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Tuesday, April 30, 2013

What's in your Secret Garden?

April 18th 2013 
Relief Society Activity


Yep, thats right....there were a few who thought family history would be boring.....but no!!!
Turns out.....Family History is so fascinating!!

We had such a great time!


These were the great displays from the RS committee.






Some people signed up to bring a favorite family desert to share.


Terry talked to us a little bit about Family History and the Family Search online.


Danice A. told us about her father and showed us an incredible book she compiled after the death of her father. It is filled with all the details, pictures and information from his service in World War II that she was able to research and find! 
It was such an interesting story you will have to ask her to tell you if you missed it!!




Sharon G. Headed up a game of guessing who's story about someone in their family history 
belonged to who.


We couldn't believe all the crazy things in people's history!!!
(They are all listed at the bottom of this post)




We then moved on to sampling lots of family favorite deserts!
Natisha shows us how that's done.... you balance your plate on top of your cup, then take a bite!
Now that's talent!!


We don't know who brought all of the deserts so if you did and yours hasn't got your name on it, let us know and what the recipe is.
(We will post recipes later in separate posts)

Mary L's Peanut Butter Bars




Karen P. brought better than "you know what" dessert!
Um, can we say yuuummmy! Guess she's right Teehee!



Michelle T's fathers yummy "Tea Ring"
made with apples, walnuts and cinnamon & sugar.



Becky S. brought an all time family favorite....
The Callahan Burnt Cake
*Instructions: 
1. Make cake from box
2. Place in oven (forget to set timer)
3. Change diapers, Switch laundry
4. Take forgotten lunch to School
5. Return home and Smell... Something
6. Rush to Store on way to activity and by cookies

LOL - BEST DESERT EVER!!!!



Sydney G's Chocolate chip cake with coconut frosting



Heidi S's  Fruit Pizza





Jenny N made yummy dipped strawberries!





Natisha  T. brought cute individual cheescakes



We had a cute little taste tester show us the best way to taste all the deserts..... just get a fork and dig in!!



* Theres always a favorite part of Relief Society activities..... Eating and visiting.

Here are some of the things we learned about each other.......


1. (Lindsay B.)  My ancestor escaped from a concentration camp three times



2. (Linda A.)  During the great depression my grandmother’s family home burnt to the ground so they moved into the chicken coop.


3. (Leila J.)  My great-grandmother came across the plains with the Willie Handcart Company and lived long enough to also fly in an airplane.

4. (Leslie M.)  My ancestors were part of the United Order in Orderville.   Another was also Joseph Smith’s body guard.

5. (Terry S.)  My paternal grandmother, born in 1899, had 12 children and ended up spending six months in the State Mental Institution in Provo, UT.

6. (Linda W.)  One of my ancestors was coming across the ocean and a pirate ship took the ship over.  He ended up with the Pirates for 10 years on the boat.  Finally, he was released in America and that is when he joined the Church.

7. (Sandy Y.)  My great grandfather was a deserter in the Civil War.  It’s a good story! 

8. (Karen E.)  My great-grandmother was born on a wagon train in Nebraska on the Oregon Trail.  They came from Rutherford, Tennessee through Missouri to Nevada, California and then Jackson County, Oregon.

9. (Sue G.)  My great-great-great aunt Mary Anne Thayne used to hang out with Butch Cassidy.  She had her wanted poster hung by Butch Cassidy’s.  She hid with him at Hole-in-the-Wall and had one of his babies.

10. (Sharon G.)  My ancestor had a very good relationship with the Indians.  One time he left his wife alone while he was helping the Indians.  A group of men came to steal their horse.  His wife threatened them with a shot gun if they didn’t leave.  They did leave.  She later found out it was Billy the Kid and his gang that she had threatened.

11. (Karen R.)  My grandfather was a merchant in the Netherlands.  He owned a ship and would transport goods up and down the canal.  My grandparents raised 9 children.  They lived on the ship.  My mother is the youngest child and came to America with her family when she was 18 months old.

12. (Heidi S.) My grandmother danced with Frank Sinatra at a dance at Hill Air Force Base.

13. (Beck S.)  My ancestor is an Indian Princess, daughter of a chief.

14. (Nancy S.)  My great, great grandfather, Jerimiah Willey, fell off a wagon and died while bringing granite from the quarry down the mountain.  This granite was used for building the Salt Lake Temple.

15. (Melanie P.) One of my ancestors grew up best friends with Al Capone.

16. (Katie P.)  I am related to Pocahontas through John Rolfe, her husband

17. (Michelle T.)  My ancestors were master map makers.  One brother was with England, the other with America during the Revolutionary War.

18. (Andrea P.)  I’m related to the former President Buchanan, the one who sent the orders to exterminate the Mormons.  The Buchanans are from Scotland originally and there is still a standing castle from their clan, someday I’ll hopefully get to visit it!

19. (Camille J.)  My great-great-grandmother was married to the tailor for Joseph Smith.  Family legend said it was actually her who sewed shirts and the Nauvoo Legion cape for Joseph Smith.

20. (Renee V.)  My family has Cherokee Indian ancestors who were introduced to our family during the time of the Trail of Tears.  The story is that a Cherokee Indian squaw and her two sons got separated from their tribe.  She traded her two boys to a man in exchange for him to take her back to her tribe.  These Indian brothers were adopted by this man and his family.  They grew up and married sisters from another family.  One of these brothers is my direct relative.


21. (Trisha T.)  My four time great uncle is the explorer, Kit Carson.



22. (Carol E.)  My ancestors, the Perry’s, were settled in for the evening one snowy night in 1830.  An older man unlatched the door and asked for shelter.  When something began wiggling in his pack, he pulled out a puppy.  While the children played, he also pulled out a book.  He proceeded to say that this book would soon be coming out and that they should get themselves a copy.  He also blessed the family promising that they would never again want for bread.  He then opened the door and disappeared.  The promise was fulfilled as a man who owed money to the family asked if he couldn’t pay his debt to the family in wheat.  Sometime after the old gentleman’s visit, two Mormon elders visited the area.  While leafing through their book the parents recognized passages of scripture the stranger had read to them.  The Perry family obtained a Book of Mormon and joined the church in 1832.


23. (Kathleen T.) One of my ancestors was Richard Ballantyne who started the Sunday School Program for the Church.  There is a book written about his life called “Knight of the Kingdom” 

24. (Natisha T.) William Wallace was one of my ancestors (on my father’s side).  They made the movie “Braveheart” about him and his life.

25. (Mary Jane W.)  My husband and I share the same great-great-grandfather through our mothers’ ancestry lines.  This grandfather had five wives.  My line comes through the 3rd wife and my husband’s through the 4th wife.

26. (Shannon P.) My great-grandma and grandpa were avid fishermen.  They lived up in Logan and fished the Logan River frequently during the summer.  They usually caught over the limited number of fish they were allowed to catch by law.  One day while my grandma was fishing by herself she got caught for catching over her limit and was taken to the authorities.  When she was brought in front of the judge he let her go because she was dressed in her old clothes, shoes and apron and was using a hand-me-down fish basket.  He thought she was a poor woman just trying to feed her family.

27. (Britt M.) Joseph Knight is my great-great-great-great-great grandfather.  He was friends with the Smith Family.  Joseph Smith used Joseph Knight’s wagon and horse to carry home the gold plates from the Hill when he was finally allowed to do so.

28. (Kerri H.) My ancestor adopted an Indian boy to save him from being killed by his tribe.  His Indian mother looked through the windows of the home to check on her son now and then.

29. (Malinda M.) My great-great grandmother’s family lived in England.  Osmyn Duel, a missionary from Centerville, spent a lot of time with their family while on his mission.  When he returned he sent money to bring many saints to Utah.  This family settled in Centerville and Osmyn Duel ended up marrying one of the daughters.  Their home is still standing and his wife’s sister is my ancestor.  I didn’t know this until my daughter did an immigration report  and we learned about this ancestor.

30. (Becky S.) My ancestor purchased a fake I.D. and Birth Certificate to not have to go to war.

31. (Danice A.) My father flew airplanes during World War II.  When his plane crashed he was captured and lived as a POW for 9 months.

32. (Sara C.) My ancestor was at Sutter’s Mill when gold was discovered there.  He got some gold to take back to his wife and family but while going over Donor’s Pass in Nevada he was killed by Indians.  The Indians did not find his pouch of gold so other people in his traveling party found the gold and took it back to his wife.  She made a ring out of it. The ring has been handed down and is still in the family today -unfortunately not in my immediate family.

33. (Gabby A.) 600 people were baptized on my great-great grandfather’s farm.   His name was John Benbow.  He eventually sold that farm and helped pay for passage for these converts to travel to America.

34. (Sydney G.) My great uncle ran away from home at the age of 13 and became a “Hobo” also known as a train jumper.  He had so many crazy experiences before he finally landed back home at the age of 22 that people told him to write a book about it.  The book “Bill Bailey Came Home” is totally one of my all time favorite memoirs!

35. (Becky B.)  One of my ancestors, William Minshall Evans, was one of the first members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir!


There were a few other sisters who came and shared family stories as well that we didn't have on our printed paper.

A BIG THANKS 
goes to the RS activities committee for putting all the work into this great evening.
And;
Thanks to everyone for coming and sharing their family history for such a fun activity 





Friday, April 26, 2013

Book of Mormon Class

Taught by Sue G.

The War Chapters




Why does the Book of Mormon contain so many chapters about war?

1st - The war chapters help us spiritually by giving us insight into how we can successfully battle sin and temptation.

2nd - The war chapters help us live in the last days, a time of wars and rumors of war.

Satan is at war with all that is "virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praise worthy".  He is ruthless and he is relentless, but the Book of Mormon help us prepare to "Battle Him".

Elder Richard G. Scott observed, "Satan has a powerful tool to use against good people. It is DISTRACTION".

We can learn from the war chapters that the adversary will never stop his distractions, decoys and snares.

Ephesians 6:11
Put on the whole amour of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Wiles means: A trick or stratagem, practiced for ensnaring or deception.

We could restate Ephesians 6:11
Put on the WHOLE ARMOUR OF GOD that ye may be able to STAND AGAINST  the STRATAGEM'S OF THE DEVIL.


I am thankful for the Book of Mormon.  The people we read about in the war chapters went through amazing difficult times and I'm grateful that the prophet Mormon shared these experiences with us.  If the ancient prophets saw our days, they also saw war  but they show us how to rely on the Prince of Peace.



Tuesday, April 23, 2013

"Stand in Holy Places"


The Young Women's Theme this year is one that really applies to all of us:





Do we really think about what this means?
Are we continually trying to stay the line, or do we try to justify it's widening to adapt to what we want to partake of in the World?

Just a thought to ponder.

Even small things like seemingly innocent choices in clothing, movies, books, magazines or other forms of media and entertainment can cause the line to start to widen until without our even noticing, it can become a deep chasm.

We should continually do our best to be prepared for the coming of our Savior.

Wherefore, stand ye in holy places and be not moved until the day of the Lord come;
For behold, it cometh quickly saith the Lord. 
D&C 87:8

Here is the beautiful video from the 
General Young Women's meeting held on 
March 30th this year.

click the link to watch: Standing in Holy Places 



Let us all aspire to get to the place where we can say with strong conviction as Sister Ann M. Dibb, second counselor in the Young Women general presidency in an October 2012 conference address said: