Attitude of Gratitude - Day #9

Today I am thankful for Relief Society.

Where else can you find instant friends, who really care about you, no matter where you go in the world?Relief Society provides the opportunity to serve and be served, to teach and be taught, to love and be loved. It allows us the chance to practice living the way the Savior wants us to, and encouragement to keep trying when we falter. It's food and fun and hugs and smiles and scriptures and sewing and even dirt and tears.Here are just a few of my favorite Relief Society memories:

• hiding under the quilt as a child while my mom worked on it with other RS sisters
• being the one working on the quilt while my son played underneath it
• making a quilt as a family and delivering it to the RS president to give away
• delivering dinners
• receiving dinners (after one baby we had sloppy joes and jello salad three nights in a row!)
• visiting sisters in the hospital
• having visiting teachers visit me in the hospital to meet our new son
• birthday luncheons
• temple trips
• cleaning house for someone who was moving
• having my house cleaned before I moved
• Super Saturdays (90% of our Christmas decorations are compliments of Relief Society!)
• dinner and the general broadcast each September
• wonderful lessons and testimonies each Sunday
• a baby shower for Princess (we moved to the new area a month before she was born, yet there were over 30 guests at the party in her honor - I think they were pretty excited we finally got a girl)
• summer picnics in various backyards
• service projects everywhere
• dry pack canning
• Christmas programs and fancy dinners
• thoughtful cards
• yummy treats
• a glimpse into eternity

I love Relief Society!

Notes: The first picture is the Relief Society in Nassau, the Bahamas. The church building turned out to be farther from the cruise dock than we expected. One of the sisters graciously drove us back. The second picture shows us working hard to compile Christmas stockings for a local Headstart program. The third picture shows my one dear Relief Society friend who taught me how to cut a mango and survive mothering 6 kids (go to the park and fly a kite) and smile while being the bishop's wife, and my other dear Relief Society friend who went visiting teaching with me every month and cheerfully scrubbed my dirty shower (among many other things). They were both thrilled when after a ten year break we were able to get together again. And so was I. (And they did a marvelous job on the wedding lunch!)