Materials List for Crafts

Here is the list of materials for the crafts we will be making Friday night at our Birthday Bash. If you have trouble finding the things you need or have questions please contact Cara Childs or Alysia Peterson. Even if you don't have all the things you need, come any way to participate. We will have some supplies there for you.
Materials List for classes if you want to make them that night.
We are having you get your own materials so that you can save money with coupons, discounts and sales at the store and also so you can get what you like.

Supplies needed for watch class
0.7 mm stretchy wire (can use a 0.5, but the 0.7 is more durable.)
1 watch face (you can call Alysia Peterson or Cara Childs if you want to order one and not buy them at the craft store…sometimes it can be cheaper this way.)
4 lobster clasps
2-3 spacer bars
Beads (you may want some small spacer
beads as well)
Faces and beads can be bought at a variety of places. Walmart, Michaels, Johanns, Hobby Lobby, The Bead Fairy (in Sandy).

Supplies needed for Earrings
2 Ear wire
2 Head pins
Round nose pliers
Stones, beads, etc.
All of these can be purchased at craft stores or Walmart. If you would like to make necklaces and bracelets, the wires for those can also be found at the same places but make sure you also buy the clasps to go with them.

Supplies needed for I Spy Bags
2 pieces of felt (you can get these at Walmart for .20 and you can probably make one bag out of one piece of felt depending on the size you want.)
Little things to put in it. Here is a list you might have around the house:
Penny, marble, button, safety pin, paper clip, smooth stone, decorative button, craft confetti, eraser, plastic bugs or rings, any small toys etc. You can also buy small things for cheap at craft stores etc.

Supplies needed for Hair Bows
This is not a complete list, but something to get you started. I will have the complete list as soon as it is given to me.
Ribbons of all sizes and colors-whatever you like (craft stores, Walmart or Little Things Mean A lot has some pretty good prices on ribbon)
Barretts and clips-found at craft stores, beauty stores and Walmart
Any embellishments you might want: flowers, jewels, buttons etc.

The Creation and Adam and Eve

Sorry Ladies! Trying to get back into the swing of things is a lot harder than I remember! So, we've got two lessons to discuss today, as well as, several announcements. First the announcements that are worth announcing both here and on the side:

**Barbara Kemp will be going through the temple this Wednesday, March 24th at the 10:00 a.m. session. It would be wonderful to have you join her and support her if you can. Congratulations Barbara!!

**CAUCUS MEETINGS- March 23 @ 7pm AF01 and AF 01S Voting Precincts. Democrats will be meeting at the Pleasant Grove Senior Center 242 W 200 S. Republicans will be meeting at the Pleasant Grove Jr. High 810 N. 100 E. A letter was read during sacrament meeting encouraging us to go and participate.

**Don't forget that our RS BIRTHDAY BASH is THIS WEEKEND starting Friday night at 6pm. We will be doing a fun game with your baby pictures so REMEMBER TO BRING YOUR BABY PICTURES!!

Ok, now for the lesson notes. Last week Sis. Jana Starr gave a wonderful lesson on the Creation. She took us through the scriptures that talk about the Creation and we studied the different things they taught us about it. I particularly liked the part that explained that we all probably had a hand in helping with the Creation. Sis. Starr wants to know who created the Platypus and is looking forward to finding the answer in the life to come.
She showed us some amazingly beautiful pictures taken by our very own Sis. Debbie Evenson depicting the Lord's marvelous creations. It was a very reverent and humbling experience to see the earth in that way and what beautiful things surround us. It makes you want to "go green" all the way and take better care of what has been entrusted to us. To go along with the spirit of this lesson and the last lesson on music, I have changed the opening music to the song "My Heavenly Father Loves Me." It's one of my favorites!
This week, Sis. Joyce Bond talked about Adam and Eve. This one is still fresh in my mind and because I'm the one writing the blog, I get to interject my own thoughts into this :)
She started by talking about how interested she was to find out how many times Adam and Eve are mentioned in the scriptures and church publications and came to discover online that the answer to that is 1, 332 times. We really don't talk much about our first parents and so it's interesting to note that they are mentioned so often.
Of course, being sisters, we talked mostly about Eve, which I loved. I'm a teensy bit Femi-Nazi and so I like that we didn't dwell so much on Adam who takes all the credit! She brought a book called "Women of the Old Testament" by Caroline (I think) Cronk Olson. It looks like a fabulous book and has a wonderful picture of one artist's perception of Eve. Sis. Bond read several passages from this book, but one sentence really stuck with me. "Being the Mother of all Creation, Eve is connected to each of us." That got me thinking about that statement. We all have a little bit of Eve in us. But, could Eve also depict our Heavenly Mother? While I love talking with our Father about things, sometimes I wish that I could talk to our Mother. I know that she would really understand some of the things I go through. As we talked more and more about Eve, I started to develop a different kind of understanding and love for her that I've never had before. Almost as if our Heavenly Mother really was speaking to me and saying, "Yes! I do exist and you and Eve have more in common than you think. Learn about her and you will learn about me." I find myself thirsting for more about Eve and who she was.
Again, since I'm the one writing this blog you get to hear my stories. So, the first time I went through the Temple I tried really hard to pay attention to what I was learning. The thing that struck me funny was that Adam seemed kind of like a little boy pointing fingers. When the Lord asks, "who did this?" Adam points to Eve and says "She made me do it." Eve owns up and says "the devil made me do it." Eve has to apologize first!!!! But, as we were talking today (and I've always thought this) Eve knew EXACTLY what she was doing! She knew the plan better than Adam did because she had that intuition right from the start. She knew that if they were to fulfill all of Father's commandments, it was going to require some sacrifice. Not just getting kicked out of the garden, but leaving Father's presence, working the land themselves instead of having things just grow spontaneously, pain and sorrow, rearing children, and death. She got the whole picture-but Adam gets the blame. Which leads into the next part that got me thinking. The scriptures talk about the Fall of Adam. "Adam fell that men might be; and men are that they might have joy." That word JOY made do a double take. If the fall was so "bad" then how are we supposed to have joy? If it is so hard to work the land yourself and be amongst the thorns, then where does the joy come in? Didn't they have joy in the garden? Sure they did, they just didn't know that was what it was because they didn't know any different. Eve figured it out though. One time, Jason commented to me that he didn't know how I could go from being happy one second, to biting people's heads off the next, and back to being happy, and then sad and depressed, and then happy and so and so forth. I thought this (but didn't say it) "Adam was cursed with working the land and Eve was cursed with the emotions!" She knew that to be happy you had to be sad. To feel pleasure you had to feel pain. So, what is interesting about that scripture is that it doesn't say "men are that they might learn." it says that we are to feel joy. President Hinckley says something to the effect of "Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured." That has a whole new meaning for me now because of this lesson.
I don't have the complete quote because I can't write as fast as you speak, but Sis. Bond ended the lesson with another great thing that got me thinking. The Creation needed the Fall so that the earth would be cared for and people would be created. The Fall needed the Atonement so that we all suffer for our own sins and not Adam's transgressions. And the Atonement needed....this was the part that I got lost. So Joyce, if you're reading this let me know what the rest of it is!!! But, just reading those three parts, you get the idea of how wonderful a plan this really is and how well it works together. Without all the components it wouldn't work and we'd either never leave Father's presence or never make it back.
Phew! Great lesson Joyce. I'm going to go and get that book and learn more about these great women who never get talked about!
And I leave you with this one last thought: I never went on a mission because I'm a Bible Basher-I argue rather than teach. I've had many opportunities to teach the gospel throughout my life and when discussing Adam and Eve with young men, they would really bash Eve. So, I'd remind them of this hotline and tell them to call it 1-800-ADAM-812!

Barbara Ferguson Funeral

Thank you to all who helped with the food and kitchen help at Sis. Barbara Ferguson's funeral. It was a beautiful service and I know that the family was extremely grateful for the luncheon. We had so much good food, there's never any shortage of that in this ward!
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Ferguson Family.

Music is the language of Angels

Sorry I haven't updated the blog lately. I've been busy with my new little baby! We've had some good lessons the last few weeks and I'm sorry that I don't have notes on all of them. First, I'd like to talk a little bit about last week's lesson. Sister Scheiss did a wonderful job presenting Pres. Monson's talk about service. To go along with that lesson, the Relief Society Presidency asked everyone to do RAK or RAS: Random Acts of Kindness (Service) for the people around you. Then on sunday we will have a jar and little slips of paper. You can write down the act you did or if someone did something for you, you can write that down and put it in the jar. You don't have to mention your name if you don't want to. Also, in this week's Church News, they asked for people to send in the RAS they do and it will be published in the paper...so it seems that the inspiration your RS Presidency received was right on track with the inspiration the church received. We will also be incorporating this theme in our RS Birthday Bash and I promise you YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS PARTY!

Ok, now onto this week's lesson. Sis. Margie Lindsay was kind enough to take my assignment of giving the Presidency Message this month and she did a FANTASTIC job! Her lesson was on the importance of music and how it can influence, inspire, and enrich our lives. She emphasized what the First Presidency wrote in the front of the Hymn Book. I've selected a few of my favorite passages from this letter:

MUSIC IN CHURCH MEETINGS:

"Inspirational music is an essential part of our church meetings. The hymns invite the Spirit of the Lord, create a feeling of reverence, unify us as memebers, and provide a way fro us to offer praises to the Lord. Some of the greatest sermons are preached by the singing of hymns. Hymns move us to repentance and good works, build testimony and faith, comfort the weary, console the mourning, and inspire us to endure to the end."

MUSIC IN OUR HOMES:

"Music has boundless powers for moving families toward greater spirituality and devotion to the gospel. Latter-day Saints should fill their homes with the sound of worthy music....The hymns can bring families a spirit of beauty and peace and can inspire love and unity among family members. Teach your children to love the hymns. Sing them on the Sabbath, in home evening, during scripture study, at prayer time. Sing as you work, as you play, and as you travel together. Sing hymns as lullabies to build faith and testimony in your young ones.

MUSIC IN OUR PERSONAL LIVES:

"...Hymns can lift our spirits, give us courage, and move us to righteous action. They can fill our souls with heavenly thoughts and bring us a spirit of peace. Hymns can also help us withstand the temptations of the adversary. We encourage you to memorize your favorite hymns and study the scriptures that relate to them. Then, if unworthy thoughts enter your mind, sing a hymn to yourself, crowding out the evil with the good."

Sis. Lindsay then asked if anyone would like to share their favorite hymn, why it was their favorite and then we sang a verse or two of that song. This is what was shared: Press Forward Saints, Called to Serve (many people had comments and stories for this song so we sang both verses), Because I Have Been Given Much, I Am a Child of God (which Sis. Lindsay had us a sing slower and think about the words...not a dry eye in the room!) and we ended the lesson with I Believe in Christ, which then set the mood for testimony sharing.

I am grateful to Sis. Lindsay for this lesson. Like her, music is very dear to my heart and a part of my being. Whenever I direct a choir, I ALWAYS have them study the words and tones of the song we are singing. I want them to send that message to every heart who hears them sing. I am not very good with words and getting my point across verbally, but musically I feel like I could preach all the discussions and convert every soul who listens! That's why my lessons are never very good. Because I have to speak...now if I could sing or play my entire lesson on the piano that would be much better!

This week, think about your favorite hymn or primary song and why it's so special to you. Sing it this week when you are frustrated or down or angry or just need a pick me up and see how the Spirit changes you in that small moment!

**Check the sidebar for this week's good news and announcements. We showed you a few samples of some of the crafts we will be making. I have the list of materials for the watch and earrings, but still waiting for the hair bows. I will be posting all of these complete with pictures in a day or two, so check back!**