First Enrichment Night

Tonight we had our first quarterly enrichment activity . . . being the first enrichment with our new Releif Society Presidency, I was pretty nervous. I probably stressed out my counselor who is over enrichment and, hopefully, didn't make her feel bad because I was nervous. She did a great job and was really organized. I really enjoyed myself, having decided to enjoy the sisters no matter how it turned out. Not that I expected things to flop . . . just first time jitters.

I guess I really shouldn't complain, my dear Enrichment counselor, Angie, carried all the burden of the event and I just tried to help. Angie and I met at the church at 1 pm to set up and I got to hear her sad story of her day: She was up all night with a coughing and sick daughter. She had to take work off to take her girl to the doctor. She broke her cell-phone. Her report cards for work are due at the end of the week. Not to mention the millions of phone calls, then shopping trips, and setting-up for enrichment. Our babysitters (for the children's class) and soup were late for enrichment, which, I'm sure, stressed her out. On top of all this, she somehow had time to read my blog-- how else did she know I love Jelly-Bellies??? Amidst her crazy day, she was thinking of me and brought me a little valentine package of them. I was really touched by her thoughtfulness (plus, I'm enjoying the Jelly-Bellies)! Thanks Angie, you are wonderful and I hope you read this!

Despite all the mishaps, we had a great enrichment evening. The R.S. sisters ate a light dinner (soup, salad, and home-made rolls). They socialized and relaxed. Then we got to hear from four sisters about where they served their missions and some of their experiences (Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and Washington D.C.). That was really cool. Each of the four sisters had set up a table with decorations and pictures from her mission. And, I noticed that all the sisters were enjoying the Swiss and Italian chocolates that were on the tables! It was really interesting to hear the stories each of our four sisters told.

After this we introduced four of our enrichment activities. We are starting a mom's play-group day, a temple trip group, a quilting and project group, and a "girl's night out" group. All-in-all, I thought it was a wonderful event and was especially pleased that Angie had sisters sign up to bring salad toppings -- we had twenty three sisters and two Elders there! (That's a lot for us).

I love this church-- I love how we meet to socialize, serve, and strengthen each other. I love that we forge friendships with neighbors and strangers, old and young. I love that we meet to testify of our Savior Jesus Christ and encourage each other in living the principles of truth, love, and service that He taught. I love the opportunities that we have to serve, teach and learn from each other. Sometimes it is incredibly hard to give so much of ourselves and our time. But I know that for all we sacrifice, the Lord blesses us and our famlies with the things that we need, and more!

Thank you to all of you who serve, wherever you are. We touch each others' lives by example, word, and deed in ways that aren't always noticed, but are always felt by someone. Thank you!