August Announcements

Playgroup
Every Wednesday at 9am, Fairlington Park (3308 S. Stafford St. in Arlington)

Relief Society Meetings
Thurs. Aug. 2 @ 7:30pm, King Street Building-- Fitness Night! We'll learn about fitness and put it into practice with boot camp, zumba, and pilates. Come in workout clothes and bring a yoga mat if you have one.

Thurs. Sept. 6 @ 7:30pm, King Street Building-- Mormonism 101. Come learn how to answer the top 10 questions asked about our faith, just in time for the election!

August Visiting Teaching Message

Our visiting teaching message from Lindsey N.:

Right away when we moved into the Shirlington Ward (which was then the Crystal City Ward) three years ago I was struck by the caliber of women. I was impressed with how well educated, successful, and eloquent they were. When it came to visiting teaching I found myself a little intimidated. The thought ‘what could I possibly teach you?’ was overwhelming. When I mentioned to my mom one afternoon on the phone my feelings of inadequacy she told me that visiting teaching is just one of the ways we show Heavenly Father that we are his disciples. At first I thought that was a funny answer to what I had just shared with her and did not understand what it had to do with what I had just shared with her. The more I thought about her response, I realized that was exactly what I needed to hear.

President Uchtdorf taught in the 2009 General Conference, “The first step on the path of discipleship begins in the exact place where we stand! We do not have to prequalify to take that first step. It doesn’t matter if we are rich or poor. There is no requirement to be educated, eloquent, or intellectual. We do not have to be perfect or well-spoken or even well-mannered. You and I can walk in the path of discipleship today.” From the general conference address “The Way of the Disciple,” Ensign, May 2009, 77–78.

We serve the Lord by serving others. He does not ask that we are perfect before we can be his disciples. When we serve, listen, talk, laugh, and be that shoulder for a sister to cry on we are acting as the Lord’s servants to help one another on the path to return to His presence. As individual children of our Heavenly Father, we each have our own strengths and talents. It is our common goal to return to our Father in Heaven that unites us.

I would like to close with a quote from Jane McBride Choate, “I’ve learned that the composition of visiting teaching is much like that of a symphony. The common melody of the gospel allows us to harmonize. However, the differences among us create an exquisite counterpoint, one all the more beautiful for its occasional unexpectedness. As each strain of the symphony is heard, a common theme emerges—one of love and compassion among sisters, strengthening each other and bringing us closer to our Heavenly Father.” Jane McBride Choate, March 1995 Ensign

Tips & Dip Recap

In case you missed it, here are the great tips that were shared at the last RS meeting. It was better than Pinterest!

• Keep a sharpie marker in your fridge and mark all your food as you open it so you know how old it is. It will save money!
• Enjoy each age & stage of your children-- Enjoy the moment!
• To clean your stove burners/grates, put each in a Ziploc bag with a few drops of ammonia. Seal them and put them in the farthest corner of your house for a day or two where you won't have to smell them. The fumes will loosen the junk off and then they will clean up easily.  
• Take frozen chicken breasts and cook them up in a slow cooker with water or broth and shred, freeze, and use for all your recipes.
• You can shred cooked chicken (make sure it's not too hard and cold) in your KitchenAid mixer with the paddle attachment!
• Use a clean/dirty sign on the dishwasher to avoid confusion.
• Trust your judgment when raising your kids because each kid is different. When in doubt about an issue just google it.
• Make a positive association for yourself for mundane or unlikeable tasks. For example, call a friend when doing the dishes, read your favorite book while nursing, give yourself a treat when you potty train your kid, etc.
• To make chicken more tender, top with lime juice about 5-10 minutes before cooking.
• To make pork more tender, mix with tapioca starch and egg yolk about 15-20 min. before cooking.
• Use lemon Pledge on mirrors, bath tile, glass, shower doors, vinyl siding. Prevents steamed up surfaces!
• For traveling, loop your necklace through a straw to keep it from tangling.
• Use hand wipes (like WetOnes) for instant spot removal.
• Use liquid Tide for cleaning window blinds.
• Shave your legs with conditioner.
• Use a Bounce sheet as mosquito repellant. Just stick a sheet in your pocket.
• Use cheap hairspray to remove ballpoint pen marks from fabric.
• Use a king- or queen-sized sheet under your towel at the beach to prevent sand from going everywhere.
• A good lesson for life: Be consistent!
• Maybelline Full-N-Soft Waterproof Mascara is the best.
• Just breathe. Be still.
• Vaseline makes eyelashes grow.
• Powdered milk makes good chicken fried steaks. Boil milk in water, add vinegar to water to curdle. Smooth out water with 2 plates and hands. Mix with chicken or beef bouillon, dredge with flour, and fry like a steak. Add gravy.
• When draining grease from a pan, put aluminum foil in a bowl and pour the grease into it. When it hardens, roll up the foil and throw it out.
• Men are that they might have joy.
• Clean your bathtub with equal parts Dawn liquid dish soap and white vinegar. Let it soak for about an hour before scrubbing it off.
• Assess daily: contact with friends, God and family; hobbies; etc.
• Live life to the fullest.
• When running errands, drive to the farthest destination first. This will warm up your engine for peak efficiency.
• Summer heat is worse for car batteries than cold.
• Black, white, and silver cars are worth $300 more after trade in.
• Don't put it down, put it away.
• The one question that can save your marriage: What's it like to be married to me? (Can help in any relationship!)
• Don't wait for somebody to make you happy!
• How to clean a washing machine: 1 cycle with 1 cup of vinegar, another cycle with 1 cup of bleach.
• Myfitnesspall iPhone/smart phone app to lose weight and track calories.
• Clean your lint trap in your dryer with hot water and soap. The dryer sheets create a film that can cause your dryer to overheat and can burn your clothes.
• Find hot keys! Alt + Tab: switch between Windows. Windows & M = minimize all.
• Remember to stretch when you work out.
• When you drop your cell phone or camera into water, if you get it out quick enough and put it in a tub of dry rice it will take the water out. Keep it in the rice for at least 24 hours.
• Freeze shredded cheese, use a little as needed.
• When kids fight, teach them first to say "I'm sorry" and the other to say "I forgive you" rather than "It's okay."
• Use baby powder to get sand off your body after the beach.
• If your cookies get hard, toss them in something airtight (Tupperware, Ziploc bag, etc.) with a piece of bread and it will soften them up.
• Cameras add ten pounds (or more!) but you can help the photographer get the best shot and help you look slimmer if you give them an angle by turning your body slightly to the side or especially by leaning toward the camera. Engage the camera and it will love you back because the shadows that the light creates when you turns on an angle will slim you down visibly.
• Use mint.com to make budgeting simpler.

July Announcements

TIPS & DIP RS MEETING: Thursday, July 12th at 7:30pm at the King Street Building. Come prepared to share the best tip or advice you’ve ever received. It can be any type of tip-- housekeeping, parenting, financial, relationship, whatever! Contact Bethany D. if you’ll need babysitting.

PLAYGROUP: Wednesdays at 10 am
July 4: Fairlington Park (3308 S. Stafford St. Arlington, VA 22206)
July 11: George Mason Elementary School playground (2601 Cameron Mills RoadAlexandria, VA 22302)
July 18: Beverly Park ("The Pit") (620 North Overlook Drive, Alexandria, VA)
July 25: Penrose Park (2200 6th St. South Arlington, 22204)

June Visiting Teaching Message

Our visiting teaching message from Brooke M.:

When I was 22 and just graduating from college, my mom was very unexpectedly diagnosed with a very aggressive form of lymphoma. She was diagnosed with cancer in July and died in October. I felt alone and didn’t know other young women who had lost their mothers.  And yet, while I was going through this terrible time, I felt distinctly that while I was experiencing this loss younger than most, everyone would eventually experience the loss of a parent and I would know how that felt. 

 

In DC 122:7 the Lord says to Joseph Smith the following: “Know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience and shall be for thy good. “

 

I believe that one of the tender mercies of the Lord is that while we cannot always pinpoint at the time a reason for our difficult and trying experiences, we are often placed into circumstances where we can draw upon those memories to mourn with those who mourn, comfort others and help bear burdens. One of the clear ways this happens is through visiting teaching. Through inspiration we can be assigned to visit someone who on the surface may seem to have had very different life experiences, but to whom we can become tethered to as we learn about their struggles and share compassion and understanding.  It is truly mutually beneficial!

 

I have seen this pattern of the Lord work so intricately and mysteriously in my own life.  I had a visiting teaching companion who had lost her father at an early age and we visited a sister who experienced a sudden and devastating loss of a family member. I have prayed with sisters who were struggling with infertility, and have been able to draw upon their experiences to help me in my own life. I have experienced returning to work full-time after having a baby and have been able to support another sister trying to handle that same difficult balance.  Think about your own experiences with education, professional trials, family health or financial difficulties. Our experiences can be for our good and the good of others.

 

Sister Elaine L. Jack, the twelfth Relief Society General President taught: “In visiting teaching we reach out to each other. Hands often speak as voices can’t. A warm embrace conveys volumes. A laugh together unites us. A moment of sharing refreshes our souls. We cannot always lift the burden of one who is troubled, but we can lift her so she can bear it well.”

 

Please reach out to your sisters, try to get to know them, think of ways to serve them and pray for them. Opportunities will come for you to serve and for you to be greatly blessed for your service and find meanings in your own trials. I bear you this testimony in the name of Jesus Christ.

Safeguarding Our Homes

For our June Relief Society Meeting Officer Adams, from the Arlington police, met with us at the Fairlington Community Center to discuss how to keep our homes and family safe.

A=Awareness

• jog/walk with a friend or dog
• be observant
• hold purse and bags tight
• have keys and phone accessible
• look for suspicious behavior (ex. person wearing hoodie in hot weather)

B=Be Prepared

• carry a whistle, pepper spray/mace or a noise alarm

C=Control

• shout "Get Off Me!" or "Get Away From Me!"
• if a person demands property give it to them
• put up the best fight you can
• try not to bite (unknown things in blood)
• scratching is good and so is a groin shot
• use elbow, knees, back of hand to hit shins, eyes, chin and stomp on foot.

D=Don't Give Up

• give 100% in a fight

Safeguard Homes

• dogs are good
• trimming bushes and trees
• motion sensor lights
• neighborhood watch
• when leaving for vacation stop mail and uses timers for lights
• write down all your serial numbers of all your products (tv, computer, etc.)

Arlingtonalert.com

Arlington Dispatch (non emergency): 703-558-2222

Thanks Julie B. for taking notes for those of us who couldn't be there!

RS Lesson from June 2

Here are some notes from the Relief Society lesson last week:

Counsel from Elder Bednar to Area Bishops, 5 May 2012
1. We will live in family units in the celestial kingdom. Recognize that everyone has different preparation for that.
2. Do not allow fear to impede your progress.
3. Claim the blessings of the temple and the priesthood.

Jenny R.'s thoughts:

President Henry B. Eyring: "In Their perfect love for you, Heavenly Father and the Savior want you fitted to be with Them to live in families forever. Only those washed perfectly clean through the Atonement of Jesus Christ can be there." (“Mountains to Climb,” Ensign, May 2012, 26.

We can find peace and fulfillment now in knowing that our individual lives and challenges fit us for the future. Through the atonement, we can be filled, made complete, and made whole in whatever ways we need. We cannot allow our fears to prevent us from progressing or feeling peace and love. And no matter what chaos our lives may be in, we can always seek moments of clarity, eternal identity, and divine assistance as we attend the temple, where we all have access to priesthood and revelation and the presence of our Father.

Thanks for the great lesson Jenny R.!