New Sisters in our Ward

Kristin, Lecia and Chernoa

Just had to post a photo (with their permission of course!) of the new sisters in our Ward, it's really exciting having new, friendly faces in our midst and we look forward to getting to know each sister more as the days, weeks and years fly by.
WELCOME

Bread Making Information

photo courtesy of flickr

Guy (or was it Karenne!) from Glenorchy Ward recently sent an email with some very interesting information regarding making bread with ground wheat flour that is going to help many of us as we grind and use the wheat we bought recently. Here's what he had to say:-

I was getting fairly hard deformed loaves out of the bread maker before this whilst using the homeground flour. I put hot water in the bread maker, instead of cold and added 2 tablespoons of white vinegar to the liquid ingredients. With this you can use 2/3rds home ground flour or better and 1/3 white flour and it comes out a nicely formed loaf and quite moist and soft compared to the way it used to be.

Regards Guy

Thanks so much Guy, it's just fantastic when people share their knowledge with others - can't wait to try it.

What happened on Sunday?

1. It was lovely to welcome another member to our Ward family this week - Kristin who has moved in with her husband Andrew to Primrose Sands. They were most recently in Glenorchy Ward so introduce yourself to them - they are both really lovely.
2. We were also really excited to have Lecia with us, who hasn't been with us for a long time, it was just wonderful to have her in Relief Society and we hope she felt welcome.
3. We also have a visitor from the USA but I have forgotten her name but we hope she is having a great week touring Tasmania! (Of course she will, it's a fantastic place to see).
4. We missed some of our familiar faces (you know who you are) and hope to see you next week and hope all is well.
5. We had to sing Happy Birthday to Sister Enid and even though we are pretty hopeless with keeping up with everyone's birthdays we just couldn't forget her recent 90th and a quick round of Happy Happy Birthday was definitely in order.
6. A reminder to ALL SISTERS that Enrichment Meeting is on Thursday 28th May - we hope to see EVERYONE there, young and old.
7. There is also a Stake Relief Society activity on Saturday 23rd May, 8 - 9 am - a service activity for those who lost everything in the recent Victorian Bushfires. Such a lovely idea, they are asking for donations of photo albums, journals (I've forgotten what else!) but things to do with family history and keeping a record for those families who have lost so much. Sorry to be a little vague with the details but please see a member of the Relief Society Presidency (OK, well Rachael or Miriam) who will be up to speed with what we can donate! It's at the Stake Centre. If you need a lift please let a member of the Relief Society Presidency know and we'll organise something.
8. For 5 minute music Diana handed out small pieces of paper to all the sisters to write down their favourite hymn which she will use at some stage (I can't wait until she uses mine, I just love it and haven't heard it for ages!)
9. Sister Kristie led us in the lesson from Elder Uchtdorf's Conference talk from October last year regarding hope. She introduced the lesson by us watching a brief story Elder Uchtdorf shared regarding his family in WW2. A very moving story. Please take the time to read his talk again - it will lift your spirits and give you the strength to keep going. We were all given a little handout at the end of the lesson with this beautiful quote from the talk:-

"To all who suffer - to all who feel discouraged, worried, or lonely
- I say with love and deep concern for you, never give in.
Never surrender.
Never allow despair to overcome your spirit.
Embrace and rely upon the Hope of Israel,
for the love of the Son of God pierces all darkness, softens all sorrow,
and gladdens every heart."

Gourmet Girls/Guy!!

Our expert pasta maker, Adam, ably assisted by Maryanne
Three gourmet girls enjoying their gourmet pizzas

one version of a gourmet pizza

Friday evening saw the Gourmet Girls meet and

thanks to one Gourmet Guy who demonstrated how to make fabulous homemade pasta

and the super Gourmet Girl who made yummy gourmet pizzas for us all to enjoy

the evening was a great success.

Thanks for all your efforts and hard work Maryanne and Adam!

HAPPY 90th BIRTHDAY ENID

We all want to wish Enid a really

happy 90th birthday

- what a goer our Enid is,

comes to everything that she can,

participates in the 3 hour block meetings on a Sunday,

always got a smile for everyone.

We hope you have a lovely day on Monday - sounds like you have been celebrating already. This photo was taken on Saturday at a celebration at the Shoreline - doesn't she look fabulous!

(Thanks Diana for sending us the photo to put on the blog)

What an amazing milestone to reach!

What happened on Sunday

1. We had some visitors with us today - we welcomed Bron's friend from Sydney, Carmen, who was lovely and friendly, Cecily who almost isn't a visitor any more and besides is coming to live here (sooner rather than later we hope), and Emma and her sister who are also regular visitors. We hope they all felt welcome. Little Levi got a welcome also as it was only his 2nd time in Relief Society and missed his friend Eamon today! Minol is looking quite the big boy now! These boys don't know how lucky they are to be able to come to Relief Society and we hope they don't grow up too quickly because we will miss them when they go to Nursery! Julia slept through Relief Society today so we didn't get to see much of her but it is so nice having the little ones with us - they are all so precious and bring their own special spirits to our meeting.
2. Announcements today:-
a. Fireside with Elder Callister this Wednesday night at the Stake Centre - 7 pm. All welcome, please feel free to bring a friend.
b. Stake Relief Society Activity on the 23 May - more details coming soon.
c. Ward Relief Society Enrichment Meeting - 28 May "Chicken Soup for the Soul". Chicken Soup and bread rolls will be served at 6.30 pm, meeting commencing at 7.00 pm. We have Claire and Jack coming to talk about looking after our emotional health and wellbeing and then we will all be putting together a de-stress bag for each sister to take home so please invite those you visit teach and come along and be re-juvenated and refreshed.
3. For five-minute music today Diana played "Praise to the Man" sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir - it was an inspiring and uplifted version that bought a beautiful feeling into the room.
4. Barbara led us in the lesson today - "Living with Others in Peace and Harmony". What a great job she did, obviously lots of preparation had been put and the spirit was there with us. Here's one of the many great paragraphs from the lesson - we hope you get to read it all yourselves at some stage. "If you will put away from your midst all evil speaking, backbiting, and ungenerous thoughts and feelings: humble yourselves, and cultivate every principle of virtue and love, then will the blessings of Jehovah rest upon you, and you will yet see good and glorious days; peace will be within your gates, and properity in your borders."
5. We hope Primary and Young Womens went well today and you all went home feeling ready to face another week positively and with hope.

Service Craft Enrichment Activity Group

Easter Tuesday saw sister gathering once again at Sister Yvonne's home, having decorated hats for the Easter season, as a bit of fun for the day.

After enjoying lunch together and a quick group photo for some, the sisters then busily began dividing casseroles and soups into containers to go in Yvonne's freezer ready for when a sister or family has a need for a meal.

Can't wait to see what they are going to do next month!

An Apostle's Easter Thoughts on Christ

Please take a moment to once again watch some of Elder Holland's talk given on Sunday morning of General Conference and help us always to remember the love the Savior has for each of us and all He has done for us:-

click here

Book Club Report

Our small Book Club (hint hint we need more sisters!) met recently at Bron's house to discuss Mitch Albom's book 'The Five People You Meet in Heaven.' Amid lots of lovely munchies we discussed some great gospel truths we found in the book, what we liked and what we found difficult about the story. Even Tony and Josh wanted to get involved!

We are excited for our next meeting on Friday May 8th. We will be reading Elizabeth Gaskell's novel, 'North and South', which is set in Britain during the Industrial Revolution. This is a wonderful venue for bringing along non-member friends who share a love of reading and good books.

If you have any questions about the Book Club, please see Sister Jill Cluff. Happy reading!

What a feast!

Wasn't General Conference weekend just amazing. The singing was magnificent, the talks inspiring and uplifting and I feel like I was just to be better, do better and get more life more in tune with the Savior.

Too many talks to mention but I can't wait to read (and hopefully watch again) Elder Hale's talk regarding being a provident provider and provident living, Elder Holland's talk about the Atonement, the prophet's closing remarks at the Sunday afternoon session, plus all his remarks and Elder Bednar's talk about the temple.

What talk did you learn the most from?

Gourmet Girls

Photo courtesy of Flickr

Gourmet Girls

will be held on the 4th Friday evening of this month,

the 25th April,

at Maryanne's home.

This month will be a demonstration of homemade pasta,

so spread the word, come along, bring a friend

and discover once you have eaten homemade pasta

you will never go back to the bought stuff again!!!

Contact Mary-anne for more details.

General Conference

I found this great quote that I thought was really relevant for us preparing for Conference this coming weekend. Hope it helps you.

President Howard W. Hunter (past prophet) said:-

"As I have pondered the messages of the conference, I have asked myself this question: How can I help others partake of the goodness and blessings of our Heavenly Father? The answer lies in following the direction received from those we sustain as prophets, seers, and revelators, and others of the General Authorities. Let us study their words, spoken under the spirit of inspiration, and refer to them often. The Lord has revealed his will to the Saints in this conference."

What happened on Sunday

1. It's lovely to have beautiful little children and young mums with us in Relief Society - it gives a good balance.
2. General Conference rebroadcast this weekend, 1 - 3 pm and 4 - 6 pm Saturday and 11 - 1 pm and 2 - 4 pm Sunday.
3. Sister Barbara shared with us the Visiting Teaching message for the month and asked us all to memorise and ask our sisters to memorise the scripture D&C 88:119 "..Establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God."
4. We were also blessed today to have the young women join with us for the whole time - our lesson was directed by Sister Miriam who talked about the Young Women's value of 'Divine Nature'. If you get a chance to read 2 Peter 1:4 - 8 it's a lovely scripture that Miriam unpacked and helped us all to understand about divine nature.
5. Thanks to the sisters who helped out in Nursery today. We missed you in Relief Society but know you were serving well.

The Massive Month of May

May is going to be big!!!!

A month of pampering for us all.

Not only it is Mothers Day in May,

but we will be having a Stake Relief Society Enrichment Activity

and a Ward Relief Society Enrichment Meeting!

So keep the calendar free of other activities and look out for a fabulous uplifting and inspiring month for us as sisters in the Gospel!

(OK, if you really want to know the truth I failed to look on the Stake Calendar and allocated an Enrichment Meeting for May before realising (on Thursday evening at the Stake Calendaring Meeting) that the Stake Relief Society had calendered an activity for that month!!! So instead of panicking and stressing I decided to see it as a positive - and hey doesn't the above sound so good!)

PS And I just realised that May was the month the Blog started - so this May is going to be the best month ever!!! Let's party!

Sorry about the drought!

My apologies for not posting for a little while - we are still all here for you and praying for you!