The Relief Society birthday celebration for the Georgetown Ward was held Saturday evening. Relief Society is the women's organization at Church. Every year we celebrate it's organization on or about March 17th. This year our Relief Society Presidency did a 'shopping' theme.
We were each given a gift bag and a 'Master in Charge' credit
card. These credit cards were a play on a MasterCard with the two
circles in red and orange. Except the title was 'Master in Charge'. A scripture was written at the bottom. Very cute. We had four
shops for each sister to visit. At each shop they would be taught something and
then given something for their shopping bag that went along with the
lesson. The four topics and teachers were:
For the shop titled Joy in the Journey which I taught, I found
a talk by President Thomas S. Monson titled "Finding Joy in the
Journey" from 2008 and another talk by Elder Dallin H. Oaks titled
"Joy and Mercy" from 1991. Both were excellent resources.
I opened with a Pres. Monson quote:
"This is our one and only chance at
mortal life—here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization
that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that
among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth
are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is
not."
I also focused on the scripture in 2 Nephi 2:25 from the Book of
Mormon:
"Adam fell that men might be; and men
are, that they might have joy."
Elder Oaks speaks of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He
quotes 2 Nephi 2:23 where it speaks of the condition Adam and Eve experienced
in the Garden of Eden, “having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good,
for they knew no sin.” I commented about how we all think of living in a
Garden of Eden as being perfect. But this really sounds hmmmmm to me.
Then Elder Oaks quoted from Moses 5:10 - 11 in the Pearl of
Great Price. He explains that after Adam and Eve understood the importance of
them experiencing the fall Adam declared “because of my transgression my eyes
are opened, and in this life I shall have joy.” (Moses 5:10.) With inspired
insight, Eve explained the purpose of life and the source of joy: “Were it
not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have
known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which
God giveth unto all the obedient.” (Moses 5:11.)
We talked about the importance of the Fall and the need for it
in our lives. For us to understand and feel 'joy' there must be the opposite
that we experience as well. We won't feel happy all the time.
We talked about the difference between being 'happy' and having
'joy'. In the talks I referenced the phrases 'mortal joy' and 'eternal joy' are
used. I really liked that way of defining happy and joy. Though we use the
words interchangeably, they really are different. Happy really refers to
the things that make us happy in this life. True joy is more an eternal nature
type of thing.
Elder Oaks quote states it beautifully: "Joy is more than
happiness. Joy is the ultimate sensation of well-being. It comes from being
complete and in harmony with our Creator and his eternal laws."
We only had 10 minutes to cover things so this was our
discussion in a nutshell. Other things were said and other quotes used but these are the important points made.
I covered the walls in the room with pictures of my journey
through life, maps of places we have traveled and brochures from some of those
places, and printed quotes and scriptures about 'joy'.
My handout for their 'shopping bags' was a "Joy in the
Journey" kit. I went through all the 'kits' I have received as handouts
through the years and selected the items that fit having a joyful life. Each
sister was given a quart Ziplock bag filled with one of each of these items.
There was a card in the front with a list of the items and what it was to help
them remember to have a 'joyful journey' in their life. Here is the list from
the card:
‘JOY IN
THE JOURNEY’ KIT
ERASER: Everyone
makes mistakes to “grow on” and that’s alright.
TOOTHPICK: “Pick out”
the good qualities of everyone – including you!
RUBBER BAND: Be flexible, things
might not always go the way you want,
but it will work out.
SWEET & SOUR CANDY: Accept
and appreciate the differences in each of us.
PAPER CLIP: Little things can
help keep it all together.
HAPPY FACE: Smiling not only
increases your face value – it’s contagious.
RELIEF SOCIETY LOGO: Do something
special for others as a symbol of caring.
CONFETTI: Celebrate even the
small successes.
BAND AID: Heal hurt feelings,
yours or someone else's.
PENCIL: Relax and list your
blessings every day, reflect on all the positive
things in your life.
CHEWING GUM: Stick with it
and you can accomplish anything.
MINT: You are worth a
mint and everyone needs a nice treat occasionally.
After the movement thru the four classes, everyone gathered in the
cultural hall for refreshments and the closing prayer.
It was a very nice evening. The sisters all seemed to enjoy
themselves.
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