September Relief Society Meeting

In September we will be learning about Children's Literature.  This is the perfect time to come learn what kinds of books to buy for your nieces and nephews and grandkids this Christmas.  Taught by Bishop Nelson, we are really going to have fun with this. If you have questions or children with special needs, write your questions down and give them to someone in the RS Pres and we'll make sure they get to him so he can answer your questions.  Very exciting! Hope to see you there! September 12 at 7:00 p.m. As always there will be treats of some kind, and child care!

Beginner Sewing

We had a great RS Meeting learning to do some basic but not basic sewing stitches. Hemming is something we all have to do at one time or another, unless you prefer to wear your pants until they hem themselves!  Helen showed us how to do a nice neat hem that doesn't take any longer than getting out the iron and using that iron on stuff. It may take a bit longer than a stapler, but it will look a whole lot better!  It was a very simple stitch... but not something I would have figured out on my own.  And hemming STRETCHY fabric! We turned out cloth the other direction and learned how to sew a hem that works with all that lycra spandex and knit stuff.  It was AWESOME! You can't even do that on many machines! So nice and neat. And we sewed on buttons neatly too.  It was a treat to be able to sit with these fun sisters and learn a useful skill!

Make Your Own Kids Quiet Toys!

We had a fabulous Relief Society Activity in July learning to make Kids Quiet Toys! Here are some pictures!

Just a quiet toy to buy

kids love to staple.  Include bits of paper with the tiny stapler

Great use for all those extra stickers you get in the mail. Include paper or envelopes for them to stick them on

Cards you can lace help with that shoe tying hand eye coordination!

Download dot pictures and use stickers or a bingo marker

Clothespins and paint chips, some glue and you have a matching game! 

Above you can see the "Tops and Tails" matching game

Paint with water, no mess!

Another fun matching game for early readers

Matching the fruits and the vegetables

Paper dolls with magnets... and lots of fun outfits. Don't forget the case to keep them together.

Dinosaurs match to their eggs, a little more complex matching game

Letter sound practice with cards (laminated) and clothespins

Instructions and puppets

Find It Game, using a magnifying glass

More Find It and 5 little monkeys

Recognizing patterns, many ways

Find it ideas

There were a lot more ideas and we made some hands on activites to bring home and that was awesome.  I'll try to get more pictures up for that.

Tuesday Relief Society Activity! Getting to Know You!

It's that time again! We need to have some fun and get to know each other.  Tuesday June 13 at 7pm.  In July our activity will include making toys to entertain and teach children... great for any age! Wish I had had this class before I had kids!  Tuesday July 11 at 7pm

In August we will be in charge of cleaning the building.  It's about an hour on Friday or Saturday to make sure the building is ready for church Sunday.  Please sign up, we'd like two families each weekend.  Get to know another family by doing service together!!

Thanks for all you do!!

Stake Service Making Hats

Just ask and we'll give you a loom and some yarn! Thanks for helping out with this service project!

Happy June, Sisters!

So school is out and it’s time to enjoy some sleeping in (I hope!) and some summer fun.  We are having some great RS events coming up to facilitate that.  June 13 is a Getting to Know You activity, we will be learning about each other and having fun.  Bring a snack you like and an item that is important to you.  In July we will be making really fun really inexpensive toys for kids.  Unplug and come to our fun activities!!

We also have ongoing service projects, there is one the stake is doing for making hats for cancer patients.  Knit, crochet or loom a hat and donate it to the cancer center.  We have yarn and looms if you’d like to get busy with that! Also keep saving and flattening your plastic bags, making “Plarn” and crocheting bag mats for the homeless.  If all you can do is save bags, that helps too.  There is a quick youtube video on the bag mats and making plarn, you can do it with a cutting mat and rolling cutter or just scissors and a ruler.  We make circles 4” wide, loop them together and “Plarn.” If you would like to learn to crochet this is the time! It’s really easy and because the plarn is so big (using a Q hook to crochet it) you see a lot of progress fast!

There are a lot of ways to help out the people around us. Sometimes just giving someone a call can be a huge blessing to them.  There are a lot of lonely people in the world.  I’m challenging myself to call one person a week to cheer them up and see if they need anything.  I hope you decide to do this too!!  Even in this small service we may see amazing things happen.

I love to set goals and I keep revising my steps and tweaking my habits to make my time more productive and make progress toward being the person my Heavenly Father knows I can be.  I wish I could visit every sister in the ward every month, but I just can’t.  I hope you help me and reach out to those around you and let me know if there is something I can do for you or someone you know.  Praying for our ward is something we are encouraged to do each Fast and Testimony meeting.  I fasted today that I would be more able to meet the needs of sisters and specifically what to say to one sister who is having a difficult time.  I don’t want to offend anyone and so often people choose to be offended where no offence is meant, and it’s hard to know what to say… then many times I decide not to say anything because I am afraid they’d take it wrong… but I don’t want them to feel left out either.  So let’s try not to be offended this month! Let’s take everything people say to us in the best possible light.  You can show the light of Christ by being charitable to those who reach out to you and take it the way the Lord would appreciate if He were talking to you. 

Thank you for being my sisters! Heidi

Welcome Ladies!

We have some wonderful people who are just coming back to church, who are here for the summer, who are here for school, or who have moved in. Of course, we have a lot of people who have lived in Lafayette for many years and are awesome and amazing too!

We are excited to merge these groups with Visiting Teaching.  We have the opportunity to get more companions (many of our sisters visit on their own, and many more have letter routes) and reach more sisters to make sure we meet their needs.

I'm sure if you had someone to visit and found that because you never bothered to make contact, she never came to church, you would feel awful. Fortunately, we usually don't get the blame so directly!  It is so important that we reach out and try just a little harder to fellowship each other.  If you feel a need isn't being met or can't find the right way to meet a need, please share your concerns with your visiting teaching supervisor or the RS President.  This includes those you visit teach and those you feel prompted to call, check on or contact.  Even a text message can be a lifeline to someone in need.

Thanks for working with the new routes and for those with companions from the Young Women, I would appreciate feedback especially. I haven't heard how it's going.  Because the visiting teaching is all online, it is a great tool for Bishops and Elders Quorum, High Priest Group and Missionaries to know who teaches whom.  However it does not note that you are the only person who knows this person, or that you have a special connection to someone... and truly, just because she is no longer on your list, does that mean she's no longer your sister? No longer your friend? You no longer care about her? Of course not! There are sisters I don't visit teach officially but would not count my month complete without contacting them too.  Reach out and let someone else get to know your treasured friend too.

Thanks for reading! Hopefully we will have photos to post soon!