Aug 2011 PRESIDENCY MESSAGE

(August's Theme from the Releif Society Declaration is: Love Life and Learning)
Dear Sisters:

It seems that sometimes as wives and mothers we are often so buys that our learning opportunities are limited. Maybe schooling is put on hold, or put off completely, or the thought of going back to it seems so far away. But, it is our responsibility to never give up on learning, and to seek chances for it, though they may come in small and sporadic times. Elder Bednar teaches: “You and I are here on the earth to prepare for eternity, to learn how to learn, to learn things that are temporally important and eternally essential, and to assist others in learning wisdom and truth (see D&C 97:1). Understanding who we are, where we came from, and why we are on the earth places upon each of us a great responsibility both to learn how to learn and to learn to love learning.”

Our theme for August, from the Relief Society Declaration is: Love life and learning. They seem to go hand-in-hand. I truly believe that the more we learn, the more we see and understand our Father’s plan, and with this learning comes the desire to know more, and as great wisdom and knowledge open before us, we will have greater love for life and living.

As always, we must remember there is a balance. The things that are ESSENTIAL to our eternal salvation come first, the things NECESSARY to daily survival and responsibilities come next, and then the NICE things we fit in as time allows. And if we follow this order, we will find time, happiness, and love of life and learning.
Love,
Jamie, Cindy, Loree, and Kathy

The Results of our Sewing Service.......

A Day of Service, With Great Results!

I just wanted to share with all of our Sisters the results of our day of sewing service.  For all those who attended in person, and in spirit, for those who pinned and cut and ironed, and those who sewed, those who stayed for the day, for an hour, and those who took projects home to finish--THANK YOU!!  And to Sister Maughan who found this project for us, spearheaded it all, and put in so many hours of preparation--THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!  What wonderful results came. 

This service project came in response to President Eyring's April Conference message, "To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Church welfare program, members worldwide will be invited to participate in a day of service. Leaders and members will seek revelation as they design whatever the projects will be.

I will make three suggestions as you plan your service project.

First, prepare yourself and those you lead spiritually. Only if hearts are softened by the Savior’s Atonement can you see clearly the goal of the project as blessing both spiritually and temporally the lives of the children of Heavenly Father.

My second suggestion is to choose as recipients of your service people within the kingdom or in the community whose needs will touch the hearts of those who will give the service. The people they serve will feel their love. That may do more to make them feel glad, as the song promised, than will meeting only their temporal needs.

My last suggestion is to plan to draw on the power of the bonds of families, of quorums, of auxiliary organizations, and of people you know in your communities. The feelings of unity will multiply the good effects of the service you give. And those feelings of unity in families, in the Church, and in communities will grow and become a lasting legacy long after the project ends."

As our presidency met and discussed what we could do to fill this call to serve, Sister Maughan contacted the hospital to see if there were needs we could meet in our own community.  Jerralyn Smith, the activities director had had in mind the idea of getting clothing protectors for the long-term care patients for three years now, but the cost was too much.  With our volunteer efforts, and the donation of money for materials from the Thrift store, we were able to provide them at half the cost they had found them to be.  With all of your help, we were able to finish 34 clothing protectors and Cindy, Kathy and I were able to take them down one day in time for lunch!

Cindy, explaining how the new clothing protectors/aprons worked.

Sister Cathy Povis from our ward who is an RN at the hospital was excited to see the knew clothing protectors and help the patients all get them on.  Cathy's mom, Sister Barr, was a huge help in sewing!

Jerralyn Smith, helping "Shorty' get ready for his lunch.  A few days ago I ran into Jerralyn and she told me that the patients love them.  She said that they try to keep them clean so that they can wear them all day.  She found one lady carrying all kinds of things in the pocket and using it all day long.  She wanted you all to know how much they truly appreciated your efforts, this had fulfilled her dream of three years.  They felt that the clothing protectors were more like the aprons that most of the women had grown up wearing, and that they gve so much more dignity than a towel or 'bib' wrapped around them.

The bright colors helped cheer up the place.  The service helped cheer up our hearts.  Thank you all for your willingness to serve and to help fulfill such a great need in our little community to many of our dear and sweet little friends like Sister Jones!

All in all, we recorded AT LEAST 90 HOURS of service from all involved! 

In closing, President Eyring's words reflect our appreciation to each of you, "The Lord’s way to help those in temporal need requires people who out of love have consecrated themselves and what they have to God and to His work."  Thank you for your consecration to God and His work.

Welcome August!

Summer is racing by, though not quick enough for some mom's who have fun out of entertainment and patience, and too quickly for those still trying fo figure out where it actually went!!  I hope that you have found moments of fun and joy and peace amidst the rush of summer. 

 We especially want to thank all who helped donate over 90 hours of service for our sewing service project!! It gives me a goosebumps just thinking aobut it--we are so excited to take these clothes protectors to the hospital and give to the patients there and will hopefully get some pictures to share with all of you--we know they are going to love them!!  What an awesome time it was to share our efforts, talents, and time as sisters in the gospel.  This makes me think of the August visiting teaching message : "A Society of Holy Women"  What an honor to be a part of such society.  Thank you again--especially Sister Maughan for her hours of dedicated preparation to this project, we could never have managed it without her!

We do have hopes for a couple of things this month, but do not have them scheduled yet--we are looking a having another SERVICE AUCTION, since our last one was so great and we are hoping to get more people out.  We are also looking to maybe do some canning for provident living this month or next.  We will let you know as they come up!!

Thanks again for all you do!!

July 2011 PRESIDENCY MESSAGE

(July'sTheme from the Releif Society Declaration is: Delight in Service and Good Works)
Dear Sisters:
Our Relief Society theme for July is "delight in service and good works". We have a great example of this principle in our beloved prophet, President Monson. It seems that oftentimes the message of his general conference addresses is service. Many times we've heard from him of the joy he felt when he had the opportunity to bless and serve the many widows of his ward as a young bishop. He also recounts the story of when he was a boy, and his mother provided Sunday dinner to an elderly man in the ward. It was his duty to hand-carry the plate over to this man's house. Although at first he was somewhat dismayed that the family had to wait until he returned from his delivery before they could eat, he has said, "that Sunday dinner seemed to taste a bit better after I had returned from my errand." His mother was a wise women to provide this opportunity to teach her son of the happiness that can be felt from helping others. The Savior was the most perfect example of service. His life was filled with blessing others. He said in Matthew: "Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

We hope that we can all seek for the joy that we can get through serving our brothers and sisters. Let's open our eyes and hearts to the many opportunities that come to serve others daily. We love you all.
Love,

Jamie, Cindy, Loree, and Kathy

June 2011 PRESIDENCY MESSAGE

(June'sTheme from the Releif Society Declaration is: Find Nobility in Motherhood and Joy in Womanhood)
Dear Sisters:
“The Nobility of Motherhood and Joy of Womanhood” is the topic for our Presidency lesson this month. While preparing, I noticed Elder Carl B. Cook, a recently called general authority, mentioned the influence of his mother in a church news article.

“When he was six and his youngest sister just three months old, his mother was left to raise five young children. Watching his mother go to work, go to night school and juggle the demands of raising a family while faithfully fulfilling her church calling had a definite impact on Elder Cook. Besides teaching him how to mow the lawn, saddle the horses and make repairs around the house, she taught him to ‘trust in the Lord, work hard and serve others.’ Now when he is faced with a challenge or daunting task, he thinks about the example of his mother and says, ‘OK, Mom, I’ll try it. I can do it’.”
Another such example I read was from Steve Mikita. He has spent his life in a wheelchair being born with spinal muscular atrophy. He has been very successful in his life; he has served as Utah’s assistant attorney general since 1982. “When I looked back on my earlier years, I soon realized my understanding Christ’s love came through my mother’s love.” . . . ”My mother helped me interpret the meaning and

purpose of life, and the meaning and purpose behind suffering.” Steve’s mother inspired him to achieve his dream of going to college. She was instrumental in his conversion to the LDS Church and taught him how to laugh at life.
Sister Sheri Dew clearly describes our important role in our Heavenly Father’s plan. “Motherhood is not what was left over after our Father blessed His sons with priesthood ordination. It was the most ennobling endowment He could give His

daughters, a sacred trust that gave women an unparalleled role in helping His children keep their second estate.” (Nov. 2001 Ensign)
Love,

Jamie, Cindy, Loree, and Kathy

July.....Sewing Service

I just wanted to post information about the Relief Society Service project for July!  While I am desperately behind and unsure of when I won't be behind, I did want to let you know about the wonderful project we will be working on to sew clothing protectors for the long term care patients at the hospital in Caliente.

Not only is this a great project, but one that directly blesses our own community and often times friends and family, since that is who many of the long-term patients are.

On Wendesday, July 27th, from 1-5 pm at the church we will be cutting, sewing, ironing, hand-sewing buttons.  During this time a nursery will be provided.  After a one hour break we will resume form 6-8.  IF you can do any or all of those thigns, if you have a sewing machine to bring and use, or that you would let someone else use, please let us know.  Our focus for July has been service, and we are excited for this opportunity--please feel free to spread the word or bring a friend!!

Just a Little Behind......

I am not sure how many of you may check out the blog for changes in the monthly calendar or birthdays, or the visiting teaching message, or presidency message, but I do try really hard to get it updated at the beginning of each month and I am failing miserably for July.  The summer has caught up to me, along with several unexpected events, so as soon as I get the chance to update, I will.  thanks for your patience.