Welcome Packets

• Help make new sisters who move in or who are just joining the Relief Society feel welcome by creating welcome packets. Purchase about 20 folders with pockets in them so you will have plenty of packets on hand. Come to the meeting prepared with copies of the ward directory, and local area information like schools, trash pick-up, post office locations and emergency facilities. Include Relief Society newsletters and a refrigerator magnet with the presidency's names and numbers on them. Include a treat or any extras you like. Spend the meeting assembling the packets.
  
  

Teacher Appreciation

• It's often a challenge to find enough Relief Society teachers for every Sunday. Focus a leadership meeting on showing appreciation to your teachers. Hold the meeting in a member of the presidency's home and bake bread together. Make miniature loaves and place them into small bread bags. Attach note cards with catchy phrases onto each loaf such as, "Your teaching makes me rise to a new level."
  
  

Education

• One counselor is specifically responsible for overseeing the teaching program. Focus one meeting on a review of the basic principles and requirements for teaching lessons. Go over different ideas on how to encourage teachers and how to instruct them to stay within the guidelines. It is important to teach from the manual, scriptures and conference talks. Teachers are discouraged from pulling information from other sources for Sunday lessons. Share suggestions for training teachers on these various points.
  
  

Visiting Teaching

• The Relief Society president is responsible for keeping the Visiting Teaching program organized and running. She assigns sisters into companionships and gives them a list of sisters they are responsible for visiting each month. Spend the meeting planning a Visiting Teaching workshop for your ward. Plan to invite speakers to give a couple talks. Prepare to go out two by two and visit as many sisters as possible during the workshop. Plan a testimony meeting and lunch for afterward.