Good Works Service Project

Holy moly.

We did a service project for our activity this week and I am SO GRATEFUL for everyday comforts.

We recently learned of an organization called Days for Girls, which provides sustainable feminine hygiene kits to young women and women all over the world. These kits help girls stay in school, which can break the poverty cycle.

We were very lucky to have a humanitarian representative speak to the young women about how the kits can change lives. Then we got to work.

Some girls cut fabric.

Some girls pinned the fabric together.

Some girls sewed.

When I told the girls it was time to clean up, one girl said, "I could do this all night." So sweet.

For more information about this project, you can access the Days for Girls website here.

Personal Progress for Leaders

Have you noticed that I haven't posted an activity in a long time? That's because after Young Women in Excellence, I haven't had one! I am in charge of the activity for the 4th Wednesday every month, but with Thanksgiving and Christmas, we haven't had activities.

So what have I been doing?

My own personal progress!

I completed a Divine Nature project (the first project listed in the personal progress book). Here's a peek at the "before" picture:

And the "after" picture:

Go here for more information on personal progress requirements for leaders.

Go here for more information on how I refinished this table.

Christmas Personal Progress Reminder

Merry Christmas!

Gave this to mothers today. One cookie for mom to decorate, one cookie for daughter to decorate as they sit down to talk about personal progress. You can access the bag topper here.

 

Thanksgiving Personal Progress Reminder

I'm thankful for personal progress! November's personal progress reminder was inspired by this adorable Halloween reminder.

You can find the how-to here, although I cut my paper 6x6, not 3x4.

Inside the package were chocolates and small reminders on how the girls' day-to-day activities can count toward personal progress.

Happy Autumn!

Honor Bee

One of our young women earned her Honor Bee! I put together this package as a gift to her.

It contains the book One Drop at a Time by M. Russell Ballard, some Burt's Bees lip gloss and hand lotion, some Bit-O-Honey candies, a letter from the bishop, a letter from the young women presidency, and (of course) her BEE CHARM!

On the back of the paper tag bee is this quote: "The bee is more honored than other animals, not because she labors, but because she labors for others." -St. John Chrysostom

What a fitting quote for a girl who continues to labor for others.

Young Women in Excellence 2013

We had a really great Young Women in Excellence last night! Our theme was purse-sonal progress. Photos speak volumes, so here they are!

The invitation:

The set-up:

The program:

We showed this video--I love this story and the church did a great job putting it in video form, as usual.

Here was the highlight of the evening: instead of table displays of the girls' accomplishments, we rounded up as many cute and colorful purses as we could find, then gave a purse to each of the girls the Sunday before our event. We asked the girls to put their personal progress accomplishments INSIDE the purse, and asked them not to put their names with their stuff. All the purses were gathered back up, then placed on the tables at YWIE. After we showed the video, we had each girl and her parents take a purse that was not her own, and review its contents. Then they got to guess whose purse it was. When they guess correctly, the YW owner of the purse stood and told what each item meant. It was a fun way to spotlight each girls' personal progress accomplishments. We have a ward full of amazingly talented young women!

It seems like our program had a lot of speakers, but each were brief (me, the Stake YW Presidency, the ward YW President, and the Bishop).

The girls each got to take home a paper purse.

Inside the purse were items found in most purses, but with a YW value twist!

White tissues because when we have faith to share our testimony, we sometimes shed tears.
Blue mirror to remind them that they are created in God's image.
Red coin purse to remind them that their worth is priceless.
Green notebook so they can write down all the knowledge that comes to mind.
Orange gum to remind them to "chews" the right.
Yellow hand sanitizer to help them keep hands clean while they continue to use their hands to serve.
Purple chapstick to remind them to speak with integrity.
Gold temple recommend because maintaining virtue will help lead them to the temple.

UPDATE: You can find all the labels here, but keep in mind that some labels might not fit because all products/brands are different.

You can download the purse invitation and program here. I did not use the side gusset.

You can download the paper purse take-home gift here. I enlarged it to fit a 12x12 paper.

Our treats were amazing (put together by our YW presidency). I wish I had a picture of the table with all the cookies, but some cookies arrived a few minutes before we started and I was too busy talking to snap a photo. You get the idea though.

It was a fun, fun night!

Halloween Personal Progress Reminder

I'm changing things up a little with personal progress.

Last month, our ward had a meeting for all adults during the 3rd hour of church. The focus of this meeting was the youth. The Sunday School president taught most of the meeting, with help from the Young Women's president and Young Men's president. The gist of the meeting was this: each auxiliary exists for the FAMILY. Personal progress was specifically mentioned as a PARENT/youth program. It struck me that I've been so focused on helping the young women with personal progress, that I've neglected to include their mothers in the program.

So here's what I'm going to do. Once a month or so, I'll give the mothers a reminder to have a sit-down with their daughters. Here's the reminder I gave them this month:

I gave it to the mothers with specific instructions to share the treat with their daughter while they are reviewing her personal progress. Crossing my fingers that it works....