Changes

Fall is always a time of changes. The weather changes. Some days are quite chilly and others are nice and warm...like this week. Daylight decreases - and we changes our clocks to go back to "standard" time from "daylight-savings" time...like this coming weekend. (Yeah! The weekend will be one hour LONGER.)

And for me this last week, it was also another change in church callings - though somewhat subtle. We had stake conference this past weekend, and the stake Relief Society presidency was reorganized. So I was released as the 2nd counselor and am now the 1st counselor...that's the subtle part.

I have some mixed feelings about this. For the past six months I have served with Kaye, Bethene, and Bonnie. Bethene is the new president, and so I still have the privilege of serving with her. However, I am going to miss serving with Kaye and Bonnie. It kind of reminds me of in the mission field (yes, I can remember THAT LONG AGO) when it was a transfer day and your "old" comanion was going home...happy for them in their new endeavors and happy that you still were staying to serve, but knowing that you would miss them. And you are never the same because of them. So Kaye and Bonnie: Thank you for being such good friends, teachers, examples. I will never be the same because of you!

Girls Night Out

I ran into a friend, Michelle (Jensen) Martineau, at the Box Elder County Fair in August and we got talking about football - BYU football, Bear River football, etc. Well, I mentioned that I had been thinking of going to the BYU/USU football game on October 3 in Logan...and I needed someone to go with me. While we were discussing such important matters, a friend of hers, Jen Richardson, walked up and the three of us made plans to go. A "Girls Night Out", so to speak, as they both had to leave their husbands at home so us girls could go watch football! Go figure.

So Friday night was the night. I headed down to Tremonton and met up with Michelle and Jen, and rode together over to Logan. Of course we had to get a bite to eat before going to the game in Romney Stadium.

Juniper Take Out is becoming a standard place for me to eat when I am in Logan...and that's where we ate. Yummy! Then it was up the hill to the game.

Michelle and Jen

Romney Stadium...

and we were NOT surrounded by Aggies. There were as many Cougars there as there were USU fans.

Me and Michelle

The first quarter was all Cougars, and the score was 24-0 at the end of the first quarter. But after that the offense for BYU could not really get much going. The final score was 34-14.

Before heading out of Logan - and to let the traffic thin out a bit - we headed over to the Aggie Creamery for ice cream. Yum!

We may have to do that again.

A Great Day in Salt Lake

For the last five months I have had the privilege of serving in the stake Relief Society presidency with Kaye Womack, Bethene Birch, and Bonnie Olaveson. They are not only my sisters in the gospel, but have become my dear friends.

Historically, with each general conference there have been workshops/open houses for the auxiliaries in the church. However, this practice was discontinued last year...and now the open houses are held only in conjunction with April conference. Although there are not any "official" open houses for this upcoming conference, we decided we wanted to make a trip to Salt Lake to visit the Relief Society building, have lunch at the Lion House, and then go tour the Humanitarian Center. So off we went on Wednesday morning.

Upon arriving in SLC our first stop was the Relief Society building. (Sad to admit this, but in all my time living and working in Salt Lake, I had never stepped foot inside the Relief Society building before this day. And I used to work right almost right across the street!) There is such an amazing spirit and feeling as you walk in the doors. We had the short tour of the main floor, and one of the highlights was looking at the books that listed all the Relief Society sisters who donated to build this structure. We each found at least one of our parents/grandparents listed in these books. What a great connection to our heritage!

Then it was on to the Resource Center, located on the lower level of the Relief Society building. There are displays for each of the auxiliaries in the church for women - Primary (girls under the age of 12), Young Women (girls ages 12-17), and Relief Society (for all women over the age of 18). Each auxiliary has a rug with a theme unique to their organization.

The Primary "CTR" rug - showing the CTR emblem in several languages.

The Young Women rug - with all the Value colors and subtle profiles of a young women.

The Relief Society rug - with a pattern of sheaves of wheat and the Relief Socity emblem

The Resource Center is amazing. There are numerous displays from various stakes throughout the church. Very inspiring and motivating.

Bonnie, Bethene, Kaye, and me

The Reception Room in the Relief Society Building is a very beautiful, peaceful place. It embodies the Spirit felt in this place. It was great to just sit here and enjoy the feeling.

After visiting the Relief Society Building, we headed over to the Lion House for lunch. Mmmmm. Good food, superb company, and a beautiful day! Then we left downtown SLC and we out for a tour of the Humanitarian Center.

Because of the many recent natural disasters, many volunteers were serving to replenish the supplies.

All in all, it was a day well spent. The ride to and from Salt Lake was fun... in visiting with Kaye, Bethene, and Bonnie...and to feel the Spirit throughout the day - no matter where we were.

The overall feeling I had was that I am so blessed to be a part of this great work - building up the Kingdom of God. What a privilege this is. But I also felt (especially as we visited the Humanitarian Center) that there is so much more I need to do.