Purpose

Right now I am lucky (aka totally blessed) to be the president of my congregation's women's organization, which is called the Relief Society.  I am a member of The Church oF Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, often called the Mormons.  I was baptized into the church at the age of 8, and have remained actively involved for the last 28 years (yes, I am 36 years old.) There are so many women who serve in Relief Society that it would be nearly impossible to name them all. My position in the organization has blessed me with an expanded vision of how very important each and every single member of the Relief Society is, both to the women's group and to God.  I am constantly and consistently in awe of the various attributes and talents that each of these women possess.  Basically, for any one that doesn't know, or who might have forgotten, the Relief Society has 3 purposes:

1) Increase our faith and personal righteousness
2) Strengthen families and homes
3) Help those in need

There are countless ways that we can accomplish these purposes.  None of us are exactly the same and I love seeing the personal flair that each of us brings to the group.  It's kind of late, and I'm not sure if anyone is reading this, or if I'm making sense, but I just wanted to declare a few things. I believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love the scriptures and read from them daily.  Prayer is the best way to communicate with God.  The Holy Ghost will help and direct you as you sincerely seek for guidance from God.  And lastly, hang in there. When things seem dark and difficult, just hang in there. Looking back over trials in my life, I remember at the time thinking there was no way to fix ____ (fill in the blank.) But stuff works out. To quote a well known leader in my church, Sherri Dew, "GOd rarely moves the mountains in front of us, but he helps us climb them."  I've reached the top of a few peeks, and am thankful for the view.  Happy Monday night.

This is a picture of my twin sister (Lesley Jane Howe) and me. It was taken 6 years ago. We were at a Relief Society Women's meeting in Provo, Ut. This was taken right after I told Les that my water broke, 3 weeks before my due date. We were in a stadium of about 20,000 women, rockin out to a cheesy Christian concert, (Kenneth Cope, anyone?) 

It was so wonderful to experience this with thousands of my sisters in the gospel.

See. My water really did break.

The next day Owen Ryan Wallace Smith made his appearance, with Les and Ryan coaching me along.

Babies are cool. So are women. So is Relief Society.