December 2011

"An Extensive Sphere of Action"

"There is no sister so isolated, and her sphere so narrow but what she can do a great deal towards establishing the Kingdom of God upon the earth."  --Eliza R. Snow

('Cause a Christmas ornament is a sphere. . . . Get it?)

November 2011

"A Living Testimony"

"I'm thankful for my testimony."

(A scarecrow was the best I could do for something Thanksgiving-y.)

October 2011

If We Do Not Doubt

"Be like the mothers of the stripling warriors."

I had to order these from Deseret Book and it wasn't cheap.  In retrospect, it's October, so I should've bought something mummy-related and put "Be like the mummies of the stripling warriors."

September 2011

Strengthening Families by Increasing Spirituality

"Strengthen your family ties by strengthening your spiritual ties."

August 2011

A Society of Holy Women

"We are hole-y women!"

July 2011

Come to the Temple and Claim Your Blessings

"Stick to your goals to go to the temple."

June 2011

"Strengthening Families through Temporal Self-Reliance"

"Developing self-reliance--the ability to care for ourselves and our families--is the responsibility of every sister. . . . When we are self-reliant, we use our blessings and resources to prepare for and avoid problems."

May 2011

"LDS Women Are Incredible!"

I tried to find Incredibles or Incredible Hulk toys, but couldn't find a thing!

(Note: I know it's pick-your-own month, but my mom's ward (I'm not a visiting teacher now) picks for them.)

April 2011

The Purpose of Relief Society

It's Easter season, so I got little bunnies.

"Increasing Faith,

Strengthening Families,

Providing Relief --

Some-bunny's got to do it!"

March 2011

Under the Priesthood and after the Pattern of the Priesthood

"The priesthood and Relief Society work together to season the world."

I found these little salt and pepper shaker sets at Michaels for $1.

Personal Progress: Divine Nature #4

For this activity, I had the girls put on a name tag, but with the name of a TV or movie character.  They were to act like that character while we played some card games for 20 minutes.  Afterward, we talked about how their behavior changed when they took on someone else's name.

Then I talked about how our behavior should change when we take on Christ's name and how we should honor that name.

For a treat, since this one is about the sacrament, we had small bottles of water and Twinkies (which look like little loaves of bread . . . right?).

Hindsight Advice:
-Let them know in advance that they will be acting.  It makes it easier to come up with ideas.  (Personally, I should've been Gru from Despicable Me and when it was my turn at Go Fish, just frozen the other players and taken the cards I needed!)
-20 minutes is a long time to play a dollar store game of Go Fish.  That's all I could afford, though, and I didn't realize it'd be lamer than a regular version.

February 2011

"A Restoration of All Things"

My original intention for this one was to buy bottles of Act Restoring mouthwash and have a note that said, "When the church was RESTORED, the Relief Society got in on the ACT."  But that doesn't come in trial sizes and was too expensive to buy.

Since it's February, I got Valentine's candy and will put a note that says, "Because God loves us, he created the Relief Society when he restored the Gospel."

January 2011

The History and Heritage of Relief Society

For January's gift, I bought small calendars at Michael's (on clearance for 50 cents).  I will put a note that says all the visiting teaching messages for 2011 will be about the history of the Relief Society.