Helping our Relief Society sisters become more financially self-reliant

Does your Relief Society ever talk about how to manage finances wisely?
Financial preparedness is a part of learning to be self-reliant and blessing our families and other people in our lives.

One of the aspects of the new changes in our Sunday lessons in Relief Society is the ability to meet our sisters' needs and provide helpful resources.

My friend Ashleigh Boyd interviewed me, as well as other business owners, inventors, creators, coaches and bloggers. This event is your chance to listen to 21 of the most successful entrepreneurs on how they followed their dreams and achieved their success. Learn how to turn your feelings of being overwhelmed, frustrated and lost to feeling confident, competent and empowered.

Join this free webinar series by registering here http://achievingultimatewealth.com/save-my-spot-trinaboice

LDS contest - How has Relief Society blessed your life?

Fun #contest awards my new book #ReadyResource for #ReliefSociety to the best answer: How has #ReliefSociety blessed your life?

Leave your answer in the comment below or jump into the conversation on Twitter at +Trina Boice 

Easy Enrichment Ideas now on BlogLovin

Follow my blog with Bloglovin This blog is perfect if you're a Mormon woman in the Relief Society who is looking for fun ideas to share with the sisters in your ward or branch! Tons of LDS tips to strengthen your Relief Society, family, and home!

Win a 2014 Ready Resource for Relief Society book!

Hi girls!  Time to win a free Relief Society book!  There are 2 Goodreads contests that are giving away my books for free!

Click on the "Enter to win" at Goodreads before January 21st and you could win!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Ready Resource for Relief Society Teachings of the Presidents of the Church

by Trina Boice

Giveaway ends January 21, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Goodreads Book Giveaway

How to Stay UP in a DOWN Economy

by Trina Boice

Giveaway ends January 27, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Be the first to see the 2014 edition of Ready Resource for Relief Society!

I'm so excited to announce that my newest book "Ready Resource for Relief Society - Teachings of the President Joseph Fielding Smith" will launch on November 19, 2013!  Woohoo!  It will be available for purchase in stores and online on that date.  Yay!

Here is a sneak peek at the lesson topics for next year's Relief Society and Priesthood lesson manual for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  My book will offer creative and fun ideas to help teachers with object lessons, visual aids, video suggestions, artwork, handouts, inspiring quotes, article links, as well as 3 new features: Seminary Scripture Mastery tie-ins, Preach My Gospel pages, and personal challenges for every chapter!

Topics for 2014 include:

Lesson 1      Our Father in Heaven

Lesson 2      Our Savior, Jesus Christ

Lesson 3      The Plan of Salvation

Lesson 4      Strengthening and Preserving the Family

Lesson 5      Faith and Repentance                     

Lesson 6      The Significance of the Sacrament

Lesson 7     Joseph and Hyrum Smith, Witnesses for Jesus Christ   

Lesson 8     The Church and Kingdom of God   

Lesson 9      Witnesses of the Book of Mormon

Lesson 10     Our Search for Truth

Lesson 11     Honoring the Priesthood Keys Restored through Joseph Smith

Lesson 12     The Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood

Lesson 13     Baptism 

Lesson 14     The Gift of the Holy Ghost

Lesson 15      Eternal Marriage 

Lesson 16      Bringing Up Children in Light and Truth 

Lesson 17      Sealing Power and Temple Blessings 

Lesson 18      living by Every Word That Proceeds from the Mouth of God

Lesson 19      In the World but Not of the World 

Lesson 20       Love and Concern for All Our Father’s Children

Lesson 21       Proclaiming the Gospel to the World 

Lesson 22       Prayer – a Commandment and a Blessing 

Lesson 23       Individual Responsibility  

Lesson 24       The Work of Latter-day Saint Women: “Unselfish Devotion

                       to This Glorious Cause”    

Lesson 25       The Birth of Jesus Christ:  “Good Tidings of Great Joy”

Lesson 26       Preparing for the Coming of our Lord

Encouraging advice when planning Relief Society activities

                                                      

This blog is all about making your calling easier in Relief Society!  
Serving in the Church should be a great blessing and truly ENRICH our lives.

I'd love to hear from YOU!  What Relief Society activities have you been having this summer?
What activities have been great successes?   Which ones were terrible bombs?

Sometimes when we start to plan a Relief Society activity we feel overwhelmed with all that needs to be done.  Here is some encouraging advice....

                                                               

 

Max Lucado's newest book Great Day Every Day has some excellent advice for all of us searching for success in any endeavor. The following is a short excerpt that reminds us how we can reach our goals one baby step at a time:


"An accomplished Ironman triathlete told me the secret of his success.  He said, “You last the long race by running short ones.”   Don’t swim 2.4 miles; just swim to the next buoy.  Rather than bike 112 miles, ride 10, take a break, and bike 10 more.  Never tackle more than the challenge ahead."

"Didn’t Jesus offer the same counsel?  He said in Matthew 6:34, “So don’t ever worry about tomorrow.  After all, tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.” 
When asked how he managed to write so many books, the author explained that he’d never written a book.  All he did was write one page a day."

"Face challenges in stages.  You can’t control your temper forever, but you can control it for the next hour.
Remember, you last the long race by running the short ones!"

Great advice, Max!  Thanks for the reminder!

Fun Family Home Evening Ideas

 

www.trinaboice.com 

How about a Relief Society activity that helps moms find ideas for Family Home Evenings?  You could offer classes on games, lessons, refreshments, activities, field trips, crafts, service projects, and even how to inspire a family testimony meeting at home.

Many women hope their husbands will take the lead on holding Family Home Evening, but are often disappointed.  Just in time for Father's Day, my newest book is SIMPLE and helps dads to put together a Family Home Evening in just minutes!  Yay!  Each chapter teaches a gospel principle by using object lessons, games, activities, pictures, songs, and even Church videos.  Easily adapted to any age group, the suggestions for each lesson can be quickly tailored to fit your family.

My blog readers and fans even get FREE shipping at www.trinaboice.com

 

Does your Relief Society have a book club?  If not, how about featuring one night where the sisters can share their favorite books from last year?

While I dream of having one of those cool personal libraries so large that it requires a ladder to reach the top shelves, my husband is in the anti-clutter mode, so I have been selling my old books online, using www.bookscouter.com to find the best prices.

One of the companies that buys back books is Powell's, creator of the "Puddly Awards", their version of the Oscars for books. They ask their readers to determine which titles were their favorites during the previous year. Here are the results for their 2012 awards:

Best Fiction: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

 You can purchase The Help here







 Best nonfiction: Unbroken by Laura Hillebrand

 You can purchase Unbroken here






Have you read either of those two books? I have to confess that I only had time to see the movie "The Help" but I absolutely loved it. Some of the actresses in the flick are already slated to win an Oscar. What did YOU think of the book? How did it compare to the movie?

How about "Unbroken"? I haven't talked to anyone who has read it. Have you? What did you think? Do I need to carve out some time to read it because it's that good?

If we were the one to decide the book awards, which books would YOU choose to win?
Host a book awards night for your Relief Society activity!  Invite a local author to share a few messages about writing and reading good literature.

There's Gold In Your Veggie Garden!

How about offering some fun gardening classes for Enrichment activities?

If you haven't planted a summer garden yet, it's still not too late! Just plop some of those starter veggies you can get from your local garden store into the ground and, voila, you're good to go. No yard? Try container gardening! In a tough economy, vegetable gardens can help you cut your grocery bill drastically. Besides the economic practicality, knowing how to grow your own food empowers you in a way like nothing else.


Within your garden you will find food, hope, medicine, a sense of great accomplishment, the value of hard work, gratitude for nature, sun on your face, a renewed joy for cooking, and some hidden gems you never knew. Take the cucumber, for example. Look at all of the things that bumpy little vegetable can do:

1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

2. Feeling tired in the afternoon? Put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber. Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.

3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.

4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans, but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.

5. Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!!!

6. Want to avoid a hangover or headache? Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!

7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Eat some cucumber.

8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don't have enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly-cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.

9. Out of WD-40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!

10. Stressed out and don't have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa? Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber with react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown the reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.

11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or mints? Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

12. Looking for a 'green' way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel? Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but is won't leave streaks and won't harm you fingers or fingernails while you clean.

13. Using a pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!

Now go out there and get your fingers dirty!

CENTSerely,
Sister Thrifty a/k/a Trina Boice








www.sisterthrifty.com

Ready Resource for Relief Society Lessons

Whether you're a new Relief Society teacher or a seasoned pro, preparing lessons for Relief Society just got a lot easier with "The Ready Resource for Relief Society"!   The 2011 course of study is the second half of the "Gospel Principles" church handbook.   Trina Boice has written both parts 1 and 2.   

The books provide a lesson summary, pertinent quotes from General Authorities, relevant hynms for each lesson,  attractive handouts that correlate with each lesson, suggested artwork ideas, object lessons and more!

With the groundwork done for you, you can now concentrate on the fun part of giving lessons: personalizing them to the needs of the sisters in your ward.   Take out the stress of preparing lessons, and focus on giving Relief Society lessons that will touch the hearts of your class members.  With invaluable help like this, lesson preparation has never been so easy.

You can get free shipping, bookmark, author's signed copy, and even some free kid's meal gift certificates when you purchase directly from the author's web site at www.boicebox.com