Christmas

It's Christmas morning, it's quiet and very peaceful. The kids have opened gifts, saw what Santa brought and are full of joy. I wonder how our Heavenly Father feels on Christmas morning. The celebration of Christ's birth. I wonder how Jesus feels. It was His birth that gave us the opportunity to live with Him again. How grateful I am for Jesus, for Heavenly Father and the great plan of happiness. I know that it is important for me to obey the commandments. I can't really give anything to Jesus but my selfish will. Turn my life over to Him and live the way He wants me to. I hope that I will someday actually be able to do that. I love Him so much. He is a wonderful Father. He blesses me so much that I can never be grateful enough.

Merry Christmas.

Caroling

We went caroling to about 20 people our ward, including a non-member. It was really fun.

YWIE

It was simple. The girls each spoke of what they were doing in PP this past year. They did a little skit on flowers and our Stake YW President spoke. It was really nice.

Sub for Santa.

We had fun shopping for a couple of families in our ward. It was really nice to watch the kids shop for others and then wrap the gifts.

Young Women In Excellence

We did our YWIE tonight.

Posters

The RS in our ward want to get to know the YW better. So tonight we started posters. Each girl is going to finish a poster about herself with photos and information. Then we are going to post one in the RS room each month so the ladies can learn more about each YW.

We made invitations for YWIE

We had a talent show!

The YM planned a talent show for the combined activity this week. Everyone had a blast at the sweet, silly, and sentimental talents everyone has.

We started planning for YWIE

We started our planning for Young Women in Excellence. It is going to be a wonderful fun night on December 2nd. The YW had cute and creative ideas for what to do.

Halloween Party!

Ok, so our ward no longer does a Halloween carnival for the kids. In fact, they do nothing. Little kids go trick or treating, adults can hand out treats and love to watch the little kids. Is a 12-18 year old too old for Halloween fun? NEVER! Our Young Woman group held our own dress up party, for some of the kids, the only party they will be able to go to. So we had all the chocolate you could eat, games and prizes for this fun once a year holiday!

Book of Mormon Murder Mystery.

It was so much fun! Some of the girls got who the murder was, some didn't. I was the host, so I couldn't play. I found the game here: http://www.theideadoor.com/Youth/YwYm%20Activities/bom_murder_mystery_instructions.htm

Corn Maze

We combined with the young mean and went to Black Island Farms corn maze.

Collecting for Primary Children's Hospital

We helped our ward's Primary children's chairman to collect for the hospital.

Personal Progress Update

Every fifth Wednesday (4 times a year) we try to find ways to help motivate the girls to do personal progress.

Reader's Theater

We performed a reader's theater, cold. It was great! Here is the link to the play we used. http://www.fictionteachers.com/classroomtheater/fairy.html It was very funny and cute, but was only 30 minutes, so you need to do it in combination with something else.

Trip to Temple Square

Our Mutual combined tonight to take a trip to Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

Young Women Talent Night!

We had a talent night! Singing, dancing, and silliness was abundant!

Back to School

We chilled out and played a game.

Read the Book of Mormon in 24 hours

We tried to read the Book of Mormon in 24 hours. No one made it for 24 hours and no one made it past Helaman, but we had FUN! and it was very spiritual.

Water Party

We basically had a huge water fight!

Father and Daughter activity

Dads and daughters, and whoever wanted to join us, got together to play volleyball!

Pajama pants

We sewed pajama bottoms for camp this year!

Youth Conference

We camped. We read the scriptures. We ate good food. We played. We had a blast!

Where is the Bishop?

We went to the mall (if you do this call ahead for permission) and the kids looked for the bishop who was disguised. After they all found him, we met in a central location and he talked to us about how the adversary will try to disguise things and trick us into doing wrong. It was so effective that one of our kids bore testimony about it on the next fast day!

Prayer jars

We made cute prayer jars. This one is made from a can. The ones made from a jar are much cuter. Names are written on the sticks, then every day you can draw one or two and pray for that person during the day. This will hopefully remind everyone to say their prayers more frequently and remember to pray for others. Thanks to Shanan for the idea!
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Mother and daughter Personal Progress Challenge

The girls were teamed up with their moms to answer questions from the personal progress book. If they missed the question, they had to do a dare. The funniest was the interpretive dance of a cat pouncing! Everyone roared!

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Everyone brought baby photos and guessed who they were, that was really hard!

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We ate fresh fruit!

A fun mother and daughter activity.

Bread baking demonstration

I taught the girls how to make homemade bread. Then we took some of the bread we had made and used it for the sacrament on Sunday. We had a short lesson on the sacrament and the girls learned a valuable skill and everyone took a loaf of bread home to bake. Oh, and we had pizza!

Community Service Project

We went to this walkway that we have in between the school and some of the homes and cleaned out all the dead leaves, trash and clipped back weeds and generally cleaned it up. Everyone had a lot of fun, and it was satisfying once we saw how nice it looked.

Stake futsal

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We played futsal with the Stake and your ward YW won! Go Team!

Corsages for Mother's Day

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We made corsages for our mother's for mother's day. They turned out really cute,

Service at a rehab center

We are going to be going to Pine View Rehab center to paint ladies nails or read to the patients.

Ward Party

For YW this week, we are going to attend the ward party. It was hard for the ward council to find a date to have the party on, but finally we settled on having it on a Wed and use that as our activity. So, we get free dinner tonight, and an activity already planned so I get to rest!

Swimming

It is so cold, and what did we do for our activity tonight? Went swimming. It was hot and humid in the swimming pool though. The girls had fun.

Flip Flops

We tied fleece around flip flops, they were so cute and adorable. All but three girls were there. It was wonderfully fun!

Video Game Night

It was the YM turn to plan and we had a video game night.

Pincushion sewing kit

I wanted to do something that would help the girls with their sewing skills. Someday they will go to university, mission or they will marry. They will need to know how to do basic sewing stitches and sew on buttons. So we made these cute little pincushions completely by hand. The girls loved them and they did a great job making them. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Cooking classes

A local grocery store in our area presets a weekly cooking demonstration. We took the girls and they loved it. A lot of them took the recipes home to try. They also loved the samples of the food that was cooked. This one was so easy, all we had to do was sign them up and then drive them there and home.

White Elephant Party

We had a white elephant party, everyone brought a wrapped gift, preferably not new. Then we played a game to give out the prizes. Oh, yeah and we had cake!

Virtue

The new information for Virtue is on the Church web site. You can find it here: http://www.lds.org/pa/display/1,17802,8551,00.html

I am excited.

Valentine Activitiy

For our activity the Wednesday before Valentine's day we go to a care center that has residents who are developmentally challenged and help them make valentines for their friends and families. Each YW/YM helps 3 or 4 residents. We supply cut out hearts, stickers, blank sheets of white paper, markers, glue and anything that will help them make valentines for the residents. The YW/YM look forward to doing this each year, and so do the residents. It is really fun way to serve others.

Yoga

I know a college student who has taken yoga for years and is working toward certification to teach yoga. Her major is in human performance management. I had her teach the girls a simple yoga workout. Then we had fruit and vegetables for a snack. It turned out great!

Three Things

New Beginnings - We are like Flowers in His Garden

Our New Beginnings is Wednesday. The title is "We are like Flowers in His Garden."

For decorations we are using flowers all over the room. On the table will be a large picture of Christ, surrounded by flowers.
Refreshments are dirt cups and water with lemon. (chocolate pudding with gummy worms and crushed chocolate cookies, with a flower in the middle.)

After the opening song, prayer, and theme, the young women are doing a presentation with small bunches of silk flowers. Each bundle will represent a value and is in that color, with green being the greenery which was removed from the small bunches. After each young woman reads their little section, she will tell some of the things that she has done last year that represent that value.
A member of the presidency introduces the incoming girls and each of the young women.
Another explains personal progress.
A young woman recites the mutual theme and tells some of what we are going to be doing this year.
A skit "Lazy Daisy."
Brief comments by bishop and young women president.
Closing song, prayer and refreshments.

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PRESENTATION

Young woman: (place a crystal vase on the table)
We strive to live the young women values. We would like to tell you about them, and some of the things we did last year in young women.

Young woman: (put white flowers in the vase)
Faith is represented by white:
I am a daughter of Heavenly Father, who loves me. I have faith in His eternal plan, which centers on Jesus Christ, my Savior.

Young woman: (put blue flowers in the vase)
Divine Nature is represented by Blue.
I have inherited divine qualities, which I will strive to develop.

Young woman: (put red flowers in the vase)
Individual Worth is represented by Red.
I am of infinite worth with my own divine mission, which I will strive to fulfill. We know God loves us.

Young woman: (put greenery in the vase)
Knowledge is represented by Green.
I will continually seek opportunities for learning and growth. We work hard at school and always try to do our best.

Young woman: (put orange flowers in the vase)
Choice and Accountability is represented by Orange.
I will choose good over evil and will accept responsibility for my decisions. the temple. Sabrina.

Young woman: (put yellow flowers in the vase)
Good Works is represented by Yellow.
I will help others and build the kingdom through righteous service.

Young woman: (put purple flowers in the vase)
Integrity is represented by Purple.
I will have the moral courage to make my actions consistent with my knowledge of right and wrong.

Young woman: (put gold flowers in the vase)
Gold Virtue is represented by Virtue is a pattern of thought and behavior based on high moral standards. It encompasses chastity and moral purity. Virtue is a new value just added this year.

Young woman: We love the young women program and we love each other. Bear testimony of personal progress and the young woman program and how it has helped you.

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SKIT

Lazy Daisy

Daisy was a pretty little white flower.
But, Daisy was lazy.
She didn't want to face the sun.
She didn't want to soak up the rain, or sway in the wind and she surely didn't want to grow. The effort was just so difficult and she was so tired. She just wanted to close her eyes and be lazy. All the other flowers in the garden were busy growing.

The bluebell rang with delight in the wind. (ring bells)

The rose opened her buds and filled the air with her delicate fragrance. (spray bottle)

The clover spread throughout the ground, helping to keep out the weeds. (toss green confetti)

The marigold stood at the border framing the garden. (marching)

The sunflower was bright and cheery as she followed the sun with her happy face. (walk around happy)

The violet loved every flower. (blow kisses)

The golden poppy spread her blossom filling the garden with golden light. (twirl around and around)

But Daisy was lazy. I don't want to follow the sun, or soak up the water, or grow. I can't do it it's much too hard. (sinks in a heap)

Yes all the flowers worked hard to grow. They looked forward to the gardener coming.
But not daisy, she was lazy and she didn't grow. In fact she began to wither. Daisy felt sick. (she slumps over even more.)

At last the gardener came. He looked at all the beautiful flowers, when He came to daisy, His smile faded. You need some care my little one, he said. So He took a trowel, and gently loosened the soil around her He carefully watered her and removed the weeds. Grow little daisy. He said. Grow to be the beautiful flower that you are. Each day He tended daisy, and at last she no longer wanted to be lazy. She wanted to grow. Daisy knew that the gardener loved her and she loved Him. She stood bright and tall among all the other flowers making the garden complete.

A group of YW

Many girls, from all different walks of life. All loving God and becoming righteous women.

The first activity of the year

We watched the video "A Brand New Year". We had some technical problems with the computer used, but other than that, it was a pretty good activity.

A circle with the YW Values, including Virtue

This gif is resizable and transparent so you can use it on any color you want to. Have fun.