Relief Society General Broadcastby Angie

Sun
28 Sep 2008
7:09 pm
0

I almost didn’t go to the RS Broadcast last night because my cold was still bothering me, and I knew it would be available online in a day or two.  Late in the day, though, I was feeling slightly better, so I arranged for dinner to be in the oven for Jim to feed the Elders who were coming over that night, got dressed up, and headed out the door at 5:50.  When I arrived at the chapel, no one was there!  I came home (much to the surprise of Jim, Jon, and the Elders who were sitting down to eat) and called Irene – our RS President – to ask her what had happened.  Well, I was confused: it didn’t start until 7, so I got to eat dinner after all, and then drove back to the chapel half an hour later.

I’m so glad I went!  The Presidency’s messages were wonderful, but my favorite was definitely Elder Uchtdorf’s talk, which was about our heritage of happiness:  that we can partake of God’s joy by emulating His creativity and compassion.  It was simply wonderful.  I especially loved the description of his “heroic” cooking skills, and was able to delight Jim by telling him that he and Elder Uchtdorf have a specialty dish in common: fried eggs!

Welcoming in the Olympics!by Angie

Tue
5 Aug 2008
8:08 pm
2

Our Relief Society enrichment activity this month was an International pot-luck in honor of the 2008 Summer Olympics.  We each brought a foreign dish to share as well as the recipe to share; the recipes will be compiled into a cookbook so all the sisters in the ward can have a copy.  There were lots of delicious things to eat!  I made Hungarian Ham Stack, and it was a real hit.  Everyone was amazed at all the layers, and they were even more impressed to learn that my husband made the palacsintas (crepes – sort of) for me to layer with the ham sauce to make the dish!  The recipe is on the ‘Try-Me Night” page if you want to see it.

We played some games as well: for one, we each guessed how many countries were participating in the olympics this year.  I guessed 184, but it was actually over 200 hundred, and someone else guessed almost exactly right.  For another game, Irene Sanchez had color-copied sheets with pictures of various national flags.  We teamed up to see which pair of sisters could lable all of the flags (accurately) first.  And guess what – Karrie Harrison & I won!  There were flags from Canada, China, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Italy, Iraq, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and more.  It was very exciting!

So, here’s an international flag trivia question for our readers:  Which is the only national flag that is neither square nor rectangular???

Jennifer’s Gardenby Angie

Fri
16 May 2008
9:05 am
0

On Tuesday our Gardening Group met at Jennifer’s home to help plant her vegetable garden.  Her husband built grow boxes last year in their backyard; now they are filled with watermelon, squash, and zucchini seedlings.  We also planted tomato plants in containers, and potted some herbs and flowers as well.  We had a great time!


Another Calling!by Angie

Sun
11 May 2008
5:05 pm
1

I was sustained to a new calling today: Relief Society Secretary! I am very excited about it – our Presidency is just wonderful and I am thrilled to be working with them. Bishop Royster intends to release me as an instructor soon, but they don’t have anyone else lined up yet. For now, I’ll have both callings – and will teach next week as usual.

By the way, Happy Mothers Day to both our amazing Moms (Kathy & Pam!), our wonderful Grandmothers (Packard, Groo, and Carol!), and Kali, and all the other wonderful women who have helped make us who we are!

My New Callingby Angie

Thu
6 Mar 2008
2:03 pm
5

Joseph Smith ManualWell, when I wrote a while back about being asked to teach Relief Society at the last minute, I didn’t realize that it was an audition!

Yep, I have received a new calling and was sustained and set apart on Sunday as a Relief Society Instructor. I’m very excited! I’m a little nervous, too, but I hope that after a few lessons I’ll get over that. I get to teach once a month (every third Sunday), from the new Joseph Smith Manual. This will be so fun!

Off the Cuffby Angie

Sun
17 Feb 2008
6:02 pm
1

So, Jim and I had a lovely quiet morning – slept in a little, got up and got ready, walked to choir practice, had a nice rehearsal, peaceful walk home… Then, just a few minutes after we walked in the door, the phone rang. It was Carolynn Hoopes (one of the counselors in our Relief Society), calling to ask me if I could teach today.

Wow. I have never taught a Relief Society lesson before in my entire life, and now I had less than three hours to prepare one. Luckily, it was about Joseph Smith as a special witness of the Savior – so, having been a missionary was strongly in my favor. The chapter in the manual was beautifully written, so that made it fun, too. I regret to say that I have not been in the habit of reading the lesson before going to class, so I was even less prepared for the call than I could have been, but I am now determined to do my reading every week like I should.

I was very nervous but the lesson went well and, amazingly, took just the right amount of time! It was a scary experience but, overall, a good one. To thank me for my impromptu lesson, Carolynn and her kids walked over to our condo after church and brought us an angel food cake and a huge package of fresh strawberries!  That definitely made it all worth the effort.

A New Friend for Jaquieby Angie

Wed
28 Nov 2007
10:11 am
2

Now that we’re home, I wanted to post a follow-up on my previous cat-sitting dilemma. Actually, there was a great lesson learned from it: Relief Society Presidents know everything. It’s true – I told our ward Relief Society President my strange problem, and immediately she responded, “Kayla Coolbear. She’s your girl.”

And she was! Kayla is a college student who lives with her parents, in our ward. I met her before we left and tried to introduce her to Jaquie, but she ran under the bed and hid (Jaquie did, not Kayla). I apologized, but Kayla told me that she also has a very shy cat, so she completely understood the reaction, and didn’t mind taking some time to gain Jaquie’s trust. She was wonderful!

When we arrived home late Sunday night, Jaquie was very pleased to see us, but she wasn’t totally wild all night or the next day, like she was the last time we left town. I really think it went well, and I’m glad Jaquie has a new friend.