Women in the Northampton England Stake celebrated the 184th anniversary of the Relief Society with a day of devotion and service.
On Saturday, March 14, the women gathered at the stake center for a fellowshiping breakfast. Then, they viewed the broadcast of the Relief Society worldwide devotional together. The women spoke afterward about how they felt the talks were relevant to their lives, and they felt spiritually touched, reported Debbie Twigger, the stake communications specialist.
Service projects followed in the cultural hall from each of the ward Relief Societies in the stake who have been working with a local charity this year.
Helen Freeman, the stake Relief Society president, said when planning for this day, she took from what Relief Society leaders taught about its purpose from the beginning: to relieve suffering and save souls.
“We wanted to do that in our local community by offering this service to local charities,” Freeman said. “These service projects help sisters get closer to each other as they learn new skills and feel the love of the Savior. Service softens hearts, helps to be outward looking, and it helps our own burdens become lighter.”
Freeman said each ward in the stake chose their own project according to their needs and circumstances — and focused on having the service be a joy and not a burden.
Louise King, the Northampton Ward Relief Society president, said her Relief Society chose the Sands charity for the grieving parents of stillborn babies. The women have been using their knitting and crocheting skills to make baby blankets and learn from each other.
“Experienced sisters are helping those who have less experience, and many of our youth are helping out and have invited their friends to the activities. This is a very social project where sisters can bond and learn new skills,” she said. “Building unity and helping the local community — we feel we are spreading the love of Christ.”
Sharon Adcock, a counselor in the Kettering Ward Relief Society presidency, said, “Women were happily engaged in working together to make a difference in the lives of parents and their very young children. We were pleased to be able to help support the Northamptonshire community in this way by working with Baby Basics Northampton.”
The Northampton England Stake Center and Kettering Ward meetinghouse have also been public donation centers for Baby Basics Northampton for the past three and a half years, where weekly items are donated and collected by the charity for distribution to local mothers in need, including those referred to the charity by Social Services.
The service projects all year and on Saturday, March 14, included:
- Donations of food and goods for the Northampton Ukraine Association
- Donations of baby clothing, toiletries and bedding for local moms, including refugees, in need through Baby Basics Northampton
- Handmade blankets made for Sands, a charity for families of stillborn babies
- Writing letters/cards for those in hospital without family at Hinchingbrooke Hospital
- Making knitted love hearts for babies in the neonatal unit of Milton Keynes Hospital
- Donating personal items for menstruating young girls in need through Girl Pack
- Making “Fiddlemuffs” — a knitted item with sensory items like buttons, ties and buckles — for those with dementia at Northampton General Hospital
- Donating Easter eggs for Love in a Bag, a local charity that organizes care packages
These service projects will continue throughout the year so multiple donations can be made.
Caring for women and children
These service projects in the Northampton stake all connect back to the Relief Society’s global initiative for women and children, which is also known as “Caring for women and children.”
These efforts seek to find ways both locally and globally to focus on the areas of child nutrition, maternal and newborn care, immunizations and education. Women are encouraged to find ways to help serve women and children in their own communities.
Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson has said, “Whenever we do anything to bring relief to others—temporal or spiritual — we are bringing them the love of Jesus Christ and will be blessed to find our own relief in Him.”
See more pictures below.
