Ideas for the RS Birthday Celebration

Here is a list of ideas and skits for the Relief Society Birthday or other activities. If you have a great program or skit, please share it. (I especially like skits with references or sources.)

Relief Society Birthday Enrichment Skits

Ten Virgins

This product from LDSGrand.com features a songbook completed with script and DVD for a super easy spiritual program perfect for your RS Birthday, Women's Conference, or Enrichment meeting.

Ten Virgins - script and songbook.

Live up to Your Privileges

This Reader's Theater was provided by the General Relief Society Presidency at the Fall 2005 Open House. It has 4 reading parts, and requires no set. Period dress is not required, but appropriate.

Live Up to your privileges in PDF or TEXT.

A Tribute to Relief Society General Presidents

This skit was performed by a stake in Kearns, Utah, in 2005, but I have no other information on it's origin or history. The full version of the skit has music that relates to the era of each of the Relief Society presidents, and calls for performers to wear clothing typical of the time. This Stake borrowed clothing from Pioneer Theatre Company in Salt Lake to use for the performance.

Unfortunately, none of the sources of the stories about the Relief Society presidents are cited, and I don't have any way of verifying if they are completely accurate, but, I have no reason to doubt their authenticity.

Emma Smith's Garden Party in PDF or TEXT.

Following are links to the abbreviated skit as performed in my unit. The short skit takes about 20 minutes to perform and uses a narrator and 14 others to read the parts of each General Relief Society President.

Our HFPE leader had just received her call, so for simplicity's sake, we handled this script as a Reader's Theater. 14 chairs were lined up on the floor of the gym. Each chair had the name of the RS president represented on it, so that you could look back at the empty chair to see which president was currently speaking. Participants simply read their parts, no memorization was needed. We did not dress in period attire.

SHORT Tribute to Relief Society Presidents in PDF or SHORT TEXT.

Something Extraordinary: Relief Society of the Past, Present, and Future

This themed Enrichment night describes silhouette images of RS sisters, matching invitations, and a skit relating to the past, present, and future of RS. Includes ideas on how to get women from other auxiliaries to participate, and includes a part for a transitioning Laurel. Includes lots of pictures, a link to a skit, and other information.

View the photos and description of Something Extraordinary: Relief Society of the past, present, and future.

Games

Relief Society Birthday Trivia Game

This idea was submitted by a mormonshare.com user to the activities database. It has questions in four categories: Scriptures Pertaining to Relief Society, Hymns Significant to Relief Society, General Relief Society Trivia, and Name That Smith. So fun! Would make a great ice breaker activity.

Click to read the questions and answers for the Relief Society Trivia Game.

Music Ideas

• The hymn, "Now Let Us Rejoice," was sung at the close of the first Relief Society meeting. The minutes of the Kirtland Temple dedication indicate that "Now Let Us Rejoice" was sung to the tune "Assembly," the same tune used in our present day Hymns for "The Spirit of God"! (Sources: KirtlandTemple.org and Community of Christ, formerly RLDS church website)
• Sing the Extra verses for As Sisters in Zion.
• Sing the special number To Those Who Came Before Me - by Sally DeFord. You can download her free MP3 (with or without singing) and sheet music.
• Sing My Sister's Hands by Sally DeFord. Free MP3s and sheet music available. This would make a beautiful number for a unit with women of different ages or ethnicities. Sally ROCKS!
• Women of Destiny Volume 1 is a CD of songs relating to the Relief Society Declaration. Beautiful! Here is the sheet music

Including Transitioning Laurels at HFPE

• Mary G shared this idea: "For part of our program, we're doing the reader's theater on the Relief Society Presidents. After we discuss Sister Parkin and highlight her focus on helping Young Women transition into Relief Society, we're doing a short spotlight on the 5 Laurels in our ward that will enter Relief Society this year. We're hoping this will help the sisters know who they are and make a special effort to help them feel welcomed."

Handouts and Visual Aids

• Here are some pictures of Relief Society General Presidents along with biographies of each.
• The church has created a cool 8.5 x 11 inch handout with the General Relief Society Presidents along with a quote from each and that shows a timeline of which prophets they served with. If you want a bigger version, you can order a copy of the 19 x 27 inch poster from the LDS Distribution Center, Item #67205000, $4.00. Shipping from Distribution takes 2-4 weeks, so if you must have this poster sooner, you can order it from LDSGrand.com, but the poster costs more.

You never know who you're influencing...

Barbara B. Smith, tenth General Relief Society President, first attended Relief Society on March 17, 1942, for the 100th anniversary Relief Society Birthday program. She was expecting a baby, and her mother didn't want to leave her alone at home. She observed, "That day at Relief Society the hundred years of Relief Society history were reviewed, a meaningful way for me to see what Relief Society was all about and how I could fit into it. I started to attend our ward Relief Society regularly soon after that." (" 'Joy in Every Minute': An Interview with Sister Barbara B. Smith," Ensign, June 1975, 61)

Jenny's history of Relief Society notes

Presidents of the Relief Society

1. Emma Hale Smith (1842 - 1844)
2. Eliza R. Snow (1868 - 1887)
3. Zina D. H. Young (1888 - 1901)
4. Bathsheba W. Smith (1901 - 1910)
5. Emmeline B. Wells (1910 - 1921)
6. Clarissa S. Williams (1921 - 1928)
7. Louise Y. Robison (1928 - 1939)
8. Amy Brown Lyman (1940 - 1945)
9. Belle S. Spafford (1945 - 1974)
10. Barbara B. Smith (1974 - 1984)
11. Barbara W. Winder (1984 - 1990)
12. Elaine L. Jack (1990 - 1997)
13. Mary Ellen W. Smoot (1997 - 2002)
14. Bonnie D. Parkin (2002 - 2007)
15. Julie Bangerter Beck (2007 - present)

Birthdays of the Relief Society General Presidents

I'm never quite sure why I get asked this so often, but here are the birth dates I have for the RS General Presidents:

• Emma Hale Smith - born July 10, 1804; died April 30, 1879
• Eliza R. Snow - born January 21, 1804; died December 5, 1887
• Zina D. H. Young - born January 31, 1821; died August 28, 1901
• Bathsheba W. Smith - born May 3, 1822; died September 20, 1910
• Emmeline B. Wells - February 29, 1828; died April 25, 1921
• Clarissa S. Williams - born 1860; died March 8, 1930
• Louise Y. Robison - born 1866; died March 30, 1946
• Amy Brown Lyman - born February 7, 1872; died December 5, 1959
• Belle S. Spafford - born October 8, 1895; died February 2, 1982
• Barbara B. Smith - born January 26, 1922; living
• Barbara W. Winder - born May 9, 1931; living
• Elaine L. Jack - born March 22, 1928; living
• Mary Ellen W. Smoot - born August 19, 1933; living
• Bonnie D. Parkin - born August 4, 1940; living
• Julie Bangerter Beck - born September 29, 1954; living

If you have more information on these birth and death dates, please send it to me.

Recommended Books on Relief Society History

I'd personally recommend these books on RS History:

• Women of Covenant: The Story of Relief Society by Derr, Cannon, and Beecher; Deseret Book Company; 1992. ISBN 0-87579-593-5
• Elect Ladies: Presidents of the Relief Society by Peterson and Gaunt (1990). Published Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company. ISBN 0-87579-416-5.
• History of Relief Society 1842-1966 by The Relief Society General Board Association, 1966.

From the Mormon Wiki

I am a contributor to the Mormon Wiki and have written several articles. Until we get in our new house and my books are moved out of our storage unit, I won't be able to add more articles, because I don't have any sources and my memory is notoriously poor. What I have done is below, and because it's a Wiki, your contributions are also welcome:

• History of Relief Society

Everything Enrichment

Everything Enrichment - can be found at the preceeding link. You'll find EVERYTHING that relates to Enrichment here including craft ideas, skits, activities, handouts, and much much more.

External Links to other Relief Society Birthday Information

• Families.com: 5 ideas for the Relief Society birthday Enrichment
• LightPlantet.com: RS Birthday Idea
• EnrichmentCottage.com: PURSE-onal theme RS Birthday
• Of-Worth.com: RS Birthday Ideas