We had a fabulous Relief Society meeting last weekend.
Relief Society is the women’s organization in the Church. During the third hour of the Sunday services, the men and women split into their own classes, but we study the same lessons. I’ve heard that the men in the singles congregation I attend are more insightful in their class contributions during this hour than when they’re combined with the women in the preceding Sunday School hour. Who wants to know they’re insightful?
They should definitely keep that a secret.:)
If you ask me, which you didn’t and no one did, I think that this third hour should be eliminated all together. If I were in charge of the Church, which I won’t ever be, I’d organize it only to have the Sacrament (Communion) portion where everyone is combined and then a Sunday School hour where people are divided by age groups.
Then we’d go home and spend time keeping the Sabbath Day holy in ways that we choose.
I would still have the women organized by visiting teachers as they are. This means that two women at least once a month visit one particular woman outside of the Church hours and act as go-to girls for personal spiritual and physical needs. About once a month, we also have additional Relief Society meetings outside of Church services where we develop skills and provide service. This used to be called “Home, Family and Personal Enrichment” and prior to that it was called, “Homemaking.” During the Homemaking years, they made lots of crafts, at least this is all I remember my Mom ever doing when I was a kid. They were always cheap and a little hokey. I’m so glad we’ve made progress in this area now that I’m a woman in Relief Society. So our most recent outside of Church services Relief Society meeting was fabulous.
We learned about budgeting from a certified public accountant who keeps the federal government honest, we learned about grief and loss from a counselor who works with people in gang plagued neighborhoods and we learned about nutrition and health from a woman who competes in body sculpting competitions. I love Washington, D.C.. The diversity of talents in the Church never ceases to impress me and all the above are filled with faith in the Savior.
Danielle, the body sculpting girl, taught us that “abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym.” Who knew? Definitely not me. “The way you look and feel,” she said, “is 80% nutrition, 10% training and 10% genes.” She said you can’t eat ice cream and then work out and expect to burn it off because it doesn’t work that way. I was a little disillusioned because that’s how I’ve managed my own health and fitness since, uh, I was managing my own health and fitness, but life is all about new beginnings, right? Since I still want to be hiking mountains when I’m an old lady, I’m paying attention to what she’s saying. After describing the consequences of consuming sugar, she told us how to look for it. She said that if one of the first 5 ingredients on the nutrition label is sugar, we shouldn’t be eating it. She also told us that yogurt usually has added sugar and instant oatmeal is terrible for you.
I looked at the label of my Special K Berries that I eat almost every morning and its third ingredient was sugar. So I looked at the non-berries added Special K, same story. Betrayal! I’m a victim of false advertising! I was also eating yogurt almost daily and instant oatmeal on the mornings I wasn’t eating Special K Berries.
I switched!
Now I’m eating sugarless vanilla yogurt with added real fruit and the old fashioned oatmeal with added honey. Mmmmm. Deeelisshus.
Thanks Danielle! I still can’t find my abs in my kitchen anywhere, but I’m glad I’m taking better care of myself.
You can access the handout from Danielle’s presentation here. Trust me, she knows what she’s talking about. She’s a trophy winner in those body sculpting competitions.
Now, if only I didn’t eat those Starbursts on campus this week. But they are so good.:(
Tags: faith in Jesus Christ, If I were in charge of the Church, my body is a Temple, Relief Society
