“Home, Family, and Personal Enrichment around the World,” Ensign, Mar. 2007, 14–19
Home, Family, and Personal Enrichment around the World
A place “where hearts and hands are joined together in a safe, relaxed, and enjoyable environment” is how Bonnie D. Parkin, Relief Society general president, describes home, family, and personal enrichment meeting. It is a place where women of all ages can strengthen their faith in Jesus Christ and learn parenting and homemaking skills. It is a time when sisters can socialize, learn, and be uplifted.
Since January 2006, when the new guidelines for home, family, and personal enrichment went into effect, Relief Society sisters around the world have caught the vision of what this program can be.
Enrichment Meetings
Instead of monthly meetings, ward home, family, and personal enrichment meetings for all sisters are held four times a year. One of these four meetings commemorates the March 17, 1842, organization of the Relief Society. In addition to ward or branch meetings, the stake or district Relief Society holds one or two enrichment meetings each year. One of these enrichment meetings is held in conjunction with the annual broadcast of the general Relief Society meeting in September.
Enrichment Activities
The ward or branch Relief Society also offers activities for groups of sisters with similar interests. In doing so, Relief Society leaders respond to the needs and wants of the sisters to determine what activities to offer.
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Left: Relief Society sisters in the San Miguel de Allende Ward, Celaya Mexico Stake, perform a cultural dance they learned at a home, family, and personal enrichment activity. (Photograph by Juan Carlos Santoyo.) Right: As part of an enrichment meeting and activity in the Mont St. Hilaire Ward, Longueuil Québec Stake, sisters learn how to grow sprouts—a healthy addition to their diet. (Photograph by Laurent Lucuix.)
Left: Out of a desire to build self-reliance, Relief Society leaders in a Salt Lake City, Utah, singles ward asked the elders quorum to teach sisters how to change a flat tire and check the oil in their automobiles. (Photograph by Christina Smith.)
Left: Sister Adelma M. Linhares sews for a service project in her São Paulo, Brazil, ward. This enrichment activity benefited public hospitals in the area. (Photograph by Ana Cláudia Oliveira.)
“We need to laugh together,” says one Relief Society sister in the Juniper Ward, Lancaster California Stake. “It balances out my life just to be with the sisters at home, family, and personal enrichment meetings.” (Photograph by Sergio Díez.)
Right: Among the Relief Society activities in the Makati Second Ward, Makati Philippines Stake, was a presentation on how to prepare virgin coconut oil. (Photograph by Danny Soleta.)
Above: In the Parleys Sixth Ward, Salt Lake Parleys Stake, a recently returned mission president and his wife teach a weekly class using the Preach My Gospel manual. Sisters and couples who attend improve teaching skills, which helps make them better parents and missionaries. (Photograph by Christina Smith.)
Left: Because Elvira Garza of the San Fernando First Ward, Valle Hermoso Mexico Stake, loves home canning, she was the perfect choice to teach the process at a home, family, and personal enrichment activity. (Photograph by Adrian Leyva.)
Below: Sisters in the Jardines Ward, Mexico City Ermita Stake, study the scriptures together. (Photograph by Israel Gutiérrez and courtesy of the Relief Society General Presidency.)
Left: Each July the Mexico City Chapultepec Stake holds classes that teach basic skills. The sisters choose one class to attend from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. each day during the week. Here sisters learn to cut hair. (Photograph by Israel Gutiérrez and courtesy of the Relief Society General Presidency.)
Left: After a spiritual lesson in the Odessa Tsentralny Branch in Ukraine, Relief Society sisters attend a class on storing food products safely. (Photograph by Marina Lukach.) Below: Skilled hands sew a tote bag at a home, family, and personal enrichment activity in the Votorantim Ward, Sorocaba Brazil Barcelona Stake. (Photograph by Israel Antunes.)
Above: Relief Society sisters around the world, such as these in Brazil, learn home decorating skills. (Photograph by Miriam Nery.)