Everyone was busy.
There was a great spirit surrounding all of the work.
Much love was thick in the room.
The projects that were worked on were:
Muslin Dolls for Primary Children's Medical Center.
-- You know with my extreme lack of sewing talents... I was no where near this... but I did donate my sewing machine!
See... it is good for something! For others to use.
The little hospital gowns made -- along with each doll were so darling.
Many sisters were sewing for 5 hours +.
Darling little blankets were made for stillborn babies at local Hospitals...
Reusable Sanitary Pads were made from small pieces of flannel for many women in Africa and India.
This humbled me much.. they only get one??? I would need MANY!!
We enjoyed hearing from the guest speaker: Patty Liston who is the Executive Director for Grow.Learn.Give., an organization that teaches hygiene and maturation to children ages 5-18. She told us how happy these women from Africa and India were to receive this one simple cloth.
My heart ached for them. She said most of the women use "mud packs" or "grass" and if they are lucky..maybe a rag.. when they are menstruating.
WHAT???
I felt so grateful for the many blessings we are so richly blessed with daily.
Sister Liston expressed that many of these women will *treasure* this very small -- brightly colored piece of flannel.
I felt such heart ache for these women.
Everytime I see a Tampon.. I will seriously be grateful.
"Jingle Cubes" were made for Inner City Refugee families
~ And everyone was there serving with a smile on their faces.. and in their hearts.
Of course.. it wouldn't be Relief Society.. if we didn't have many sisters tying quilts...
Everyone was always busy working. ~ Even through lunch.
Beaded bracelets were made for the Stillborn babies in local hospitals..
And hundreds of plastic grocery sacks were cut up into strips to be sent to Africa. Sister Liston is also a volunteer Director of Women's Initiatives for Reach the Children, a non-governmental organization working in Africa.
We cut these bags up... they take them to Africa... and teach the women to crochet the strips of plastic into these amazing bags. The women then sell them for money.
I love that we are helping these women help themselves.
After our time was up.. many women took hundreds of bags home to cut up and finish.. so they can be ready for Africa in a few months.
It takes 50 plastic grocery sacks to make one crotchet bag.
They also had us writing Christmas cards for Military men and women who are in the Bethesda Military Hospital in Maryland. It was an awesome experience writing and thanking these people who have been injured while serving our country.
I felt much love and gratitude for each person that I wrote to.
So much goodness and love was felt this day.
I am grateful.
I am very grateful to belong to the largest Women's organization in the world..
The Relief Society.
" As Sisters in Zion we'll all work together; the blessings of God on our labors we'll seek. We'll build up his kingdom with earnest endeavor; we'll comfort the weary.. and strengthen the weak.
The errand of angels is given to women; and this is a gift that, as sisters we claim: To do what-so-ever is gentle and human, To cheer and to bless in Humanity's name.
How vast is our purpose, how broad is our mission, If we but fulfill it in spirit and deed. Oh, naught but the spirit's divinest tuition - can give us the wisdom to truly succeed.
~Text: Emily H. Woodmansee 1836-1906
~ Music: Janice Kapp Perry
Today I am Grateful for:
A very happy Service filled weekend.
Dinner at Tressa and Tyler's
Warmer Temperatures in the forecast. ( I still have some painting to do! )
New Jeans. Grateful I don't look like I am prepared for a flood any longer.
Tampons and Maxi Pads. I will always be grateful.
12 comments:
Wow! What a full day!
It's hard to believe that so many things were able to be accomplished. I had no idea about the sanitary pads.
Yikes! They get one?
Ya, we have such abundance, maybe even overabundance.
There are so many things we take for granted! Thank you for reminding me! It seems you did well and had a fun time doing so.
Hugs,
Marianne.
I wish, many more people will think like you do. I´m knitting for "Operation Christmas Child Samaritan’s Purse" socks and gloves.
My Grandma always said: God blesses those who give.
Hugs, Karin
(I´m sorry, my english is bad)
Your post is perfect! I should just copy and paste the whole thing onto my blog. :) I will be borrowing some pictures if you don't mind, the ones I took didn't turn out very well- most of them looked too dark. I am so happy with the way the day came together and for the sisters who stayed and worked until we had to start cleaning up! I thought it was a wonderful day and hopefully it will become a tradition in our ward.
What a truly AWESOME day! That is such a great idea for a super Saturday. You all did so much good.
The sanitary pads are just one of those things that kind of open your eyes to how much we have here in the U.S. that we take for granted. We are so blessed!
Fantastic! What a great idea for a super Saturday and what a wonderful turn out you had! I love the m&m's on the table, that's my kind of crafting for sure baby!! HA!
Our Super Saturday was this weekend also, but I had to pass because of a previous engagement. Looks like a great time there!
This was very inspiring and eye opening. It's unbelievable the small things we take for granted. I have ALWAYS wondered what those women do when they are on their period. Wow.. next to nothing, apparently. Can you imagine having one flannel pad. Talk about the simple things. Seriously, most of the world has it so hard. This was a great post. What a fabulous idea for a service project. That hospital in Bethesda is near me. Our good friend is a doctor there.. anyone who goes to that hospital is injured SUPER bad so it's really sad. It was neat to hear you're doing something for them.
What a great idea for a Super Saturday, - all service projects! Somehow, maybe it's just our stake, but word was that there were to be no more Super Saturdays since it was felt like it took the sisters away from their families for too long, so our ward is doing a Fabulous Friday.....how's that for getting around it? : )
That is so awesome they did that instead of a regular Super Saturday! I love it!
I loved the little hospital dolls!
I can't believe the things we take for granted! I too am so grateful for disposable sanitary napkins and tampons!
I too am grateful for tampons and pads. WOW! The little things right.
I love it when your ward does this!
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