We had an AMAZING turnout for our Relief Society mid-week meeting-- our "Spa Night." Seems women were drawn to the idea of taking a break from their busy lives and coming to pamper and rejuvenate themselves.... go figure!! After letting the sisters chat for a few minutes as they arrived, we took a seat and got started. We sang "Be Still My Soul." After which, the theme of the evening was introduced. A quote from M. Russel Ballard was shared, "Water cannot be drawn from an empty well, and if you are not setting aside a little time for what replenishes you, you will have less and less to give to others..." Debi led us in a wonderful discussion about taking time for ourselves. We are all in different stages of life but we are all busy-- between being mothers, working, serving in church callings, volunteering, etc. Selfless service is what Relief Society is all about! But, it is important that we also take time to nourish ourselves. She asked for sisters to share what types of things they do to replenish and rejuvenate themselves. What an amazing thing it is to have so many sisters in a room freely sharing their insights and experiences! Many ideas were shared-- from yoga to stargazing to personal scripture study to gardening. She then asked how taking time for ourselves can help us spiritually. Sisters voiced their feelings that if you are too stressed it is harder to feel close to the spirit. Finding peace in our lives brings us closer to God. Lastly, we talked about how taking time to take care of ourselves can actually make us more able to serve others. Just like Elder Holland said, "water cannot be drawn from an empty well." After our wonderful discussion, we let everyone loose to enjoy any or all of our "Pampering Stations." We had stations set up around the perimeter of the gym. Each station was prepared by a different sister in our ward. Keep Calm and Soak On Carrie put together a station about bath salts and their benefits. She was great to stand at the table and share great information with anyone interested! She even had a cute little sample of some lavender bath salts for the sisters to take home! Click to see her handout about the Health Benefits of Bath Salts (click the words) Keep Calm and Polish On! Amanda headed up a nail painting station for us! She brought some different polishes and tools for sisters to use. Sisters had also been invited to bring any nail polishes from home to share!  Ladies really enjoyed painting their nails together and chatting!  Check out Amanda's Tips for an Easy At-Home Manicure. (click the words) Keep Calm and Eat Chocolate Need we say more.....?? We provided at chocolate fountain and sisters in the ward had signed up to bring different goodies for dipping. Strawberries, angel food cake, pretzels, marshmallows, graham crackers! Homemade Body Scrubs Ann shared her love for natural beauty techniques and taught us how to make a homemade pineapple body scrub! She was mixing up batches at her station and letting sisters either try it out there or take a sample home. Click the link for the handout for the Pineapple Scrub and other homemade scrubs. Also, an interesting page about using Pineapple for Healthy Skin. Keep Calm and....GET A FREE MASSAGE!?! We had asked Katja, a massage therapist, to share some tips and techniques for self-massage. Not only did she do that, but she graciously decided to bring a massage chair and give a massage to any sister who wanted one!! This brought many sisters to a much happier and relaxed state! "Be Still and Know that I am God" We had one more station set up in a separate room. The lights were low, peaceful music was playing, and a few seats were set up facing a large painting of Christ with our meditation display below it. This was a calm environment for sisters to sit and reflect on the Savior and pick up some handouts about Christ Centered Meditation. Click for the handout about Finding Inner Peace Through Meditation. (Or here for the link to the original article.) Also, another handout about some every-day types of Meditation that can be worked into our daily routine. A the close of the evening, Carrie shared a wonderful quote from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland: "Fatigue is the common enemy of us all—so slow down, rest up, replenish, and refill. Physicians promise us that if we do not take time to be well, we most assuredly will take time later on to be ill." It was such an enjoyable evening! Sisters were able to visit, enjoy chocolate, check out whatever pampering stations they wanted to, and most importantly take a little time out of their busy lives to rejuvenate. Everyone was having such a good time it seemed like nobody wanted to go home!! We lingered and chatted and soaked it all in. It was a relaxing night for all!