Women's Conference Recap

We were thrilled to have more than 120 women join us on October 15 for the 2016 Seneca Maryland Stake Women's Conference. The keynote address and information about the service project are described in postings that follow. That information, along with handouts from two of the breakout sessions, is also available as a PDF download here.

Thank you to everyone who participated in making the Women’s Conference a success!

• Promotions Committee
• Helene Thornton and Lunch Committee
• Janet Schiller and Service Project Committee
• Doorly Winegar and the Decorations Committee
• Nieves Costa and Maria Ranjbar for translation
• Instructors and speakers
• Everyone who attended and added to the spirit of unity we felt together!

Service Project Results

Our Women's Conference service project was organized in conjunction with Days for Girls, an international organization that provides reusable feminine hygiene products to girls in communities all over the world. There are over 400 chapters throughout the world that create kits to send to these communities. For more information, visit http://www.daysforgirls.org.

We had five sergers and five sewing machines running for three hours non-stop, with many sisters rotating in to help complete the bags and liners for these kits. More than 50 women stopped in throughout the day to help cut out fabric, iron, pin, thread ribbon, and organize the dozens of donations of Ziploc bags, panties, washcloths, and soap that were delivered.  In the end, we completed 27 kits in full, with at least two dozen more in various states of construction.

We heard today from our Rockville DFG contact about the destination of these kits: "In the last few weeks, we made a connection with a missionary group in New Jersey that is leaving for India in a few days.  They are taking 178 kits with them, including the 27 your team completed on October 15. The kits will be distributed at Grace Home, an orphanage in the greater New Delhi area that serves both boys and girls.  The Home has about 100 residents (half girls), but also serves other nonresident groups in the community.  The kits are being transported and distributed by missionaries from Joy Christian Fellowship in Englewood, New Jersey.  Joy has missions in 22 countries.  The missionaries travel frequently, and would love to carry additional kits in the future."

We will hold a follow-up activity to complete these kits on Saturday, November 19 from 9 to 11am at the Stake Center. This will be held in conjunction with the Stake Young Women's Craft Day, so we'll likely have Young Women join us in finishing this project. Please contact Andrea Affeltranger at aaffeltranger at gmail dot com if you are interested in participating in this second session and would like to lend your machine or donate additional fabric.

Thank you to everyone who participated!

Keynote Summary: Fostering a Commitment to Unity

Address given by Neylan McBaine, Author and Founder of the Mormon Women Project

Mosiah Chapter 18 describes that each soul is brought to the knowledge of their Redeemer, and so the Waters of Mormon become "beautiful" to them (vs 30).  Where is my Waters of Mormon, where contention fell away, where I felt connected to others and to eternity? What are those beautiful moments and places for us?

• Is it easier to have these experiences with people you don't know well?
• The early Christian church demonstrated how hard it is to come together in Christ. Acts Chapter 15 describes the Jerusalem Conference when disciples came together to argue over appropriate worship practices, and in the end the apostles couldn't agree and went their separate ways.

What are the factors of unity, the elements that can make a gathering beautiful to us? A discussion with sisters in the congregation identified some of the following ideas and personal experiences.

• Vulnerability, and the expectation that if you share, it will be received in an embrace and not in judgment.
• A feeling that "I belong here," and acting in a way that assumes that belonging is true for us and for others.
• Recognizing the tension between obedience and agency; we may have shared principles and faith in the gospel, but the practice of obedience may look different in our choices.
• Our ability to connect with others is linked to our willingness to serve others.
• We have agency to choose to feel charity and love for others, and to choose to feel confidence in God's love for us individually.
• Being compassionate in acknowledging that it's okay to be on the path to knowledge or belief; we don't have to always emphasize "knowing" as the only acceptable condition in the church.

With respect to the tension between obedience and agency, where individuals may make different choices in response to their faith in shared truths and principles, can we appreciate the variety and beauty of choices made in faith?  Prayerfully ask ourselves, am I choosing the path of obedience that is right for me? And am I allowing others to choose obedience in the form that is right for them, without judgment?

Social science research demonstrates that it is easier for people to accept and love "strangers," those who are very different from ourselves, than it is to form friendships with those who are very similar to us with slight differences. This psychological tendency results from feeling that those differences are a judgment on our own choices. We naturally would choose to gather with like-minded individuals who reaffirm and not question our choices, so it is a gift and a privilege that our church is organized into geographical wards that force sharing and vulnerability in groups that are not self-selected. It is as we serve, love, and come to understand our Relief Society sisters who share our faith but not our exact life circumstances that we can build unity in Zion.

A Promise from President Arnold

President Darren Arnold also shared some remarks during the opening session. He told the story of Emily Woodmansee (1836-1906), who was converted as a young girl after a short meeting with missionaries and was baptized four years later against her family's wishes.

For two years she saved up money to journey from Europe to America, and she traveled in the Willie Handcart Company to Utah. She was promised in a priesthood blessing that she would influence millions through word and poetry. She experienced many difficulties in her life, but the words that continue to influence a hundred years after her death are the hymn "As Sisters In Zion."

Women claim the errand of angels, to do whatsoever is gentle and human, to cheer and to bless in humanity's name. President Arnold expressed God's love for His daughters and promised each of us that if we will go to the Lord and inquire about our divine purpose and of His love for you, He will make it known unto us.

Conference Schedule

Register Today for 'Something Extraordinary'

Meet Neylan McBaine

We are delighted to feature Neylan McBaine as our keynote speaker for Women's Conference. She will speak about how we can build on our unique qualities and diverse experiences to find unity in sisterhood

In January 2010, Neylan launched the Mormon Women Project, a digital library of interviews with LDS women from around the world, in an effort to emphasize the many ways that modern faithful women choose the right. Because of the strong examples of Mormon women she grew up with, including her own mother who was a professional opera singer, and because of her personal connection with many women who struggle to find their place within LDS culture, Neylan felt it was important to challenge the cultural stereotype with portraits of all kinds of righteous women. The site, which posts one interview a week with the help of dozens of volunteers, includes over 200 interviews with LDS women from 22 countries. 

As a writer, Neylan has been published in Newsweek, Meridian Magazine, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Segullah, Patheos.com, BustedHalo.com, the Washington Post's On Faith religion blog, among others. Neylan's work on women and Mormonism includes a FairMormon talk from 2012 that was widely distributed, and a roundtable podcast with leaders of key women's organizations within Mormonism. Most recently, Neylan's book Women at Church has been called "a monumental piece of work" and "a remarkable resource that belongs in every Latter-day Saint home."

Neylan is also the author of a collection of personal essays, How To Be A Twenty-First Century Pioneer Woman (2008) , and the editor of Sisters Abroad: Interviews from the Mormon Women Project (Patheos Press, 2013).

Neylan grew up as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) in New York City and then attended Yale University. She currently lives in Utah with her husband and three young daughters.

As a brand strategist, Neylan works for Bonneville Communications, the agency best known for its work on Mormon.org and the I'm A Mormon campaign. Neylan focuses on research and stratigic planning for cause-oriented clients. 

Service Project: Days For Girls

Our Women's Conference service project is organized in conjunction with Days for Girls, an international organization that provides reusable feminine hygiene products to girls in communities all over the world. There are over 400 chapters throughout the world that create kits to send to these communities. For more information, visit daysforgirls.org.

Days for Girls Mission

Creating a more dignified, free and educated world through access to lasting feminine hygiene solutions.

Days for Girls International is a grassroots 501(c)3 non-profit. Women, and girls discover their potential and self-value, are equal participants and agents of social change and are given opportunities to thrive, grow, and contribute to their community's betterment while ensuring quality sustainable feminine hygiene.

Women's Conference Project

We will be making the bags and liners during the Women's Conference. With your donations and in conjunction with the Rockville MD chapter of Days For Girls, our goal is to assemble 50 kits on October 15. You don't need to be an experienced seamstress to participate. There will be stations for using sergers and sewing machines, stations for cutting, pinning, and ironing at the appropriate stage of creation, and kit assembly. We also welcome your donations to make this project a success.

Advance Donations Needed

We are looking for the following items to prepare for the service project. If you are willing to loan or contribute these items, please contact Andrea Affeltranger at aaffeltranger at gmail dot com by October 9.

• Cotton flannel in dark floral or geometric prints (no animals)
• 1/2" or 5/8" grosgrain ribbon
• Serger (up to 6 needed)
• Sewing machine (up to 6 needed)
• Large cutting mat and rotary cutter
• 6" and 8.5" quilting rulers

Donations to Bring On October 15

To complete the kits, please bring the following purchased items with you on October 15. There will be a donation table drop-off in the gym.   

• Ziploc brand gallon-size freezer bags (non-zipper slider)
• Girls' size underpants, size 10-14 (colored preferred)
• Washcloths (colored preferred)
• Travel soap

Keynote Speaker & Breakout Sessions

We are excited to announce our keynote speaker and breakout sessions. We hope you will be able to join us on Saturday October 15, 2016.

Keynote Speaker: Neylan McBaine, Author and Founder of The Mormon Women Project

"Fostering a Commitment to Unity." Unity can exist without sameness. We are here as a group unified under Christ. Our love for Him and His love for us gathers us both physically and spiritually. The challenge of our day is to disconnect the perceived need for sameness from the ideal of unity.

Breakout Session Classes

"Serving as the Savior Serves" - Beyond 'Checking the Box': Finding Strength to Go the Extra Mile.

"Keeping Faith, Hope and Charity Alive in Relationships Amidst Questions and Doubts" - Suggestions on how to keep love in relationships when you, your spouse, or another loved one experience serious doubts or questions about the gospel.

"You Are Not Alone: Recognizing and Understanding Depression" - How to make progress and heal in a safe, supportive and healthy environment that includes spiritual, therapeutic and medicinal methods. 

"Securing Your Family and Your Data" - Keeping yourself and your family safe from hackers and identity theft, and preserving the best of what's online for your family while avoiding the garbage. 

"Finding that Elusive Family Member" - Let the experts help you find members of your family tree and get connected with your past. 

"Women of Faith" - Learn more about the Islam, Judaism and Christian faiths as women from these religious groups talk about their core beliefs, how faith sustains them in times of challenge and the role women play in their communities.

Our Vision for 'Something Extraordinary'

Diversity can be a divine gift and a divine challenge. Bring your friends and neighbors and join us on Saturday, October 15 at the Seneca Stake Center as we discuss various ways to build on our differences, work in unity to help those in need, strengthen ourselves, our homes and our families, and draw closer to He who loves us all.

'Something Extraordinary' is Coming