Every Heart Counts

October 2011 General Conference

2011-10-24T20:30:00.001+13:00

What a wonderful conference we had this month. There were so many great talks. If you want to read, listen to, or watch any of them, click HERE to go to lds.org. Here are the highlights:

If you only read ONE story this year...

2011-08-27T20:37:00.003+12:00

then this would be it. "We Must See Past What it Seems" is an incredible message that the world should read. It will change the way you see things. It will change the way you do things. It will change YOU. And all for the better. Read it. Please. Today.

We Must See Past What it Seems...

Fathers Day Ideas

2011-08-22T21:20:00.012+12:00

Fathers Day is fast approaching here (1st Sunday in September) and I have a husband who doesn't really need or want much. Now usually this is a good thing, but come birthdays and Fathers Days, it makes it awfully hard to find something to give him, or do for him. On browsing the net this week I found several pretty cool ideas I thought I would share. Surely I'm not the only one wondering what the kids and I should do for Fathers Day?

First up I found this interview. So easy to print out and have the kids fill in. If you don't have a printer, just copy the questions onto a piece of paper. For real young kids ask them each question, then write the answer yourself.

Click HERE to go to the Simply Montessori Blog to download.

Allison has a different interview on her blog which allows space for the kids to draw a picture too. I really like that idea. It'd be cool to make it a tradition every Fathers Day. Collect the interviews and put them in a binder, then each year you can see how much they've grown up.

Click HERE to go to Allison's blog for the download.

Click HERE to find the download link for these free cards from Ana (and more fathers day printables).

I love this hand tree. So easy for the kids to do:

And this little gift is super easy to do. Print out the tag and attach to a packet of M&Ms. Go HERE to download the tag.

The following list of ideas I found on The Red Headed Hostess' blog. She is also a Seminary teacher, and has lots of fantastic information and ideas for scripture study. Just check her sidebar for links. Here are her 9 fun ideas for Fathers Day. I just love number 8:

1. Sticky Note Love

Have your kids write things they love about their dad on sticky notes. Put them up all over the house, in his pockets, car, etc…

2. Daddy Photos

Dress up your kids in their dad’s clothes. Take them outside and take pictures of them. Print your favorite ones and frame them for his desk at home or work.

3. Daddy Books

Have your children each make a picture book about their dad. Each page can have a sentence about him along with an illustration. Things like:
My dad is always ________________
I like it when me and dad _________________
When I grow up I want to be ______________ like my dad
My dad is really good at ________________
Staple them together and have them make a cover page and come up with a fun title.

4. Me and Dad… Our History

Same as the idea above – but instead have it just about this past year. That way you could make a new book every year and it is a little family history. For example:
Last summer Dad and I ________________
Dad always helps me with my homework in ________________
Its really important to Dad that I _________________
One of the best things Dad and I have done this year is ______________
Every night Dad and I _________________
Last Christmas I gave Dad _______________

5. Our Treasures (hunt) With Dad

Send him on a treasure hunt around the house and yard. Each clue could be something about him and that location written by different family members. For example:
We built this together last summer. - Tim
This is where we like to sit and talk. -Mom
This is where you picked me up when I fell on my bike. -Sara

6. Driveway Love

Have your kids write things they like about their Dad all over the driveway so that everyone in the neighborhood can read them

7. Father’s Day Sign

Have your kids make a Happy Father’s Day sign similar to this Happy Birthday sign. Here is the lettering: happy fathers day sign

8. Paper Bag Mystery

Have everyone find one item that reminds them of Dad in some significant way and have them all put it in one large paper bag. Have Dad reach in, and before pulling it out, try and guess what it is and who put it in there. Then after he pulls it out then the person who put it in can tell why they chose that item and what it means to them.

9. Pictionary

Play Pictionary with memories of Dad. So divide into 2 teams, then each team has to write 10 to 20 memories of Dad. Like: When Dad and Tim mowed Mr. Smith’s lawn when he had surgery. Then the other team has to draw them as you play pictionary. So each team has 1 minute to try and draw as many as they can until the next team gets to to. The first team to draw and guess them all first, wins.

LOVE LETTER BOOK

Next up is a gift idea that would be more from you than from the kids. Perfect for his birthday or Christmas too. It's a love letter book. This is what Heather Lynne says to do:

1. Search the stores for the most masculine journal/notebook you can find

2. Write your first love note. It can be the same sort of note you might write in a card or something a little more lengthy.

3. Give him the book as a gift, and explain that the pages will be filled (by you) over time.

4. Every time you notice something great that you love about your husband, get out the book and write a dated note to him. Don't tell him when you've written them. Just let him find them next time he looks in the book.

5. Next time there's a special occasion, instead of buying him a card, just get out the book and write in that instead. If there are past notes in there that he hasn't seen yet, he'll see them when he re-receives the book for that occasion.

Bonus: No more cards from random occasions to stash in a shoebox somewhere or add more clutter to your home. All of your meaningful notes will be contained in one small and accessible place- yay!

I (Jacinda) did this for my husband on our 11th anniversary in April. He loved it. And I loved the idea of a record of our love. You can tell your husband he's welcome to write his own love notes to you in there too, or it can just be one way, from you to him.

SUPER HERO NOSH

Here's a fabulous idea from Alpha Mom, with free printables so all the hard work is done. Surely every Dad is a superhero to their kids, yes? I (Jacinda) did this for my husbands birthday in May, from the kids and I. The kids were just as excited about it as he was. I bought some cellophane bags from the $2 shop to put everything in, but you could just as easily use zip lock bags too. I found the perfect size gift box at the same shop, and I was good to go. Here's how my box turned out:

HAPPY MEAL

OK, here's an idea from BAKERELLA for those that are good in the kitchen. (That isn't me by the way).

Look closer. The bun is a cupcake cut in half and sprinkled with sesame seeds. The meat pattie is actually a brownie, the lettuce and sauces are icing, and the chips are actually sugar cookies rolled in sugar! How cute is that! Go to Bakerella's site for instructions, and to download the template to the tray and chip packet.

So.....what do you reckon? Think there's something there that you could use this Fathers Day? I'm definitely using a couple of them, and I know the kids will be excited to do the interviews and draw a picture at the very least. Whatever you decide to do, I hope it's successful and that your Fathers Day celebrations are full of love and joy.

Walk with gratitude

2011-05-21T06:24:00.002+12:00

“Walk with gratitude in your hearts, my dear friends. Be thankful for the wonderful blessings that are yours. Be grateful for the tremendous opportunities that you have. Be thankful to your parents who care so very much about you and who have worked so very hard to provide for you. Let them know that you are grateful. Say thank you to your mother and father. Say thanks you to your friends. Say thank you to your teachers. Express appreciation to everyone who does you a favor or assists you in any way.”

“Thank the Lord for His goodness to you. Thank the Almighty for His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, who has done for you what no other in all this world could do. Thanks Him for His great example, for His tremendous teachings, for His reaching hand to lift and help. Thank the Lord for His marvelous Church restored in this great season of history. Thank Him for all that it offers you. Thank Him for friends and loved ones, for parents and brothers and sisters, and family. Thank Him for a strong body, for a sound mind, for teachers who guide you and mentors who take a special interest in you, for those willing to coach you and help you develop new talents or become better at something you love."

"Thank Him that you live in a land of freedom, where you can come and go as you please and make choices that suit you. Thank Him that you live in a time of relative prosperity. Thank Him for the advances in communication that allow you to stay close to those you love and interact with. Thank Him for the ease of travel and the privilege of getting an education. And even thank Him for your struggles, for they will make you strong if you will let them.”

Gordon B Hinkley

For our Youth

2011-05-14T15:41:00.003+12:00

A little something for our Young Women today. Listen to the words. Really listen. Hear what he's saying...

And a message all young women should hear.

I love this story. How wonderful the world would be if all the youth did a good deed instead of a prank.

Photo evidence of a great night in

2011-04-06T21:37:00.005+12:00

We had an awesome turnout to our Relief Society Birthday Party. The Activity Committee did a great job organising the evening, and I could see everyone had a wonderful time. I think next time we have a quiz evening everyone is going to be clamouring to be on Sister Tipene's team. Hidden talents there ay Leslie! Talk about quick on the draw. I maybe answered 2 questions the whole night, and even then, it was 4.5 seconds AFTER everyone else answered. LOL. I choose to believe my talents lie in other areas. ;D

A Relief Society gathering wouldn't be complete without supper now would it? For the birthday celebration everyone brought a dessert type dish to share, and as you can see, it was absolutely delicious.

Our next activity is on April 12th, at 7pm. It's going to be a wearable arts night, and you all are going to get the chance to channel the designer within. Bring along recyclable, reusable products from home (paper, plastic, etc) to make your outfit with, and be prepared for another evening of fun and sisterhood. Bring your friends along, and a finger food supper plate to share. See you there.

Relief Society 169th Birthday

2011-03-08T13:33:00.005+13:00

It's a milestone. You can't NOT celebrate it right? It's 169 years since the Relief Society was formed, and that's reason enough for us to celebrate this wonderful organisation. Come along on to the chapel on Tuesday 15th March, ready to start the fun at 6.30pm sharp. Click on the image below for an enlarged view.

We'll start with a bit of Relief Society History first, then move on to a game show/trivia night activity. (You might just want to take note of the history lesson by the way - later in the night they may just pop up in the trivia questions). It's going to be a lot of fun, and don't worry if you don't know much church history, we're going to work in teams, and there are other non-church categories too.

We'll end the evening with a dessert style supper and cake. If you could bring a dessert, pudding, cake, or fruit to share for supper, that would be fabulous. Please let your Visiting Teaching homes know about the activity too, and invite them along for the fun.

Dress for the activity is skirt/top or a dress. Please be on time, or you'll miss the info at the start, and you're going to need it for the trivia game later on.

Time Out For Women (TOFW)

2011-03-04T05:46:00.004+13:00

Time Out For Women is coming to New Zealand in July. This is a fantastic opportunity to see and hear from some amazing LDS speakers and entertainers. They are having one show here in NZ before heading over to Australia. Here's an intro from the TOFW blog:

Choose to Become 2011 Tour

What if you had the chance to take a weekend to discover something new?

What if this was the year for you to make meaningful change?

You do. This is!

It’s the TIME OUT FOR WOMEN 2011 TOUR and it’s coming to a city near you. CHOOSE TO BECOME just a little closer to the woman you were meant to be—through your testimony, through your relationships, and through your personal improvement. Join us for an inspirational weekend of messages and music. We see a whole world of possibilities out there just waiting to be discovered…come find the ones waiting for YOU!

It is our hope that during this day filled with messages of inspiration from respected authors and music artists, you will learn, you will laugh, and your spirits and sights will be lifted. It is Deseret Book’s great pleasure to invite you to catch your breath, take a break from daily pressures, “huddle” with your sisters and friends, and feel rejuvenated for the days ahead.

We look forward to taking a Time Out with you!

Sheri Dew
President and Chief Executive Officer, Deseret Book Company"

This clip advertises their DVD, but it also gives you a glimpse of what TOFW is like:

NZ TOUR DETAILS

Auckland, NZ
Saturday, July 30, 2011
9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Auckland Convention Center
ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre
50 Mayoral Drive
Auckland CBD, AL 1010 NZ

See a list of the speakers HERE.

Pricing details HERE. If you book as a group of four before June 15th, you get a much cheaper price. Prices on their website are in American dollars.

Hillary Weeks is one of the speakers (I just love this woman, honestly), and she performed this song at one of their previous TOFW conferences:

So what do you think? Looks good huh? I'm going, as is my sister and probably my Mum. We think it's an opportunity to be uplifted and inspired like never before. It does cost a bit, but there is plenty of time to put away your pennies and save for it before June 15. After talking to my American friends, I really don't think anyone who has attended TOFW in the past has regretted it, in fact they all rave about it.

Promise me you'll think about it OK? Do something for YOU this year.....because you know you're worth it. :)

Hold onto your hats

2011-02-22T06:26:00.012+13:00

You are going to be so glad you stopped by today - I have some fabulous finds to show you! I love to search the internet for ideas for visiting teaching, family home evening and church in general. This week I stumbled across Simply Fresh Designs, who offer free quiet book downloads for your primary children. I think some of them would be great for new converts too. Click on the headers to be taken to each download page with more information, and click on any photo to see it larger.

We Believe

A simple summary on each card about what we believe in.

Prophets and Apostles

This is an awesome quiet book. What better way for your child (and you) to learn about the prophet and apostles.

Here's a close up of two of the pages.

Book of Mormon Stories

I love this one. The book is 26 pages including the cover and includes the following stories:

Lehi fleeing Jerusalem, Lehi’s Dream, The Liahona, Enos Praying, Mormon Abridging the Plates, King Benjamin, Abinadi, Alma baptizing at the Waters of Mormon, conversion of Alma the Younger, Ammon, Anti-Nephi-Lehies, Moroni and the Title of Liberty, Two Thousand Young Warriors, Samuel the Lamanite, Christ appearing to the Nephites, Christ blessing the children, the Brother of Jared, Mormon & Moroni, and more.

For those in Primary, they have 2011 Primary Theme cards too. They're available in 5x7, 4x6, 3x4 and even poster size. The bigger the size, the more info on it:

How about some Article of Faith cards? They come in 3x4, 4x6 and 8x10 size:

*sigh* Now doesn't all that just make you happy? Makes me happy.Simply Fresh Designs has done such a wonderful job with all of these cards. I printed out a copy of each of these (less the Primary theme cards) at Harvey Normans this week, and slipped them into a 4x6 photo flipbook for my girls. Now during sacrament they can look through these and learn a little something along the way. I'm thinking they'll make great birthday presents to nephews and nieces too....

2011 already?!

2011-01-29T05:46:00.006+13:00

I must apologize for not keeping this blog updated more. Life always gets hectic around Christmas/New Years, and I've not had time to post new things on the site. I will be better about it this year I promise.

2011 brings us a new Relief Society Presidency for Mountfort Ward. Sister Maara Mata is our new President, with Sister Priscilla Pei 1st Counselor, and Sister Opal Higgins 2nd Counselor. I'm still the Secretary (yay!) and we're all excited to be serving the Lord and the sisters of Mountfort Ward.

We have had a lot of new sisters join our ward in the last couple of months. Welcome to each and every one of you - we're excited to have you with us, and look forward to getting to know you better.

It is time once again for Visiting Teaching Interviews. We will do this at the chapel over two evenings: Tuesday 15th and Tuesday 22nd February 2011, starting at 6pm. Look out at church for a signup sheet and put your name down early so you get the time you want.

Our next activity will be on Saturday February 12th, from 6pm to 7.30pm. It's going to be a fun evening where we get to know each other better. We've chosen to have this on a Saturday so the Primary and Young Women teachers can attend. We hope you all can make it. If you cannot find a sitter for your kids at home, the Young Women have kindly agreed to babysit in the nursery room at the chapel during our activity. Please arrive early enough to settle your kids in the nursery before the RS activity starts. Parents please bring a snack for your children.

As I browse the net each day I find some wonderfully uplifting articles and videos that I just can't help sharing. These are my favourites at the moment. Brother John Bytheway is the most AMAZING speaker. He keeps you enthralled throughout, and delivers his message in a wonderfully entertaining way:

And I'm not sure if I've posted this before, but this is my absolute favourite version of "Mary Did You Know". The visuals along with the music put me in Mary's position every time, and the emotion has me crying each and everytime I watch it. It's a powerful video, and quite authentic to how it must have been for Jesus on the Cross, and for Mary to be witnessing it all, so be aware it might be a little 'too real' for little kids.

Here's another version of "Mary Did You Know", this time sung by Clay Aitkin. I love this version too, and the visuals are a lot more kid friendly.

I can watch these over and over. If you've found a really beautiful church song on YouTube, send me an email, or leave a message in the comments here, and I'll link it up in a future post. Have a wonderful week sisters, and I will hopefully see you at our activity on Feb 12th.

Visiting Teaching Gift Ideas

2010-11-13T07:00:00.007+13:00

OK, to all those who didn't make it to our Relief Society Activity last night, you really missed out! We had a great time discovering new ideas for visiting teaching gifts, and came home with several projects we'd made over the course of the evening. (Along with full tummies from Make's delicious stirfry). It was wonderful to have Sister Pei join us too (welcome to our ward by the way). Lots of crafty talent this lady.

There are a lot of ready made resources on the internet in regards to visiting teaching, so I'm going to link you up to the ones we showcased last night. Here goes. Someone let me know if I miss any out:

SURVIVAL KIT. This is an awesome, inexpensive gift for your VT families. The items are generally ones you can find at home, and you can tailor the kit to suit any situation. We did the Scripture Survival Kit for a take home activity, but there are tons of other themes such as:

New Parent Survival Kit
Christmas Survival Kit
Day Care Provider Survival Kit
Getting Old Survival Kit
Hospital Survival Kit
Friendship Survival Kit
Birthday Survival Kit
and a ton more

ADVENT PAPER CHAINS. Oh I love this project. So easy to do too.A great idea for families with children. There is a free download at this link all ready to cut out and put together.
"The links are numbered 1-25 and on each link is a different theme and scripture reference. Hang the chain with 25th link at the top and remove one link each day during December leading up to Christmas, using the scripture for family devotions and the theme as a focus for prayer. It's a handy way to count off the days until Christmas and learn more about the real meaning of the holiday. ~ Jim Elzerman"

Bookmarks. These are so easy to do. Pick a favourite scripture or quote, copy onto tall thin cardboard and decorate. These JESUS CHRIST BOOKMARKS are just beautiful, and can be downloaded from the Visiting Teaching Blog. They look great printed on photo paper so they're all glossy. I print mine at Harvey Normans, as either a 6x4 or 5x7 photo (make sure you select no cropping when printing):

WARM FUZZIES.

This is SUCH a cute project about service. Another way to present it is to fill a baby food jar with pom poms and attach the poem to it. The lady who designed this also put a neat “Nutritional Chart” on the back to help us calculate how many calories we can burn (aka warm fuzzy feelings) from serving others. Super cute.

M&M CHRISTMAS

My favourite visiting teaching gift at Christmas time. Attach the poem to a small bag of M&Ms and voila, one thoughtful, yummy, Christ centered gift all done. Here's the poem:

As you hold these candies in your hand
and turn them, you will see
The ‘M’ becomes a ‘W’,
An ‘E’, and then a ‘3′.

They tell the Christmas Story
I’m sure it’s one you know.
It took place in a stable
A long, long time ago.

The ‘E’ is for the East,
Where the star shone so bright.
The ‘M’ is for the Manger,
where the Baby Jesus slept at night.

The ‘3′ is for the Wise Men,
Bearing gifts, with which they came.
‘W’ is for Worship,
Hallelujah! Praise His Name!

So as you eat these candies
Or share them with a friend,
Remember the meaning of Christmas:
It’s a love that never ends.

Click HERE, to download my ready to print version (A4 sheet with 7 poems).

TIP JUNKIE has a ton of fabulous Christmas Printables - too many to list here, so just go check out her site and see what you can find.

GIFTS IN A JAR

Lots of wonderful ideas here with photos and instructions.

RECHARGE YOUR BATTERIES.
I liked this idea. Visit the website for the printable version and attach to a small packet of batteries.

SIMPLE POP-UP CARDS. Now we didn't have these last night, but how awesome would your sisters feel to receive a handmade card like this? You have to check these out. The cards are amazing, and range from simple to advanced, all with step-by-step instructions:

OK, there are more ideas which I'll post later. Check back as I add them to the bottom of this post.

General Conference

2010-10-09T13:46:00.002+13:00

It's General Conference Weekend here. Are you going? 3pm and 6pm Saturday, 1pm and 4pm Sunday. If you're not able to attend one or all of the sessions, you can watch, read or listen to the talks on the LDS.org website HERE.

You might like to listen to these beautiful songs to lift your spirit too.

Are you ready for October?

2010-09-26T21:55:00.008+13:00

I had a pile of announcements, calendars and notes on my desk with all the October activities on them. Not exactly the tidiest or best way to remember stuff, so I decided to get all organised and collate the information onto one sheet. I'm guessing I'm not the only one trying to keep track of all the church activities in October, so here you go . . . . our Mountfort Ward October Calendar.

3 Oct (Sunday)
General Relief Society Video Broadcast at our chapel at 6pm. The Stake will provide a supper afterwards.

8th Oct (Friday)
Our Relief Society Activity night starts promptly at 6.30pm. Dress tidy/casual. There's nothing like an earthquake in the South Island to get one motivated to sort out Emergency Kits and stuff!

If you have a 72hr kit already, please bring it along for show. Everyone packs theirs different and it's good to have a wide range for the sisters to be inspired by. Bring a snack bar or something you would have in your Emergency 72hr kit for your own supper. It's all about survival sisters!

We will have lots of handouts and information for you on the night, but if you want to start preparing your kits and family emergency plans in the mean time, see this site www.getthru.govt.nz.

9th Oct (Saturday)
General Conference Video sessions, 3pm and 6pm

10th Oct (Sunday)
General Conference Video sessions, 1pm and 4pm

15th Oct (Friday)
Reminder to RS and YW Presidencies about meeting with Sister Julie Beck (RS President) and Sister Mary Cook (1st Counselor YW Presidency) 15th October 6.30pm at Robertson Road Chapel.

22nd Oct (Friday)
Stake Ball 7.00pm to 11.30pm
Formal Dress; 14yrs and older
Rowandale Chapel

23rd Oct (Saturday) - Stake Conference
Priesthood Session 4pm
Evening Session 7pm to 9pm
Rowandale Chapel

24th Oct (Sunday) - Stake Conference
Morning Conference Session 10am to 12noon
Missionary Fireside 7pm
Rowandale Chapel

30th Oct (Saturday)
Justin Williams from American Idol is performing a free show at the new Manurewa Stake Centre as part of his NZ tour, at 7pm on the 30th of October, also featuring the Walmsley Family. Music from Justin's latest album "Familiar Strangers". They will be on the Good Morning TV show on Friday 22nd October any time after 9am. Click HERE for a bigger version of the poster.

30th Oct (Saturday)
Stake Temple Day. Note this is the 5th Saturday of the month, not the 4th as normal. This is due to our Stake Conference being conducted on our regular Temple Day.

31st Oct
No longer having a Stake Temple Fireside this day as noted in Stake Calendar. Has been rescheduled to 28th November.

Testing, testing, anyone still there?

2010-09-11T12:19:00.003+12:00

Was May 24th really my last post?? SORRY! Life got pretty hectic for a while there. We had a great RS Activity last night with the talented Millie showing us how to do flower arranging. I learnt SO much, seriously. Millie has such a beautiful hand with flowers and I love seeing her arrangements at our meetings - she makes it look so easy. Akesa and Susan cooked up some scrumptious low budget dishes for our supper: Chicken noodle stirfry and Nachos. Mmmm.....it's been ages since I last had nachos.

We have our Relief Society Board Meeting on Thursday the 23rd of September. Anyone with a calling in Mountfort Ward Relief Society is invited to attend. (Teachers, Music, Piano, Visiting Teaching Supervisors, Compassionate Service, etc). We'll start with a Pot luck finger food type dinner followed by a little in-house training. It will be at Jacinda's house, starting at 7pm.

Now I just have to share this story I found this morning. With all the calamities going on around the world, this is one feel good story that I promise will warm your heart and maybe even bring out a few tears.

LIFE OF REILLY.

Amazing huh!

I got all motivated this week, what with the Christchurch Earthquakes and all, to finally get my 72 hr kit packed. My girls and I are all sorted, ready for whatever emergency may come, and it has given me great peace of mind just knowing those bags are there should I need them. I do have one or two little things to add (and a couple more bottles of water), so once that's done I'll take some photos and write up a 72hr post here on the blog for those that are interested. HOPEfully I'll have it all written up by the end of next week.

12 year old prodigy

2010-05-24T12:41:00.007+12:00

Sister Gallagher, our former RS President forwarded me this incredible story today. It is a CNN news article about a 12 year old prodigy who's paintings are inspired by visions from Heaven. Most remarkably, the girl grew up in an atheist home...

Lift me up

2010-05-23T07:35:00.000+12:00

Scriptures for Kids

2010-05-09T16:01:00.006+12:00

If you have kids (or plan to have kids) there is a New Zealand website you really need to check out. It's called Scriptures 4 Kids, and is a fantastic resource for parents, children and the whole family. Here's some info from their website:

Mission

The mission of Scriptures 4 Kids is to provide parents with tools that will help them teach their children to love the scriptures and to help children gain a testimony of Jesus Christ.

Scriptures 4 Kids currently offers:

71 stories on 4 different reading levels including audio narration
71 original illustrations
71 thought provoking questions
71 coloring pages
71 original games that teach a gospel principle (2 games currently live, 30 to be released Summer 2010)
71 Family Home Evenings (released weekly)

Join the Daily Scripture Reading Challenge!

Scriptures 4 Kids is challenging children to read their scriptures every day, starting with one month. Oh, and we are not talking about Family Scripture Study (you are probably already doing that)! We want kids to learn the value of individual scripture study. But with Scriptures 4 Kids, individual scripture study is possible even if you are only three years old and even when mom is too busy to squeeze it in! Each month, extend the challenge for one more month and shoot for an entire year! Teach your children the importance of establishing habits while they are young. Help them to understand that if they start now with Scriptures 4 Kids, that someday they will be able to be partakers of the blessings that come with life long daily scripture study.

I love this site! There are Sacrament Activity Packs for Junior and Senior Primary kids, General Conference Activity Packs, Colouring Pages, Family Home Evening Lessons....and a ton of other resources. Go check them out. You can download everything for free, or make a voluntary donation if you like.

Scriptures 4 Kids Website

Scriptures 4 Kids Facebook Page

Follow the Prophet

2010-05-01T21:42:00.004+12:00

Next weeks lesson (May 9th) is taken from Chapter 9 in the Gospel Principles Manual, entitled "Prophets of God". I found this inspiring talk by President Ezra Taft Benson on You Tube titled "Follow the Prophet". It's not the same lesson we'll get next week, but it is a wonderful complement to it, and I highly recommend you take a moment to sit....breathe....and listen.....

Wasn't that great!

On another note, the Relief Society is often called to help feed families-in-need in our ward. Since we don't have a Bishop's storehouse to use, we as a Presidency felt impressed upon to start a Relief Society store cupboard to use in emergencies. We humbly encourage each sister to bring one can of food to donate to the store cupboard each month. Just one can. It can be soup, baked beans, meat...whatever you like. By little things, great things happen. We hope this will help spread the responsibility for welfare among everyone, relieving the pressure off the same sisters who always respond to the call from our Bishop. Thank you so much.

March 2010 General Conference

2010-04-11T06:54:00.004+12:00

Click the link below to go to the official Church Website for the transcripts of the March General Conference. You can read, watch or listen to all the talks.

180th Annual General Conference, April 2010

He Lives

2010-04-01T13:25:00.002+13:00

Hi Sisters! Are you coming to our Relief Society activity on the 9th of April? Sister Talisa is going to give a fascinating talk on how we can use wheat, rice, milk powder, water, and salt and how we can store them too. I'm looking forward to this, as I'm only just starting my store cupboard. Storing food is one thing - actually knowing how to USE it is another.

After Sister Talisa's lesson, we're going to do a service project for our Primary. They need chair covers for the kids chairs, so they know which classes sit where. Sister Siteine is providing the pillowcases (but if you have some plain spare ones at home please do bring them too), and we will do the sewing and decorating. If you have a sewing machine at home please bring it along, as well as some thread and cutting scissors.

If you're not into sewing, please still come along and enjoy a night out with us. It's important that we continue to build friendships and get to know each other. We constantly have new sisters coming into our ward, so this is a good opportunity to get to know them in a casual environment.

Inspirational quotes

2010-03-31T08:23:00.003+13:00

“What a different world and Church this would be if every Latter-day Saint sister excelled at making, renewing, and keeping covenants; if every sister qualified for a temple recommend and worshipped more often in temples; if every sister studied the scriptures and doctrines of Christ and knew them so well that she could teach and defend those doctrines at any time or place. Think of our combined strength if every sister…prayed unceasingly as the Lord has commanded. If every family had family prayer daily and had a family home evening once a week, we would be stronger. If every sister was self-reliant enough to be able to give freely of her knowledge, talents, and resources and if every sister’s discipleship was reflected by what she said and what she wore, we would be immovable in that which is correct.” (Julie B. Beck, What Latter-day Saint Women Do Best: Stand Strong and Immovable, Ensign, Nov 2007)

“Sisters, strengthen yourselves by seeking the source of true strength—the Savior. Come unto him. He loves you. He desires your happiness and exults in your desires for righteousness. Make him your strength, your daily companion, your rod and your staff. Let him comfort you. There is no burden we need bear alone. His grace compensates for our deficiencies. Your strength will strengthen others—your children, your husband, your friends, and your sisters in the gospel. That strength will flow back from them to you when you need it.” (Chieko N. Okazaki, Strength in the Savior, Ensign, Nov. 1993)

“Each of us has a vital role, even a sacred mission to perform as a daughter in Zion. It is a new day, the dawning of a new era. It is our time, and it is our destiny to rejoice as we fill the earth with greater kindness and gentleness, greater love and compassion, greater sympathy and empathy than has ever been known before. It is time to give ourselves to the Master and allow Him to lead us into fruitful fields where we can enrich a world filled with darkness and misery. Each of us, no matter who we are, no matter where we serve, must arise amd make the most of each opportunity that comes. We must follow the counsel given by the Lord and His servants and make our homes houses of prayer and havens of security and safety. We can and must deepen our faith by increasing our obedience and sacrifice. In this individual process a miracle will take place. The Relief Society will begin to stretch and reach out to the millions in need. It will continue to become an organization that brings relief and rejoicing. This will happen one sister at a time. We will unite in our righteousness and truly partake of the fruit of the tree of life together. The fruits of our labors can heal the world, and, sisters, in the process they can heal us too!” (Mary Ellen Smoot, Rejoice, Daughters of Zion, Ensign, Nov 1999)

Charity: An example of the believers

2010-02-20T20:45:00.003+13:00

Wow, OK, sorry for not updating this more regularly. I found this beautiful video on the LDS YouTube channel today and had to share:

The window through which we look

2010-02-05T22:19:00.001+13:00

A young couple moved into a new neighborhood
The next morning while they were eating breakfast,
The young woman saw her neighbor hanging the wash outside.

'That laundry is not very clean,' she said.
'She doesn't know how to wash correctly.
Perhaps she needs better laundry soap.'

Her husband looked on, but remained silent.

Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry,
The young woman would make the same comments.

About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a
Nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband:

'Look, she has learned how to wash correctly.
I wonder who taught her this.'

The husband said, 'I got up early this morning and
Cleaned our windows.'

And so it is with life. What we see when watching others
Depends on the purity of the window through which we look.

(I found this little life lesson courtesy of Purple Diva's blog).

Let your light shine

2010-01-21T14:07:00.000+13:00

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” – Maryanne Williamson

Family Home Evening Inspiration

2009-12-29T16:14:00.003+13:00

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!

2009-12-27T23:32:00.003+13:00

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

2009-12-19T07:02:00.004+13:00

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

2009-12-13T11:36:00.011+13:00

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

2009-11-30T20:27:00.009+13:00

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

2009-11-21T23:06:00.005+13:00

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

2009-11-19T20:43:00.003+13:00

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

2009-11-14T16:09:00.005+13:00

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

2009-11-07T20:26:00.003+13:00

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?

2009-11-03T13:36:00.003+13:00

Looking for a good deal?

2009-10-26T20:57:00.003+13:00

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

2009-10-11T09:16:00.002+13:00

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

2009-10-04T20:24:00.009+13:00

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

2009-09-28T10:45:00.002+13:00

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

2009-09-21T21:05:00.002+12:00

Update 15 September

2009-09-15T21:46:00.013+12:00

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

2009-09-08T22:01:00.005+12:00

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

2009-09-08T06:40:00.001+12:00

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

2009-09-01T22:44:00.002+12:00

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

2009-08-30T22:18:00.004+12:00

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

2009-08-28T21:26:00.005+12:00

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

2009-08-21T20:45:00.007+12:00

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!

2009-08-12T20:48:00.006+12:00

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

2009-08-06T23:50:00.004+12:00

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

2009-07-31T14:33:00.009+12:00

"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.”

We're all go!

2009-07-21T22:24:00.004+12:00

Welcome to the Mountfort Ward Relief Society Blog! You will see on the sidebar to the right, links to the current visiting teaching message, Relief Society Lessons for the month, upcoming activities and also some links to helpful church sites. If you click on those links, you will be taken directly to the relevant page on the official LDS.org website. We will endeavour to post interesting articles and inspirational messages that will educate and uplift you, and the odd recipe or two so the belly is being fed while the soul is being nourished :D

Feel free to email or call the Relief Society Secretary (contact details in the monthly newsletter) if you have suggestions or ideas for the blog. We are excited about this new method of communication for our sisters. It will not replace the newsletter, but complement it, and we hope you will find it useful in the months to come.

Serving you with love,
Mountfort Ward Relief Society Presidency