Relief Society Birthday

Like I mentioned last post, my ward and I are celebrating the 171st birthday of Relief Society this month! The activities committee and I have been working hard to make sure everything is all set and ready. We have an incredibly talented ward. I have been feeling so grateful for the many ways women chip in, use their talents, and give of their time to help us create an environment where we can celebrate the goodness of this society; it being a truly extraordinary one!

It sounds so stupid, but I feel really happy because we were able to do things in a cost effective way by using coupons, looking for sales, and using materials we already had on hand. I kept praying that we would use the money we have been allotted in a wise way (because I get concerned about these silly little things), and I feel that Heavenly Father helped direct all of us to the right places for the supplies we needed.

Because it has been such a labor of love, I thought I would share what it looked like, what the program was like, and how the sisters responded to the evening. (Not to tout my ego, but to totally brag about how excellent Relief Society is, and how fun it can be to be involved!)

For our program we had planned to show two video clips about the organization of the Relief Society. Unfortunately that didn't happen because of technical difficulties (which inevitably happens!) We made the best of it. Our Relief Society president spoke and gave a message we all needed to hear. Our committee member who conducted did a wonderful job also tying in our hoped for message into the night. I spoke briefly (and of course got hormonally teary...) about the empowerment of our society and the vision of it. Then we did a little activity where we passes out cards in envelopes (so the ladies could keep it personal and private), and we asked them three questions:
-How has Relief Society personally impacted your life?
-How has Relief Society personally impacted your family? and,
-How has Relief Society impacted the world in your opinion?

I feel like its hard to tell if the meeting was a huge success or not, mostly because I was in and out 95% of the night making sure everything was a-okay. But I do think some main things were addressed, and as my husband reminded me, those who wanted to gain something did. I just have this tendency to want to make everything turn into a powerful spiritual moment, when in reality what happened tonight was probably what needed to happen.

I give huge props to all the ladies who contributed so much. We had amazing cake (I'm not joking! This stuff is worthy of being injected into your veins ;)), lovely decorations (put together with the loving dedication and time of several ladies), and fabulous people who brought food for us to share and enjoy. We were very blessed, let me get real!