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Sisters,

I was going to reply to Brandie only, but I really thought that some of you would be interested in these ideas.

In February our ward did a service exchange.  It was WONDERFUL!  We made up cards ahead of time and passed them out to all the sisters.  It had a poem about giving a gift of yourself, and on the inside, lines to write your name and the gift you would give.  We tried to encourage sisters to give a gift that would allow them to spend time with another sister (not just making a cake or something like that).

We then placed all the cards in a basket, sat in a circle and did it like a white elephant exchange (a sister would pick out a card, read it, and then the next sister in the circle could either steal that one or pick one out of the basket.  Then the next sister in the circle could steal either of the two b4 her or choose.  Etc.)   Then at the end,  everyone told what they ended up with and who it was from.  Each person was given one opportunity to trade, but the catch was, after everyone told what they got, no one could tell again what card they were holding...so if there was something you really wanted, you had to keep track of who had it.  Some of the gifts were;  2 hours of internet instruction and lunch, tole painting lesson, helping to plan and plant and herb garden, a morning hike in the mountains, child care so the sister could attend the temple, dinner delivered to the home and the children were taken for the evening, family picture taken by a sister who was a photographer, help folding laundry...you get the idea I'm sure.

Sorry this is such a long post,  but it was really a successful activity.  We did this for the 1st homemaking after I became RS president and I think it got us off to a great start.   The nice thing was that you could easily give a gift that was cost-free.  We also had some blank cards at homemaking in case sisters showed up who hadn't previously received or turned in cards.  It was also VERY easy to coordinate and took up most of the homemaking time.

I would also suggest looking at http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Flats/1894/gitsjar.html#top  This is such a neat site for mixes that can be put in canning jars (brownie mix etc.) and then the jars can be decorated.  We are doing this for our homemaking meeting in November.  You could have some sisters demonstrate a few mixes and then make a handout.  These are excellent gifts for the sisters on a visiting teaching route.

Suz Daniels