website with a list of all the upcoming and recent church events

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/events/