Relief Society Christmas in July activity

Just got home from one of the best RS mid week activities ever - Christmas in July. I went with my friend Merja who absolutely understood the assignment - we were Christmas as all heck! Her in her ugly sweater and me in my Christmas pyjama top with jeans.

We absolutely would have won best dressed if there was a competiton.

We did Christmas crafts (making candy cane decorations for the tree) and had a gingerbread decorating comp. It was so funny, lots of laughter while we got to work. 

Our finished product. Quite obviously the best of the evening, but alas, we did not win.

Doesn't matter when you've had that much fun making it though.

Best part of the evening though, was absolutely the Christmas Gift Game. Everyone was asked to bring along something preowned (could be new if you wanted, but something already at your house!) and wrap it ready to give. All the items went into the middle of the room and then every persons name was put into a bowl - three times. The game went along that the first time your name was picked you could choose a gift from the pile. The second time, you could choose from the pile again, or swap with someone who had unwrapped something you liked better. Oh my word, it was so hilarious to watch and some of these women were straight up ruthless! They swapped over and over, but I was very happy with what I ended up with after my second swap - a mini diffuser kit. I can't wait to try it out.

The decorations were lovely and it was such a fun night. 

Merry Christmas in July everyone!

180 Years of Relief Society: A Stake Relief Society Activity

As a young woman, I never thought I would love Relief Society. To be honest, I never thought I would even like it. An almost 3 year stint as Relief Society President made quick work of changing that and here we are, with me serving in Primary, desperately missing the comfort and other adults provided by Relief Society. I know it's not forever, but I'd love to be back there sometime! For this reason, any time there is a ward or stake RS activity, I am there with bells on!

Today we had a stake RS activity that had been delayed from earlier in the year when covid had decided to make a scene here in WA. I am so glad that they were still able to make it happen though as it was a cool day. The lovely Debra (who used to be my secretary when I was RSP) was in charge of the day and it showed, she is so amazing, always going above and beyond to make things perfect. They had put together a display from each ward/branch in our stake and they were awesome. My Ellenbrook ward RSP mug shot made an appearance yet again.

There was an old fashioned fabric tie dolly making workshop, a game of Relief Society Bingo (so competitive ladies! haha) and plenty of things to look at on the displays.

I loved looking through all the history of the Relief Society and women throughout the world over the years.

The Northam Branch one was especially cute - I remember this quilt being made by the sisters - one patch each and being sewn together by my mother. It is still proudly displayed on the wall in the Northam Branch RS room. The wheat and farming items made it so lovely.

Another awesome activity for us ladies to mix and mingle. I am forever grateful to be a member of the largest womens association in the world.

A hoe-down with the RS

Our ward Relief Society did something a little different for their activity this weekend and pulled off a really fun Hoe-Down last night. They decorated so cute and totally on point (with a little help from the shed's at my parents farm) and it looked amazing! Rustic stuff all over the place, with hay bales and old quilts etc, even a rusty old gate and a butter churn. Loved it!

The evening was headed up by one of the ladies in our ward, who lead everyone in some boot scooting, which was so fun to watch! I am the least coordinated person on the planet, but actually had a decent excuse this time around, as I had hurt my foot the day before.

Outfit on point though right? At least if I couldn't participate I looked the part! I decided to deviate from the original flannelette and denim combo and go for gingham with cowboy boots. Nailed it.

I brought Madeline along with me and she had a ball dancing with her friend Emma. The two of them got the dances down really quickly and had so much fun.

They love hanging out together. Emma and her family just moved here recently and the girls have become firm friends and love being around each other. There's always lots of laughs involved.

We also played a game called robbing the nest (I think?) where you have to collect balls into a hoop. I was the guardian of ours and basically just laid over the hoop. People tried and failed to get the balls from under me, so our group ended up winning! 

Dinner was good old Sloppy Joes which were actually not bad at all...

and Pumpkin Pies from our kitchen by request for dessert. 

They were a hit and perfectly on theme!

Us girls had a great night. It might have been a small group, but it was high in spirits and a lot of fun. 

Thanks to everyone that made it happen. ❤

relief society ward history: a rs birthday celebration

i love being able to attend our ward relief society activities. after being the ward relief society president and knowing what kind of effort (and stress!) go into each and every one of them, i try never to miss a single one as i remember how much i would worry for the entire day that people wouldn't come.

this was an exceptional activity. each year we celebrate the founding of the relief society (march 17th 1842) with an activity to gather the sisters of our wards together. this was a celebration of the sisters of our ward particularly... with photos of all of our past relief society presidents in one of the displays. i was so honoured and incredibly humbled to be counted among these incredible women. i know and love so many of them and would never have expected to be placed alongside them. it is amazing what the lord can do with us when we are ready and willing to serve.

we played relief society bingo, which was an absolute riot. i can never get over how competitive these women can be.

some absolutely beautiful displays showed the talents and hobbies of some of our sisters

and days of relief society in the beginning

and there was a pile of throwback photos from days gone by.

the hall was set up to make us all really feel at home, like we were relaxing in the lounge

and of course when the relief society sister are involved, there is always the best refreshments! 

i truly love being part of the largest womens organisation in the world! ❤

relief society christmas party 2020

we had the most beautiful christmas activity for the relief society sisters this year. low key and really personal, talking about traditions and focusing solely on the birth of christ.

i was so thrilled, because i was asked if they could use my collection of nativity sets to decorate for the activity and i have a lot! it was stunning, so simple, but effective the entire room was decorated with the sets all about the place on every surface.

we had a choice of lots of lovely food for supper and then after a game it was time to go. we each chose a wrapped gift from a basket of them and then passed them around between us, depending on the instructions read aloud. they were mostly gag items and i ended up with a lovely pump bottle of hand sanitiser. haha. perfect for the current world situation i guess.

some of the nativities in the set up. the back two are mine and the one on the left is new this year, after i came across it at the local salvation army store a few weeks ago.

and our family favourite - this hand carved one we brought home from samoa.

somhow i managed to make it into a photo this year, with (one of my sil's best friends haha) gayle dowe.

we are so lucky to have a relief society presidency in our ward who makes so much effort with activities. i remember firsthand (from being relief society president and the additional meetings co-ordinator, including both at the same time when we had someone who chose not to fulfill their calling!) how stressful it was to plan the activities and then worry that people would not attend them! it is for this reason that i make a special effort to be at each one. it is not only sustaining those in a calling, but treating others as you would want to be treated. 

it was a truly lovely evening spent with other sisters in our ward and the spirit was beautiful!

christmas at hogwarts: a relief society additional meeting

last night our ward relief society put on yet another awesome activity, this one was harry potter themed and i was in my element! the organisers asked me to be one of the "professors" for the evening and teach the "defence against the dark arts" (how to keep satan out of our hearts and homes) class... so fun! i totally channeled professor trelawney for my costume, even though i am feel aware that dark arts was not her forte. (was anything her forte? haha)

the evenings flyer

little "ron weasley"decked out in his harry potter threads. what a cutie!

my classroom ready to go

diagon alley all set up, the two other classes down the hall were herbology (basic gardening tips to grow helpful herbs) and patronus pet care (how to look after animals in the home) plus a pit stop at the three broomsticks for hot chocolate and cookies.

my little handouts were simple, a quote from harry potter and a candle. "happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”

keeping this forever hahaha.

as each of the sisters arrived, we were sorted into houses with the sorting hat, so we could go in groups from class to class. we ended in the hall, decked out with amazing decorations and an epic feast.

the girls spent hours and hours making things and setting up the chapel did not leave one thing undone. it was so amazing! they had even made a mini wand for each place seeting, to be taken home and had set up a table with display items from each book and set up a honeydukes lolly store for dessert. what an effort! this was my favourite though, the owl with his cases and broom with hogwarts letters flying all over the place on fishing line.

i was asked to make pumpkin pies as well, one for each house table, which i happily did... i had so many people comment on them and was thrilled! (you can find the recipe here, it seriously is the best, but you need to use canned pumpkin or it just doesn't taste right.)  

my little classroom setup, i was really happy with it!

it was an amazing evening, loved by everyone who attended.

anddddd here's my spiel, enjoy!

Hi everyone, thanks for joining me this evening! I’m going to spend the next 10 or so minutes telling you how you can defend yourSELF against the dark arts… which is keeping the adversary out of our homes and our lives.

Martin Luther King once said: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.”

Our best defence against the dark arts, the way to keep the darkness out of our lives, is to fill them with light. Especially the light of the gospel! We don’t have a great deal of time together this evening, but I would just like to give you a few pointers of how we can do just that!

1.    Read your scriptures, regularly and faithfully. Set aside time to do so and make sure you do it! You wouldn’t forget to brush your teeth and reading your scriptures is as important to our “spiritual hygiene” as brushing your teeth is to your dental hygiene!  Get to know the people and the stories. As you love the scriptures instead of seeing reading them as a chore (which we all have done once or twice in our lives) our understanding of them will increase and we will learn more, daily! If we teach our children to love the scriptures, they will grow up knowing that they are loved by the Lord. As it says in Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

2.    Pray daily, as often as you need to. When we have a problem, are we as quick to kneel as we are to text? Think about that for a moment! Our father in  heaven has given us the gift of prayer and wants us to tell him everything! Our problems, our fears, our desires and our joys. Pour your heart out and know that he is real, he is there and he is listening to our every word. All we have to do is go to him in prayer.

3.    Make time to attend the temple. Schedule a time to be there and then do not change it. Make it as important as your hair appointment (says me haha!). Heaven is full of the light of the Lord and the temple is the closest we can get to heaven here on earth. In her talk “Keeping Covenants Protects Us, Prepares Us, and Empowers Us,” from the April 2014 General Conference, Sister Rosemary M. Wixom, Primary General President said, “Temple ordinances lead to the greatest blessings available through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. They are those ordinances necessary for our exaltation in the celestial kingdom. As we strive to keep our covenants, our feelings of inadequacy and imperfection begin to fade, while the ordinances and the covenants of the temple come alive. Everyone is welcome to walk that path to eternal life.”

4.    Regularly attend your church meetings. (Including Sunday School people!) Church is not a museum for saints, it is a hospital for sinners. Go to church not for others, but for yourself. It enables us to renew our covenants each week by partaking of the sacrament and allows us to learn more of the gospel and the teachings of the Saviour. If for any reason you cannot attend every week, go as often as you can. If you are away one Sunday, watch a conference talk, listen to one, read the scriptures… do what you can to create the Sabbath where you are. The Lord knows our hearts and understands our circumstances.

5.    Try to keep your family close physically and mentally. There are so many awful things in the world today, beating down our doors and trying to sneak their way in, to destroy our homes and families. To strengthen your family and cultivate peace, remember to have weekly family home evening. Decide that on your chosen night, your family will be together at home for the evening.

Sister Linda S. Reeves boldly declared: “I must testify of the blessings of daily scripture study and prayer and weekly family home evening. These are the very practices that help take away stress, give direction to our lives, and add protection to our homes.” As soon as your children are old enough to understand, give them a responsibility so they realise the importance of family time. Time with family is precious and is never time wasted.

6.   Be mindful of what you do each day. Sometimes we need to look at what we are doing, to prioritize certain thing over others. To focus more on our personal growth, instead of spending time on things that perhaps are not really necessary in the scheme of things. When we put the Lord first, everything else will fall into place.

I do want to finish by saying that just because we do these things it doesn’t mean that our lives will be easy or problem free. Dark days will come. Life was not meant to be easy and we WILL be tested. But we can choose how we react. On the dark days, find a distraction, and most importantly, ask for help. You can pray, write down your feelings, call a friend for support, sing, watch a favourite movie, read a book, get outside and go for a walk, or even keep a gratitude journal. This is an excellent one. It’s hard to see the bad when you are focusing on the good. As Helen Keller said, “keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows.” But most importantly, try to lift yourself from that place. Replace the darkness with light and reach for the things that will raise you up. Jeffery R Holland said, “Expecting a trouble-free life because you are a good person is like expecting the bull not to charge you because you are a vegetarian.” By choosing the Lord, we can keep the darkness at bay, but on the days when darkness and doubt come in, we need only remember, that “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” A very wise man by the name of Albus Dumbledore said that.