happy birthday relief society...

During spring break - I had the opportunity to participate in a program that my grandmother wrote for her ward's annual Relief Society birthday dinner. Each member of the cast represented a former (and one the current) general r.s. president. We practiced songs and memorized our parts for 2 months to make sure it was perfect. Each person was to dress and look like the person they were representing. I was Barbara Smith, and my sister was Zina Young.

My sister traveled to and from Cedar City for practices. 2 separate times her new car broke down on the way. On the day of the performance, there was a huge accident on I-15 that kept the freeway closed most of the afternoon. It opened up with just enough time for her to make it to the meeting. She walked in 5 min. before we were to start. There was also another accident that day that killed 2 women in my grandmother's stake (who happened to be attending their ward's r.s. birthday celebration as well). We decided that what we were about to do must be important because *someone* was definitely trying to keep it from happening.

While memorizing my part - I never really "felt" it. This was sort of a relief for me because if you know me at all, you know I am a bawl baby. I was glad that I knew I would be able to say it without being emotional at all. Sitting in my seat on the stand during the program, I said a little prayer to repent for how I had been feeling about the part, and my sort of negativity towards it. I got up to do my part and made it all the way to the very last quote, and choked up. It was definitely the spirit speaking to me about how amazing these women were/are! Thank you grandma for that opportunity.

Here are some pictures to compare - (do you think we looked the part?)

(I still can't get over my hair - I am amazed at how she got it to look like that)