Dear Sisters,

As the year comes to a close, we are all busier than we can imagine. There are so many things to be done and so few hands to do it all. I hope that as we move through our month, we will take time to spend a few minutes meditating on the past year. What have we accomplished, what did we do a good job on, who we met, who we helped, and, most important, who helped us. I think that when we take time to contemplate and think of the last year, we can have a better idea of where we want to go and how we can accomplish all the things that we must. It can give us time to plan the future, write down our plans, and find ways to make those plans succeed.

There are lots of changes in the new handbooks. The 5-minute music period in Relief Society has been dropped. The guidelines for our meetings are clearer. We can provide what the sisters in our units need because we are more focused on them. Some meetings have been eliminated and others have been given a higher priority. I would encourage you to look to your handbook and learn all you can from it. For those of you in the branches who are counselors and don't actually have a copy of the handbook, it is available online. Go to http://www.new.lds.org/ and sign in just like the old site. Click on the "Menu" tab, then on "Service" and then on "Serving in the Church." Then click on "Handbook 2: Administering the Church." The entire handbook is then there for you to read. Everyone needs to know what is in the handbook. As I have been reading it, there are several items that I have found. Each of us has different ideas and ways that we can come up with to help those we serve. But we need to know what is in the handbook so that we are always on the right track. The sentence that keeps coming to me as I learn more and more is that "There is safety in the Handbook."

I hope that this December will hold many happy memories for you and that it also will be a jumping off point for new ideas and new ways that we can serve those around us. We love you and hope you know we are only a phone call or e-mail away.

Love,
Pat Romney