Divine Nature #3

I'm a couple of months behind in my blogging. The end of school year caught me by surprise!

In April we focused on Divine Nature #3. Here is the invitation I handed out:

I told them I was giving them a recipe and they had to bring ALL the ingredients to the activity. They were very worried I was asking them to bring weird ingredients, until they saw the invitation. I love messing with them.

I also asked them how they showed love to their family members. I compiled their list and handed it out at the activity. Here's what they came up with:

• send a text
• write a note
• talk/listen
• make a treat
• make dinner together
• pray for each other
• give compliments

I added to their list what is says in the personal progress book:

• refrain from judging, criticizing, or speaking unkindly
• watch for positive qualities
• find ways to be helpful
• verbally express love

At the activity they decorated a cupcake to take home to their family member to begin their two week value experience. The girls also got to decorate a cupcake for themselves. I couldn't believe how creative they were with my very simple toppings! Here are some photos:

Aren't they beautiful girls? I think so.

Summertime Personal Progress Bingo

My daughter is a 12-year-old Beehive. I've been busy coordinating our family's summer schedule and I realized the only thing she has this summer is YW camp. The only thing. So it got me thinking...maybe other young women have a pretty free summer too. It's the perfect time to get a lot done in Personal Progress! We're going to play Personal Progress BINGO. Here's how it works:

The instructions:

Click here for the chart in Publisher.
Click here for the chart in PDF.

And the finished product:

 

What great things is your ward doing for summer?

Knowledge #6

I've tried to follow the monthly curriculum theme for our Personal Progress nights, but this month was tricky! The only activity I could come up with was teaching the girls how to bake bread, and having them bake bread for Sacrament Meeting. Perfect activity for the Atonement theme, but the youth will be learning how to make unleavened bread the week before my activity. I'll probably keep the bread-making activity in my back pocket until July when the theme is "covenants."

So here's what I've come up with instead: Our ward has this AWESOME choir director who knows how to lead music. We'll focus on Knowledge #6, which requires the girls to learn two hymns and the correct conducting patterns. I'll also have a sign up sheet for the girls to lead the music in YW meetings (or maybe even Sacrament Meeting for a few brave souls?--have to check with the bishopric on this one). Since we are focusing on the Atonement this month (and Easter is just around the corner), I have asked our choir director to include songs that focus on this. I'm excited to see what he comes up with!

Here is the invitation for this activity:

And here's a view of front and back:

I was going for a Sweet Shoppe-looking invite, but it ended up looking like a baby shower invite. Oh, that I were a graphic designer and could make my computer understand what my mind sees.

I have LOVED all the communication with you amazing women and would love to hear what has worked in your wards to motivate the YW in Personal Progress!

Individual Worth #2

So far in this calling, I've only concentrated on Individual Worth. I chose to focus on Individual Worth #2 because the YW are learning about the Plan of Salvation this month. Patriarchal blessings seems to go right along with this.

I asked our Stake Patriarch to come and speak to the YW about patriarchal blessings. I made the invitation to look like a Liahona (which I found on a seminary blog--such a cool idea! You can find my inspiration here.)

Oh, the Places You'll Go! New Beginnings Program

Several people have asked for a copy of our program. For me, decorations and refreshments are a cinch, but the PROGRAM....now that's another story. I hesitate to post our program word-for-word because of the names of the Young Women. So without names, here's our program....

 

Conducting: (Laurel class president)

Chorister: (Laurel)

Pianist: (Laurel)

Opening Song: I Am a Child of God

Opening Prayer: (Laurel)

Introduction of YW Theme: (Beehive)

I asked this girl to explain the meaning of the theme, when the theme is recited, etc. (in her own words) before we stood as a group to recite it. I gave her a copy of what the handbook says about the theme to use as a reference.

Class purposes and symbols: (Beehive, Mia Maid, Laurel class presidents)

Again, I asked these three girls to explain their class purposes and symbols as if she were explaining it to the 11-year-olds and I gave them a copy of what the handbook says as a reference.

Introduction of new YW: (Laurel)

This was an introduction of the YW who have moved into the ward during the past year, not incoming Beehives. I asked the parents to answer the following questions about their daughter: 1. Where did she move from? 2. What does she miss about that place? 3. What does she love most about where she is living now? 4. Where will she go from here/future plans? We had a Laurel call her up to the front and read the answers.

Introduction of future Beehives: (Beehive class members)

Because we wanted to leave plenty of time for our guest speaker, we asked the moms of the 11-year-old girls to fill a 12x12 paper of highlights of their daughter. They included pictures, favorites, etc. The Laurel conducting the meeting asked everyone to look at these papers after the meeting and we had them posted on the chalkboard. However, we did have each Beehive invite a future Beehive to the front and told how she stood in holy places. When we gave the moms the 12x12 paper, we attached a small paper that asked them to complete this sentence: "My daughter stands in holy places by ____." Each Beehive simply read the paper. It was very quick!

Introduction of the Personal Progress Program: (Me!)

I asked the Mia Maids to help me explain the values during my talk. They just stood where they were and read the value color and statement. Easy.

Speaker: (The YW President)

Speaker: (Guest Speaker)

Closing remarks: Bishop

Closing song: I'll Go Where You Want Me

Closing prayer: (Laurel)

Oh, the Places You'll Go! New Beginnings

We had a FANTASTIC New Beginnings last night. Our theme was based on the Dr. Seuss book "Oh, the Places You'll Go!"

The invitation:

This is what the room looked like:

Each girl participated in some way (some with decorations, others with speaking parts). We had an AWESOME guest speaker. She is a musician and has written mostly EFY music. She connected so well with the girls. The best part of the night was her performing an original song, written for our New Beginnings that had "Oh, the Places You'll Go" in the title, but she tied it in to Stand in Holy Places.

We gave each girl crazy Seuss-like socks to remind them to always let their feet take them to holy places.

The socks:

The girls LOVED the socks. They put them on right away and some were willing to pose for me.

I got the socks from Target. Here are the files for invitations and sock label:

• Invite - Microsoft Publisher file, Word (docx), or PDF
• Sock Label - Microsoft Publisher file, or PDF
• Banner - PDF
• Sign Posts - PDF

Individual Worth #7

In November, we worked on Individual Worth #7. A professional photographer in our ward came and spoke to the girls about photography and camera basics. The girls loved her presentation! Then the girls, one at a time, stood with their back to the chalkboard while the other Young Women and leaders wrote positive qualities about each girl. The photographer then took a picture of the girl. The chalkboard was erased before the girl could see what was written. It wasn't until after the photo was printed and framed (and given to each girl as a Christmas gift), that the Young Women got to see what was written about them.