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From:   Cjtanner
To: lds [email protected]

Sisters,

We used this for our R.S. Board Mtg. It was really neat. Hope you enjoy.

Use ward presidency members and position them all over the R.S. Room. The last word in parenthesis is not said, instead it is said by the next person.

1. Sometimes I feel so alone. I'm a working mother who is fortunate enough to love my job. It's a good thing, too, because right now, it is necessary for me to work. However, between taking care of my husband, family & home, as well as going to work every day and having a busy church calling. I sometimes feel that I cannot handle one more thing and I feel so ... (frustrated)

2. FRUSTRATED  That's what I am. Just when life should be going smoothly for me. Nobody told me it was going to be so hard, that we'd have to struggle for so long. Why isn't everything running smoothly? When I look around and see how together everyone else is, I just get so ... (depressed)

3. DEPRESSED  My husband is not an active member of the church and he probably never will be. You'd think I'd get use to these lessons and talks on temple marriage. Sometimes I feel so bad, I just go home and ...(I cry)

4. I CRY  Everytime I see a new born baby. I've been married for twelve years and still we have no children. We've gone to many doctors and now we are on the list for adoption. But if one more person asks me when we're going to start our family, I think I will ... (scream)

5. SCREAM  and cry, and laugh, and chatter-noise all day long. Five girls, two small boys and a husband who works out of our home. With all these bodies around here, it's hard to believe that I would ever feel ... (lonely)

6. LONELY  has a special meaning to me now. It's been just 6 years since my dear husband died. He was just 40. It was a heart attack. He was so ... (young)

7. YOUNG  I'm too young to be in this meeting. I don't really have anything in common with these women. Just look around. Everybody here is a lot ... (older)

8. OLDER  than anyone. I'll bet I could win a prize. I know that I've heard these lessons several times before and I feel a little out of place with alll these sisters that are much younger than I. Well, you know what they sayIt's lonely at the ... (top)

9. TOP  of the corporate ladder. I am one of the few female executives in my company and now just as I get to be where I want to be - I hear about the Church. Oh, it's true, I know it's true. So, I'm a convert with a career. I don't sew. I don't grind wheat. I don't have a husband or babies - How am I going to ... (fit in)

10. FIT IN  I don't think I do. It's hard to feel part of the meetings because I am not as educated as most of the sisters in the ward. I feel so self conscious of this fact when I try to communicate with them. I really don't feel that I ... (belong)

11. BELONG  Where do I belong? Certainly not in Relief Society! But that's what comes next for me. I'm 18, graduated from High School and a young single adult. I've got some pretty big decisions coming up. I wish I could see my future. College?? Mission?? Marriage?? Career?? ...oooh this makes me sooo ... (scared to death)

12. SCARED TO DEATH   That's what I felt when he left. He just left after 12 years of marriage. I really didn't know what to do or how to act. I felt so hurt and betrayed, but now I feel so ... (alone)

13. ALONE  is where Jack and I are this year. Our last child is off to college. It's been hard for me to get used to. I've gone from cooking for 8 every night, ironing 24 shirts a week, cleaning a big house and being very involved with supporting my children in all their activities, to hardly any cooking, or cleaning or ironing and not being involved. It sounds nice and it is, but there was a time when I felt I was needed for everything, but now, no one really needs me. I feel so "All Alone."

Sisters, I 'm sure if you look around you could find someone in our Relief Society who fits into each of these situations. How well are we doing our Relief Society jobs? Our job is to reach out to these Sisters.

Do you know the percentage of sisters within the young adult age who will stay active in the church if they do not marry or otherwise make a permanent place for themselves in the ward? 10% will remain in the church. 90% WE WILL LOSE.

Likewise, with new converts. If we do not make a point to meet and fellowship new converts, we will have similar percentages as with the young adults. We might gain these sisters back at some point down the road, but at what cost?

Sisters we need to be prepared. We need to fulfill the responsibilities and duties that we have taken on.

We read in the scriptures of the ten virgins, five who had oil in their lamps and five who did not. As leaders we must have our lamps filled with oil.

President Harold B. Lee explains: "The Lord gives us, each one, a lamp to carry, but whether or not we shall have oil in our lamps depends solely on each one of us. Whether or not we keep the commandments and supply the needed oil to light our way and to quide us on our way depends upon each of us individually. We cannot borrow from our Church membership. We cannot borrow from an illustrious ancestry. Whether or not we have oil in our lamps, I repeat, depends solely upon each one of us, and it is determined by our faithfulness in keeping the commandments of the living God.”