From nine choices on a recent survey, the women at church selected this event as their first pick for upcoming activities for me to plan. The concept of a once a month (or close to it) Relief Society activity hasn't really been grasped here, and past events have been sort of lumped in with other activities, like our baby quilt making project turned out to be. As I felt the importance of my calling and striving to carry it out the way I believe the mid-week activities are intended, I expressed to the RS president that I hope that we can make this event be just for the women, where they can eagerly look forward to a special time of socializing with others and not have to worry about taking care of the kids and simply enjoy a night out together.
In order to emphasize that this was planned for the women, after I heard that it had been announced in priesthood meeting and the men were excited about it, I knew my work was cut out for me. Since then, I created these invitations that specify who the event is supposed to be planned for, and have made sure we have some men scheduled to help out for the children's class. So far, that part sounds good, but at the last minute, I was told that all the young women were invited to attend too. I feel bad that they don't have regular mutual activities, so I can see why the girls would want to join us--that and for the tasty chocolate. It will be fine to have them there, but I do envision regular monthly Relief Society events that can help serve the purpose of the organization, which is
not to be in the entertainment business.
As you can see, I made two versions of the invitation, about six copies in English and about thirty-four in Chinese, and I still ran out. I asked my faithful translation guru, Abish, to help by putting the Chinese text following each line I had typed in English. I just cut and pasted, hoping that everything came out fine. Apparently it worked, but I have no idea what any of the characters say. And since I don't have a clue about any of it, I couldn't exactly change font types. I did manage to add bold and highlights and indents.
I will be making three recipes, a gloriously delicious Texas sheet cake, pictured above, Triple Layer Brownies, and last but not least, No Bake Cookies, since most homes here don't have ovens, so after this, everyone will know how to whip up a batch of chocolate oatmeal peanut butter cookies without having to go to the church to borrow the oven.
I've been getting acquainted with this darling little girl, who lost her mom a few months ago, and every time I see her, I try to make sure she knows how delighted I am. She is teaching me a little bit of Chinese while I teach her a little English. I'll add more photos of her later. Her nickname is Nini, and she came over to visit us on Sunday with a few others guests. I took this picture of her on the very first day I met her.
Wish me luck for a busy weekend! If you happen to see this invitation, and are a woman {smile}, you are welcome to join us on Saturday night at the LDS chapel in Jhubei at 7 pm.
Comments
They don't have ovens? wow, that doesn't seem very easy for them. Will they like all that sweet stuff? Our Korean friends that we have had stay with us over the years never liked any of that stuff. Have fun and good luck with those fun activities.
NiNi is so cute!
Judging from fact that they picked baking with chocolate as their first choice of activities they were interested in, and the fact that the three pans of desserts I made during the event were devoured completely the moment I gave the go ahead, I would say, "YES! They like it!"