What happened on Sunday

1. It was great to have lots of lovely visitors in our Ward today. We hope you all felt welcome. It was also lovely to have Sister Lee with us and our Stake Relief Society Presidency. They all bring a special spirit with them.
2. Visiting Teaching Workshop will be held on Thursday 16th October (so keep posted for a new date for Quilting in October)
3. Please remember Barbara in your prayers at this time. Don's funeral will be held at the Chapel at 2 pm Monday.
4. Could you also please remember Charmaine, Heather and Karenne who are, or will be shortly, in hospital and will need our prayers to help them at this time.
5. Sister Louella shared a brief message with us about missionary work (a reminder of the lesson the Stake presented in our Ward a few weeks ago at Ward Conference) and asked us how we were going praying for the courage to share the gospel - how are we going?
6. Sister Diana in 5 minute music spoke about Elder McConkie last testimony of the Savior, she read some of it, and then we sang the last verse of the hymn he wrote "I Believe in Christ". The spirit was very strong.
7. Sister Kristy shared the lessson today about testimonies from a talk by Elder Oaks. She quotes from Elder Oaks 'A testimony of the gospel is not a travelogue, a health log, or an expression of love for family members. It is not a sermon. President Kimball taught that the moment we begin preaching to others, our testimony is ended.' We discussed the steps in getting a testimony, and the importance of sharing our testimonies. She suggested we read this talk at home. Please do so, there is a powerful message in this talk for us all.

Rag Dolls

Here are the photos of the dolls we will be making at the quilting group. To begin with we will be making the simple rag doll that is suitable for little ones to play with (as per the boy photo, you can make a girl version if you wish). After that we may progress to the more advanced 'show' model that is better to just be on display and 'loved' from a distance rather than chewed and thrown about and stomped on!

New Nursery Manual

You are probably wondering why the Relief Society blog is talking about the new Nursery Manual! Well, for two reasons. Two of the objectives of the Relief Society organisation is to:-

• -Strengthen and Protect Families, and


• -Build Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and Teach the Doctrines of the Kingdom of God. (Quote from general handbook)
• 
  This manual can help us as families to strengthen and protect families and build faith in our Savior whilst teaching pure doctrine.

For this reason we are really excited about the new manual that has been produced, not only for those who serve in the Nursery but also for all families of young children. It is a wonderful resource, has beautiful pictures and teaches the basic doctrines of the church - and hey, don't we all need to be reminded of those basis truths that will help us to learn how to live so we can return to our Father in Heaven again.

Would make a great Christmas gift and can be purchased from the Distribution Centre in Sydney by calling 1300 304 045 or online at http://www.ldscatalog.com/. The cost is $8.20.

Food Storage Bargains

shelfreliance.com.au have a spring special on at the moment. They sell the rotating can holders. We recently bought the Cansolidator pantry (each holds up to 40 cans). At the moment they are $59.95 each, if you buy four, you can save $64.50 and they are offering free shipping for a limited time. We ordered some on the Monday, they arrived at our doorstep on the Thursday.

Check out their website for all their products. If you do have a bit of spare tax return money it's worth checking out.

And speaking of cans you probably all know about the cans that are on sale at Chickenfeed at the moment 5 cans for $4 - 410g size. I could only see pears but there may be other types of fruit available. They are canned in syrup but in a time of need you might need the added sugar kick!

Our love to Barbara

Dear Barbara's husband Don, passed away peacefully on Wednesday. We hope that Barbara feels all our love and prayers that are being sent her way at this time and know that the knowledge of a life hereafter is bringing Barb and her family peace at this time.

"Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection - Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men... are taken home to that God who gave them life."
(Alma 40:11)

What happened on Sunday

1. It was great to have Emma with us in Relief Society.
2. Jill asked for those who were interested in having cottage meetings in their homes. Please let Jill know if you are able to open your home for these meetings.
3. The Young Mothers will meet together this week for a planning meeting (check your email)
4. Visiting Teaching Workshop will be held on the 9th October at the Chapel, a meal will be served. More details soon.
5. Diana shared with us some peaceful music from a CD that Fran has put out with the group she plays with.
6. The lesson this week was Lesson 13 - "Obedience: When the Lord Commands, Do It".

• "When we seek to know God's will and do everything He commands us to do, the blessings of heaven will rest upon us...
• 'As a Church and a people it behooves us to be wise, and to seek to know the will of God, and then be willing to do it" (that's the hard part - be willing to do it, it's easy to know what we are meant to be doing, it's another thing to actually do it!)
• "God gives laws that will prepare us for celestial rest if we obey them".

Sisters I know the Lord wants to bless us all and when we are obedient, great blessings are ours, and peace is a part of our lives. I hope we can all try a little harder to be obedient to God's commandments, I know our lives will be richer and happier if we do.

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK.

Quilting Enrichment Activity Update

Sorry no photos this month of our quilting group - forgot to take the camera last night, but check the blog next month because there will be photos of Kristy's completed quilt (she started binding it last night), Tanya will have her star quilt pieced by then, Lindy will still be working on her Christmas stockings and Wendy will be as enthusiastic and helpful as always.

Next month we are going to make a modern rag doll that can be chewing, thrown around and is almost indestructable to a little one. If you are interested in coming along please let Wendy know. Photos coming soon.

Calling for Christmas Recipes

Anyone who would like to contribute a simple Christmas recipe that is part of your family tradition at Christmas time is most welcome to send their Christmas recipe to Lindy or Janet before the end of October. To avoid having too many recipes of the same type we will accept the first recipe we receive in a certain catagory (eg shortbread). It doesn't have to be a Christmas food ie plum pudding etc. just something that you make every year. For example I always make a fruit flan for my family and although no one likes to eat them, the year I didn't make one everyone was very upset!!!!

We will be making a small Christmas recipe book to be handed out at our Christmas Enrichment Meeting - stay posted for more information! There will be tasting on the night!

VISITING TEACHING WORKSHOP

A few weeks away in the month of October will be our Visiting Teaching Workshop. Rachael has some wonderful thoughts to help uplift us all and inspire us with our visiting teaching. We will be having a meal together. We will not only be feeding our physical bodies but we will also be fed spiritually as well. We'll keep you posted!

Thanks

Thanks to all the sisters who did a great job for last week's 50th Anniversary of the Rosny Chapel. Thanks to those sisters who 'manned' the Relief Society room, who provided 'things' for us to display, thanks to those sisters who came and helped us set up, and thanks to the wonderful Primary and Young Women sisters who did a fantastic job with their displays.

It was great discovering all those who have served in the past as Relief Society presidents - thank you to everyone who provided photos to help us with our display.

Food Storage Bargains

Karenne (at last Gourmet Girls Gathering) informed us of a bargain at No Frills out in Moonah for drinking chocolate and cocoa. You can buy (in plain foil packs as shown) 1 kg of cocoa for $10.00 and 1kg drinking chocolate for $5.00. Karenne assures us they are fine for consuming and they certainly are a bargain price compared to what you would pay in the supermarket. Let's face it, putting drinking chocolate in your skim powdered milk is surely going to make it more palatable in a time of need!

Gourmet Girls - what next?

OK all you Gourmet Girls out there. We were so engrossed with food storage/breadmaking at Karenne & Guy's last time that we forgot to organise what we wanted to do for next month.

Does anyone have anything that they would like to learn to make, like to demonstrate, or whatever? Please let one of the Presidency know if there is something that you would like to have for our Gourmet Girls gathering.

Some ideas to help you out:-

1. Successful Sushi

2. Cooking with Oates (eg. homemade muesli, muesli bars, biscuits etc.)

3. Food dehydrating

4. Lentil recipes (that are edible)

Service quilts and blankets

Thought you should see some of the fabulous blankets that have been knitted as well as several quilts that have been made by some of the sisters in our Ward for the Giving Tree this year to help those who are less fortunate than ourselves. They are absolutely magnificent and these photos only depict a small number of the blankets that have been produced this year.

What happened on Sunday

1. We had a few visitors that had stayed for church after the 50th Anniversary celebrations of the Rosny Chapel the day before. We hope they felt welcome.
2. Not many announcements this week.
3. I forgot to announce the Relief Society Broadcast coming up on the 27th of this month. I will let you know more details regarding this after our presidency meeting on Tuesday evening.
4. Poor Diana tried to play a piece of music on a CD for 5 minute music today but due to several unforeseen circumstances (ie Rachael taking the CD player home the evening before!) we sang a song instead called "Carry On, Carry On". Great job on the piano Rach, you redeemed yourself.
5. Miriam presented our lesson from the Joseph Smith manual regarding missionary work - Lesson 12. She did a great job particularly because two weeks before the Stake Relief Society had presented the lesson - also on missionary work. So hopefully we as sisters have caught the vision, received strength and courage to open our mouths and share these wonderful truths of the gospel with those around us. As well as radiating the light of the gospel by the way we live.
6. This has nothing to do with what happened on Sunday but hey - the Young Women and the Primary auxilliaries did a great job with their displays for the open house on Saturday - go sisters!

Creative ideas

Helen and Yvonne both had some clever craft ideas to share and we thought that maybe you might like to use these ideas if appropriate for your families in FHE over the next few months.

Sister Helen's idea is making a brooch out of buttons. You need to use super glue to attach the buttons one on top of each other and then attach a clip at the back and hey presto you have a stunning looking brooch to wear - great idea.

Sister Yvonnie's idea is to make these little gnomes out of old cotton reels - she is in the process of making four to spell the word NOEL, you might like to make the word PEACE or some other appropriate word for Christmas.

Service Craft Enrichment Activity Group

It's really inspiring when you call in and see the Service Craft Enrichment group in action. Every 2nd Tuesday of the month they meet at Sister Yvonnie's home and have done so now for several years. What a productive lot of women these sisters are.

Above is Sister Enid - still knitting at 90 and doing a great job!

The busy clean-up crew leaves the kitchen spotless after everyone enjoys lunch together.

Sisters Ann, Helen, Yvonne and Diana all busy creating beautiful blankets for those less fortunate in our community.

There are two huge bags of blankets that have been knitted, crocheted and quilted already to give to the ABC Giving Tree this coming December. Everyone is busy with whatever project they are working on at the moment - these are extremely talented women who seem to never waste a moment of time. They are always seeking new projects they can help. Thank you sisters for your great examples of work ethic, homemaking skills and willingness to serve and lift others. Go Relief Society!

Back to Rosny this Saturday evening

Sorry everyone I can't seem to get this picture the right way up!!! Just reminding everyone about the events coming up on Saturday. And a reminder that Miriam would love to hear from everyone their feelings and thoughts about Relief Society - a few sentences is fine. Below are a sample of what some of the sisters have written already:-

Through Relief Society I have developed many talents that probably would have lane dormant otherwise
Yvonne

Wherever I go in the world, I know I will feel welcome in Relief Society.
Jill

A Roomful of Memories.
For me, this is a very special room; not just that it has been an extension of our home for over more than forty years, but that it holds so many treasured memories.
In this room I have learned to quilt, make and mend clothes, create Christmas decorations, how to grow a garden, to raise plants (and children) together with dozens of things I would not have thought possible forty years ago. I have learned how to be thrifty, how to educate myself and family, how to be self-sufficient, how to help others and to put into practice all those things which Jesus Christ taught during His time on this earth and which I have been taught in this room.
Equally so, and perhaps even more important has been the love and fellowship which I have felt here. Here, long-term friendships have been formed and nurtured through the years. These friendships have endured through many years, when Charity (The pure love of Christ) has been freely offered and thankfully received.
This room has spectacular views in a visual sense, but to me it represents an eternal view of what God has in store for us.

Diana

Gourmet Girls Club report from Friday evening

Friday night saw the Gourmet Girls (and even a couple of brethren who snuck in somehow!) all travel out to Karenne & Guy's place for an interesting and informative evening. Karenne & Guy had certainly gone the extra mile with their assignment - there was fresh bread already made on our arrival, pizza provided, demonstrations of wheat grinding, breadmaking, vacuum sealing, handouts, a tour of their food storage areas and lots of great tips to help us all.

Karenne & Guy's Basic Bread Recipe:

8 cups of plain flour
3.5 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons of sugar
8 teaspoons of yeast
8 teaspoons of bread improver
3 cups of luke warm water
2 tablespoons of oil

Method:
Mix well and knead, let rise to around double the size. (Guy doubles it in the microwave!)
Punch down and keand again, divide into 3 portions and place in greased tins. Cover with a tea towel and let rise in a draught free spot to the desired size. Place in 200C for 10 minutes and then at 150 for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a rack to cool.

THANKS KARENNE & GUY FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK AND THANKS ESPECIALLY FOR BEING SO WILLING TO SHARE YOUR SKILLS WITH US.

Sisters, if you didn't get your handout that Karenne & Guy prepared for you, from me on Sunday please check with me next Sunday and I will give you one.

What happened on Sunday

1. There were lots of gaps in Relief Society today and we missed those sisters who are normally there.

2. We welcomed Jill's daughter Helen & granddaughter who were visiting with us today. It was nice to have them with us.

3. Thanks to all the sisters who attended the Enrichment Activity on Friday and we are especially grateful to Karenne & Guy who put so much work into making it a really informative and tasty evening!

4. The General Relief Society Broadcast will be held on the 27th September - always a wonderful experience, put it in your calendars now.

5. Visiting Teaching slips were handed out today for September - please check your slip, some changes have been made.

6. We sang happy birthday to Rachael who had her birthday last Wednesday and we also send best wishes to Bron down in Primary for her birthday on Friday.

7. A reminder about this coming Saturday's events at the chapel for the 50th anniversary.

8. We would love to have sisters share their thoughts about Relief Society. Please email your photo (if possible) and your comments to Miriam who is compiling these for Saturday. Just one or two sentences is fine. We would love to hear from all our sisters in the Ward.

9. Barbara shared with us some points from the visiting teaching message for the month.

10. Rachael led an interesting discussion on the topic of modesty with lots of sisters making comments. We were reminded about not being too casual in our dress when attending church and the temple and the importance of respecting oursevles and others in the way we dress.

Inspirational Books

INSPIRATIONAL BOOKS
Would you like to do some Sunday reading?
There are some really helpful and insightful books available from LDS authors, but it can cost a lot to get them shipped to Tassie, and it takes time. Miriam was happy to find a free text online at http://deseretbook.com/mormon-life/news/story?story_id=1351 and wanted to use the blog to let other people know about it.
This novel, “The Peacegiver: How Christ offers to heal our hearts and homes” by James L. Ferrell uses examples from the scriptures and the story of a couple with relationship difficulties to teach about the atonement. Miriam says “this is a unique book which has made the atonement feel more personal and more real to me. I found it very helpful and very profound”.
Let us know if you find any other terrific links.

Food Storage Bargain!

Just letting everyone know that Cadbury 250g blocks of chocolate are on special at Woolworths this week - lets face it everyone needs to have chocolate in their food storage - you never know when there will be an emergency and you just need a chocolate fix!!!! (I think one is coming on right now)