Relief Society Birthday Ideas

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We set up the gym in a big half circle. On the outer edge, we put white halogen lamps and fake trees with lights. We had the lamps so that they we on dim, just to give it enough light to eat with but make it feel like a fancy restaurant. The tables had white table cloths with white plates, cups, napkins and utensils. Then we had green ivy plants as the center pieces. As the Sisters walked in, they we amazed at how nice the gym could look!

We had Chicken salad croissant sandwiches, fruit and veggies for dinner. Then our Bishop talked to the Sisters about the first sentence of the R.S. Declaration. "We are beloved spirit daughters of God, and our lives have meaning, purpose, and direction."

After his talk, we dimmed the lights and I asked the sisters to Imagine an old neglected cemetery far across the sea in the country of England. One tombstone, separated from the rest and off a distance down a dirt road no longer used has this quote engraved upon it:

"There is not enough darkness in the entire world to put out the light of the smallest candle"

Then I said, "We are blessed to know that we are daughters of God. And we are blessed to belong to an organization, the Relief Society, which teaches us that as daughters of God our lives have meaning, purpose and direction. Now, think of just one way that YOUR life has meaning, purpose and direction. When everyone at your table has thought of something, turn on your candle and show us your light."

There was a battery operated candle in the middle of each ivy plant) Once all of the candles were lit, I had one representative from each table bring candle to the front and place it on the table so all the candles were next to one another.

They returned to their seats and we played the song "Sisters in Christ" from the cd Women of Destiny. After the song, I said " As a Daughter of God, you are a beautiful light. And as you unite with your Savior, and as our hands reach out and we unite as a Ward and Worldwide Sisterhood our light together, just as these candles, becomes brighter and stronger. Our Heavenly Father will give us love and understanding. Our eyes will be lifted and our hearts will be changed. We will be one in faith and have the strength to stand for who we are...Daughters of God. Women of Faith, Virtue, Vision and Charity. The Light of the world."

Our R.S. president gave the closing remarks and we had birthday cake and ice cream, for dessert. It was awesome!!! I really have to thank my enrichment leader for pulling it all together. OH, and for the Sisters b-day gifts, my enrichment leader made all of the Sisters a sugar cookie cut out in the shape of a hand with a heart in-between the thumb and index finger. We gave them that and the words to the song "Sister in Christ" printed up on pretty cardstock. It was an amazing night! We had about 60 sisters there!

-Taina

We had our theme on Worldwide Sisterhood and had a potluck dinner where everyone either brings an international dish or a handed down family recipe to share. (and the recipe in written form too, of course, for our "Chicken Soup for the Sage Pointe Soul" cookbook) After the dinner, we had an International Gala where we had several different people from different countries either perform something from that country or tell a story about it.

Then at the conclusion, we had our Bishop give a short message on how our differences bless and enrich our lives and then we broke a piñata that had candy tied with a special poem which tied into our theme. We have yet to find the poem, so if any of you have any great poems out there that are related to our theme.

-Jeanie in Bakersfield

We did it too! Chicken Soup for the San Juan Soul. It turned out very well with a fare attendance. The RS President and I worked very hard getting everything done, but it was fun.

We served Chicken Soup with Rice in homemade sourdough bread bowls, Citrus Asparagus bundles, and anti-pasta salad with feta cheese... and a birthday cake for dessert. Everything turned out delicious.

Our booklet was well received (it was so hard to get the sisters to write and turn in their stories!!!).

We used the RS quiz -- and had a brief history of the RS given by a sister in the branch.

-- Angela in WA

Just a little note to report we had a wonderfully successful birthday celebration last night. I got the idea from the HFPE list -- We called it "Chicken Soup for the Providence Soul" I had been busy and begged, hounded and cajoled the sisters for the last two weeks for their own stories to put in the booklet to hand out. I was very pleasantly surprised to receive stories or poems from 31 different sisters -- a couple of them included two pieces. They ranged from spiritual to humorous to sweet and tender to insightful poems. I was really thrilled with the results -- all of the nagging was worth it. We had 41 attend which left only 1 empty seat at our 7 tables of 6 we had set up just in case "a lot of people come"!! We served chicken soup, relish tray, bread and a raspberry dessert. I passed around a sheet at RS Sunday and ladies signed up and donated the food.

One of the sisters on my committee had a game called "Chicken Soup for the Soul" which has lots of questions to make you talk about funny little experiences in your life. She copied some of the cards for each table. All of the groups were laughing and having so much fun I was almost afraid to break up the fun to start the program.

For the program I had about 10 people read their story. I had the ones that were very tender and sweet -- especially if they were telling about something one sister in the ward had done for someone else. It was a very "warm & fuzzy" night and everybody was just thrilled. We could hardly get them to go home. So if someone is willing to go to all of the work of collecting the stories and typing some of them -- if I were to do it again I think I would ask for them on disk!! It was sure a nice evening.

--Karen in Cache Valley Utah

I just have to say if you ever have a chance to meet Sister Christine Marie, or to hear her speak... you are in for a treat. She graciously came and spoke to our RS for our Birthday dinner. Our theme was A new Millennium, A new me. And her talk was all about making ourselves better.

We had everyone bring a different kind of salad, we had rolls, and birthday cake.

We decorated with flower baskets.

-Michelle

We are doing a Luau for our March Birthday Celebration.

Not much in the planning department. Sea shells for decorations on the tables. We will try to sit the sisters by their birthday month.

We will have Hawaiian haystacks and a couple of other traditional Polynesian dishes. For desert we are trying to decide on Pineapple cake or a sheet cake from Costco just saying Happy Birthday Relief Society.

We will pass out leis and have asked the sisters to wear their favorite Hawaiian shirt. There may be a prize for the most original. That's still in the workings.

There will be a dance presentation and possible lessons if anyone is
interested.

-Melissa in Alaska

One of the poems I wrote years ago, for my wife to share with the Relief Society sisters in our ward, tells about the organization of the Relief Society in 1842, by the Prophet Joseph Smith. We will be sharing that poem tonight along with my book of poems called Heart Thoughts about the Relief Society. They purchased 70 of my books to give to the sisters there.

The Relief Society Birthday Social was a huge success. Everyone loved the poems we were able to share, and we even got to have an enjoyable meal with those wonderful ladies. At first I was a little scared, but as soon as we got started, it was a wonderful program. My wife started out by sharing the Relief Society Birthday poem I had written 35 years ago for just such an occasion, and then I told them a little bit of how we met, and then I sang a special song which was from a poem I wrote to my sweetheart while she was in Idaho spending the last week with her mother before she died. It was called "Beloved Eternal Sweetheart." When my sister read the poem she wrote music to it, and it was a most beautiful song.

Anyway, it was a wonderful program, and the spirit was there in rich abundance. We sang another song half way through, called Beyond, which was a poem I wrote about what will happen once we are beyond the veil of tears which is life. After I wrote that poem I shared it with my sister, and she received the inspiration to put it to music. The music is a very haunting melody, and enhances the words of my poem like no song I have ever heard. It stirs my soul to the very depths of my spirit. My sister has written some 80 songs now using my poems, then she started writing her own poems and songs. Now she has over 200 songs she has written. She had never written a song before she wrote the music to Beloved Eternal Sweetheart. Nor had she ever had a music lesson, but she could sit down and play any song she once heard on the radio without music. She has been that way since I can remember. She is the mother of 9 children, and a grand lady. She spent the better part of five years entering my Heart Thoughts into the computer so that we would have them on disk, instead of just in my spiral notebooks of which I have 95, which are filled with Heart Thoughts, thanks to the Lord and my friend on the other side of the veil.

Here are the words to the two songs we shared with the sisters last night.

BELOVED ETERNAL SWEETHEART
©1980 James H. Lee Jr. and Jennie Lee Adam
Used with permission

Beloved eternal sweetheart, cherished friend and wife,
Thank you for the love you've brought into my heart and life.

Thank you for the happiness you've given through the years,
Thank you for the tenderness, and for all your tears.

Thank you for the joy you've given to my heart and soul,
Thank you, dear, for helping me to earn a higher goal.

My darling, I express my love to you with all my heart,
And thank you for your precious love right from the very
start.

May we be sweethearts always, as you have been to me,
And may we share our precious love throughout eternity.

James H. Lee Jr. and Jennie Lee Adam
Copyright 1980

BEYOND
©1980 James H. Lee Jr. and Jennie Lee Adam
Used with permission

Beyond the veil of tears our sorrows will be healed,
And all the pain and suffering that we have long concealed.

T'will be a state of bliss where love will know no bounds,
And every hour of every day we'll hear such heavenly sounds.

No grief will there be known or heartache, or pain or sorrow,
For loved ones will be there to share that bright tomorrow.

What gladsome praise we'll sing, in one long lasting chord,
To God, who is Our Father, and Jesus Christ, The Lord.

All hail the Great Creator, and bless His holy name,
Let earth and heaven sing His songs, and every heart proclaim

His majesty and glory, and His eternal love,
And thank Him for His mercy that flows from heaven above.

Oh what a glad reunion beyond that veil of tears,
Awaits God's righteous children in a few short years.

James H. Lee Jr. and Jennie Lee Adam
Copyright 1980

To celebrate the RS birthday, and the women in the church, we have planned on a homemaking meeting called "The things my grandmother taught me." It focuses on traditions handed down from woman to woman in a family - or in some cases sister to sister in the gospel.

We are going to have four categories: Family Traditions, Foods, Stories, and Crafts.

Each woman will get to talk about what she brought, recipes will be available for the foods, and instructions for the crafts. We thought it would be a good way to learn more about each woman, her family, and her country. We have around eight different cultures represented in our small ward here in England.

We had a GREAT Relief Society Birthday Celebration. The theme was "Things I learned from my grandmother." (I found this title in the Relief Society Birthday Celebration ideas).

In February during the Enrichment meeting, I asked the sisters to write on a 3x5 card things they learned from their grandmothers, their memories, words of wisdom, sayings of their grandmother, etc. Some sisters did not live near, or know their grandmother so I told them to think about a grandma in their neighborhood, or in the ward, or perhaps a great aunt, etc. I had instructed the sisters to purchase an 8x10" frame of their choice and then find things either around their house or at a craft store, that reflected them and their personality. For example if they love flowers- some silk flowers, if their favorite color were purple then something purple, if they liked shiny things- sequins etc. etc. The point was if anyone who knew the sister were to see the completed frame they would know it belonged to that particular sister. The sisters were to bring frames, adornments, glue guns & glue sticks to March Enrichment.

The dinner was food you could associate with your grandmother- we had beef stew, rolls and cake. Following the dinner the sisters were to create their frame. While they worked on the frames I read what had been written on the 3x5 cards. Each sister was then given a piece of acid free paper- their favorite color (supplied by Relief Society). They were instructed to write with a permanent ink pen, their testimony and words of wisdom. This frame and written word was to be an heirloom gift to be hand down to their children. We invited the young women, so they could write to their future children, or give it as a gift to their parents, or keep it for themselves. Everyone had a great time and was thankful to be able to think of the past while making heirlooms for the future generation.

--Robynn in Overland Park, Kansas

Last year for our Birthday party our theme was Daughters of God. Several of the sisters decorated a table with their own China and center pieces.

We had one of the sisters as a narrator and several others with talking parts. The narrator read about "Great lessons that can be learned from our sisters from the past". She read about sisters in the Bible and Book of Mormon. As she read the names of some of these daughter of God, a sister would stand up and say "yes my name is Sarah or Mary or Lucy or Emma" and read her part. At the end of the skit, a sister with a beautiful voice sang Daughters of God. It was a very moving, spiritual time for us.

Our dinner consisted of baked Pork Loin with a cranberry sauce, baked potatoes, and a salad. For desert we had a birthday cake. I would be willing to share more of this if wanted.

-Contributed by: Earline White