Lemons to Lemonade night

Our summer Relief Society activity began with a keynote address by Paige B. on turning life's lemons to lemonade.

You may think you don’t have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us. The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before—colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter. (Happiness, Your Heritage, President Uchtdorf)

President Spencer W. Kimball taught, “The more we serve our fellowmen in appropriate ways, the more substance there is to our souls.”

In today’s world of pop psychology, junk TV, and feel-good self-help manuals, this advice may seem counterintuitive. We are sometimes told that the answer to our ills is to look inward, to indulge ourselves, to spend first and pay later, and to satisfy our own desires even at the expense of those around us. While there are times when it is prudent to look first to our own needs, in the long run it doesn’t lead to lasting happiness.

“But my favorite effect on the body is actually on the heart. Your heart has receptors for this hormone, and oxytocin helps heart cells regenerate and heal from any stress-induced damage. This stress hormone strengthens your heart.”  (How to Make Stress Your Friend, Kelly McGonigal)

  Face the (Lemon) Cookie

Kintsukuroi: The Japanese tradition of mending broken objects by aggrandizing the damage and filling the cracks with gold. They believe that when something’s suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful.

After her inspiring talk, we broke into 4 teams to compete in Minute to Win It games, with lemon themes of course!
Tipsy (with lemonade in a soda can)

   Face the (Lemon) Cookie    Chocolate Unicorn

 This Blows (like when life gives you lemons)

Suck it up

Wet Lemon

The winners got lemon lip balm and the team in last place got 'lemons', small toy cars. 

How better to end the night than to visit more and enjoy decadent lemon treats ranging from popcorn, cakes, and mousses.

Thanks to a great team for setting it up: Katie, Sunny, Jessica, Monica and more helpers, and thanks Sue for all the lemons from your tree!