The Gulfport Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held their annual Parent- Daughter Dinner on Saturday, Sept. 10. Parents and their daughters from six Wards (congregations) across the Gulf Coast met to enjoy food and fellowship. The event was sponsored by Sis. Pattie Necaise, President of the Stake Young Women’s Organization and other Stake Leaders.

This year’s theme was ‘Welcome to the Hood’. Mike Study, a High Council member over missionary efforts, gave a talk on how everyone is our neighbor and we need to friendship all. Mary Tufnell, President of the Gulfport Stake’s Relief Society (the women’s organization of the church), spoke on Sisterhood and the support women give to each other. President Glynn McDaniel, Second Counselor in the Stake Presidency, spoke on Priesthood. The closing speaker was Stake President, Robert Garrett.

The guests wore blue jeans and t-shirts. Each girl received a bandanna to wear in one of their eight value colors. (Young Women in the church seek to incorporate eight values into their lives — Faith, Divine Nature, Individual Worth, Knowledge, Choice & Accountability, Good Works, Integrity, and Virtue — each is represented by a color.)

The walls were decorated with ‘graffiti’ — the names of their values and their motto ‘Stand for Truth and Righteousness’.

Posters of houses also decorated the walls. Pictures of the girls peeked out of the doors and windows. Each congregation took their house back to decorate their Young Women’s Room in their church building. As the girls left, they received a memento of the evening — a small, brightly painted ceramic house with their address printed on the front.

Worship services are held in the Ward buildings in Biloxi/Ocean Springs, Gulfport, Waveland, Picayune, and Slidell each Sunday at 9 a.m. President Robert Garrett extends a public invitation “to visit us and see the good that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can add to the good that you already have!”