Relief Society Birthday Dinner -- WOW!

     At the beginning of the new year, church leaders counseled us to have a council meeting in Relief Society and Priesthood during the first Sunday of each month.  At the first one, January 2018, our RS presidency decided we would discuss how the sisters in the ward could get to know each other and blend together as sisters from two different wards.  RS First Counselor Ruth Anderson led the discussion; there were many suggestions; and several of them have been implemented.
                      
   One of the ideas was executed at the annual RS Birthday Dinner March 15.  It was to have an activity modeled after "speed dating," made popular by millennials who wanted to learn about many possible dating prospects in a short period of time.
   After a delightful dinner, sisters sat across from each other at a very long table.  Serena Powell had prepared some questions to be asked if ideas were needed.  After a few minutes of questioning each other, Kaela Burk who was MC for the event, asked sisters on one side of the table to move down one, and everyone began learning about another sister.
   Angie Boswell, chairman for the entire birthday party, said many people expressed how wonderful the game was that they had a lot of fun, and at the same time enjoyed the whole aspect of getting to know each other better.

                               

   Another idea for getting to know each other was implemented by Angie. As sisters came in they were give a cute nametag (hand-made by Angie) with a tiny colored ribbon bow on it.  If you got a yellow one, you sat at a table with a yellow gingham table covering.  There were nine different tables, and again there were suggestions of questions sisters could ask to learn more about each other.

      Angie Boswell is very talented with paper art.  Having helped her daughter Kate with a school project 5 years ago that involved making paper dolls, Angie had many of their components left over. She got them out and recruited her husband to use a glue gun and paper punch to put them together. They ended up enhancing the salad bar table with lots of different creations, just as we are all different.  So cute!

                          

                

    The salad bar dinner was amazing!  So many wonderful items to choose from.  A little glitch happened when the crew (Angie, Chrissy Plines, Shawna Banks and RS Second Counselor Wendy Weight) came to the stake center at 5 pm for final preparations before the party began at 6 pm. Upon opening the refrigerator where they had stored the pre-prepped salad fixings the night before, they found NOTHING—a totally empty refrigerator. TERROR! Wendy recruited her husband Curtis to make a quick trip to Costco, then sent a text to everyone she could think of to come immediately to the church kitchen and help cut up veggies and other tasks to get ready. Cathy Leonard put a post on Facebook. People came immediately to help. In addition to those already mentioned were Mark and Judi Wilcox, Ruth Anderson, Julie McGhie, the Sister missionaries, and the Spanish missionaries.

    Meanwhile at 6 p.m. the party started, and sisters began getting acquainted with others at their table.  Everyone was too involved in this activity to notice a lot of action going on in the kitchen and at the salad bar.  Then the delicious meal was enjoyed by everyone, and only a few knew that a crisis had been averted by a group of amazing women in our Relief Society

    Sister Weight said of this experience: “The issue was resolved quickly, and the challenge was invigorating. It helped our newly formed events committee learn to trust and rely on each other more. It gave many sisters a chance to serve in a way that felt rewarding. The time spent chopping the vegetables the night before was important for forming bonds through intimate conversations that could only have taken place while quietly serving together. And I'm certain that there are several other benefits to the whole experience which are beyond my perception. In the end we had a wonderful meal and a successful event.”