Last week, I felt as though Christmas had come six weeks early. I received a large package from the LDS Distribution center, and couldn’t wait to tear it open. Now, I’ve already told you that I am a manual nerd, so it shouldn’t surprise you that this was a box of manuals for my calling (good news; I’ve already gotten some ideas for future blogs after reading only one manual!).
When I was first called into the Relief Society presidency, and my husband as the Sunday School President, we each received only one thin manual. At the stake Relief Society presidency meeting, however, I was told I needed a whole list of manuals! After some gentle prodding the new president, the librarian, and the branch president, I decided to just order my own. I received them for free; I didn’t even have to pay shipping.
You can access the distribution center from the church’s main website, or you can simply type in ‘www.ldscatalog.org’ or ‘www.ldsdistribution.org’. Here, you will find an enormous amount of materials, including manuals. If you don’t know what manuals you need, you can select the organization you are a part of (Sunday School, Relief Society, Primary, etc) and then click on the individual manuals. As you read the description, you can tell if you might need the manual or not. There is also a CES section for Seminary and Institute teachers.
But manuals aren’t the only thing you can find here. You can purchase scriptures, family history materials, forms, single issues of church magazines, church hymns, pictures…the list goes on and on. Along with the manuals I needed, I also ordered the Relief Society declaration (free) for the sisters in our branch, which I will distribute the next time I teach the lesson (we have a lot of converts in our tiny Relief Society). I also ordered a survey to find out the skills and interests of our sisters for Enrichment (also free).
By the way, if you are far from a Beehive center, you can also order temple clothing. You will need your membership number and confirmation date. Since we are four hours from the temple, and there is no cost for shipping, this has been a lifesaver for us.
Right now, I’m browsing the pages for my newest calling as Seminary teacher. Look, cool and inexpensive bookmarks! Oooh, scripture mastery cards!
It’s almost like going to the church bookstore!
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