It's All About Love-A Relief Society Activity

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     I am on the Relief Society Activity committee at my church.  Relief Society is the Women's Organization and we try to have uplifting, self-improvement type activities throughout the year on one weeknight per month (give or take).  I am blessed to work with some wonderful women on this committee and it is so much fun to sit and plan these activities together.  We peruse the internet for ideas, we pray about what the women in our group may need, we bounce ideas around and get goosebumps when we come up with a really good plan. 
      I generally share ideas for our activities with you after the fact, such as this Alice in Wonderland themed activity, but since we are getting so close to Valentine's Day, I figured someone out there might need an idea in a pinch, so here is one that I think will be really good. 
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This is the little flyer we are using to advertise. Sorry, it isn't editable, but you can see the idea for making your own.

Our Theme

     We had skipped having an activity in January because the holidays came and went so fast and we were all recuperating.  We had planned on having a lesson on heart healthy eating that month, but February seemed like the perfect time to focus on our hearts.  So, this led us to our over arching theme of love.  We decided on Love of ourselves and Love of our neighbors. The love of self will be about taking care of our bodies through heart-healthy eating.  The love of our neighbors will focus on ministering to our sisters and creative ways to do that.  

Our Classes

      An amazing woman on our committee is a nurse.  She takes good care of herself and knows a lot about how we should be eating for good heart health.  She is going to teach the class about loving ourselves through healthy eating.  I know that she is going to really give us some great information.  I've heard her speak and teach before and I am always amazed at her insight.  If you want to have a class like this one, I hope you have someone as awesome as Marcy that you can ask to teach it.
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      Wouldn't you know, I am teaching the class about loving our neighbors through ministering.  Unlike the heart healthy class, this isn't because I am so great at ministering.  But, I recognize a need for improvement in myself so I'm looking for inspiration to do better and hope to share that inspiration with the rest of the sisters in my ward.   I can give you a break down of what I am going to discuss and do with the sisters for my class. 

           My Class:

      In our church, ministering means taking care of each other, becoming friends, giving service and most of all, showing Christ-like Love for one another.  To make sure that no one falls through the cracks, we are assigned sisters to especially look after by our Relief Society President.  But, we are not perfect at remembering to minister in the Lord's way and sometimes people do fall through the cracks as we all try to learn to be better.  I am going to focus on how we can serve lovingly and creatively  and hopefully these ideas will motivate myself and others to do a little better. 
         A scripture that I love in the Book of Mormon is found in Mosiah 18:21.  It is about a very Christ-like group of people whose hearts were "knit together in unity and in love towards one another."  As I looked on Pinterest, I found other people who also love this scripture and who have used it to talk about ministering as well.  One site in particular caught my eye.  Jonesing2Create had made a card with that scripture on it plus had given a yarn wrapped heart with it.  I loved the idea of the heart and I thought that this was something that I could have the women do, wrap a yarn heart while we had our discussion.  I designed a new scripture card to go with our theme and ties in with the invitation. 

     On each table I am going to have baskets with small balls of yarn and cardboard hearts.  I'm also using the hearts around the room in ways that will give everyone ideas about how to use them.  Here are a few: 

Make a garland with them. I already had this pom pom garland, and I just tied on the hearts! It will look great on our serving table.

Make small versions of the hearts and add a hanging loop to use them as an ornament on plants or photo frames.

I love how sweet this looks! Perfect for Valentine's Day or all year long!

• Use it as a pocket hug!  These little things are all over Pinterest right now and are a sweet way to remind someone that you are thinking of them.  There are various little saying to put with them.  You could design your own on Canva. 

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     I'm going to put together a little booklet, with a red cardstock back and the cardstock scripture card on the front and tie the booklet all together with a piece of yarn to continue the theme of hearts "knit" together.   Here are some of the pages I will include in the booklet.  Some I created and you can click on them for the pdf, otherwise, if you click on them it will direct you to the site where I got them from:

Jennifer Doyle shared this question page on Pinterest and it is awesome! If you click on this page it will take you to her site.

I created this page, so you can click it for the pdf. There are some sweet ideas on here to help us be better at ministering.

I came up with some inspirational quotes that might be encouraging to the people we minister to. Click on it for the pdf.

This is the front scripture page. I think I might frame mine! Click for the pdf.

A scripture specifically about ministering from the New Testament. Click for PDF

I found this on Pinterest from a blog called Sweet Blessings. There were other versions, but this one is my favorite. Click to go to her site.

      I keep finding other things that I would like to include in my booklet.  You may find things that you love for your own.  If you do, please share them with me! I think I will include some pocket hug card ideas.  Also, I don't want everything we talk about to be just about Valentine's Day, I want these ministering ideas to be evergreen!  

Our Service Project

      We have set a goal for this year to include a service project with every activity.  This month we are partnering with a group who are collecting jackets for refugees who are going to colder climates.  We will have a collection box for lightly used coats and jackets for all ages. 

Our Budget

     By the way, did I mention that our budget is $0?  We did a really big activity in December and many of the receipts for that activity were turned in at the New Year instead of at the end of last year, pretty much cutting into our first quarter budget.  But, so far, we are spending nothing, which is awesome!  The yarn for the hearts is donated leftovers from people on our committee.  Everyone who does any knitting or crocheting will have scraps of yarn that they don't mind getting rid of.  I got the cardboard for free from our churches food bank.   It was  nice big sheet that came with one of the food deliveries.  I guess if I am going to turn in any receipts, it would be for the ink for my printing.  But, I use the subscription plan for my printer ink, so the cost is nominal.  And, I'm just about to tell you how we are handling the food for the night! 
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The Food

     Since we are learning about eating heart healthy that night, we are going to have a potluck salad bar and water for dinner!  We are passing around sign-up sheets at church for people to bring veggies, proteins, dressing, etc.  My donation is going to be to make the gluten free, dairy free brownies that I make already.  I'm just going to be sure to use coconut sugar instead of granulated and allergy free chocolate chips.  We will drink water and right now, that all sounds delicious to me! 
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Our Decorations

     Fortunately, another amazing sister on our committee had a son whose wedding color was red.  She had red tablecloths that we can use, and a trio of wooden hearts that she got from Temu to go on each table.  Plus there will be the accents of the yarn hearts either scattered on the tables or on the garland on the serving table.  It will be very sweet and simple.  When I teach my class, I will add white baskets that I already own filled with the yarn balls and cardboard hearts as well as the booklets.

     So, what do you think? I'm pretty excited about this activity because I think our focus is clear, we will all be encouraged and uplifted and there will be something hands-on to do !  I hope you found something useful for your Relief Society of Women's group.  I'll let you know how our night goes!