Lasgna made known abroad

 Most choice associates,

First, I want to say thank you for being patient with me this month. I also want to thank so many of you for so much that you did and do! I just can't mention you all by name because there were soooooo many of you doing sooooo much this month. I saw SO MANY baked goods being delivered and carols sung to SO MANY families and neighbors. I saw miracles happen this past month and I hope you did too. December has been glorious.

The new year is upon us! We have so much joy to share with the world and to make known to our community and our friends. Our congregation, and the Church of Jesus Christ, has so so much joy to share. I just have to say that I am so excited for the new year. I've still been thinking about the Shepherds that went to witness the nativity scene and how they then went to make known abroad what they had seen. I've been wondering... How long do you think they shared those good news? How long did they go about sharing all that they had seen and heard? With what amount of passion did they emphatically declare, like the angel had to them, the good tidings of great joy? How much did they spread that message of peace on Earth and good will to men?

I'm not sure of the answer to that question. However, I do know that ~2000 years later, we are still proclaiming that message. I also know that just a couple of hundred years ago, that message was proclaimed to a boy in the woods asking for truth. I know that that the message of the restoration is that Christ, in all His Glory, lives and loves His children and is reaching out to us to follow Him. I know He has restored the fullness of His Gospel back to the Earth. 

I love the temple. I love it because I feel like when I'm in the temple, I'm like one of those shepherds, beholding the Glory of Heaven and His presence. I feel pure in the temple.  The message of the restoration is that the Heavens are open, my friends. I'm so excited for 2025 because I've set new goals to share that message with my friends, neighbors, family, and all of you. And it feels so good to have those goals. I'm excited to proclaim that the Heavens are open, God is speaking, Christ lives and is leading, and all of His Glory can be felt (just like it was by the shepherds and wise men and early witnesses of Christ's coming) by visiting the temple and participating in the sacred ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

I love you all so much and I love feeling the joy of the Gospel with you as we did last week and as we will tomorrow and every single moment of 2025 as we worship Christ together. It's going to be an amazing year and I'm excited to share it with you in a way I never have. 

Now, I want to share some things coming up and invite you to be a part of it in any way shape or form you can be :). We are a family. 

December 29: 5th Sunday Lesson ;) 
December 29: Linger Longer Lasagna Lollapalooza 
January 03:    Temple Night for EVERYBODY
--- Baptisms: We have the baptistry reserved at 5pm (meet at church at 3:40pm to carpool
--- Endowments/Initiatory/Sealings: Come at the same time as the youth OR coordinate in Relief Society and Elders Quorum to carpool
January 05:    Worldwide Discussion for Youth: Look Unto Christ (stake youth watch party @ 7pm in the stake center)
January 18:    Stake Temple night (Starting next month, we will switch our ward temple trips to the third Saturday of every month)
February 02:   Renewal through Christ, Ensign Chorus free presentation at the stake center
February 23:   Arlington (Ward) Conference
April 13:          Arlington Easter Concert
April 20:          Arlington Easter Sunday Church Service (best service in the history of the church)

With so much love and adoration,

Bishop Kienzle

Thank you for the Hope of Christ

 Brothers and sisters,

The Christmas season is in full force and I have been absolutely inspired by you and our congregation! There is beauty among us! I've met with many youth this week and I am awestruck by their faithfulness. I've seen countless members of our congregation glowing with the Spirit of Christmas. You absolutely inspire me. 

"A Bishop must... ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection... For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God."  I know I've said it before but I need you to understand so very clearly that I am neither of those things. My children are certainly not in subjection and I feel extraordinarily unqualified taking care of the church of God. My house is an absolute mess, our decorations are half up, I struggle to meet the needs of my children, I'm behind at work, and I'm confident that I've let more than one of you down in some way.  How often do you feel like you're trying your very hardest but seem to be coming up short? How often do you pray to be calm, but find yourself frustrated? How often do you beg the Lord to change your circumstances, yet they remain unchanged? How often have you prayed for faith, and felt unanswered? How often do you wish that you had more of the Christmas spirit? How often do you lament? How often do you come to the Lord with a broken heart and a contrite spirit? How often do you come to the Lord?

Personally, I have a fairly unreasonable expectation of the Christmas season - I envision my house looking like the Griswolds', my wife thinking she's in a romantic Hallmark movie, and my children being angels on earth. However, that's just not that case. That was blatantly clear in the Kienzle household tonight, it wasn't good. I'm so thankful that I was able to stop by the church where, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, I was absolutely inspired by each of you and you reminded me that I'm not alone. I'm also thankful for the angel voices that were present and reminded me of the divine night when Christ was born. He was born 2000 years ago and He brought hope into the world for you and for me. He brought hope to remind us that all things are right as long as we have Him. He came to show us that His grace is sufficient and his Atonement is all encompassing. Hope in Him endures all things and is enough for even the greatest of struggles. 

If you feel alone, weak, betrayed, lost, or inadequate, know that you are not and remember that Christ was born, lived, atoned and now IS your REDEEMER. Come to the Nativity Festival and see that miracles are real. Come and be lifted up by the angels that are there and I promise you, there are angels in our chapel this weekend. If you seek an answer, I feel inclined to promise you that you find it there.

Finally, if you haven't invited every single one of your neighbors, please do so. Christ loves you and He loves them. He has placed you in your home and in your circumstances for a reason. I promise that the Lord will bless you as you share His Gospel and as you bring glad tidings and good cheer to others. 

He is our healer and our friend. He is our comforter and our King. He is our light and our life. He is the Joy of the World. He is the Light of the World. Through Him, you will find hope this holiday season and always. 

With love and adoration,

Bishop Kienzle

PS: Please, talk to me about getting ready to visit the temple on Jan 03. We will do baptisms at 6pm and attend the 6pm endowment session. However, no matter your circumstances, please just come and be with us. 

Email me if you're coming!!! <3

PSS: Sacrament meeting will be amazing for the next couple of Sundays (and forever) so also a really special opportunity to bring friends, co-workers, neighbors, distant neighbors, forgotten loved ones, strangers, gas station attendees, and anybody else to church. ;) 

PSSS: Love you so much. 

There is room in the Inn!

 Friends,

I want to share my thoughts with you from inspiration I received while at the temple with the youth last night. As we gathered together, I found myself reflecting on one of the topics of our sacrament meeting - making room in the inn for Mary, Joseph, and the Christ child. I think sometimes we forget that there is room for us in the inn. How often do we knock and ask to be let in? Because of Christ, there will always be room in the inn, His door will always be opened for you. Our Savior is the God of Miracles. And so, miraculously, the Lord has provided us with places of refuge, sanctuaries of safety, houses of holiness. He has opened his House to us and given us access to His Glory where we can visit with Him in His holy inn.

Brothers and sisters, there is always room for us in His inn. We will always find Him there, always find peace in his covenants, always find power in His ordinances. 

The youth last night were a POWERFUL example of that power. I want, more than anything else, for you to experience that beauty, unity, and light. The Lord can light our world as we we visit Him. And if we catch that light, we can light the world with His love.

Will you please come to the temple with us? January 03 will be the next temple night. It will start off our new year. Last night, I told the youth that there may come a day in their lives when they will be nervous to return to the temple because it has been so long. I begged them to remember this day when/if that day comes and to return, to not be afraid, to know that the temples' doors are always open and the Lords arms always outstretched. 

Please, please, please consider this my personal invite to you, Will you join me in the temple on January 03? You can do any of the following;
- Come to the baptistry with us (sit and watch or participate, we have a session reserved at 6pm)
- Just sit in the temple's internal waiting room or chapel
- Participate in invitatories
- Sit on the grounds with your family
- Participate in sealings or an endowment session

I love you all so much and look forward to seeing your beautiful, bright, shining faces tomorrow, every Sunday, and in the temple. I know that the Lord is blessing you for your righteous desires and you will receive all that was promised, none will molest you. You are heralding in the moment when Jesus will say to all Israel, 'Come Home". May we continue to be guided.


Sincerely with all the love and adoration I can muster,

Bishop Kienzle

PS: I really, really do love you all so much <3