Find Waldo...

My children (and grandchildren) love the books I have that are part of the FIND WALDO series. They know that Waldo is part of a very intricate picture and his appearance is often woven into a very normal landscape - their job is to find him in each illustration.
General Conference (this weekend, Oct 1 &2, 11-1pm & 3-5pm, at the church or on BYUTV or on your computer at lds.org) to me is just like a FIND WALDO book. I know, I mean I really KNOW that my Father in Heaven is talking to me during conference. Conference is like having my own Personal Priesthood Interview with Him.
BUT, it is up to me to find those "golden nuggets of thought" that apply to my cares and worry. So I sit with my notepad and write the thoughts that come - KNOWING - He is speaking to ME! The conversation would go like this "Put this in there for Jeanne, she will recognize those words and that I am speaking to her."
As the Relief Society President at this time, I am aware of many of the cares and worries of the sisters in this ward. I also know that there are a multitude of distractions on the first Saturday and Sunday of October. However, I have a deep and abiding faith that He makes these conferences possible so He can give us - individually - very specific comfort and direction. And these promptings can change the course of our thinking, our feelings, and hopefully our lives.
It is up to us, to FIND HIM!

"WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER", AND WE WERE " REALLY" ALL PACKED INTO THE CULTURAL HALL TOGETHER.

Our Relief Society Presidency wants to thank all of you wonderful Sisters and Young Women for the tremendous turnout we had at our activity last evening. We fed well over 80 people including our "valiant" priesthood volunteers in the nursery.

A big thank-you to Bonnie Muir who supervised the food, to Natalie Marstella and Liz Rich who were co-chairs of the activity and planned all those fun crafts. To Amber Bateman, Kara Hall, Stephanie Manwaring, Katie Petersen, Alissa John , and of course Liz and Natalie again who brought their expertise to helped with the crafts.

We loved hearing from all the tables, the experiences you found in common - We are each different, yet as Sisters and Young Women, and Daughters of God - we have many things in common, and we need each other, oh, how we need each other!

We are so grateful to the Priesthood Quorums, who signed up to set up, take down, clean up and tend children - you are the best!

And lastly, thanks to all of YOU who brought your big smiles, your welcoming hugs and your lovely Spirits. We will post pictures soon.

FORGET NOT....

I enjoyed the Relief Society General Broadcast held on September 24th. I especially enjoyed the talk given by President Uchtdorf on the "FORGET NOTS" of life.
Two points he made hit home with me -
1. "Forget Not" the difference between a good sacrifice and a foolish sacrifice (do you notice they seldom use the word "bad").
2. "Forget Not" to be HAPPY NOW!
As I think about our upcoming Relief Society/Young Women Quarterly Meeting "We're All in This Together" on September 28th, both points apply.
Making time to associate with, help, and foster good feelings amongst women of all ages has to be a good sacrifice. No matter what is going on in our lives on this Wednesday - this just has to be considered something very worthy.
And the second "truth", to BE HAPPY NOW, must be considered as we celebrate and encourage these young women that it will be so fun to grow up and "fill" or fit into our shoes.
WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER as we try to become "Daughters in His Kingdom"!

Service

Yesterday Sister Fronda Wiseman gave the RS lesson on finding joy in service. She talked about how when we serve others, our own trials seem more manageable. Fronda encouraged us to accept Sister Allred's invitation (from the General RS Broadcast Saturday night) to participate in miracles by following the Spirit's promptings as we answer others' prayers through service. Fronda read from a children's picture book that I wanted to put on this blog for anyone interested in reading it.

This Weekend

SATURDAY

5:30pm dinner, 7:00pm General Relief Society Broadcast
Richardson Stake Center
(on Bowser Road between Spring Valley Drive and Centennial Blvd, east of Hwy 75)
Church Attire
If you need a ride, please call your visiting teacher.
We hope to see you there!
Click here to learn more about this broadcast

SUNDAY

Our lesson for Relief Society is based on two General Conference talks this week.

President Eyring's talk Opportunities to do Good

and

Elder Ballard's talk Finding Joy through Loving Service

Please read these talks before our lesson so you will be prepared to share your thoughts and insights.

Daughters in My Kingdom

I love the new Relief Society book - DAUGHTERS IN MY KINGDOM. It is to be used as a home, personal, and teaching resource for us in the coming years. It clearly states the purpose of Relief Society.
With all our recent converts, I find this book especially timely.
I feel it is easy, at times, to think of Relief Society as an option of what we "might" be involved in - if we have the time or inclination.
This book reminds us that this organization is divine - organized by the Lord; through His prophet; and directed with the appropriate keys and priesthood authority.
If you have not received a copy of DAUGHTERS IN MY KINGDOM, please tell a member of the Relief Society Presidency. The Lord wants this book in every woman's hand.

Rotate Your Rolled Oats With This Granola Recipe!

I met Bonnie Muir at the grocery store just before our last "Fun With Food Storage" meeting. We were swapping stories and comparing notes on granola recipes. She has one she loves that I would like to try. The recipe from our meeting was more like a granola "bar", and hers is more like a crunchy cereal, made in a larger quantity that will keep longer. Very practical! What a great way to go through those rolled oats. It costs a little more to make in the beginning, but it lasts: therefore, it saves you money over time in not having to buy several boxes of cereal. Can we all say...ROTATE???!!!

Here's the Recipe.....

PERFECT GRANOLA

13 cups rolled oats

1 cup white flour or whole wheat flour

1 cup honey

1 cup vegetable or coconut oil

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons vanilla

2 cups wheat germ

2 cups brown sugar

16 oz. coconut

2 cups sunflower seeds

1 1/2 cups water

Mix together and place on two large cookie sheets. Bake at 200 degrees for 1-2 hours stirring every 20 minutes or until golden brown. Store in cans or plastic containers.

Makes 40 1/2 servings.

Crafts for Sept 28

We are so excited for our upcoming activity 

"We're All In This Together" on SEPTEMBER 28 at 7PM.

• Below, you will see the crafts we are doing that night. We ask that you sign up for which craft(s) you want to do, but we will not be collecting any money until that night. Please bring exact change or a check (as we will not be able to provide change for large bills).
• If you invite your neighbor, friend, and/or a visiting teaching sister, please sign up for a craft for them so we will have enough supplies that night!
• You can sign up for crafts via the Sign-Up sheets (passed around in RS) or via email to dallas.fourth@gmail.com. 
• Keep in mind that we will only have 1 hour for crafts that night. 
• If you don't want to do any of the crafts, no worries! We still want you to come to the activity and enjoy friends, food, and fun!

HANDMADE BODY SCRUBS

 Large jar (above): $5
Small jar (below): $3
Plan on about 20 minutes per jar.

FLOWER NECKLACE

$5 if the Relief Society provides the fabric for you
$4 if you bring your own fabric (you will need about 1/4 to 1/3 yard of fabric)
Plan on spending about 25 minutes per necklace. If you bring your own scissors and hot glue gun, it will be faster.

TEMPLE MOLDS

$0.50 for the mold only
$1 for the mold on tile (above)
$3 for the mold on a gold charger (below)
$3 for the mold on a wire stand (not pictured)
Each mold will take about 10 minutes total

Gathering of Israel

Sisters,
I am in love with our lesson for Sunday 9-18-11. Chapter 42 explains what the "House of Israel" is and how it will be gathered. The lesson explains it in a clear and simple way. If you read the lesson, you will never again wonder "now, exactly what is the House of Israel?" or where did it come from, who is in it or how it will be gathered. What a relief! See you Sunday.

Shirlee

"We are all in this together"

Relief Society and Young Women of the Dallas 4th Ward are getting together for a combined activity. The date is Wednesday, SEPTEMBER 28TH at 7:oo p.m. We will start with a dinner, and then three Crafts will be available to do at a minimal cost. We started signups today on the crafts, and signups will be available for two more weeks. It is important to sign-up, as we will be buying supplies, and want to be sure we cover everyone who wants to do a craft. You may want to sit and visit, and that's okay too.

We asked today, for you to hang on to the little flag that was stuck in the apple you received. If you bring that little flag with you to the party - you have a chance to win a "valuable prize".

We have a few fun suprises for you too. So circle your calendar, if your assigned visiting teaching sisters have not been to Church lately, be sure and contact them - maybe offer a ride, so they will feel more comfortable coming. Also, be a missionary - if you have a friend or neighbor who would enjoy the fellowship, invite them out.

We are all here in the "second estate". Each of us is trying to live the gospel, be missionaries to those around us, and fulfill our callings as Visiting Teachers. Here is a quality event, where you can feel confident to bring people, but it will require a little extra effort on your part. I hope we will all make the effort, because "We are all in this together!"

Sister Guerreiro will be posting the crafts with pictures on this blog to help you sign up - so be looking for that.

Postmortal Life

This Sunday's RS lesson is found in the Gospel Principles manual, chapter 41. President Ezra Taft Benson has a great article that pertains to this subject. I encourage us to read it as we prepare for this Sunday. You can find it by clicking on the name of the talk here: "Life is Eternal" (June 1971 Ensign)

Women and Books

We had our Book Interest Group meeting at Barbara Doerk's home last night. She is a generous hostess and there is always something fun to eat!
We discussed books we had read or not read over the summer months. And it reminded me of a Relief Society memory.
My mother was a convert to the church and one of the founding members of a small branch in the Imperial Valley, California. She often served in the Relief Society Presidency and as a teacher too. They met on Tuesdays and had a different course of study for each week. My mother's favorite was the week of "Cultural Refinement". The text was called, "Out of the Best Books", and it was an anthology of all the best of human literature down through the ages. Mother found the discussions very invigorating and gave her something to think about besides her 11 children (her words - not mine)!
We now meet only on Sunday so our lessons are of a different nature. The leaders have given us the concept of having the "invigorating" discussions our mothers might have had on the old Tuesday or Wednesday Relief Society Meetings in the form of "Interest Groups".
Hence, this reading group. For some, they would like reading to be stimulating like a good hike or a long jog/run. For others it is passive entertainment used to distract from the everyday.
BUT, as we saw/experienced last night, there are as many reasons and books to read as there are women!

'OUR KAY HOLLINGSWORTH"

Thirty-five or so years ago, when I moved into the Dallas 4th Ward, lovely Kay Hollingsworth was one of the stalwart "worker bees". She has served in many callings in the ward, and I know personally my family, has received many meals from her kitchen . She gave two of my daughter's showers when they got married, and helped me work on genealogy problems at the library. Kay, has always exhibited to me, a servant's heart.

Now, of course, age and disability are taking over Kay's mind and body, but her sweet, giving Spirit still shines through. She is appreciative of your visits, and loves to hold your hand, and feel that loving touch. Those of you who have known and loved Kay, we hope you will make the time to visit her. She is within our Ward Boundaries at 6908 Quarterway Drive, just off Beltline, right on Meadowcreek, and the third right is Quarterway. You can visit her at anytime, just try to avoid mealtimes for your convenience.

Sunflowers bring me "light"

I wanted to post a thank you to Karen Bateman (who had September birthdays) and Joyce Hall who just did an amazing job with August birthdays and Ruth Guerreiro and Alissa Post who also help with all the birthdays for the sisters in our Dallas 4th Relief Society. (Each member of the presidency takes a month of sisters!)
I just opened my festive yellow birthday bag with the yellow ribbon and the pretty sunflower - even the wrapping made me smile and feel special! I just love these women who take such time and skill to choose these gifts/remembrances on our birthday months.
This is something done by them - on their "own dime" - and I am touched by the care and thought I see in these offerings.
Once again, I feel the light and love in this ward and I wanted to share it with you!