Bishopric Message 

After studying about the Law of Consecration in the Doctrine and Covenants this year, I have thought about the willingness that was displayed by the early Saints at that hard time. How difficult that must have been to be asked to give all that you have to the gospel cause when most had so little. This law is still there for us to live up to. We as children of God have covenanted with him to give all we can to the building up of God's kingdom.

Even though the law didn’t come together as planned in the early years, it set the way for modern giving of time and tithing. In addition to our 10%, we are expected to give of our time and talents. In this modern day, we are so blessed that it should be easy, but it often isn't. In my life, giving of time has always been harder than paying tithing. Both can be challenging at different times in our lives.

My great-grandfather worked on the historic white church here in town where we sometimes get to worship. He helped with the electrical wiring, among other things. Whenever I go into that building, I am always happy and proud that my family was a part of that cool legacy and that my ancestors were faithful and giving.

Today, we are not required to build temples and church buildings or deed our property to the church. Challenges and expectations are different today. We are, however, expected to give and serve where we can. It is up to us to seek the Spirit to guide us on how and where.

The Savior taught us: "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”

President Hinckley said, “He who lives only unto himself withers and dies, while he who forgets himself in the service of others grows and blossoms in this life and in eternity."

President Monson said, “Perhaps when we [face] our Maker, we will not be asked, ‘How many positions did you hold?’ but rather, ‘How many people did you help?’”

I see so many of you giving every day in our ward and community, and I am sure I am only seeing a small portion of it. I see the joy you find in serving, and it is contagious. Thank you for your example.

Brother Houtz

We’re Manny and Kristy Delacruz and this is our family! We met, married, and started our family in Northern California, and moved to Mapleton in 2011. We have four sons, three daughter-in-laws, and 5 granddaughters. Our kids and grandbabies are awesome and super fun and are the light of our lives!! We’ve been on-and-off empty nesters over the past few years and currently have our youngest, Sam, here at home while going to school at UVU and working for Heritage School. Manny is currently working as a Senior Software Developer, leading a team for CorEMR in Orem, and he is also Owner/CEO of our company, GunAuction.com. Kristy works for Payson City, running Payroll and Accounts Payable. Once upon a time, Manny served in the Marine Corps for four years active duty, and our son Jacob is currently serving as a USMC reserve. 21 years ago, Manny received a life-saving kidney transplant from Kristy's mom, and in appreciation of that precious gift, we have tried to live every day to the very fullest. 

We love to explore and travel and enjoy outdoor adventures. Many of our weekends are spent camping somewhere beautiful in our trailer or visiting our oldest son's family in Nashville, TN. Fun fact…Manny has been to 47 states and we will be visiting his last 3 states-Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont- this fall! We’ve enjoyed visiting many countries and our very favorites so far are Italy and Scotland. All of our boys and their wives served foreign Spanish-speaking missions, so we’ve been trying to learn to speak Spanish too. It’s a slow process haha. We’ve really enjoyed visiting some of the countries they served in, and we still have a couple to go. Manny loves to build and fix things, woodworking, mechanics, etc, and has an engineering brain that he passed on to all of our boys. He has a passion for music and loves Sci-fi. Kristy loves hiking, entertaining, and puzzles. We share a love of musicals and concerts, history, books, good food, riding our bikes, and especially time hanging out with friends and our family. We love Mapleton and the people here, and have felt very blessed to live here for the past 15 years.

Sacrament Meeting Program

9/14/2025

Presiding: Bishop Finlinson

Conducting: Alan Houtz

Music Director: Sylvia Athay

Organist: Lori Serr

Announcements

Opening Hymn: #124 "Be Still My Soul"

Opening Prayer: Kami Bone

Ward Business

Sacrament Hymn: #185 "Reverently and Meekly Now"

Administration of the Sacrament

Speaker: Amy Johnson 

Congregational Hymn: #131 “More Holiness Give Me”

Speaker: Jena Rohatinsky

Closing Hymn: #302 "I Know My Father Lives"

Closing Prayer: Jeremy Bone