2014: Following in His Footsteps

Our auxiliaries were involved as a community to remember our Savior and how our lives '
may reflect our love for Him

Relief Society 

Ashley Shaw's journey with her husband in the Marines
and the special ball they get to go to together.

Our big activity for the quarter was the Relief Society Birthday in March. Our theme was "We never walk alone" then we had each of the round tables beautifully decorated with a different shoe motif that showed an individual's journey in life through their shoes. 

We then had each member of the RS presidency share a story about a favorite pair of shoes that they brought with them. One sister had the flip flops that she wore when she married her husband and shared the story of how they met. Another sister had a set of running shoes she wore when she ran the RAGNAR with her siblings. Another had a pair of ballet shoes and is a ballet teacher. Yet another had a pair of shoes from all the places her family has moved in her life time. 

After the presentations, we watched a short video on the history of the Relief Society, the presidents and each president's main focus during their years of service. The video was educational as well as spiritual.  I believe the sisters got to see how incredible and rich the history of this spiritually-led organization is. 

While we ate dinner many of the Relief Society sisters stood and told a story about their favorite pair of shoes. The stories ranged from emotional, spiritual and hilarious. This was an awesome way to get to know all the sisters better or to start up conversations with them later. We all learned things we didn't previously know about each other and consequently brought us closer as a community of sisters. 

In the back of the banquet hall we had a cute large bucket for the ladies to donate shoes (any gender or size). We ended up needing about six times the space as we had bags of shoes overflowing  the table the bucket was on. It was a very fun, and successful activity as it was educational, spiritual, meaningful service, and helped the sisters come together and bond through their experiences. 

I love the Relief Society program and have a testimony in its purpose and motto -- "charity never faileth." We are not meant to traverse through life and it's trials alone. We are meant to aid each other.  -- Trina Weeks,

Primary

We have challenged the children to learn all of the Articles of Faith and are planning a Summer Pizza Party if they pass each one off.  So far, we have Brynn McMullin, Daniel McAllister, Stockton Yates and Kimber McMullin who have passed all 13 off.  Most of our Senior Primary children have two-thirds of the Articles of Faith passed off.
We had our Great to be Eight night and are excited for the eight children who are being baptized within the year. They are Benson Lowe (being baptized in June), Landon Hansen and Drae Myers (being baptized in July), Erin Holmstead (being baptized in October), Sophie Finley (being baptized in November), Noah Christiansen and Mays Madsen (being baptized in December) and Jesus Fowles (being baptized January 2015).

Young Women

Kira Stott trying the bitter herb.

The 2014 young Women's theme is  Moroni 10:32  "Come unto Christ and be perfected in him."  For the theme kick off the stake invited Brandi Christensen, a Utah Jazz dancer, to speak to the girls.  Brandi is a amazing woman who has had some difficult trials.  When she was in high school her best friend died of cancer and then her senior year she was in a tragic car accident that almost took her life.  Brandi had loved dancing and her mother was devastated when the doctors told her that they would have to amputate Brandi's leg.  Her mother, a woman of faith, said do whatever you have to do, but we are not amputating her leg.  After several surgeries and 2 years of physical therapy Brandi was a able to dance again.  She then challenged herself to try out to be a Utah Jazz Dancer.  She made the team for several years in a row.  Brandi encouraged the girls to "Come unto Christ" no matter what your trials are.  She gave a powerful testimony that by relying upon the Lord, obeying his commandments, and loving yourself you could do anything.  We had most of our Beehives and Miamaids in attendance.  The evening was a success and those in attendance were spiritually fed. 
This year's New Beginnings fell just after the closing ceremonies of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games. So we chose to do an Olympic theme. The night started with a flag ceremony wirh a flag for each of the values and the lighting of the torch. We had a few talks on how as young women they are can accomplish difficult things like Olympic athletes do, along with explaining personal progress to the incoming Beehives and giving out a few awards. 

We encouraged the girls that they can "Go for the gold as the 'Come Unto Christ.'" We had each girl stand on a podium, gave them a gold medal, and then recognized them with some love and encouragement from their mothers. Our young men put together a short video where they lip-synced and acted out a music video to the song "You don't know you're beautiful" by One Direction. The girls squealed with joy and begged for copies of it. Then Brother Wade Taylor closed the evening with a quick message about succeeding even when things are difficult. We gave each girl a personalized bracelet and had some refreshments.In April, we had a combined activity with the young men where we learned about the Passover.  Glade and Judy Kirkham put together a program where we reenacted a Passover Seder service. The Passover is a Jewish holiday that celebrates the exodus of the ancient Israelites from Egypt after they were freed from slavery.  Seder customs include telling the story, discussing the story, drinking four cups of wine (or in our case, grape juice), eating matzo, partaking of symbolic foods placed on the Passover Seder plate, and reclining in celebration of freedom.  The youth and leaders learned a lot about the meaning of the Passover and about the customs of those of Jewish faith.  The Kirkhams pointed out that the Last Supper that Jesus had with His disciples was a Passover Seder. The bitter herbs that were one of the foods that were eaten as part of their customs, was a challenge for many to try.  It was horseradish sauce eaten with some motza.  We learned that just a little bit can go a long way!  

Young Women's President Barbara Irwin testifies that, "I am truly grateful for the opportunity I have to serve as young women’s president.  I am overwhelmed at times by the responsibility I feel for helping these girls 'Come unto Christ' as our 2014 theme states. In reality, their testimonies strengthen me and make me want to do and be better myself.  I am so grateful for the atonement and the opportunity it gives us to keep trying and improving ourselves.  I hope that I am able to instill how much our Savior loves each and every one of us in all of the girls that I work with and help them know how special they each are."

Ward Missionaries

As a ward we are increasing our member missionary efforts.  We have a testimony of the work and we know that the work is hastening.  We feel the need to share the gospel message with our less active neighbors and our nonmember friends.  As ward missionaries and a ward council, we are doing what we can to cultivate these feelings among all 5^th Ward members.  In April, Sisters Hannah Braithwaite and Rachael Rees were called to serve as ward missionaries.