Family Home Evening Inspiration

I came across this article today in the Meridian Magazine and wanted to share:

Welcome, Welcome 2010!
By C.S. Bezas

Many homes celebrated Christmas this past week. But how much of a focus was on the birth of Him who came to redeem, even Jesus Christ? Perhaps the reality of His advent has not been seen by some hearts. Do your children understand how anciently His coming has been foretold? This Family Home Evening lesson uses a set of binoculars, a piece of paper and the scriptures to bring to sight Christ's earthly presence in the minds of your children. Time for some FHE Fun!

Opening Song: #46 Who Is the Child?

Opening Prayer: By invitation.

Devotional: Time for a quiet moment of testimony sharing. Has a scripture touched the life of anyone in the family this past week? Simple moments like these can be some of the sweetest in the weekly lives of children. Powerful and potent, a weekly FHE Devotional (or even a nightly one) can arm our children with strength in this virulent and dangerous world.

Activity:

Items needed:

• binoculars (easily obtained through a sports fan or a hunting friend)
• piece of paper
• scriptures

Ask a child to come forward and look through a pair of binoculars. Then ask, "What do you see?" How can the power of binoculars change our vision? In other words, how do they help us see something more clearly that is far off? Allow everyone in the room to try out the binoculars.

Ask another volunteer to come forward. Hold a piece of paper flatly and in front of their face, obstructing their vision with it. Now let them roll it into a tube and look through it. How does rolling the paper into a tube help them focus on the important things in the room? Let the others try it also.

Hold up a set of scriptures. Ask how the scriptures help a person to see distant things more clearly. What must we do so that the scriptures work for us, helping us see ourselves and life plainly? How do we sometimes prevent the scriptures from working for us? (see this resource and also 1 Nephi 18:12-21) How does prayer, sincere desire and repentance help our scripture study?

Application:

In closing, ask "What is the most important message the scriptures hold?" Once family members have shared their important thoughts, share that the knowledge that Jesus Christ is real, and actually came to earth, will shape their lives more deeply than any other thing. This is the visual clarity scriptures hold for each life. And once each person uses their scriptures effectively, the reality of Jesus Christ remains focused and eternity draws close...just like the binoculars brings far off items into closer view.

To finish off the lesson, select three for four scriptures from the following list to show Christ's coming had been known for ages and had many witnesses (the full table is available at this link).

• Isa. 7: 14 (2 Ne. 17: 14) virgin shall conceive, and bear a son.
• Isa. 9: 6 (2 Ne. 19: 6) unto us a child is born.
• Micah 5: 2 Bethlehem . . . out of thee shall he come forth.
• Matt. 1: 23 virgin shall . . . bring forth a son . . . Emmanuel.
• Matt. 2: 1 Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
• Luke 1: 31 bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.
• Luke 2: 11 unto you is born this day . . . a Saviour, which is Christ.
• John 1: 14 (John 1: 3) Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.
• Rom. 1: 3 Jesus . . . made of the seed of David.
• Gal. 4: 4 God sent . . . Son, made of a woman.
• 1 Ne. 10: 4 (1 Ne. 19: 8; 2 Ne. 25: 19) six hundred years . . . God raise up among the Jews even a Messiah.
• 1 Ne. 11: 18 mother of the Son of God.
• 2 Ne. 26: 3 signs given . . . of his birth.
• Alma 7: 10 he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem.
• Hel. 14: 4 sign . . . before he is born.
• 3 Ne. 1: 19 day that the Lord should be born.
• D&C 20: 1 since the coming of our Lord . . . in the flesh.
• D&C 76: 41 he came into the world, even Jesus.
• D&C 93: 4 I . . . made flesh my tabernacle.
• Moses 5: 57 (Moses 6: 57-62) Son . . . should come in the meridian of time.

Closing Song: #42 Away In a Manger

Closing Prayer: By invitation.

Refreshments: Candy canes stirred in hot chocolate could serve as an excellent refreshment for tonight's Family Home Evening. The sweet treats are abundantly available at this time of year and this link explains the fables and legends behind them.

Merry Christmas!

So how was your Christmas? I hope it was filled with the Saviour's Love and many blessings for your family. I meant to post this YouTube clip last week but life got pretty hectic for a while there. So here it is. Sit back, listen and enjoy...

Temple Lights

Our Relief Society bus trip to the Hamilton Temple yesterday was just wonderful. Those of us who wanted to do a temple session did so, while the others toured the visitors centre down below. We came out of the temple just in time to hear the choir start singing. It was a childrens choir this night and their voices were beautiful. It's been a few years since some of us had seen the temple lights, so it really was a lovely experience to be there again with friends. This is a photo I found on the net, because I forgot to take my camera. I saw Nancy with hers though, so we'll see if she can get us some copies for the blog.



What a great time we all had, and going down and back on the bus enabled us to relax, enjoy the ride and spend time talking and laughing with our fellow sisters. I hope we do this again next year - I'll be the first to book my seat.

Christmas Craftiness

I had a lot of fun at our last RS Activity. Making Christmas decorations is always a good activity to do, and I could see that everyone who attended had a good time.

We had 3 mini classes. The first was helping Sister Talisa prepare decorations for our Ward Christmas Party. She is a very organised lady our Sister Talisa, and she had a production line working in no time, managing to complete all the decorations by the end of the evening. Yay! Thanks to everyone who helped out there.

The second class involved making the cuuuutest little lollipop angels with Sister Irene Lee Lo. I need a photo of that too, so if someone has one can you send it to me please? I could see the sisters proudly carrying around their wee angels afterwards, and wished I had time to participate in that class.

The third class was with me, making mini gingerbread houses out of biscuits. This was a lot of fun, (and challenging for some when their walls collapsed due to incorrect construction). All was rectified though, and we had a wide range of little houses covered in icing and lollies by the end of the night. I had a case of laryngitis that night too, so my instructions were probably not as well heard as they would normally have been, but the sisters did really well. I had to keep reassuring them that the first attempt was rarely a masterpiece, and that their 2nd attempt at home would be much better. :) Here is the house I did, and a non-lolly version my husband created. I love the little snowman in his front yard.



I took my camera to the activity with me, intending to photograph the sisters houses, but completely forgot. Sorry! For the houses we just used the Budget Brand "Nice" biscuits. They're rectangle shaped, already sprinkled with sugar, and they don't break easily, so perfect for making houses. The icing is just icing sugar, food colouring, water and a little melted butter. You don't want the icing too runny or your decorations fall off. What do you think? Cute huh.

There are soooo many cute crafty things on the net. Here are some of my favourites you should try with your kids. Click on the title or the photo to go to the various websites with instructions on how to make them:

Candy Cane Reindeer (These are the ones my kids made last week. Super easy.)


Paper heart ornaments


Paper flower ornaments (Note: the instructions say to use double sided sticky tape, but I used a regular glue stick and it worked fine)


Cardboard star (made from a toilet paper roll believe it or not)


Christmas mice ornaments Mmmm, cute and tasty...can't beat that.


Reindeer Craft Treat Holder (This photo is actually of the reindeer my 3 year old and I did. Her hand prints make up the antlers on the bigger pot).


Marshmellow snowmen treats (I'd love to try this one but for some reason I just don't have the knack of melting chocolate. Not in my genes apparently)

Preparing for Christmas

I thought I would share with you today, a little project I've been working on:

This year I wanted to make the build up to Christmas something special for my kids, and at the same time start some new traditions. My girls are 6 and 3 now, and old enough to be excited about all the little things that happen at this time of year. I wanted to take the focus away from the commercial side of things, and focus more on family and Christ. To that end, I made up an Advent Calendar that has a different family activity to do each day leading up to Christmas. I searched the internet for activity ideas, and found THIS site to be most helpful.

I printed off the list of activities and sat down with my 6yr old. Together we picked activities that suited us, and added a few more of our own. Here is the list we decided on (in no particular order):

1. Set up and decorate the Christmas Tree
2. Sing Christmas carols together then eat yummy cookies
3. Go shopping and allow each child to pick out a new ornament
4. Host a family game night
5. Build a Ginger bread house
6. Have a backwards dinner (start with dessert first)
7. Bake cookies together
8. Coloring night...each year color in the same book and date it
9. Make Christmas cards
10. Movie night….popcorn and yummy treats
11. Go for a ride and look at all the decorated houses
12. Have dinner by the Christmas tree picnic style
13. Christmas Crafts
14. Special Dessert night
15. Help a family in need ...choose ways to teach your children to give.
16. Tell the real Christmas story
17. Ice Cream night ..make sundaes or go out
18. Take kids shopping for Daddy or Siblings or Grand Parents
19. Wrap gifts…. kids love to help
20. More Christmas crafts
21. Elf hunt (treasure hunt)
22. Let your kids decorate their bedrooms
23. Learn about another Countries traditions
24. Christmas stories with milo and smores
25. Have a slumber party by the tree

Once we decided on our activities I used photoshop to make the advent calendar, printed it onto cardstock and cut out the little flaps. All I had to do then was glue the cover to the back piece with a glue stick.



And here it is after I framed it today:



Now how excited do you think my girls are to get started tomorrow! The activities are all very easy ones - not much planning needed - and a lot of them are things we normally do in December anyway. Having it on a calendar though makes it so much more special. The girls will open a new window each morning to find out what activity we'll do that afternoon/evening, and if there's anything to prepare I can do that during the day.

If you don't have time to make an advent calendar like this, you can put each activity on a strip of paper and put the 25 strips into a jar with a ribbon wrapped around it. Each day the kids pick out a strip of paper to see what activity they'll have that night. Sound do-able? Go on, give it a try. I guarantee your kids will think the world of you.


Here is one of the Christmas Stories I will be teaching my girls.

Teach The Children

Late one Christmas Eve, I sank back, tired, but content, into my easy chair.
The kids were in bed, the gifts were wrapped, the milk and cookies waited by the fireplace for Santa. As I sat back admiring the tree with its decorations, I couldn’t help feeling that something important was missing. It wasn’t long before the tiny twinkling tree lights lulled me to sleep. I don’t know how long I slept, but all of a sudden I knew that I wasn’t alone. I opened my eyes, and you can imagine my surprise when I saw Santa Claus, himself, standing next to my Christmas tree.

He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot just as the poem described him, but he was not the “jolly old elf” of Christmas legend. The man who stood before me looked sad and disappointed. And there were tears in his eyes. “Santa, what’s wrong?” I asked, “Why are you crying?” “It’s the children,” Santa replied sadly. “But Santa, the children love you,” I said. “Oh, I know they love me, and they love the gifts I bring them,” Santa said, “but the children of today seem to have somehow missed out on the true spirit of Christmas. It’s not their fault. It’s just that the adults, many of them not having been taught themselves, have forgotten to teach the children.”

“Teach them what?” I asked.

Santa’s kind old face became soft, more gentle. His eyes began to shine with something more than tears. He spoke softly. “Teach the children the true meaning of Christmas. Teach them that the part of Christmas we can see, hear, and touch is much more than meets the eye. Teach them the symbolism behind the customs and traditions of Christmas which we now observe. Teach them what it is they truly represent.”

Santa reached into his bag and pulled out a tiny Christmas tree and set it on my mantle. “Teach them about the Christmas tree. Green is the second color of Christmas. The stately evergreen, with its unchanging color, represents the hope of eternal life in Jesus. Its needles point heavenward as a reminder that mankind’s thoughts should turn heavenward as well.”

Santa reached into his bag again and pulled out a shiny star and placed it at the top of the small tree. “The star was the heavenly sign of promise. God promised a Savior for the world and the star was the sign of the fulfillment of that promise on the night that Jesus Christ was born. Teach the children that God always fulfills His promises, and that wise men still seek Him.”

“Red,” said Santa, “is the first color of Christmas.” “He pulled forth a red ornament for the tiny tree. Red is deep, intense, vivid. It is the color of the life-giving blood that flows through our veins. It is the symbol of God’s greatest gift. Teach the children that Christ gave his life and shed his blood for them that they might have eternal life. When they see the color red, it should remind them of that most wonderful gift.”

Santa found a silver bell in his pack and placed it on the tree. “Just as lost sheep are guided to safety by the sound of the bell, it continues to ring today for all to be guided to the fold. Teach the children to follow the true Shepherd, who gave His life for the sheep.”

Santa placed a candle on the mantle and lit it. The soft glow from its one tiny flame brightened the room. “The glow of the candle represents how people can show their thanks for the gift of God’s son that Christmas Eve long ago. Teach the children to follow in Christ’s footsteps…to go about doing good. Teach them to let their light shine before people that all may see it and glorify God. This is what’s symbolized when the twinkle lights shine on the tree like hundreds of bright shining lights, each of them representing one of God’s precious children’s light shining for all to see.”

Again Santa reached into his bag and this time he brought forth a tiny red and white striped cane. As he hung it on the tree he spoke softly. “The candy cane is a stick of hard white candy. White to symbolize the virgin birth and sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the church, and the firmness of God’s promises. The candy cane form’s a “J” to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to earth. It also represents the Good Shepherd’s crook, which He uses to reach down into all ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs who, like all sheep, have gone astray. The original candy cane had three small red stripes, which are the stripes of the scourging Jesus received by which we are healed, and a large red stripe that represents the shed blood of Jesus, so that we can have the promise of eternal life.

Teach these things to the children.”

Santa brought out a beautiful wreath made of fresh, fragrant greenery tied with a bright red bow. “The bow reminds us of the bond of perfection, which is love. The wreath embodies all the good things about Christmas for those with eyes to see and hearts to understand. It contains the colors of red and green and the heaven-turned needles of the evergreen. The bow tells the story of good will towards all and its color reminds us of Christ’s sacrifice. Even its very shape is symbolic, representing eternity and the eternal nature of Christ’s love. It is a circle, without beginning and without end. These are the things you must teach the children.”

I asked, “But where does that leave you Santa?”

The tears gone now from his eyes, a smile broke over Santa’s face. “Why bless you, my dear,” he laughed, “I’m only a symbol myself. I represent the spirit of family fun and the joy of giving and receiving. If the children are taught these other things, there is no danger that I’ll ever be forgotten.”

“I think I’m beginning to understand.”

“That’s why I came,” said Santa. “You’re an adult. If you don’t teach the children these things, then who will?”

You have to see this

This goes along with tomorrow's Relief Society Lesson:


I just love this message:


And we all need to remember that we are not alone:

Report on November Activity

Iunisi Vakaukamea here to let you know how our November Activity went. The theme was "Manage Your Home Well", and started with a wonderful lesson from Jennis Lawrence. We then went to the mini classes which were also of great benefit.

Budgetting........Some of the sisters didn't know how to do a budget for themselves, families, etc but after the class they had the desire to do one for their own families....Sister Onekawa did hand out some examples of how to do a budget and it does really help alot....Wow, what a great opportunity for the sisters to learn that experience and carry on with their own.....

Sorting....By Sister Smith....She said that she loved doing this kind of job Why? Because she really knows how to do it!!
1....Plan what you're going to do.
2....Decide where to start from
3....What to keep , what to give away, what to chuck out
4....Where to store them
5....Do it. Finish the job. Just as easy as that
.....Need any help with sorting call her.

Time Out by Sister Leelo.....Imagine that she got 7 kids. SEVEN kids! And she still has some timeout for herself and so does her family as well. She did give us some wonderful hints for how we ourselves can have some timeout.....
* go out on dating (find someone else to takeover babysitter) while you're away
* do some reading, (magazine, etc)
* do some exercises with some other sisters
* have a nap while you're home by yourself
* watch TV for a little time
* window shopping at the mall,etc.
And last but not the least, you need to look after yourself.

What a great night that sisters in Zion had.....Everyone had something to take home to their own families, and for themselves as well. Some of the sisters are doing exercises in groups as sisters and their partners are so supportive and happy for their wives going out there and actually do the things which they learnt from that night.

What a night....an awesome night.... and the supper afterwards was yummy too.

We look forward to seeing you at the December Activity. Detail will be out soon.

Iunisi
RS 2nd Counselor

Get Me to the Church on Time

I had this forwarded to me today by the Stake Relief Society President. It's a great article, and one we can all get a message from. Particularly the parts that I've highlighted in red. We have a great ward, but aside from getting to church on time, we do need to work on our reverence in the chapel....

Meridian Magazine Article By Janet Peterson

“I married a Mormon and have paid for it ever since,” television personality Larry King told a convention held in Utah. King has Jewish roots. “The Mormon and Jewish cultures are a lot in common and not a lot in common. All Mormons are late. . . . No Jew has ever been late.”

Perhaps Mormons are known worldwide for being late; my husband learned this German verse on his mission in the 1960s.

Fünf Minuten vor der Zeit
Ist Mormonen Pünktlichkeit.
Fünf Minuten nach der Zeit
Ist Mormonen Wirklichkeit.

Five minutes before the hour
Is Mormon punctuality.
Five minutes after the hour
Is Mormon reality.

Lateness to church meetings isn’t just a modern occurrence. When the Primary was first organized in 1878, leaders wanted children “to be taught obedience, faith in God, prayer, punctuality, and good manners.”2

Our daughter and her family at one time lived in a suburb of Dallas, Texas. Church was a 20- to 25-minute drive from their home. During one particular visit, which included a Sunday, we left with three young children in tow 45 minutes before their meeting block was to begin. I had been to church with my grandchildren before and knew the drive wasn’t that long. When I asked why we were going so early, Stephanie replied that the bishop had asked families to be seated 15 minutes before the hour to reverently prepare for sacrament meeting. I was amazed to see the chapel was filled by 12:45 p.m—and it was quiet. This ward of mostly young families had indeed responded to the bishop’s counsel.

I too learned that the time a meeting starts is not the time to arrive. The Church committee on which I serve meets on Tuesdays at 5:00 p.m. I soon found that walking into the room at 4:59 p.m. or right on the dot was not appropriate.

Whether meetings start at 9:00 a.m, 11:00 a.m. or 1:00 p.m. doesn’t matter to some Church members; no matter which schedule they are on, they arrive at the same time—late. Referring to the number of people who came into sacrament meeting late, one bishop in our stake quipped that “the second bus has arrived.”

Occasionally unforeseen circumstances do arise. When my husband, Larry, served as the bishop of a singles’ ward, we actually had to drive to church. The bishopric was there early, of course, for their usual meetings, and I, who had vowed to set a good example in punctuality, left home, I thought, in plenty of time. However, the main road to the chapel had been blocked off due to repairs. With the detour, I managed to walk in right on the hour, but the chapel was nearly empty. Our stake president, who was also seated on the stand, authorized the meeting to start late—probably the only time he ever did so. Other situations sometimes arise; children get sick, cars won’t start, a blizzard stops traffic. But being on time or being late is a more habit than it is situation.

I do know that getting children ready for church, especially on the earlier schedules, is a real challenge. When my husband was bishop of our home ward, we had six young children. I learned that our punctuality was in direct relation to preparation on Saturday.

There’s no excuse for me now, however. I only have myself to get ready and from our front door to our newer meetinghouse door is 120 yards. Yet sometimes my husband has to remind me that it’s time to go to church. Although my next-door neighbor lives a few yards closer than we do, everyone in our ward lives within walking distance. Outside of Utah, the distance to church for most members is rarely that short.

Elder Jay E. Jensen, of the Presidency of the Seventy, said in a general conference address, “Strive to be more punctual to meetings, sit quietly and listen to the prelude music, and experience reverence and revelation.”3

Alfred P. Doolittle, father of Eliza in My Fair Lady, might have been singing about getting married in the morning, but he had a message for all of us: “Get me to the church on time!”

Relief Society Activity 10th November

Did you read about our November activity in the newsletter? We have some guest speakers coming in to talk about various ways to bring order into our homes. The more our homes are in order, the calmer the feeling, and the more we will feel of the Holy Spirit. As the busy-ness of Christmas approaches, who isn't for having a clean, happy home? I know I'm happy to take all the good ideas I can find these days! I do hope you come along to the chapel at 6.30pm as I think there really is something for everyone in this activity. Oh, and please remember to bring an item for the Missionaries Christmas basket and a supper plate if you can.

Need some time out?

Looking for a good deal?

With the economy being the way it is right now, I'm always on the lookout for a good deal, and I bet I'm not the only one. I have had a few deals passed onto me by other members and figure the rest of you might like to know too:

First off is the easiest and probably the most obvious. MILK. You do buy milk from the dairy right? Way cheaper than at the supermarket in most cases. The dairy at the Manurewa end of Mahia Road (opposite the Mobil Service Station) sells 4 litres of milk for $4.80. Not every dairy sells the cheap brand, but almost every second one does, so it pays to have a look around and shop smart. There is no taste difference between the various brands as far as my family can tell, so we get the cheap stuff.


EAST TAMAKI FACTORY SHOP
1 Accent Drive, East Tamaki.
Open 9am-5pm Mon - Fri, and 9am-3pm Sat
The East Tamaki Factory Shop sell ice-cream firsts and seconds as well as milk and cream. A few examples are: 4 litre ice-cream seconds $5.00, a 5 litre Killinchy Gold seconds for $10, 5 litre Lucky Dip Seconds $5, plus much more.


REDUCED TO CLEAR
18 Roscommon Road (Off Puhinui Road), Wiri.
Ph: (09) 277 0518
www.reducedtoclear.co.nz
Open 9am - 5pm Mon - Sat

This shop sells a variety of items that are near or just past their use by date, for considerably cheaper than normal. The food is perfectly safe for consumption. Items you might find in the store include:
* Close to or just past it's best before date
* End of packaging lines
* Packaging misprints
* Post Easter, Christmas, and clearance lines
* Under-performing newly launched products
* Cancelled export and import orders

Reduced To Clear sells some of NZ's (the world's for that matter) most popular snack and chocolate brands, food and general grocery lines every day. The store offers a 100% money back guarantee on all products purchased, (something that not even all the major wholesalers and retailers offer). I came out of this store with WAY too many chocolates and lollies (completely rationalising that my daughters 3rd birthday is coming up, but seriously, you know it's not going to last that long).


GENGY'S MONGOLIAN BBQ
12 Lakewood Court, Manukau (Next to Rayland Hotel & Valentines)
http://www.gengys.co.nz
Ph: (09) 263 6999

Have you tried this type of meal before? I tried it once a few years ago and it was great. A whole new dining experience. Their everyday dinner prices now are 2 for 1 ($13.50 per person, all you can eat). Children cost $3 plus $1 per age up to 10 years old. They also have a 2 for 1 lunch special on Saturdays and Sundays for the same price.

The blurb from their website says: "Gengy’s originates from the name Ghengis Khan who was the famous leader of the Mongolian empire which dominated the World for most of the 16th Century. Ghengis Khan and his warriors invaded and conquered most of Europe, Asia and Africa and were ferocious warriors. After they had won a battle they would have a huge victory feast usually in the shelter of the forest. The warriors would turn their shields upside down over roaring camp fires and cook newly discovered meats and vegetables, native to the conquered lands. At gengy’s restaurant we have captured this fresh and tasty style of cuisine under more modern and hygienic conditions."

As far as I can remember,you go up and select all your meats, vegetables and sauces in one bowl. You take it to the chef who has this HUGE hot plate, and he cooks it right in front of you (kind of like stir-fry but SO much better). When he's done you take your plate over to the table and eat. You can go back for more as many times as you like. Absolutely delicious, and healthy too.


Do you know of a good deal that the other sisters might want to check out? Leave me a comment here, or email me and I'll add it to the list. My email address is in the Relief Society Newsletter). Have a great week, and look out for the November newsletter coming out this Sunday.

General Conference Oct 2009

Since this weekend is General Conference for us, I wanted to make sure you all had the links to the video/audio and online text incase you don't make it to one or all of the sessions.

CLICK HERE to view, read or listen to conference.

4th October update

So who went to watch the Relief Society Broadcast last night? I hear it was wonderful. I remembered all during the week, and it was even on my calendar, but completely forgot about it on Saturday until it was already half way through. Ugh. So I went online and read the transcripts on the LDS.Org website. The talks are great and I really wish I'd attended last night now! Click HERE to read them for yourself.

An interesting paragraph I found was this one by Julie B. Beck, Relief Society General President. She says: "All of our meetings and activities are meetings of Relief Society sisters. For the past number of years, we have called additional Relief Society meetings home, family, and personal enrichment meetings. In response to concerns about the complexity of that title and the different interpretations about the purpose of those meetings, a decision has been made that the name “home, family, and personal enrichment” will be discontinued effective now. In counsel with the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, it was determined that rather than give these additional Relief Society meetings a new title, all such meetings and activities will now be referred to simply as Relief Society meetings. Individual Relief Society meetings that are held during the week can be called whatever they are: Relief Society service, classes, projects, conferences, or workshops."

So there you go. Easy huh. She also talks a bit about Visiting Teaching and the importance thereof: "Visiting teaching becomes the Lord’s work when our focus is on people rather than percentages. In reality, visiting teaching is never finished. It is more a way of life than a task. Faithfully serving as a visiting teacher is evidence of our discipleship." Go read the rest of the talk - it's a good one.

We have more to announce today. Sister Elva Gallagher has been released as our Mountfort Ward Relief Society President. She is off to a new ward and a new home in Howick, and we wish her all the very best. Her tireless devotion to the Relief Society under her care was an inspiration to the rest of us in the Presidency and I'm sure the whole ward. We will miss her very much. The departure of one president means the arrival of a new president and counselors. Sister Charlene Otene now fills the position of RS President, with Sister Ioanna Leelo as first counselor and Sister Iunisi Vakaukamea as second counselor. We are beyond excited to welcome the new presidency, and look forward to serving the sisters of the Mountfort Ward.

Our RS Activity night on Tuesday 13th Oct will consist of 3 mini classes. Family History, Sewing, and Crafts. A little something for everyone, but especially for our younger sisters who are still building up their repertoire of homemaking skills. We all learn it somewhere - why not in a loving environment with your fellow sisters! If you happen to have some of the following items at home, please bring them with you. If you don't have them, then don't worry, just bring yourself along: Scissors, needle & thread, fabric and sewing patterns. The evening starts at 6.30pm as usual, and you are welcome to bring a plate of supper if you're able. Again, no pressure if you can't.

You can buy tickets directly from Jennis. There are only 20 available, so get in quick. Remember all proceeds go directly towards helping our youth attend EFY next year. If you don't know Jennis' phone number, call me (RS Secretary) at home (number is on the front page of your October newsletter) and I will give you her number. We don't like posting phone numbers on the internet for obvious reasons.

Whew, OK, I think that's it for now. Go have yourselves a fantastic week, and we'll see you at Conference on the 10 and 11th, or at the activity on the 13th. :)

Mountfort Ward Primary Page

We're pleased to announce that our Primary now has their very own web page! It's all up and running and ready to go. Go check it out and investigate the various links we've put on there. Make it your first call for up-to-date info on primary activities.

Mountfort Ward Primary Web Page

There's also a permanent link to it in the sidebar under "Church Links"

Photos from Movie Night

Update 15 September

Hey everyone, I may have been away a few days attending a family wedding, but the Ward keeps on moving, and I have several events to add to the blog now. First up I've added a YouTube video of the young mens performance at the Fathers Day Luncheon, to the original blog post HERE. Go check it out - they did a great job.

By all accounts the Relief Society Movie night on Friday 11th was a big success too. Over a dozen sisters attended, which is great to see. I guess they enjoyed each other's company so much they didn't want to part, because I hear most of them ended up at Jennis' house afterwards. :D

The EFY fundraising on Saturday was also very successful. Bishop says $3000 was raised from the food sales in just a couple of hours. Thankyou so much to the Talisa family for providing their home for the activity base, and to all the families who contributed their food, their love and their time to support the youth. Someone is emailing me some photos taken at the fundraising, which I will upload in the next day or two. The next EFY fundraising activity will be on Saturday the 3rd of October. Mark your calendars now.

The next announcement I have to add is that we will be adding a Primary page to the blog soon. Yay! How exciting huh?! We will have a link you can click on to see what Primary activities/notices there are, and keep up to date with changes to Faith in God activities, firesides, etc. We're working on it now and plan to have it up and running by the end of the month, so keep an eye out for that.

Don't forget the Stake Musical Fireside/Presentation at Rowandale Chapel,on Sunday 20th September starting 7pm.


Iunisi is hosting a morning tea at her place on the 24th. Kids are welcome, and her address if you don't have it, is in the September newsletter.

Whew, I think that's it for now. Oops, no, one last thing. You all do know you can leave comments here on the blog don't you? At the very bottom of each post is the word COMMENT. Click on that, and a pop up box should appear (you may have to allow cookies if this doesn't happen). Write your comment in the box provided, then choose an identity. The easiest way is to choose the "Name/URL" option. When you click on that another little box will appear. Put your name (or initials, or whatever you want to be known as) in the name box. Don't worry about the URL box. Now click on the orange "Publish your comment" box. Voila! Done! Go on, try it out....you're itching to, I can tell.... :D

Line Dancing and Volleyball

What a great turn out we had tonight for our Enrichment Activity! Daphne, our Line Dancing Instructor did a superb job of teaching various dance sequences, each a little harder and slightly more complicated than the last. I was alright to begin with, but once she introduced turning in different directions, well.....my mind and my feet are just not designed to work together you know, and I was virtually an accident waiting to happen. LOL! Oh the poor sisters next to me. I think I was the only one that didn't have the co-ordination gene. God blessed me with many talents, but unfortunately dancing wasn't one of them. So to mask my lack of ability, I grabbed the camera and tried to capture the fun the sisters were having. Now keep in mind I am NOT a photographer by any means.

We were especially thankful to have the Laurels join us tonight. They brought a real energy to the evening, and their joyful spirit was contagious. (Gotta say it helped mightily that they were all pretty much guru's at co-ordination and dancing!) :D How wonderful too, to see several new faces at our activity. Sisters we loved having you join us, and hope to see you again.





After the line dancing, we divided into four teams and played volleyball. Who knew it was such a hilarious game! Going by all the laughter echoing throughout the hall, it was obvious everyone was having a blast. It was also great to see how much sporting talent some of the sisters and young women have.










Thankyou so much to Daphne for teaching us line dancing, and to Iunisi for organising the evening. I can't wait to see what's in store for Octobers Enrichment Activity.

Don't forget, those going to the movies on Friday night, meet at the chapel at 6pm. Don't be late, because they'll be leaving for the mall at 6.05pm. If you're already in Manukau, you can meet at the movie theatre in the Mall. The movie STARTS at 6.40pm, so give yourself plenty of time to buy your ticket and popcorn.


Don't forget the ward is fundraising for our Youth on Saturday. Please bring your food and whatever else you have to donate to the Talisa's home no later than 9am, so they can repackage it all and get it ready for sale by 10am when the stalls open. Tell your neighbours, bring your friends - lets all get behind our youth and help them raise money for their camp.

Father's Day Luncheon

About 30 RS sisters took part in the “Karanga” to welcome the Fathers to the Fathers Day Luncheon on Saturday 5 Sep at the Rowandale Chapel. Fathers were so impressed with this that there was a request to do it again. Later in the programme the sisters did another item and danced to the Venga Boys music. The young men also performed for the Dads, and did a wonderful job of it. Here is the video of their performance:



All in all it was a very successful day and the fathers knew that they were special and spoilt – but as Sister Tupou said to the dads – “It was a special treat for Fathers Day don’t get used to it!" (haha)

Thanks to all the sisters who attended the practices to make the event a special one.

From Jennis Lawrence

Enrichment Activity

Have you heard about our next Enrichment Activity? We're going to have some fun with Line Dancing and then play some Volleyball. If you're not an active kind of person, come along anyway and you can laugh and cheer from the sidelines. We'll have a supper afterwards, so if you have something in the cupboard to bring that would be great. Hey, maybe you have a friend or a neighbour that would like to come along? Or one of the sisters on your visiting teaching list? By all means bring them too - it's shaping up to be a great night.

In Transit

The Relief Society Fireside tonight was beautifully presented. The theme was "In Transit", and was focused on helping the Young Women transition into Relief Society. The music was beautiful, the talks were well thought out and delivered, and the activity was lots of fun. All the things you want in a fireside.

A couple of points that really stuck with me were:

1. Relief Society is more than just a class you ATTEND. It is an organisation you BELONG to. Get involved.

2. It is not just up to the Presidency to make new sisters feel welcome. It is up to every single sister in Relief Society to open their arms, welcome the new sisters and make them feel at home.

3. We need to get to know the Laurels BEFORE they walk in the door to Relief Society.

4. We need to watch over the new sisters and show our love for them for as long as it takes them to really settle in. This may be a few weeks, a few months, or a few years. Everyone is different, but everyone needs to feel loved and wanted. (This goes for all new sisters to the ward, not just the young women).

So with those points in mind, I got to thinking. What can we do in Mountfort Ward to help our Young Womens transition easier? Can you remember back to your first time in Mountfort Ward Relief Society? What would have helped you? What would you like to have happened? What do they do in other wards that you think might work for us? What could you do now to help someone else? If we had a welcome pack, what would you like to have in it?

I would LOVE to get some thoughts/opinions/suggestions from you all. And from the Young Women. We're all for new ideas here. I have enabled the post comments option (at least I think I have), so you can reply below.

The Influence of Righteous Women

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, gives a wonderful talk on the influence of righteous women in this month's Ensign. It is the First Presidency Message for September and I have quoted a small part of the talk in our monthly Relief Society newsletter, but you should really read the whole thing - it's so uplifting and I just know you will love it as much as I do. Here are a couple of my favourite parts:

"As we look at the history of this earth and at the history of the restored Church of Jesus Christ, it becomes obvious that women hold a special place in our Father's plan for the eternal happiness and well-being of His children. Though we often speak of the influence of women on future generations, please do not underestimate the influence you can have today. President David O. McKay (1873–1970) said that the principal reason the Church was organized is "to make life sweet today, to give contentment to the heart today, to bring salvation today. . . . Some of us look forward to a time in the future—salvation and exaltation in the world to come—but today is part of eternity."

"May I invite you to rise to the great potential within you. But don't reach beyond your capacity. Don't set goals beyond your capacity to achieve. Don't feel guilty or dwell on thoughts of failure. Don't compare yourself with others. Do the best you can, and the Lord will provide the rest. Have faith and confidence in Him, and you will see miracles happen in your life and the lives of your loved ones."

"We are living in a great season for all women in the Church. Sisters, you are an essential part of our Heavenly Father's plan for eternal happiness; you are endowed with a divine birthright. You are the real builders of nations wherever you live, because strong homes of love and peace will bring security to any nation."

Click HERE to read the whole message.

Friend online

For those of you with Primary Children, did you know the Friend magazine is now online too? There are games, stories, music, interactive activities, colouring pages.....you really have to check it out. A nice little touch I liked was that Primary Songs play in the background while the child does the activity. Click HERE to be taken to the site.

How cool was that!

Are you still buzzing about our activity on Tuesday night? I know I am! I couldn't believe how much laughter there was, and it was so wonderful to see all the smiling faces and happy sisters. For those who couldn't make it, you really missed out on a fantastic evening. We started off with an M&M game. We each chose several M&Ms, then had to answer get-to-know-you questions depending on what colour we held up. Once the question was answered, the M&M got eaten. You should've seen how fast our group whizzed around the questions so we could have more M&Ms! LOL - it was so hard case.

The second activity was a service swap. We randomly got given a sister's name and some info about them, and had to come up with a service that we would personally provide them within the next 3 months. It was completely up to the individual as to what that service would be. What a great way to get to know someone, and at the same time receive a blessing for providing an act of charity. We will get feedback on this activity at the Home, Family & Personal Enrichment Activity in November. I'm really excited to serve my nominated sister (though she may have second thoughts once she actually TASTES my baking! Hahaha).

The third activity was conducted like Speed Dating. The sisters were given a list of topics, and 60 seconds to ask/answer them with the person opposite. After 60 seconds they had to stop, move one seat to the right, then speak on the next topic on the list, with a new person. This continued on until you had spoken with everyone in the room. Now most of these questions were quite serious get-to-know-you questions, but you wouldn't have known from the laughter and hysterics echoing around the room. This was SUCH a fun activity, and you just KNOW every single sister came out of it knowing a whole bunch more about each person there. Here are a few photos from that activity:

The photos don't do it justice I assure you. After all that fun we followed up with a delicious supper, milo & marshmellows. Absolutely no good for anyone dieting, but hey everyone needs a sweet reward now and then don't you think? Thankyou to everyone for bringing along such tasty goods - I know next time not to have dinner first :D

We have more activities in the works, and will let you know of them very soon. Until then, keep the 2nd Tuesday night of every month free - that's our big activity night. We will have a variety of smaller daytime activity groups throughout the month as well - watch out for those details here and in next month's newsletter.

Midnight Madness

Bring along your friends and inactives too - the more the merrier. We as a presidency feel that the better we get to know each other, the closer we will grow and the better we can serve one another. So with that in mind, the evening is all based around getting to know each other and having fun in the process. All you need to bring is yourselves, and a small supper plate to share. Can't wait to see you there.

Everyone is welcome

"Everyone is welcome in Relief Society. There is no one kind of acceptable Latter-day Saint woman. It matters not where you come from, what your weaknesses are, what you look like—you belong here! The Lord loves you—each of you, collectively and individually. We are not ordinary women. We are women of the covenant, women who have recognized the truth, accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ, and made covenants with the Lord to follow Him and do His will. And He needs us—each one of us—to do our part in bringing to pass His great latter-day work among the children of men. We need Relief Society, and Relief Society needs us." Virginia U. Jensen

Spencer W Kimball said: "It is a great blessing to be a woman in the Church today. The opposition against righteousness has never been greater, but the opportunities for fulfilling our highest potential have also never been greater.

The Prophet Joseph Smith pronounced these blessings upon the [Relief] Society:

1. This society, a society of sisters, is organized “according to your natures. … You are now placed in a situation in which you can act according to those sympathies which God has planted in your bosoms.”

2. “If this Society listen to the counsel of the Almighty, through the heads of the Church, they shall have power to command queens in their midst.”

3. “If you live up to your privileges, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates.”

4. “Knowledge and intelligence shall flow down from this time henceforth.”