Alpine Stake Relief Society

Humanitarian Event

2011-03-02T16:25:00.000-08:00

Wild Rice Salad

2011-02-22T08:41:00.000-08:00

We've had several requests for the delicious Wild Rice Salad. Here is the recipe! Also, if you want more great recipes, go to Sister Weakley's recipe blog: shareuryummies.blogspot.com

Wild Rice Salad

(Approximately 25 servings)

Dressing ingredients:
4 cloves minced garlic
2 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard
1 tsp salt
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp pepper
2/3 cup rice wine vinegar
2/3 cup salad oil (olive or canola)

Blend the above ingredients in a blender or food processor until well blended.
Refrigerate until well chilled before adding to the salad ingredients.

Salad ingredients:
2 boxes “Uncle Ben’s” long grain and wild rice cooked
Juice from one or two lemons
2 red bell peppers, diced
4 green onions, chopped
6 oz. Chinese pea pods (more or less)
4 medium avocados, diced
2 cups toasted pecans
6 chicken breasts, cooked and diced OR
2 whole rotisserie chickens de-boned and diced

Cook the rice according to package directions and prepare all the above ingredients.
Combine all the salad ingredients except the avocados and pecans. Chill for a few
hours. Just before serving, add the avocados and pecans.

AN INSTRUMENT OF LOVE written by Connie Stauffer

2011-02-08T11:48:00.000-08:00

There have been many warm comments about the beautiful music that our own Connie Stauffer wrote and performed at our meeting on Saturday.

She has graciously allowed us to put the file on our stake blog.
Making copies for non-commercial use is permitted.

Click here to access the pdf file of Connie's beautiful song, "An Instrument of Love"

We've also included the link on the right side bar of this blog for easy accessibility.
Thanks again, Connie!

If you'd like to hear and download more of Connie Stauffer's free music, please visit her website:
http:/www.conniestauffermusic.com

An Excerpt from Sister Derr’s talk, Feb. 5, 2011

2011-02-08T11:26:00.000-08:00

This is an excerpt from Sister Jill Derr's talk to the Alpine Stake Relief Society on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2011. If you'd like the printable version (pdf) see the sidebar of this blog and you can download from there.

Martha Cragun Cox (1852-1932)
“Biographical Record on Martha Cox,” manuscript, Church History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, pages 181-82.

Martha James Cragun, daughter of James and Eleanor Lane Cragun, spent part of her childhood in the
settlement of Mill Creek (Millcreek), Utah, and then moved to southern Utah with her family in 1862 to help settle St. George. She began to teach school when she was in her teens, and she married Isaiah Cox as a plural wife in 1869. She wrote her three-hundred-page autobiography in longhand; it is a collection of short personal vignettes complete with titles. This vignette, “My Dream of a Chain,” reflects the challenges women and men faced in the late 1880s as new federal laws were passed to accelerate prosecution of those living in plural marriage, polygamy. Isaiah Cox had recently moved to Mexico with his wife Mary Jane Millet. His other wives, Henrietta James, Elizabeth Ann Stout, and Martha, remained in southern Utah and southern Nevada. The original spelling is preserved here and some minimal punctuation and paragraph breaks have been added.

My Dream of a Chain

The persecutions against the polygamists grew worse and worse. Lizzie was driven from her home which went to almost ruin. Weeds took her lovely garden and her trees died. Auntie stood in not so much fear of the marshalls she being the first wife. She went to live with Rettie as she was not able to keep the house alone. Four of our daughters and one son were now living in plural marriage and through only two per cent of our men in the church were practicing this higher order of plural marriage there seemed to be a deluge of sorrow upon all the people. I had bitter hatred in my heart against the officials in Utah, and against the traitors who exposed the Saints.

I had a dream given me that gave me to see the condition into which I was falling. I thought I stood with a chain around my neck. This chain reached to the ground and was heavy with many bundles that were fastened to it—so heavy that I could not raise my head to look upward. Someone said to me, “If you must look at these all the time put them on this rod over your fire place and don’t hang them on a chain about your neck or you will never see the sun and stars, and you should look up towards the heavens and not down.”

I then began to examine the parcels one by one and hang them on the rod. One a little box I had in my
trunk containing some little clothing with a darling pair of little shoes and stockings. I had been in the habit of taking these out and spreading them on my bed on lonely stormy nights where there were no one there to see or hear me weep over them, and there was a large bundle of wicked words I had said about the Utah marshalls who had not done half the mischief they might have done or had power to do. There were bundles of wrongs I felt I had sustained from many of the people. Debts uncancelled by which I felt my children had suffered. The mail contract was a large bundle which I had considered an imposition upon us and was wearing the little boys out.

All these while they seemed so heavy while hanging on my neck had no weight at all as I hung them on the rod. There was one small parcel enclosing the act of the lawyer who filled the place of Supt. of Schools who took a lawyer’s ten per cent from the orders I sent in to him for collection. As he was the only business manager I had in Pioche I was obliged to submit to it and I would not exempt him from blame though it was solely through his kindness that I remained qualified [as a teacher] before the law. That bundle faded out through my fingers as I took it off the chain, and lo, the chain was gone and I was free. When I awoke I resolved I would be free.

I made it a rule to sing a song every day to the little children on my lap. To the little Indian boy who
shared a scolding with Edward one night and went supperless to his camp I gave a handsome new shirt to make amends. One day when an Indian woman came to my door with an almost naked child held under her fur robe I got out the box and a feeling of shame came upon me as I gave the little flannel dress and other things to put upon the child, a shame for the tears I had shed over it. I told her to tell the others who had babes to come and get the rest of the things—all but the little shoes. I felt I must keep them. But when I saw the blue feet and legs of one of the little babes I said, “That bundle must come, all of it, from my chain.”

I had not dreamed of the sourness that was creeping into my soul until I had that dream.

Local Agencies in Need of Humanitarian Projects

2011-02-01T14:51:00.000-08:00

African Refugees 709-9095 Attending downtown Salt Lake City schools (Herminio Trujillo)

Alpine House 885-5982 Residential center for adults with down syndrome/autism

American Fork Hospital 855-3506 Pediatrics/Women’s Center

Boys and Girls Club of America 371-6242

Christmas Box House 465-3645 or 836-9083 (Betty Quinn is contact person)

Community Action Services & Food Bank 373-8200

Division of Child & Welfare 376-3231

Family Support and Treatment 229-1181 Drop-off nursery for parents in crisis

Food & Care Coalition 373-1825 (Treva)

Grace Mary Manor 284-4493 Homeless shelter (Salt Lake) (Jeff)

Habitat for Humanity 373-7867 or 368-2250 (Rachel) Volunteer coordinator www.habitatuc.org

Head Start 375-7981 Pre-school for economically disadvantaged children

House of Hope 373-6562 Recovering drug-addict mothers reunited with their children

Juvenile Justice 491-0118 (Linda Campbell) Delinquent youth in residential treatment

Kids on the Move 221-9930 Low income children ages 3-5, with autism, developmental delays

LDS Humanitarian Center 1-800-453-3860

Make a Wish Foundation 262-9474 (Christine)

Meals on Wheels

Migrant Head Start 754-0702

Pregnancy Resource Center 221-2591 (Melinda is executive director)

Primary Children’s Hospital 842-7885 (Marie)

Red Cross 323-7000 (Amy)

River Meadows 692-2100 Assisted Living in Alpine (Jennifer)

Ronald McDonald House 363-4663 (Liza) (www.rmhcslc.org)

Topham’s Tiny Tots Care Center 225-0323 administrator: Christine Christensen

Utah Food Bank 987-2452

United Way 374-6400 Numerous agencies

Utah Valley Regional Medical Center 357-7850

Welcome Baby 691-5320 Service for first-time mothers

Women and Children in Crisis 691-5465 Shelter for abused women and children

Discount/Wholesale Suppliers

Christensen’s Wholesale 816-0540 Fabrics/Batting

Mandalay 800-775-5966 Supplies for hygiene/school /newborn kits

Twin Quilt Guide

2011-02-01T14:16:00.000-08:00

The quilts are to be constructed “envelope” style. Accuracy is all-important
with this construction technique. Measurements must be exact. If the top and
bottom are not exactly the same, the finished quilt will twist and bulge. Pinning is
essential. Use pins frequently and place them relatively close together.
They will help prevent tucks and ripples in the seams and make sewing these
seams so much easier. To construct the quilt, place the top piece of the fabric
and it’s coordinating bottom piece right sides together. Carefully smooth out the
fabrics and pin. There should be no wrinkles or twisting. (It works well to lay out
the fabric on aping pong table or other large flat surface. Using a counter-top is
virtually impossible. The fabric just cannot be smoothed out sufficiently. ) At this
point both pieces should match exactly.

Place the batting on top. Pin about ever 2-3 inches to avoid shifting. (It seems
to work best if the bottom fabric is next to the batting.) Trim excess batting from
around the fabric. The batting should be exactly even with the fabric. With the
batting against the feed dog, and the fabric next to the presser foot, sew around
the quilt leaving a space open for turning. This opening should be about 12-14
inches wide. It will look best if this opening is at least 4 inches away from the
corner. (At this point, make sure all pins have been removed. They are most
difficult to remove after the quilt has been turned right side out.

Next, reach through the opening between the two layers of fabric and pull
the “envelope” right side out. (This can be compared to flipping a pillow case right
side out.) The batting will now be in the middle of your quilt with the right sides
of your fabric out on top and bottom. After turning the seam allowances to the
inside, machine stitch the opening closed. To keep the outside edge crisp and
neat, pin, then top stitch one inch from the edge all the way around the outside
edge of the quilt. Note: Be very careful at this point while sewing, to lift and
smooth the back side of the quilt toward the center, away from the edge, all along
the way to prevent it from tucking into the stitching on the bottom. It is very easy
for this to happen since you cannot seethe underneath side while stitching. It’s no
fun to pick out and repair! Because this quilt will be tied on a tabletop, or other
flat surface, it is important that the top and the bottom fabric be smooth with as
little shifting and wrinkling as possible. Again, lay the quilt out flat, smoothing it as
much as possible. Then, baste across the quilt in three places. Divide the quilt
in thirds, run a basting line down the center, and two more lines along either side.
The last step is to mark the quilt for tying. The marks should be easy to see, and
placed four and one-half to five inches apart. Remember that the purpose of the
knots is to keep the batting from shifting. Unless there is a decorative reason,
knots need not be closer than this.

Remember to have fun with this easy, quick, technique for group projects.
http://womensconference.byu.edu

Welcome!

2009-02-02T11:40:00.001-08:00

We welcome you to the Alpine Stake Relief Society BLOG!

We hope you were able to attend our big STAKE ENRICHMENT MEETING on Saturday morning, February 7th. But even if you weren't, you can get a feel for the activity and read all about the Creation Stations and learn alot!

On the sidebar of this website, you will notice the titles of the different booths showcased at Saturday's event. Feel free to click on the link to access the hand outs provided by the teachers. Then, if you feel so inclined, you can print yourself a hard copy for future use.

Please comment if you have any questions or if you want to give us some feedback!
Thanks!

The Alpine Stake Relief Society Presidency