From time to time I have help from my husband, Stephen, and my daughters, Callie, Kimberly, and Rochelle, who express their wisdom and thoughts. I appreciate their help and support.
My name is Jan Tolman. I am a wife, mother of six, and grandmother of eight. Besides enjoying my research into the history of the Relief Society, I also read voraciously, make art quilts, and volunteer for too many things. I graduated from BYU in 2017 with a degree in Creative Writing. (Whew! That took me 9 years after raising my children.) Most of all, I have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Greetings! I love your site and your courage.
I’ve added you to my link list and created a post linking to you here
I am a fairly new RS president and we are planning our visiting teaching conference, as well as our March Relief Society celebration. I am LOVING your website, as it is educating me on the history and background of Relief Society and inspiring and expanding my understanding of Relief Society. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge, testimony and love of Relief Society with us!!!
Dear Sisters,
Thank you so much for the wonderful blog!
Just a question, how can I friendly PDF print your articles?
Thank you again!
Graciela
Thank you! Yes, you are welcome to any information you find here. You should be able to right click and print off any article, or copy and paste it into a Word document.
Thank you for your wonderful work on the 10 accomplishments of the Relief Society. I hope
you will approve of us using it for our RS Birthday Dinner.
I came across your site as I was researching the Hebrew names of Adam and Eve and came across your awesome article on what the names of Adam and Eve look like. Thank you, it is always an honor and pleasure to connect with other sistars in Christ. No, I did not misspell sister…sistars are women in Christ who represent the stars in the sky that shine and explode in the gifts of Him (God) and She (Wisdom) gave without measure.
Hi,
I am looking for this Old Relief Society Invitation Template (Pinterest Link below). The link brings me here but isnt working. I would be great to use for our RS Birthday celebration. Thanks Lucy
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/ASftmb05rb4Grddwld7gW5fmkPJWj0bY23hlzbaBKgGjc0_MNj5YIRA/
Lucy,
This is the cover of an early Relief Society Magazine. Feel free to use it. Here is the link to all of the magazines and you can copy and paste any pictures or articles you would like. It’s free domain and would make a great cover to a RS Birthday invite.
hello Jan,
I am wondering if you ever travel to California?
We have a women’s conference with a few different classes, that we do every year and the topic of LDS women and or Biblical women in history and their accomplishments would be fantastic, with you as the speaker.
it sounds like your life is quite full, but if you find yourself traveling to los angeles next march, let me know.
thanks !
Lucy McMurtrey
How do I order the magazine
Unfortunately, our magazine has only the one issue. It was a big undertaking for a very small operation.
I love your site! It is so well done. I do have a request, though. On your story about Emma, “How Much Can One Heart Take,” you use a photograph that is being used quite a bit online without permission. I took this photograph during the filming of Emma Smith: My Story. I had permission to shoot as many photographs as I liked so long as they were not to be used for financial gain. I put the picture up on my website for an article about our family, (Emma is my 2nd great grandmother) I had no idea that the picture would be copied and used all over the internet. When I saw what was happening, I took it down. Although I realize how impossible it would be to track down how many places it is being used online, when I happen to bump into it , and I approve of what it is being used for I simply ask that the following information is posted underneath–copyright Kimberly Jo Smith 2008 used with permission
Thanks so much!
Done. And thank you for giving me permission. It’s the perfect photo.
Thank you for writing this blog and for all the information you add to it! It is a great help and guide when inspiration is needed in a short time period! 🙂 I have been having weeks of travel, not feeling well, ups and downs and at this late hour, (12:51 am), I could not sleep, so I started to google ideas, inspirational topics, etc when I came across your blog! You are a one of a kind woman, thank you!
I believe that I was lead to you and I’m happy to hear the great things you are doing. I want to be apart of relief society of women.
I’m glad you found me too. Welcome!
Hi, I love your picture of Jesus giving the homeless man a loaf of bread! I am the president of St. Vincent de Paul in Temple, TX. Would you give me permission to use your picture on a postcard thanking people for giving us a donation?
Thanks for your consideration, Cindy
I’m sorry, I’m not sure what picture you’re referring to. But I typically get any pictures I use on my blog from the Internet. Thank you for all the good work you do. Good luck with your project.
OK I thought you drew the picture. The website I see it on is = idswommenof god.com/2017/12/18when people are able but unwillingto depend on God. By Jan Tolman.
The picture shows Jesus handing a homeless man a loaf of bread. A dog is sitting beside the man and people in suits are in the background. So if you got it off the internet, I wonder if it would be alright for me to use it? Thanks for your previous reply. Cindy
Yeah, I’m not that talented. I believe if you’re not making money off the picture, it’s okay to use it in most instances. I can’t even find who painted the picture, so I can’t even give you that info. Sorry.
Thank you very much. I appreciate your response. Good luck in your mission.
Cindy
Hi, I ran across this website as I was researching the first RS meeting held. I would love to have a copy of the script for the reenactment, however, when clicking on the link it says not found. How can I go about getting that? We are thinking of doing that in our stake. Thank you!
After more searching, I did find a link that worked! Thank you again for sharing Heather’s hard work in providing this script.
Thank you for making me aware the link on my site wasn’t working. I have fixed it. Heather really did an amazing job and has made her script available to anyone who wants to reenact the beginnings of our Relief Society. Good luck with your activity!
I love this website! I am doing some research on my grandmother. I have family members that remember her showing them a postcard of the tabernacle and saying that this was her in the postcard. She was never a member of the tabernacle choir but was a lifelong member of the singing mothers. I think that she may have been in a photo with them at the tabernacle. Do you have a list of the cities, wards or individuals that are in your photo?
Thank you. The pictures I used, of the Singing Mothers, are from the Relief Society Magazine. They only randomly published some of the choir’s concerts.