"Oil in Our Lamps" - Santa Rosa Ward Relief Society 2011 Theme

We are so excited, as your Relief Society presidency, to announce that we will be joining you in taking a very special journey. We have prayerfully decided on a theme for this year based on the parable of the ten virgins, called "Oil in Our Lamps". Every month we will center our presidency message around a gospel theme. We invite you to review these principles with us and set meaningful goals that will enrich and bless your lives. The "drop" of oil that will begin to fill your lamp for the month of January is "Temple Preparedness and Worthiness". If you have not received a packet to begin your planning and preparation please see a member of the presidency.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Frosting

PUMPKIN CUPCAKES WITH MAPLE FROSTING
brought by Portia Walker
October 2010, SR RS Cooking Group, Pumpkins
Makes 10 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup canned pumpkin purée {8 ounces}
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
½ cup vegetable oil
Maple Frosting {recipe follows}
½ cup coarsely chopped Heath bars, for serving (2 1.4-ounce bars)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Brush or spray the top of 10 muffin tins with vegetable oil and line them with 10 paper liners.

2. Into a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. In a larger bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin purée, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vegetable oil. Add the flour mixture and stir until combined.

3. Divide the batter among the prepared tins {I use a level 2 ¼ -inch ice cream scoop} and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely.

4. Spread the cupcakes with the Maple Frosting and sprinkle with the chopped toffee bits.

MAPLE FROSTING
INGREDIENTS:
6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ teaspoon Boyajian Natural Maple Flavor {or whatever brand you may have on hand}
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups sifted confectioners sugar

DIRECTIONS:
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese and butter on low speed until smooth. Stir in the maple flavoring and vanilla extract. With the mixer still on low, slowly add the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth.

PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION

PUMPKIN AND SPICE SUGAR COOKIES
brought by Mandie White

INGREDIENTS:

¾ cup {1 ½ sticks} butter, softened

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

6 cups flour

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup pureed pumpkin

½ cup buttermilk

DIRECTIONS:

1.         In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

2.         Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk until combined. In another small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and pumpkin. Set both aside.

3.         In the mixer, add the eggs, one at a time to the butter and sugar mixture, mixing well after each egg. Add the vanilla and mix until combined.

4.         Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, mixing until almost combined. Now add 1/2 of the buttermilk mixture and then another third of the flour. Repeat with the last of the buttermilk and then the flour, mixing until just combined.

5.         Divide the dough into thirds, shape into disks and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least an hour to firm the dough up.

6.         Preheat the oven to 350°, roll out dough on a well floured counter and cut into desired shape. Bake on a cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes. Let cool for a minute on the cookie sheet and then remove cookies to a cooling rack. Once cooled frost as desired.

PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION

Meet the New Sisters!

Mandie White and her adorable family recently moved to the desert... did she know what she was getting herself into? She recently posted to friends, "I think I moved next door to the sun." True! More about Mandie: She was born and raised in northern Utah, graduated from Utah State and massage therapy school and then practiced professionally for 10 years. She loves cooking, reading, camping and hiking (when her plantar fasciitis isn't bothering her), and playing games. She reports being competitive by nature. Mandie and her husband have a 3 1/2 year old son, Ian, and a 14 month old daughter, Carly. Mandie's husband Greg is the new Vector Ecologist for the Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District. We welcome the White family to our ward and we are glad you're here!

For Time and All Eternity!

Congratulations to the Cotton and Hinchen families! Wednesday they were endowed in the San Diego Temple and then sealed right afterwards. What a special day for this family.

A few words of council for all of us given by President Howard W. Hunter: "Truly, the Lord desires that His people be a temple-motivated people. It would be the deepest desire of my heart to have every member of the Church be temple worthy. I would hope that every adult member would be worthy of—and carry—a current temple recommend, even if proximity to a temple does not allow immediate or frequent use of it.

Let us be a temple-attending and a temple-loving people. Let us hasten to the temple as frequently as time and means and personal circumstances allow. Let us go not only for our kindred dead, but let us also go for the personal blessing of temple worship, for the sanctity and safety which are provided within those hallowed and consecrated walls. The temple is a place of beauty; it is a place of revelation; it is a place of peace. It is the house of the Lord. It is holy unto the Lord. It should be holy unto us.

Let us share with our children the spiritual feelings we have in the temple. And let us teach them more earnestly and more comfortably the things we can appropriately say about the purposes of the house of the Lord. Keep a picture of a temple in your home that your children may see it. Teach them about the purposes of the house of the Lord. Have them plan from their earliest years to go there and to remain worthy of that blessing."

I encourage all of us as sisters in the Santa Rosa Ward to go to the temple often! If you do not have a current recommend....get one...If you have not had one before, talk to the bishop to see what you can do to get one and live your lives accordingly to get a recommend in the future. If you have one...attend, as Pres. Hunter said, "hasten to the temple as frequently as time and means and personal circumstances allow."

Saturday Evening Stake Conference

President Steve Jackson:
2 Nephi 31:20
*Press forward with a steadfastness in Christ
*Feasting on the word
*Endure to end
*Then ye shall have eternal life
It is our responsibility to teach our children of Jesus Christ and his gospel
What do we teach:
*He brings Salvation to our soul
*He helps us through difficult trials in our life
*He knows how to help us
*Doubt NOT
*The Savior will heal us
*Faith in the Savior
How do we teach:
Have family council (parents) ask “How are we going to help our children have
Faith in Jesus Christ?"
*Keep the commandments
*Obedience
*If you want to know the doctrine….Live it!
*Go to the temple regularly
*Listen to blessings given in the temple ordinances
*Teach children of Repentance
*Read the Book of Mormon (children will gain a love for it)
*Bear spontaneous testimony often to your children
*Pray always as a family morning and evening
Two questions Pres. Jackson asked missionaries returning from their missions that we should ask ourselves: 1) Did you feel the promptings of the spirit? 2) Did you follow those promptings? If the answer was yes, then he said they had a successful mission. As parents we should ask ourselves these same questions and often!
*We have testimonies of the gospel and it is our responsibility to help our children gain their own testimonies.

President Stanger:
*We are the deciders of the spirit of our home
*Never cease from teaching our children
*Teach our children gospel principles
*Teach and testify
“We don’t plan to fail, we fail to plan”
*How do I strengthen my family?
*Have you read the “Family Proclamation” and do you know it?
*Make a plan as head of household using the “Family Proclamation” then see how you can change the spirit of your home
*The key to strengthen our families is the SPIRIT of the Lord in our homes
*Family Prayer
*Family Home Evening
*Set goals for success
*Get kids involved in goal setting

Elder Cordova:
“The Future can never look brighter than it is today” Sis. Beck
He quoted an apostle (of whom I forgot) “We have been at war with the advisory for many years….He is no longer knocking at the doors of our churches anymore, he is knocking at the doors of our homes.”
*Protect our youth
*Do what I do – Not what I say (Pres. Uchdorf)
*Be doers, not hearers
*Strengthen our faith…Do this in the House of the Lord
*3 Nephi 13:32-33

Bro. & Sis. Hafen:
*Move from active members of the church to consecrated FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST
*What motivates us – Being with our family and the Savior
*Absorb the pain that we may have experienced in the past and don’t pass it on to the next generation
*2 Nephi 2
*Plan of Salvation – Our purpose in coming to this earth
*Atonement – Life story of Adam and Eve
*Atone – Story of Life of Christ is GIVING
*Fall – Story of Adam and Eve is RECEIVING
*Lehi’s words: If Adam and Eve would have stayed in the garden they would have had no children….Garden of Edan/No joy/No misery
*Misery/sweat/tears = part of the plan
*Joy/happiness = part of the plan

Sisters ~ I’m not the best note taker and some of this will probably not make sense…But it was a wonderful meeting with a strong spirit present. I didn’t take notes when the Lowell’s spoke, but they both gave great talks on how to have a successful marriage. They are great speakers!

We are excited about our new stake presidency:
President – Matt Morris (La Quinta Ward)
1st Counselor – Ty Broadhead (Bermuda Dunes Ward)
2nd Counselor – Alfredo Verdusco (Thermal Ward)

Our appreciation goes out to President’s Jackson, Stanger & Stearman who gave great sacrifice and service these past nine years!

The passing of Sister Wilma Long

Wilma Long, 93, was born on June 12, 1917, in Leeds, Utah to John William and Dallice Hartman, and passed away peacefully in Rancho Mirage with loved ones by her side on Sunday June 13, 2010. She married John Long in 1936 and they lived in Cedar City, Eagle Mtn. and Indio. She is survived by her three daughters, Cherie Ball of Indio, Golda Jones (Harry) of Salt Lake and Jacquie Freeman (Vern) of Riverside. Services were held Friday, June 18, 2010, with internment at Coachella Valley Cemetery afterwards, followed with a light luncheon prepared by the Relief Society and held at the Indio LDS Chapel.

Thank you to all who helped with Sister Long's Funeral Luncheon...The setup, the food, the beautiful table linens, the table decorations, the cleanup and all who organized. The family was so grateful for kindness shown toward them and the efforts to make the luncheon a success.