Dear Sisters,

It is September! The summer is just leaving and fall is arriving. How I love the fall! I can just tell when it's here because the sunshine changes. The weather begins to cool off a little and walks are much more enjoyable.

It was delightful to see and visit with so many of you last Thursday at the Auxiliary Training Meeting. I hope you enjoyed being there as much as we enjoyed having you with us. I thought I might just go over a few things we talked about:

1. Success is in the "Cans" and not in the "Can-nots"
2. In order to better reach the sisters in your wards and branches a challenge was given to have supervisors make phone calls in the middle of the month to help remind the visiting teachers that the end of the month is coming. So often, the end comes and no one is ready. (Wow, does that sound a little like a Bible story?)
3. The Visiting Teaching Leader to use small handouts or reminders to help the visiting teachers keep visiting teaching on their minds.
4. Teachers can bring their own "spice" and "tools" to their lessons, by using their own experiences, testimonies, and by concentrating on the parts of the lesson the Spirit leads them to use.
5. There are always new and exciting ideas that can be used to make our Home, Family and Personal Enrichment meetings a richer experience. From home-made laundry detergent to pie in a jar. By looking for ideas that are new, we can make our meetings a place that everyone wants to be.
6. Every president needs a secretary. Secretaries can bring peace and a calmness to the Relief Society President by taking some of the burden and helping her with it. The secretary can make sure the agenda is complete before Relief Society starts. She can meet the new sisters in the unit and make sure she has their name, address, and phone number to pass on to the President. A secretary can keep minutes of meetings and make sure that everyone knows what their assignments are. A secretary is a must in a presidency.

As I mentioned in the meeting, I know that we look at numbers, but truly, sisters, we are looking at souls. A question was posed to me not long ago. "How do we save souls?" I said "One at a time." I truly believe that. Each sister is precious and needs our love and compassion. She also needs to be included in all the activities and events we hold in our units. I know we are up to the challenge and with every one doing their part, we can and will success.

Keep us the good work. I love you all and hope September brings you health, happiness, and joy.

Pat Romney,
President

Welcome to August!

I am amazed that the summer is flying by so quickly. The back to school sales are appearing in the newspaper and families are getting ready for the first day of school. I am constantly reminded that we have much to do and the time is flying by.
This month brings a Relief Society event. We are holding our Relief Society Auxilliary Meeting on August 27th at 7:00. We want to invite all Relief Society Presidencies, including Secretaries to our meeting. We think it will be worth the time you spend with us and hope you will put it on your calendars.
We are also looking forward to the Relief Society Retreat to be held on the 23rd and 24th of October. It will be in O'Bannon Woods near Corydon Indiana and we will be including all the information pertaining to it in future editions of the blog.
I have been visiting your units and love being with you. There is always such a feeling of love and a sweet spirit in your Relief Society meetings. You have always been so welcoming to me and to anyone I bring with me. What a joy it is to be with you and to share in your love. Each of you leads in a different way, but there is always the same Spirit. Please know that I love you and learn from you in so many ways. You strengthen my determination to lead and help lift me up in just the right way.
I hope you enjoy the rest of your summer and I look forward to seeing you soon.

Love,
Pat Romney
President

Dear Education Counselors,

The very first verse of the Doctrine and Covenants uses the expression "listen together". I like that idea and think that learning together has a lot to do with listening together, especially listening to the still small voice of the Spirit, whether we are a teacher in a class or a student. In Drawing Closer to God, President Eyring quoted directions he has tested from President Marion G. Romney about how to get the help of the Holy Ghost: "If you want to obtain and keep the guidance of the Spirit, you can do so by following this simple four-point program. One--Pray. Pray diligently. Pray with each other...Learn to talk to the Lord; call upon his name in great faith and confidence. Second-study and learn the gospel. Third--live righteously. Repent of your sins by confessing them and forsaking them. Then conform to the teachings of the gospel. Fourth--give service in the Church...If you will do these things, you will get the guidance of the Holy Spirit and you will go through this world successfully, regardless of what the people of the world say or do." I know when we have the Spirit with us we can be inspired to know how to help those we
Love,
Maria Standiford
Education Counselor


Hello, Home Family and Personal Enrichment Counselors!

I hope that this post finds you feeling well and enjoying the summer!
I am so excited about our Auxiliary Training Meeting that will be held this month.
(See the countdown at the bottom of the page)
We are told that the purpose of enrichment meeting is to give sisters opportunities to learn and apply principles and skills that will help them increase faith and personal righteousness, strengthen families and homes, and seek out and help those in need. This is exactly what we have in store for you! ;-) We will be sharing a multitude of ideas about compassionate service, education and literacy, finances, health, homemaking, marriage and family, sharing the gospel, temple and family history to name a few. By now, I am sure that your interest is in high gear! Come and partake of the Spirit of Relief Society as we esteem one another and share the gospel.

Love,
Starr Logsdon, HFPE counselor

Dear Secretaries,
I have been so blessed by this new calling. I have never been a secretary so I'm learning and growing. Do I sometimes feel overwhelmed?. You bet! Some of you that have recently been called as secretaries have shared that thought. But I know that Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to succeed. I have found prayer to be extremely helpful and other sisters who have held that calling can give a lot of insight. Together we will serve our sisters in the Relief Society by writing down those important items which need immediate attention and be the little reminder. GET IT DONE! and do all we can to help the presidencies accomplish the work the Lord wants us to do at this time.

Love you you,
Bannah Hanover,
Secretary