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





Message from the Bishopric


Dear Banbury Ward,

The book of Alma has 63 chapters and is the longest in the Book of Mormon.  It starts in the first year of the judges, and ends with Alma and Captain Moroni’s deaths in the 36th year of the reign of the judges.  In that short period of time, this book recounts numerous dissensions away from the church, often resulting in war and bloodshed:

Nehor, Amlici, Zeezrom and other lawyers and judges in Ammonihah, Amalekite, Amulonite and Zoramite dissenters, Zerahemnah, Amalakiah and Ammoron.  All of these are examples of Satan getting great hold over the hearts and minds of men, often through riches and power, to oppress, wage war, and commit all kinds of treachery and awful wickedness.  All in just 36 years!

Korihor was another dissenter, an Anti-Christ, who preached a very worldly message, denying the plan of Salvation.  He said there was no atonement possible, and no need for a Savior, convincing many that they could do as they wanted in this life, that there was no God, and no need to be subject to divine laws.  Many believed him and left the church.

In his pride, he rose up in great swelling words against Alma, the High Priest of the church.  He declared that unless he was shown a sign, he would never recount his teachings.  After numerous invitations by Alma to repent, he declared “I do not believe that there is a God… and except ye show me a sign, I will not believe.” He was struck dumb, that he could not speak further.  How sad that those were the last words he uttered!

With something given him to write, Korihor penned these words: “I always knew that there was a God. But behold, the devil hath deceived me; for he appeared unto me in the form of an angel... And he said unto me: There is no God; yea, and he taught me that which I should say. And I have taught his words; and I taught them because they were pleasing unto the carnal mind; and I taught them, even until I had much success, insomuch that I verily believed that they were true; and for this cause I withstood the truth, even until I have brought this great curse upon me.

In our recent readings from Come Follow Me, in 2 Nephi 28:14, our family was struck by what Nephi saw of our day: “they have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men.”  Even the humble followers of Christ are sometimes led astray by the precepts of men.  How can we detect and avoid this deception, so rampant in the days of Alma, and seen in our day by Nephi?

In his most recent talk, “Think Celestial”, President Russell M Nelson gave us this wise counsel: “There is no end to the adversary’s deceptions. Please be prepared. Never take counsel from those who do not believe. Seek guidance from voices you can trust—from prophets, seers, and revelators and from the whisperings of the Holy Ghost, who ‘will show unto you all things what ye should do.’ Please do the spiritual work to increase your capacity to receive personal revelation.”

As your bishop, I plead with you to not let any messages from Babylon have place in your heart or mind.  Satan’s most cunning messages are the doctrines of men, mingled with scripture.  Recent events have caused me to seriously ponder this: What messages over the past 36 years have I let crowd out the words of living prophets?  When have I let flattery or things I don’t fully understand let me convince myself that I know better than God or his chosen servants? I liked Bro. Thomas’ statement last Sunday: The pioneers had to do hard things, today we have to believe hard things.  Follow the living prophet, even when doing so is unpopular or mocked.  Confirm his words with personal revelation from the Holy Ghost.  If you are wrestling with doctrines or doubts, please come talk to me.  I’ve also wrestled, and I want to help you.

Love, 

Bishop Price

Announcements


























April 8 - STAKE BLOOD DRIVE:  Please consider donating blood to the Red Cross on Monday, April 8, from 9 am until 2 pm at the Stake Center, 5555 N. Locust Grove Rd., Meridian. Sign up for a slot at  www.redcrossblood.org, by entering sponsor code "MeridianNorth" in the red box titled "Find a Blood Drive". Walk-ins are allowed if there is space available.

"LAMB OF GOD" CONCERT: Celebrate Easter and Holy Week by attending a performance of Rob Gardner's stunning "Lamb of God"a sacred work of the passion of Jesus Christ for choir, orchestra and soloists. There will be three performances: Fri. & Sat., March 29 & 30, 6:30 PM, Meridian North Stake Center, 5555 N. Locust Grove Rd.; Sunday, April 14, 7:00 PM, Settlers Park Stake Center, 2515 W. Ustick Rd. Free general admission tickets are available and are recommended to guarantee seating. See LAMBOFGODMERIDIAN.COM for tickets and more information. Performances are 90 minutes and the recommended age for attendees is 6+ years old.

April 16BANBURY RELIEF SOCIETY BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION!

Relief Society Sisters please join us April 16 at 6:30pm at Bristol Heights building for a fiesta celebration of RS 182nd Birthday!

We will have a Mexican Taco bar and will put together Birthday Bags for the Idaho Food Bank and City Light center for the homeless. We will collect donations that evening of items to be placed in Birthday Bags; packaged party napkins, party plates, cake mixes, canned frosting, birthday favors, and gifts for children 1-3, 4-6, 7-10. We will also be making Birthday cards and banners.
















May 29 - June 1 - YSA AREA CONFERENCE: Save the date for the upcoming young single adults conference, May 29 to June 1, to be held here in the Boise area. This conference, titled “Think Celestial: A Guide to God’s Plan of Salvation”, will bring YSAs together from LaGrande to Burley to strengthen relationships, have fun, and find belonging in Christ.  More information will be coming soon about registration and the full program.

Here is the 2024 Banbury Ward Temple and Family History plan approved by the ward council.  This is a plan for everyone in the ward.  Please read it and familiarize yourself with it.  We are looking forward to making great strides as individuals and families in our temple worship and family history efforts this year.  Feel free to call upon any of the ward family history consultants or the Elder's Quorum or Relief Society presidencies if you have any questions or need assistance with your family history.

The Family History Centers have a new name! They are now called FamilySearch Centers. Did you know that as a member of the LDS church you can get a free subscription to Ancestry.Com, MyHeritage.com and FindMyPast.com and several others? Go to Third-party Access • FamilySearch to sign up for your free accounts.  Pro tip: many of the Temple and Family History Consultants use Ancestry.Com for research. It has more than twice the number of records as FamilySearch. 





The resources from the "Planning for Life" firesides are available here:

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/