Relief Society: Cutting Back on Handouts

Handouts seem to be a staple of many Relief Societies. There are handouts to announce activities, handouts on the lesson topics, and handouts to help you reach your goals or to remind you to visit teach. These handouts may seem like a good idea, but when you come home with so many different handouts they are less effective then they should be. If you are using handouts to make your announcements or for Enrichment activities, consider switching to email announcements instead. You would still need to create a smaller number of handouts for the sisters who do not have an … Continue reading

Relief Society: Take Care of Yourself

Women almost always put everything before taking care of themselves. It is important to find time to nourish yourself so that you have the energy and love to care for others. It is important to find a balance in your life between caring for yourself, and meeting your other responsibilities. You should take care of yourself spiritually, physically, and emotionally. One important area to care for yourself is spiritually. It is important to nourish your testimony and your relationship with Heavenly Father on a daily basis. Even fifteen minutes of scripture study and daily personal prayer can make a big … Continue reading

Finding Family Time

As parents it is important to find a balance between church meetings and family time. This becomes even trickier if you are in a leadership position or once you have youth aged children in the home. It is difficult because you are also trying to juggle other activities as well. As you take the time to make the right choices for your family, you should make sure that you are making the most of the time you do set aside for family. Here are some things to consider as you find the right balance for your family. Are the meetings … Continue reading

Relief Society: First Sunday Lessons

I love the lessons that the members of the Relief Society presidency teach each month. I feel that they are planned specifically to help meet the needs of the sisters in my ward. I love fifth Sundays for the same reason. Of course I have noticed a trend with fifth Sundays and some aspect of preparedness lately. One of my favorite lessons taught by a member of the Relief Society presidency was simply on the life of Christ. She used slides of artwork that showed Christ’s life. As she did this she bore testimony of His love for each of … Continue reading

Relief Society: Making Time for You

One important thing that we need to do is make time for ourselves. When you are a wife and a mom it is difficult to make sure that your needs are being met. Women are often too hard on themselves. It is easy to become overwhelmed by all that you feel needs to be done. It is important that you meet your needs as well. Here are five tips to help you meet your spiritual, emotional and physical needs. 1) Take time each day to pray and study the scriptures. You need to set aside time for you to nourish … Continue reading

Relief Society Presidents: Louise Y. Robison

Although March was the birthday month, these didn’t get posted. Since I know you are just aching to read all about these remarkable women, I decided to go ahead and share them in April! I hope you enjoy! Called to lead the Relief Society during the depression years, Louise Yates Robison did not seem to be the ideal candidate. Shy and self-effacing, it was difficult for her to go into her son’s office building to pick him up from work. Yet, with the Lord’s help, she was able to overcome this fear and lead the Relief Society for eleven years. … Continue reading

Relief Society: Five Ideas for the Relief Society’s Birthday Enrichment Night

Next month is the Relief’s Society birthday. One of main Enrichment nights is supposed to focus specifically on the birthday of the Relief Society. Here are five ideas for an Enrichment night to celebrate the birthday of the Relief Society. 1) A really fun activity is to have a birthday party. You can have party snacks available and spend the time playing party games. This gives the sisters a chance to visit and get to know each other. You can play games such as a trivia game, fruit basket and Pictionary. You may want to have a ten minute talk … Continue reading

RS/EQ: Ye Ought ‘Not Procrastinate the Day of Your Repentence’

We are already a week into the new year. How are you doing at keeping your New Year’s resolutions? Have you started yet, or are you putting them off until ‘tomorrow’? Some resolutions may not matter, but others may well have eternal consequences. The first Priesthood/Relief Society lesson from “Teachings of the Presidents of the Church” is entitled “To Live With Him Someday.” President Kimball discusses the things we need to do to return home to our Heavenly Father. As I studied the lesson, one of President Kimball’s quotes stood out in my mind. One of the most serious human … Continue reading

Top Ten Ways to Keep Up With the Smith/Young/Kimballs

Every ward has at least one – a couple that appears to parent the ‘perfect Mormon family’. The rest of us have eyed these people with a combination of disbelief and awe, and consoled ourselves by repeating that everyone has problems and no person or family is perfect, no matter what reality may seem to be. In the secular world, this family that everyone strives to emulate would be known as the Jones, but in our Mormon world, they are more apt to be known as the Smiths or the Youngs or the Kimballs, if not by some other name … Continue reading

Five Tips to Help You Read Sunday Lessons

One of my New Year’s resolutions for this year is to beginning reading the lessons before I go to class on Sundays. I have been successful at this in the past. But somehow, I have let this habit slip away. I have a lot of excuses—we lost our manuals in our recent move, the kids do not nap on Sundays anymore. I could go on and on, but the simple truth is that I stopped making it a priority. Here are five tips to help me (and you) keep this new resolution. 1) I like to read the next week’s … Continue reading