Relief Society

I have been part of the Relief Society now for almost 38 years! Even though I've served in lots of other organizations I've always felt a part of this organization. For the past 18 months I've been in our Stake Relief Society Presidency and have loved it. Let me tell you a little about the sisters I work with.

Heather (in the purple jacket)  is our President and lives one hour from the Stake Center where we have our meetings. She is the mother of 8 and home schools her children. Many times she has her sisters 6 children also, because of some health issues her sister has. She is the business manager of her husbands dental practice, sells real-estate and they have 6 rentals and 2 vacation rentals that she oversees. She has memorized the Proclamation and The Living Christ. She is ALWAYS so positive and I've NEVER heard her say a bad thing about anyone. She is truly an example to all she comes in contact with. One word to describe Heather is: VALIANT

Mary Ann (in the red) is our 2nd Counselor. She was one of 6 children and was the only one given away as a young child. Because of this she grew up with a lot of hate in her heart. She wasn't a member of the church, but joined after she was married. She says it was R.S. that helped her learn how to be a good mother and how to show love to her children. She was taught that you never show affection to your kids. When she saw how sisters in the RS showed affection to theirs she wanted to do this also. It took some time because her kids weren't use to it, but she is very close to her 3 children and grandchildren now. She is a Spanish interpreter at the High School and loves working with the kids. She is one to always go the extra mile to help anyone out. She lives 45 minutes in the opposite direction  of the Stake Center. One word to describe Mary Ann is: SERVICE

Mona, our secretary has raised 7 children. She is VERY crafty and always has amazing ideas of how we should do things. Despite her many challenges in life, she has so much faith in God's plan, always has a smile on her face and keeps moving forward. She's in the process of opening her own gift shop that she's redone from a milk house on their property. She always knows just what to say to someone to make them feel better about themselves. One word to describe Mona is: ENDURE

Some nights our meetings go really late and I feel bad that Heather and Mary Ann still have a long drive home, but they never complain about it. Some of my closest friends have come from the sisters I've worked with in church callings. Its amazing how each of us come from such different backgrounds, but come together so well in doing our callings. I'm grateful for each of them and their examples & pray  I can continue to learn from them. I have truly grown to love each of them as my own sisters.

Yesterday we had our second annual Stake Women's Conference at the Stake Center. Our Stake is unique in that it is spread out 100 miles from one end to the next. Whenever we have a Stake activity we hold our breath that people will come because of the commute. We had 150 sisters attend our conference yesterday. We felt pretty good about that, but always wish more would have attended.

Here is the list of classes we had. We had some outstanding teachers.

Our theme was "A Time and A Season"

The sister who did our decorations was amazing. We had 25 tables set up for the luncheon and she decorated each table with a different season of our life. I just took pictures of a few of the tables.

Below was the class "Herbalicious-Planting, Cooking & Using Herbs"

She did a great job and had lots of things to try made with different herbs.

We had muffins, quick breads and fruit when they got there.

We had soup, salad, rolls & rhubarb crisp for lunch.

In the book, "Daughters in My Kingdom" there's a quote that says, The history of Relief Society is filled with examples of ordinary women who have accomplished extraordinary things as they have exercised faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. We have so many women in the church today that fill that quote now!! I am so grateful for this organization and feel such a love for the women of our Stake.