| Personal
Progress
For
leaders in the Highland, Utah West Stake, the Personal Progress
program is the basis for bringing young women to Christ. This
program, focused on goals and projects based on the seven values,
is the soul of the Young Women's program.
For Debbie Taggart, the Young Women's president in the Highland,
Utah 16th ward, one of the secrets to their program's Personal
Progress success is a:
"Personal
Progress specialist."
"Our
girls have been doing well with Personal Progress," Debbie
relates, "and I think we can attribute it to good incentives
and also having a person called as the Personal Progress specialist.
The only thing this person does is keep on top of what the
girls are doing and keeps in touch with their parents. As
Young Women leaders, we have so much to do so having a person
oversee Personal Progress has been very effective. Another
thing we do is a Personal Progress update and spotlight every
Sunday as part of opening exercises."
Mara Layman, the Young Women's president in the Highland, Utah
23rd Ward, also finds Personal Progress to be the soul of the
program's success and believes that involving parents is key.
"We
started having a Personal Progress Parent Night quarterly
and then changed to semi-annually. We've had a pie night,
a pink popcorn night, (and) a potato bar night. A girl and
her parents sit down and work on a Personal Progress plan
or on a goal or project. It's very fun."
The idea
of adding special incentives to help motivate and track a girl's
Personal Progress advancement is also effective and there are
as many ideas for fun incentives as there are young women in
the church.
"Our best incentive was a charm bracelet," Sister
Taggart says. "At New Beginnings, each girl was given
a charm bracelet with a charm of a rainbow to represent Faith.
Then every other month she had the opportunity to earn another
charm for her bracelet. Each charm represents the next value:
Divine Nature is a crown; Individual Worth: treasure chest;
Knowledge: school slate; Choice and Accountability: compass;
Good Works: Apple; and Integrity: an iron rod. We found the
charms on the internet and the whole bracelet cost less than
ten dollars per girl. Most of our girls earned all the charms."
Another idea is having surprise incentives. Each "incentive
Sunday" those who have completed either two value experiences
or five hours toward a project receive a surprise.
"We
plan to give them lip gloss, ice cream certificates, movie
tickets, lotion, or church CD's," says Sister Taggart."Some
of these things are donated, others purchased. The girls like
the idea of a surprise and don't want to miss out on it."
Sister
Lyman uses a similar incentive idea in her ward. "We
surprise the girls on certain Sundays, to see if they have
passed off something in the last month and if they did, they
get a treat."
Sister Lyman also suggests giving the young women a list of
experiences they can work on that go with the lesson themes
and value for the month. As the girls progress in their Personal
Progress goals, keep in mind that the "Young Women in Excellence"
evening is a great time to spotlight their yearly progress and
brag a little!
Mid
Week Activities
Providing
meaningful midweek activities is also key to advancing the Personal
Progress program and ensuring that the young women continue
building both their faith and their bonds of friendship. To
make these midweek activities most effective, the church has
suggested using the "lesson/lab" idea in which a Sunday
lesson theme is followed up with a fun midweek activity. Some
successful approaches used by other wards using this "lesson/lab"
concept are:
- Sunday
lesson on media influences followed by a midweek activity
where each girl and leader shares their favorite hymn and
testimony.
- Sunday
lesson on missionary work followed by a visit from the full-time
missionaries. One ward in Minnesota did this and learned
the first discussion followed by a "missionary dinner"
prepared for them by the missionaries.
- "Seasons
of Women's Lives" activity. Dinner is served and with
each course the girls are given a silk flower representing
one of the seasons. (Lilac-Spring, Rose-Summer, Sunflower-Fall,
Poinsettia-Winter). Four sisters in the ward then discuss
the joys and challenges of being a woman in various seasons
of their lives. Suggested speakers are a young, single sister,
a sister married with small children, a sister with teenaged
children and an older "empty nester" sister. The
girls take their seasons bouquets home with them.
- After
a temple marriage lesson, one ward had a time capsule midweek
activity where they were asked to write the qualities in
a husband they value, then write a letter to their future
husbands and create their dream wedding dress. These items
were put into a time capsule and will be delivered to the
young women as they become engaged.
- Sunday
lesson on journals and family history followed by a square
dance activity mid-week along with the telling of family
history and pioneer stories.
- Following
a Sunday lesson on bishops, the young women wrote letters
to their bishop then made him a treat and poster which they
then delivered to him during their midweek activity.
- Domestic
divas midweek activity which taught homemaking skills after
Sunday lesson on importance of motherhood.
- Lesson
on the Word of Wisdom followed by a midweek lab on healthy
eating and exercise
- Lesson
on friendship begins secret sister week culminating in an
activity night where secret sisters are revealed.
Other
miscellaneous activities:
- Scrapbooking
or Books of Remembrance
- Dinners
and special combined activities with the young men of your
ward. Many wards have tried things such as hoedowns, mystery
dinners, pig out dinners, and etiquette dinners.
- Bearing
in mind that these young women will one day be Relief Society
sisters, one stake has the young women meet with the Relief
Society for opening exercises one Sunday a month. The Young
Women and Relief Society take turns conducting.
- Anything
you are inspired to do considering your own personal creativity
and the needs of your young women!
Many lesson/lab and other midweek activities may also involve
giving meaningful service. In fact, when asked, many young women
state that some of their favorite and most memorable activities
are service projects. Some successful service projects suggested
by various wards and stakes include:
- Activities
focused on church-suggested humanitarian aid projects such
as making blocks and toys for underprivileged children,
working on school kits, newborn kits, leper bandages and
quilts. (For other ideas that may work in your area contact
the church Humanitarian Center at 801.240.5954),
- A field
trip to the humanitarian center near Salt Lake City or other
service centers.
- Visit
care centers for abused and neglected children to donate
homemade quilts.
- Feed
the homeless
- Put
together care packages for needy missionaries in your area
or at the Missionary Training Center in Provo.
- Collect
clothes, scriptures and other items for needy wards or branches
in your area.
- Collect
toys and supplies for your ward nursery.
- Sub
For Santa projects during the holidays
- Enrichment
night nursery help
- Gardening,
weeding and otherwise helping elderly sisters, singles and
couples in your ward.
- "Adopt
a grandparent" visits and service at rest homes
- Collect
food for local food banks
- Plant
flowers around your ward building in the colors of the seven
Young Women's values.
- Carnivals
for your ward primary such as spring and Halloween carnivals.
- Mia
Maids and Beehives make quilts or other gifts for graduating
Laurels.
- Just
look around (or ask your Bishop)…There is always a
worthy service project waiting for willing hands to perform!
Along with
service projects, summer camps, treks and other activities are
an ideal and invaluable compliment to any Young Women's program.
Summer camps can be as simple as an overnight stay in the out-of-doors
where outdoor skills are learned or as huge a production as
a week-long stake pioneer trek complete with handcarts, pioneer
clothing and the rough and tumble landscape of the wild west.
Whatever your group is willing and able to do, Young Women's
camps can provide ideal opportunities to forge strong bonds
of friendship among girls and leaders while they learn practical
skills, values and insights.
"Last
year we had 100% attendance at camp," Sister Debbie Taggart
of the Highland, Utah 16th Ward says. " Our theme was
'Camp Hollywood,' which included a red carpet as the girls
arrived and music blaring 'Hooray for Hollywood". We
had a talent night with junior leaders acting like American
Idol judges. The girls received tent treats each night. We
also had priesthood leaders come to camp and teach us rock
climbing. We had a river float, hike, tie-dyed t-shirts and
beading available any time to make jewelry."
This summer, their ward is participating in a stake-wide pioneer
trek to Wyoming. In preparation for this event, the girls are
learning pioneer songs, sewing their own pioneer clothing, learning
dutch oven cooking, square dancing, carving their own wooden
spoons to eat with while on the trek and reading stories based
on events from the Mormon pioneer handcart companies.
In the Highland,
Utah 23rd ward, the young women found their fathers to be an
invaluable part of last year's summer camp. They held a special
"dad's night", when all the fathers (or special male
adult) came to camp and ate dinner with them. Afterwards, the
girls and their fathers played whiffle ball, volleyball and
other games. The girls were also treated to pedicures after
an especially long camp hike and they all looked forward to
gathering around the campfire each night to sing while someone
strummed a guitar.
To find
other wonderful ward camp ideas, please visit the web sites
listed at right. While gathering ideas, don't forget how beneficial
participation in sports such as basketball, volleyball and softball
can be to the girls in your program. Stake and ward dance and
speech festivals and road shows are also great ways to help
your young people develop and exhibit talents, learn new skills
and forge bonds of friendship. Sports directors and other activity
directors called to help with these activities can prove invaluable
to your program and will give the girls another leader who can
be both a teacher and a role model.
Whatever you choose to do in your unique and special part of
the world, activities like those listed above are certain to
be memory makers for your young women. But remember, beneath
all the midweek activities, service projects, camps, treks and
festivals lies the underlying goal of the Young Women's program;
to bring young women to Christ. By so doing, your impact is
enormous, because as President Hinckley emphasized in a recent
worldwide leadership training meeting, "When
you save a girl, you save generations."
|
What Worked For Us
A
Value in a Day- Personal Progress:
Faith
#2
Choice & Accountability
Choice & Accountability
#2
Divine Nature
Individual Worth
Individual Worth #2
Knowledge
Reading
the Book of Mormon-
Our Bishop challenged everyone over the age of 12 to read the
Book of Mormon in 4 months. To help our girls do this we had
monthly "slumber parties" (the girls were actually
home by 11pm.) They wore their pajamas, we ate dinner and then
we read the scriptures together and acted out some of what we
read to help the girls to better understand what they had just
read. I think it really helped the scriptures to come alive
for the girls. For the final party, we met at the Temple and
read on the Temple lawn about Christ's coming to America. To
help it sink in we watched a movie about what we had just read
at the visitors center. I highly recommend this to anyone who
wants to help their girls to really understand the scriptures
and to develop regular reading habits.
-Heather Hales, Alma 6th Ward, Chandler Arizona
Alma Stake, USA
Do
you have an idea you want to share? Send
it today!
Idea
For New Beginnings
New
Beginnings (NB) is usually done at the beginning of the year.
"This event teaches young women and their parents about
the purposes of the Young Women organization."- Church
Handbook of Instructions, Book 2, Section 4 Young Women.
NB
and YWIE can be as simple or elaborate as you would like them
to be. The young women should have the opportunity to plan and
prepare the programs as well. ( Great ten hour project!)
Theme-
Treasures of the Heart
Invitations-
A
box of sweethearts with the details of the program glued to
the front.
Decorations-
Pastel
hearts with the values written on them, like candy hearts
Vase of
hearts- Hearts on the color of the values taped or glued to
pipe cleaners or straws and placed in vases for each table centerpiece.
Program-
Presentation
of the Values-
Each
leader or the young women can give a quick talk on each value.
Have her hold up a heart in the value color. The name, color
and meaning of each value can be
told.
After each
value is presented place the value heart into the treasure chest
nearby.
Introducing
the new Beehives and other new YW-
Our
New Sweethearts-
Ask
each mother of your ‘Sweethearts’ to say something
special about their daughter or interview each one before New
Beginnings to have something special to say about each one.
Speakers-
Talks
could be on - "Put Your Heart Into It"- Doing your
Personal Progress
"I
Can ‘Heart-ly" Wait"- Receiving YW Recognition
"Home
is Where the Heart is"- Parent’s participation in
Personal Progress "Hearts a Fire"- Holy Ghost
"The
Thief of Hearts"- The Adversary
"Have
a Heart"- Helping others with their Personal Progress
Take
home gift-
Small
box or block of wood wrapped in pretty wrapping paper with the
following note attached.
A Gift
of Love
This
is a very special gift
That you can never see.
The reason it's so special
It's just for you from me.
Whenever
you are lonely,
Or ever feeling blue,
You only have to hold this gift
And know I think of you.
You never
can unwrap it.
Please leave the ribbon tied.
Just hold the box close to your heart.
It's filled with LOVE inside.
Ideas
for Evening in Excellence
Theme
- Colors of the World
Invitations-
Small
box of crayons (~$.33 to $.50) Inside
a box of crayons:
Are the colors of the world.
With these simple colors,
Many more can be unfurled.
Like the colors, we each are different,
From our size and shape and name.
We strive for different goals
But our values are all the same.
Come share and Evening of Excellence with us.
We will show you how our colors can shine.
Program-
Introduction
of YWIE by a member of the YW Presidency or Laurel Class President.
Celebrate
each girl’s accomplishments as they perform or talk about
their projects.
It would
be fun if each young women would wear the color of the value
that they were presenting.
An example
of this would be a young women who learned to play a hymn for
a knowledge project wore green.
The young
women could also have displays of their projects along the sides
of the room you are in. A flute for music, medals from a track
meet, the prom dress she made, etc.
Presentation
of YW Recognition
A
short talk at the end of the presentations about the importance
of the Personal Progress program to inspire the girls to continue
could end the program.
An easy
take home gift for this YWIE theme could be this value colored
frame.
Value
Colored Frame-
For
one frame, you need the following-
3/8 inch
(diameter) dowel cut into 12- 5 inch lengths.
Sturdy cardboard
cut into a 4 inch by 4 3/4 inch rectangle.
Paint in
the value colors- white, blue, red, green, orange, yellow and
purple.
3 1/4 by
2 1/4 inch plastic frame. This frame needs to be the kind where
the picture can be slid in from the top or side of the frame.
Paint
brushes
Clear acrylic sealer
Glue
Separate
the dowels into 6 pairs, 12 dowels in all. Paint each of the
pairs, one value color except for white.
Each one
will need more then one coat to get the whole dowel painted.
Try balancing a painted dowel on a few toothpicks while they
are drying to prevent getting newspaper stuck on them.
When the
dowels are dry, glue them to the sturdy cardboard side by side
in the order you would like. After they are secure add the white
dots to the frame. This can easily be done with the end of a
small paint brush or a toothpick.
Spray with
acrylic sealer and let dry.
Glue the
plastic frame to the dowel base and let dry.
Add your
favorite picture to the frame.
Web
Resources
christysclipart.com
ldsdirect.com
lds.about.com
geocities.com/ywlds
higherthoughts.com
acucore.com
young women connection |
