Women's Expo: Money Matters

Sharing Station Handouts
Money Matters
presented by Emily Wensel and Carrie Baclayon

Click here for these notes in a PDF book.
Scroll below pictures for handouts.
Pictures of sharing station:

Women's Expo: First Things First

Sharing Station Handouts
First Things First
presented by Julie Passey and Bonnie Gregson

Click here for these notes in a PDF book.
Scroll below pictures for handouts.
Pictures of sharing station:

Serving Was Better Than Christmas Gifts

by Chloe and Izabelle
Last year for Christmas, my mom's side of the family all decided to do service instead of presents. Every family was given $100 or so on Thanksgiving so we would have a month to serve people. My family found a family--a mom, dad, and two little girls. The dad in the family had cancer, and it was spreading throughout his body. He lost his leg because of it. Their medical bills were huge, and they could barely afford groceries. We gave them a $100 gift card to Wal-Mart so they could get groceries or presents or whatever they needed. It was amazing to know we helped those two little girls have Christmas and food. It was the best feeling in the world, a lot better than receiving a present.

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With having young children, we have been able to serve by visiting the elderly. It has blessed us by teaching my children about service and that it makes us feel good by doing good for others.

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by N.F.
Helping my daughter on her birthday: she works full time to help the family income. She has three children ages 5 to 15. My husband and I took dinner and treats. The kitchen needed cleaning. She did not have to do it when she got home later. It felt good to give her something she really needed. The relief on her face to have a clean kitchen and family room was so worth it. We were also able to help teach the kids about service to their mother.

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I felt good inside when I get along with my friends.

Nothing Can Describe the Joy I Felt: Service Stories

Service has touched the lives of youth and adults in our stake in many ways:

There was a kid in my class that obviously was raised in a rough lifestyle. His standards were not the same as mine, but I was still friendly to him, so he respected my values. He was constantly being shifted between family members' homes, and one day I heard him mention that he didn't even have a coat. It hurt me so deeply that he couldn't even keep warm in his unstable home conditions in the winter season. I told my mom I wanted to get him a coat. My mom, being the kindhearted woman she is, agreed.

We purchased him a warm coat, and I wrote a note to go along with it. I left it on his chair in class anonymously. Nothing can describe the joy I felt when he received the coat. His eyes lit up and I was so glad that he could finally be warm--especially since he had to walk to and from school every day.

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by Natalie Vickers
Taking time to occasionally visit our kids' three living great-grandmas at their homes and care centers blesses each of us to have a connection with elderly family members and helps them know we love them.

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I mow a 93-year-old lady's lawn, and it makes me feel good that I can serve her and help her out.

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My mom and family were out. My sister and I cleaned the house from top to bottom. I did this for my mother. I felt so good. I also felt like I did something that was appreciated. My mom was so happy.

I Prayed the Hug Would Last Forever

by the Swensens
A few years back, my parents gave each of their children a copy of the story "The Christmas Jar" to read, along with a small jar, and asked that we all participate in a new family tradition beginning the next year. We would then combine all of our jars and give them to a family in need. So we began our jar tradition, and throughout the year we would drop coins and dollars into our Christmas jar. My siblings all did the same.

The next year, at our family Christmas party, each family brought the money they had collected throughout the year. Our individual contribution seemed meager, but all together we filled three jars and had a sum of several hundred dollars.

A family in our ward was struggling…the daughter of a lady I worked with. We decided her family would benefit from our jars, so most of us watched from a distance as my dad and nephew knocked on the door. Some puzzled children opened the door and I don’t think got much of an explanation before jars full of money were suddenly shoved through their door, followed by, "Merry Christmas!"

Now Is the Season to Be Home with My Family

by Tanya Hovey
I am the wife to Chet Hovey and the mother to Atalie, Austin, and Annalise. I am also the owner of a photography studio. I started my business 12 years ago from scratch. I never had a teacher or I never interned with any photographers. Everything I learned was from studying books and going to seminars. I worked hard to make my business successful. I soon found a niche specializing in newborn portraits.

from www.anxiety.org

After several years I began to get busy. I raised my prices and hired employees. After a few bad experiences with employees, I decided to go back to running the entire studio myself. This was about three years ago.

This is not my story. My story is... about one year ago I started experiences anxiety attacks. Running the entire studio myself was catching up with me. I was always so overwhelmed and stressed out. My body was trying to communicate to me that I needed to slow down. 

I tried to go to the doctor to pop a pill for the anxiety. Sadly, it didn't work. I tried multiple different anxiety medications. None of them helped. All the anxiety medication gave me worse side effects then benefits. My doctor called my side effects a grimace facial tic or twitch. It was not the prettiest thing. I wouldn’t even know I was doing it. My jaw would start to ache, and that’s how I knew I was having the tick. And of course my husband would always say, “You’re doing that thing with your mouth again.”

I Gave Her the Last of My Money

by Anya Chaplygina Higley
I was 18 years old when I was baptized. I was young, eager, open, and so spiritual. I lived for the gospel, loved it and carried the burning Spirit in me all the time. I lived in the big city of St. Petersburg, Russia.

Things were changing in those years, and there were a lot of poor people who couldn't make ends meet. Among those were elderly people, living on little pensions from government. All of a sudden within a couple of years there were a lot of beggars standing at entrances and exits of subway stations.

from http://en.rian.ru

I lived alone, working at the city maintenance office, and my paychecks were very small. My fridge was always empty, and I lived off potatoes, pasta, and grains. There were a lot of days when I had very little to eat.

One day I had a little bit of money (a 5 ruble bill). I still had a week till my next paycheck, and that was all the money I had till then. I wanted to buy a treat for myself--a tube of sweet cottage cheese. That would last me a couple of days, and it was my favorite.

I was heading somewhere in the city. As I was exiting the subway station, I saw many older people standing near the exit with their hands folded, begging for coins. I kept walking past them, as many other people did as well. In the corner of my eye--far and deep in the corner of the station--I caught a glimpse of an old woman. She was tiny and hunchbacked, wearing a scarf on her head. It looked as if she was pressing herself into the corner, ashamed of what she was doing--begging for money.

I kept walking through the doors outside. Suddenly, I felt the Spirit wash over me. It was like a hot, burning flame that took over my chest.

It Helped Me Understand Faith Better

by Joanne Farr
We recently directly experienced a trial of our faith and finally a mountain of difficulty removed. My son needs a very expensive medicine for the syndrome he has. It is impossible for us to pay for it. Our insurance has denied us repeatedly.

We were finally able to get on a free program that provided the medicine for one year. The changes in his health were dramatic and I constantly had a major worry that I would not be able to keep him on this medicine. The worry grew and grew until it consumed me. It was a heavy weight that I carried around constantly. We researched and prayed and fought insurance again but nothing changed.

Finally, his medicine ran out in May of 2011, and I felt literally sick that we could not get approved for any other aid programs. We continued to pray and I felt that something would work out, but I did not know how or when. Finally, in September, we were approved for a new medication under their patient assistance program. We found out the medication could be provided to us at a fraction of the cost. 

When I received that news, I felt that I could finally fully breathe again. The enormous weight on my heart finally lifted. I really feel this experience has helped me understand faith better. We cannot give up believing that all things will eventually come together for our good.