Relief Society Birthday Celebration

Pressing Forward and Holding Fast/ Presidency Message-

Having a Love of God and All Men   
By Jennifer Denison

Someone once asked Jesus, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?”

Jesus answered:

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

“This is the first and great commandment.

“And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matthew 22:36–39).

We can show our love in many ways: a smile, a wave, a kind comment, or a compliment. We can be kind, patient, understanding, and forgiving. This will show others the love in our hearts.

We are surrounded by those in need of our attention, our encouragement, our support, our comfort, our kindness.

May we begin now, this very day, to show love to all of God’s children. As we get up each morning, let us determine to show love and kindness to everyone.

As we come to understand how much God loves us, our hearts will be filled with love for Him, for our Savior, and for all mankind. (Thomas S. Monson)      

Welcome to our new Relief Society Sisters!

Peggy Snyder*  Angela Snyder*  Anita Snyder*  Deborah Featherston*
  Mary Hamner* Linda Ford* (all from the Shelbyville Ward)

 Melody Bonnet*  (Amy Swihart's mother)

Denise Recarte*  Jackie Recarte*Arantxa Recarte*  (Jackie and Arantxa go to school at IU and come home on weekends to our ward)

Leta Zollman -95 yrs old and residing at Willow Crossing Health and Rehab

Columbus First Ward Relief Society History 2016

The year 2016 was a year full of transitions and growth.  Our Relief Society assisted one sister transition to Motherhood (Stephanie Smith)  others welcome new children, (Kayla Jones, Wendi Thomas, and Bonnie Bingham,)   We helped with funerals as some sisters lost a brother/uncle (Debbie, Cindy, and Libby Kirts) and another lost her husband. (Ilona Ouerkerk).  Still some struggled through surgeries, accidents, and cancers.  We helped a few manage loved ones with a significant mental illness and another struggle with a teenager who seems lost. We’ve seen one sister transition to college for the first time (Annelise Guenther) , one on a mission (Jenessa Vincent), and few get married (Emily Haight and Aleese Thomas).  We’ve given food assistance to those that needed it and encouraged women in their marriages and others in divorce.  We’ve visited people on our rolls who have been baptized but needed to be found again. We’ve sent our love with several as they moved to new locations this past year ( Malya Scheibler, Carol Miner, Jennifer Dobson, Brenna Young, Chrissi Harris,   and Stephanie Smith) and welcomed new ones in. (Nell Hill, Joy Boyd,  and Nicole Hagerdorn)  We’ve encouraged covenant keeping women with our theme (Make and Keep Sacred Covenants) , temple trips, and lessons.  We’ve made shoes for children in Africa, partnered with Catholic Charities and made refugee baskets.  We enjoyed a 4 month long class as we studied Isaiah, We learned about our own personal spiritual gifts and how to learn from, help, and encourage each other with those gifts.  We shared “Our Favorite Things”, learned to make artisan bread, took a self-defense course, and delivered meals to our own ward members in our “Merry Meals”activity. We celebrated Christmas together as a Relief Society with special musical numbers by our sisters and then organized a big Christmas dinner and program for the ward.

We enjoy the sisterhood and love we share in our ward and look forward to getting to know the 5 women who have just been transferred to our ward from the Shelbyville Branch.