4. Complete 170 items and give them to a local organization in need.

5. Read 170 books to children at a local hospital or school.

6. Early Relief Society women had their fingers in many pies. Divide the number 170 into numerous projects: Temple work, humanitarian, welfare, activation, etc.

7. Teach 170 classes this year on finance, scripture study, family history, marriage, etc.

8. Spotlight the life of 170 early women in the Church: early Saints, pioneers, ancestors. Set a few challenges to do what they did.

• She saved her family from the mob or Indians.
• I can save my family in the temple.
• She walked across the plains.
• I can walk for someone who has cancer.
• She was the only one to join the Church in her family.
• I can bear my testimony each month this year.
• She was involved in many of the accomplishments of the Relief Society.
• I can set aside the things of the world and accomplish things for the Lord.
• She was a midwife.
• I can volunteer at a hospital, care facility, special needs center, etc.

9. Relief Society women were known to see a need and turn it into a project. Find a need in your ward and turn it into a project. (Of course, people aren’t projects, but everyone has needs.)

10.What would happen if every sister in your ward committed to doing 170 individual things this year that changed hers, and someone else’s, life?

• Make 170 burp cloths.
• Learn 170 new things in the scriptures and teach them to sisters and family.
• Gather the family together 170 times: FHE, dinner, activities, etc.
• Use your skills to help in 170 different situations.

11.As a stake, invite wards and branches to put together several items of one thing such as quilts, frozen meals, lesson plans for FHE, children’s clothing, emergency car kits, marriage booklets with ideas and challenges, etc., adding up to 170. Each ward brings whatever “kits”, they’ve chosen to do, with them to a stake meeting. Have an auction. Play a game first to give everyone a chance to build up points (to spend at the auction). Maybe you could have a guessing game on the history of the Relief Society.

Remember, you can do this as a group, or you can pick a challenge to do on your own. Strive for the number 170, or do the best you can.

One hundred and seventy is a large number. Whatever you decide to do is going to be a large undertaking. But consider this. Our early sisters didn’t have technology to shorten their chores, they had scads of children, they used coal to heat their homes (which means everything was covered in sticky residue), they had those huge dresses to deal with, and most of them were novices in the Church. With all of these hinderances, they performed amazing feats of ingenuity, production, enthusiasm, and service toward one another. It is our blessing to do the same…and more.

I would love to hear about your experiences…