Download Day - ENT Kickoff Night

What a night!  Our “Every Needful Thing Kickoff Night” was one of my favorite two hours ever.  As the women kept coming in and we added more and more chairs, I was thrilled to see so many people there.  Having these women use their valuable time to come together for this event meant that we were meeting a need.  I love that and I think that it was the perfect way to kick off the theme for the year.

Our ENT title poking out of the flower balls is just stuck into a wire photo holder that came from my desk. The tablecloth is a quilt my mom made me using fabulous Amy Butler fabric. Use what you have in a new way to create decor ideas.

Here’s what I learned:

ESTABLISHING ORDER: When it comes to organizing our lives, our goal is to create a sense of peace in our lives even though we are busy and active and have challenges to overcome.  As we create order, we create that peace so that we can focus on the things that are truly needful instead of frantically going from one task to another.  Kathleen taught us that this “order” comes from having a clean home, meals prepared, and all those domestic things that once they are in place, we can feel a sense of peace that helps us not feel so overwhelmed.  Order is the “needful” foundation for us to be able to then tackle all of the other things that come with being a woman and mother.

USING THE SPIRIT: What is “needful” for one person may be completely different than what is “needful” for another person.  Melisa taught us that one way we can determine what is needful in our own lives is by following the Holy Spirit as we are guided through those decisions.  At one point in our lives we may make a decision to do one thing whereas another point in our lives we need to head a different direction.  The more we are in tune with our own selves and the Holy Spirit, the better we can determine what is important at each phase of our lives and for our individual families. (See the first half of this talk to gain more information about this topic.)  This is the quote card that we gave the women that relates to this idea.

please click on image to download pdf

GRATITUDE: Gratitude is a vital tool in helping us determine what is needful in our lives. The more grateful we are the more the less important things fall away to leave room for what is truly important in our lives.  We are able to see things more clearly as we use gratitude to help us sift through our wants vs. our needs.  Our attitudes change and our hope for the future is brighter the more grateful we are.  As Staci taught us, “Gratitude is not just a tool, it’s a POWER TOOL!”  How true that is.  Gratitude brings us power.  It replaces despair with hope and defeat with strength.  Deciding what is needful in our lives starts with being grateful for what we already have.  We used the quote from President Henry B. Eyring to support this topic in our notebooks (see notebook downloads here for that excerpt or click here for the whole talk).

An easy centerpiece idea - use glass bathroom blocks in stacks and tie ribbon around them. We will use these glass blocks in many ways this year as a pretty way to add height and levels. We added chocolate to the bowls because everyone knows that chocolate is truly "needful!"

Here’s what I loved:

1.  So many women participating in making the event happen.  Thank you to all of you on the committee as well as those who aren’t but were willing to help us!

2.  Having to keep setting up more chairs because women just kept coming!

3.  Helping the women in our neighborhood feel successful with a craft that is beautiful and useful and will help them all year long.

4.  Listening to the women who gave messages that were exactly what we were hoping they would say and teach.

5.  Lingering to chat and socialize when it was all over.  That’s the sign that everyone wants to be together and are enjoying themselves.

6.  Women compiling and then taking notebooks to their neighbors who weren’t able to come.

7.  Our “Post-it Girl” marketing strategy – it was a hit!  Who wouldn’t relate to this????  Thanks for taking the photo, Rachel.  And Tanya – you’re now famous even though you don’t want to be!

8.  We tried a new thing – each of the committee members helped to kit the project and they put their notebooks together before the event.  That way we had multiple people who knew how to do the project and were invaluable as they wandered the room, providing one-on-one help as all of the women created theirs.

9.  I loved that we also pre-made notebooks for our Relief Society Presidency to allow them to be free to manage the personalized notes that went to everyone as well as being available to nurture and minister to the entire group.  It was a huge help and as I was teaching the project I kept thinking how grateful I was that they were free to help in this way.

10.  I love knowing that it is possible to have an activity full of inspiration, coming unto Christ, craftiness, and laughter all in one.  It was the perfect evening together.

Here’s what we ate (which is also something I love):

BEST EVER APPLE PUDDING

(from the kitchen of Kolette’s Mom)

CAKE

2 c. sugar

1/2 c. margarine

2 eggs

2 c. flour

2 t. baking soda

2 t. cinnamon

1 t. nutmeg

1/2 t. salt

6 large, peeled, grated apples (Granny Smith or other tart version is good)

Mix ingredients with beaters.  Pour into a greased & floured 9×13 pan.  Bake @ 350 for 40-45 minutes or until cake pulls away from sides of pan.

SAUCE

1 1/2 c. butter

3 c. sugar

1 1/2 c. evaporated milk

1 1/2 Tbs. vanilla

1 Tbs. nutmeg

Melt butter in saucepan.  Add other ingredients and bring to a boil.  Boil over low heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring often.  Pour sauce over cake to serve and watch everyone lick their plates!

One More Thing…

It was brought to my attention that I have a typo on the scripture quote that we are using for Every Needful Thing.  Thanks, Connie for catching that!  I have now fixed it and you can see it here.  Plus, I have had a request for this scripture in sepia tones so I am offering that as well.  You’ll find it below.

Consider taking the downloads and the information I have provided here and adding it to your ENT notebooks.  We will do this all year long and end up with a wealth of tips and information that all of us can use to help us determine what is “needful” in our lives.

Enjoy!

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