50 Rexburg Service Ideas

Tis the season to show others you care!  As the Thanksgiving and Christmas season approach, we all look for ways to serve others and show them we care.  Here’s a list of ideas for acts of service (some of them very small!) you can do right here in Rexburg. 

1. Call and talk to a family member who lives at least an hour away
2. Focus on not saying anything negative for a day
3. Write a letter to a missionary
4. Smile at someone as they walk by
5. Pick up trash outside
6. Rake someone’s yard (or shovel snow!)
7. Pay for the person behind you in the drive-thru
8. Attend the temple
9. Give a stranger a compliment
10. Say good morning to someone you don’t normally talk to
    
11. Write a thank-you card to someone who has helped you recently
12. Give someone a hug
13. Hold open the door for someone
14. Be extra courteous to pedestrians crossing the street
15. Make a treat for someone
16. Do something nice for the person/ family you visit or home teach
17. Remember to say please and thank-you…even for simple things
18. Give someone a high-five and tell them good job for something
19. Leave an anonymous note for someone
20. Send a card to a stranger in the phone book
21. Make breakfast for your spouse or roommate
22. Throw away someone’s trash for them
23. Leave a large tip for your waiter/ waitress
24. Babysit for someone’s kids so they can go to the temple
25. Tell someone you love them
26. Tell someone a joke
27. Tell someone why you appreciate them
28. Write and send a letter to someone you love
29. Do a chore for your spouse/ roommate that they usually do for you
30. Put $10 in a random gas pump
31. Index at least 20 names
32. Visit the nursing home and talk to the residents
    
33. Go Christmas caroling (or Thanksgiving caroling…be creative)
34. Take a treat to those waiting in line at the testing center
35. Take a treat to those who finish their test at the testing center
36. Write your roommates notes of appreciation
37.  Get involved with Activities on campus (they even have SERVICE activities!)
38.  Volunteer at the animal/ horse shelter
39. Give someone a ride home from the grocery store
40.  Write a letter/ email to your grandparents
41. Clean out your closet and donate clothes you don’t wear to Deseret Industries/ Goodwill
42.  Bring your bishop a snack for his late after-church meetings
    
43.  Learn how to do family history
44.  Pay your fast offering
45.  Donate supplies to the Family Crisis Center
46.  Pray for someone who needs a little extra help
47.  Help someone who’s moving
48.  Help clean the chapel after services
49.  Let someone go in front of you while you’re waiting in a checkout line or in traffic
50.  Take a treat to the fire station

 Remember, it’s the little things that count.  Elder M. Russell Ballard said “It is my humble prayer, brothers and sisters, that we will ask in our daily prayers for the inspiration to find someone for whom we can provide some meaningful service, including the service of sharing the gospel truths and our testimonies. At the end of each day, may we be able to say yes to the questions: “Have I done any good in the world today? Have I helped anyone in need?””

Here are some great talks and devotionals regarding serving others:

Scatter Sunshine- M. Winston Egan

Unselfish Service- Dallin H. Oaks

Be Anxiously Engaged- M. Russell Ballard

Service- Stephen E. Snow

Pictures from the LDS Media Library

So You Want to be a Vegetarian?

Vegetarians come in all shapes and sizes.  The most strict vegetarian diet is a vegan diet which restricts you from eating any animal product.  There are those lacto-vegetarians who will also eat dairy products and lacto-ovo-vegetarians who will eat dairy and eggs.  And then there are the people who are mostly vegetarian but will eat chicken or a burger every once in a while.  Because there are so many varieties of vegetarians, it is hard to classify how many there are in the United States but polls place the number somewhere between 5-13%. 

What are the benefits of having a vegetarian diet?  Many include being more lean, having lower levels of serum cholesterol, having lower blood pressure and decreasing risk of colon cancer. Other benefits include having a diet lower in total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol.  You also reduce your risk of obesity, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

What concerns are there with being a vegetarian? Because vegetarians are cutting out meat and other animal products, they may be at risk for iron deficiency, insufficient calcium, Vitamin D deficiency, and Vitamin B-12 deficiency.

            To get iron eat: Dried beans and peas, lentils, enriched cereals, whole-grain products, dark green leafy vegetables and dried fruit.

            To get calcium eat: dark green vegetables like broccoli, kale and collard greens.  Also eat foods fortified with calcium such as juice, cereal and soy milk.

            To get Vitamin D eat: Vitamin D fortified foods such as milk, orange juice and cereal, and get a sufficient amount of sun exposure.  You may need a supplement if you cannot get enough in your diet.

To get Vitamin B-12 eat: a Vitamin B-12 supplement.  This vitamin is found exclusively in animal products.

Getting Started  For some, going cold turkey when it comes to making a switch in their diet can be hard.  One way to make it easier is to each week increase the number of meatless meals you eat.  Search on the internet for simple substitutions for ingredients or look up vegetarian cookbooks.  There are many sources out there!

If vegetarianism is something you’ve been interested in trying out, make sure to do your research first so you can be sure to get all the nutrients your body needs.

Sources: 

Digging a vegetarian diet. (2012, July). Retrieved from http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/issue/Jul2012/Feature1

Mayo Clinic Staff. (2012, July 11). Vegetarian diet: How to get the best nutrition. Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/vegetarian-diet/HQ01596/METHOD=print

Vorvick, L. (2013, October 31). Vegetarian diet. Retrieved from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002465.htm

Wikipedia Authors. (2013, November 4). Vegetarianism by country. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism_by_country 

Picture: http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/vegetarian-diet/HQ01596/METHOD=print

http://letsbraw.blogspot.com/2012/08/how-to-tell-vegan-from-vegetarian.html

Postpartum Depression

Most of the time, the emotions experienced after childbirth include excitement, joy, fear and anxiety.  On some occasions, women will experience the “baby blues” which can insist of mood swings and crying spells.  On a rare occasion, this can be a more serious condition known as postpartum depression, a form of depression.  This will occur in 10-15% of all new mothers.

How do you know if you’re experiencing merely the baby blues or the more serious postpartum depression?  Here are differences in symptoms according to the Mayo Clinic.

Baby Blues: Mood swings, anxiety, sadness, irritability, crying, decreased concentration and trouble sleeping

Postpartum Depression: (symptoms may start out the same as the baby blues but then may increase) Loss of appetite, insomnia, intense irritability and anger, overwhelming fatigue, loss of interest in sexual intimacy, lack of joy in life, severe mood swings, feeling of shame, guilt or inadequacy, difficulty bonding with baby, withdrawl from friends and family, thoughts of harming self or baby

If left untreated, postpartum depression can last for months or even years.

Postpartum depression can be caused by physical, emotional, or lifestyle factors such as a drop in hormones, lack of sleep, exhaustion, or difficulty breastfeeding.

If your symptoms don’t fade after two weeks, get worse, make it hard for you to care for your baby, make it hard to complete everyday tasks or you have thoughts of harming yourself or your baby, then you should set up an appointment to speak with your provider and get help.

The Gospel Perspective

Managing Postpartum Depression: A Gospel Perspective

For Peace at Home- Richard G. Scott

Sources:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2008). Prevalence of self-reported postpartum depressive symptoms --- 17 states, 2004--2005 (57(14);361-366). Retrieved from website: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5714a1.htm

Mayo Clinic Staff. (2012, September 11). Postpartum depression. Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/postpartum-depression/DS00546/DSECTION=symptoms

Pictures: http://yoganjourneytolife.blogspot.com/2013/09/reviewing-over-my-history-with-my-mom.html