The power of womanhood

There is no greater way to get outside yourself and devoid of worries than be serving others. A couple weeks ago, I had the honor and privilege to spend my time working with the youth and these fine women of our church at Fort Flagler. Each one of these women is an example to me for a variety of reasons. One tirelessly mothers six children, one effortlessly goes back and forth between multiple languages, one took to the dance floor with reckless abandonment and all of them demonstrate amazing inner strength, perseverance and love for others.

Gospel in action

It is with a full heart I want to express my sincere gratitude for all the sisters who came out to support me on our Service Night. There are not many places you can rally forty women together from all walks of life who are ready and willing to roll up there sleeves and devote an evening to helping out. I also wanted to thank all of you who have diligently supported me over the past couple of months. I have not only been lifted up by your prayers, but amazed at your capacity to selflessly give. Service Night was Relief Society at its best and the gospel truly in action.

We are close to our goal of having 50 complete layette sets and additional 200-250 diapers to donate this week. Working on these items has made me realize how thin the veil is between heaven and earth. I know all hands (no matter how small the task) who have worked on this items will be blessed.

The items we have been working on are for celestial beings and will touch the lives of hundreds if not thousands of people.  A blanket or a diaper might not seem like a big deal to you, but they will most likely become someone's most prized possession and one of only a few physical reminders their loved one was here on earth. 

There is a reason we call wards our ward family. I was truly feeling the love that evening.

Summer camp

I had the opportunity to go up to Girls Camp with our church this year. It was a rare opportunity for us as women (both young and old) to gather and enjoy one another's company. We enjoyed the sunshine, crafted it up a bit and did what we ladies do best....chat and chat.

On our hike.

Athina and I with our homemade journals and roasting sticks.

Making breakfast al fresco.

Our theme for Girl's camp this year.

Archery time.

I would not have enjoyed myself as much without these two amazing women.

Time to teamwork.

Forget not to be happy now

General Relief Society Conference was this past weekend. President Uchtdorf's message seemed to resonate the most in my heart. Two of my favorite take home messages were to forget not to be happy now and to turn the mundane into the majestic.

Too often we as women compare ourselves to others and always seem to judge ourselves the harshest. I think this is a talk we can all benefit from hearing again and again. I also thought the theme of his talk goes along very well with the very name of this blog. Be uplifted here.

What was your take home message from conference?

Pioneer Trek

Cameron and I had the opportunity to take part in some of the Pioneer Trek the youth of our church went on. In short the time we were there, we forged a river, hiked through a stream and witnessed what is possible when young people come together for a common purpose.

Jeff and Cameron.

The hand carts they pushed and pulled.

For the record, we cheated and slept inside our tent for the night.

My best last minute pioneer apparel.

Jeff forging the river.

Cameron trekking across.

The river crossing went amazingly smooth. No handcarts were overturned in the process.

Hiking up the stream.

The sun was shining, the scenery was beautiful and the youth were inspiring.

Relief Society's birthday

As a member of the Relief Society, I had the opportunity to help celebrate the founding of it with the women in my ward. It was a wonderful evening to come together as women of all walks of life, enjoy each other's company and be surrounded by festive decor. An evening out with the girls is fun, but an evening out with fifty girls is even better. The best part is you do not have to be a member of Relief Society to come and have fun with us and even better is we have fun once a month.

The tables were a festive sea of color blocking, everything from the presents on the table, to the table cloths and to the balloons tied to each chair.

In addition to wrapping all the cute packages, my friend Jessica created theses little reminders to do our visiting teaching each month. They are little magnets where you can flip it to say either "do it" or "done".

What is a party without a favor? Little bags of m&ms were passed out with the date the Relief Society was established.