Dear Sisters,
I absolutely love belonging to a church that is so progressive. It seems that every turn or corner the church is moving forward and making changes that reflect the world-wide organization that it has become. Some people are not comfortable with change and sometimes change is hard, but I love knowing that Heavenly Father is aware of us and our challenges and is willing to make good changes for our benefit. Although I have finally learned the term Home, Family, and Personal Enrichment, it is quite a mouthful. My daughter pointed out to me that it doesn't translate very well into other languages and is hard for those who don't speak English. I, of course, had never thought of that. As Sister Beck announced last Saturday, now we will simply say Relief Society. How easy that is to remember! And we must remember the Relief Society; for we are one of the largest women's organizations in the world. We must remember to serve, to love, and to take care of one another. Relief Society can help us accomplish such a great task.

I look forward to seeing all of you at the Relief Society retreat. You will see on this site, a list of things to bring, and the schedule as we have planned it. As many of you are aware, there is an important leadership meeting on Saturday at the Stake Center at noon. We have made changes in the schedule in order to have those of you who want to attend the meeting still enjoy most of the retreat. We will be finished with breakfast at 9:30 or 10:00 and those who wish to leave can do so. Those who are not going to the meeting can stay with us a little longer and work on the service project of making blankets to be donated to a place that can use them. We will be completely finished by 11:00 or so and everyone will be on their way home by noon. We are also asking those who can, to carpool, as we must pay $4 for each Indiana car and $5 for each Kentucky one. Please plan to join with us and spend some time with the sisters in the stake.

I send my love to you.
Pat Romney
President

One of the best motivators is to acknowledge what someone is doing right and the effort they are making. In Sheri Dew's Go Forward with Faith, Adney Y. Komatsu, who served as a mission president in Asia, recounted how he would worry before President Hinckley came for a visit, afraid he would be chastised for all he was not managing to get right. Instead, Komatsu said, "...never once in my three years did he criticize me, despite all my weaknesses...And that spurred me on." Komatsu was always greeted warmly by the prophet and praised for his efforts. "When he left I felt I should give 105 percent, not just 100 percent." Discouragement is one of Satan's most effective tools. Be sure to encourage others in their callings. Focus on what teachers are doing well and the efforts they are making, and they will be encouraged to keep striving to magnify their callings.
Love,
Maria Standiford
1st Counselor

What a wonderful and uplifting broadcast that we were privileged to enjoy Saturday night. I was honored to be one of the fourteen sisters at the Louisville Fourth Ward that enjoyed the inspiring words from Salt Lake. It was nice to get to know Sister Barbara Thompson on a more personal level and see how she has developed a testimony, and how it has grown over the years. She is obedient and ever faithful. A worthy person to aspire to emulate in these latter days.
Her talk made those three words, "Mind the Gap!", very meaningful to us in these latter days. She also touched on three aspects of how to close any gaps that may befall us.
*Believe and know that we are daughters of God (Learn to recognize God's love and know that he loves "Us".)
*Upon the completion of Young Women's, a healthy and accepting relationship with Relief Society is a must (It's not just what you can get out of Relief Society, but what you can do to give! You need the church and the church needs you!)
*Believing in Jesus Christ and then being valiant.Let our voices be heard and declare the gospel. (We know that we must do more than just believe!)

In closing, I love the quote by Sister Camilla Kimball, "Never suppress a generous thought!", as read by Sister Beck. Let us be generous! May we be a light to a sister, an inspiration, a calm in the storm to someone, a listening ear to one in need, or a casserole to a worn out, tired, sick family. To be able to do the Lord's work and not be overcome by events, we need to remember to eliminate unnecessary things that get in the way! Have a wonderful month sisters!
Till we meet again.........Love,
Sister Logsdon
2nd Counselor