Young Women in Excellence is TOMORROW!

The young women and their leaders have worked hard to prepare this event to celebrate our lovely young women, their accomplishments, and their many talents. The only thing missing is you. Please join us in the Primary Room. It really just wouldn't be the same without you. ;)

Preparing for "Young Women In Excellence" -- a letter to parents

Dear Parents,

As we plan for our Young Women in Excellence Program, we seek to focus on the girls and their activities. We have a group of wonderful, busy, and accomplished young women in our ward. Your daughter is no exception.

Please help us show your daughters how amazing they are by participating with us on Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at 7 PM. We would appreciate it if you would take 2 or 3 minutes to tell about your daughter’s accomplishments. We see so much talent in each of them. Some talents are readily visible, like dancing or playing an instrument. Others are subtle, like being conscientious, keeping a clean bedroom, or reading the scriptures each day. We would like you to share with all of us what you see as your daughter’s greatest talent, especially those talents that we may not be able to see during the brief times we have to spend with her.

We appreciate your constant support of the Young Women program and your efforts to teach your daughters of their divine roll as women of God. Please join us in celebrating the goodness and light that streams from these young people.

Sincerely,

The Hobble Creek West 13th Ward YW Presidency

Ginny Duncan, President
Monica Blume, 1st Counselor
Amy Kelly, 2nd Counselor
Luann Hawker, Secretary

September 2009

September zoomed by at light speed, but we still managed to have some fun. Our combined activity with the Young Men was a trip to Deseret Industries in Provo. We all learned some things about the church humanitarian services, then we split into small groups and spent some time volunteering with various tasks in the DI sorting areas. The group in the photo above was assigned to sort through a bin of donated books and pick the ones that were in good condition and had content appropriate for resale.

The Young Women also started making preparations for our upcoming event, "Young Women in Excellence", which will celebrate the Personal Progress Program. The theme for the evening is "A Garden of Girls" and the date is set for Tuesday, October 27. Please note that this is a different date than was originally planned. We look forward to spending a wonderful evening with the Young Women and their parents.

October started off well with our first activity last Tuesday, October 6. We all took a short trip to the Provo Temple and the girls randomly visited with patrons as they were leaving the temple. They thanked the patrons for taking the time to serve the Lord in the temple, asked them what they loved most about their temple visit, then sent the kind strangers on their way with a plate of home made cookies. After all the cookies had been distributed, we gathered together to share some of the thoughts passed on by the temple patrons. The evening prompted a good discussion about why we attend the temple and the reverence we feel when we are there.




Here are the activities we have to look forward to in October:
October 13 -- YM/YW Combined activity
October 20 -- Cake Decorating
October 27 -- Young Women in Excellence

Bittersweet August

Back to school "To Do" lists made August a busy month, so for our youth activities we tried for quality rather with quantity. Early in the month the youth went on their quarterly youth temple trip and did baptisms for the dead in the Provo temple. Late in the month, we did our best to squeeze out just a little more summer with an afternoon of pizza, boating, and riding gigantic water wienies on Utah lake. Many thanks to Brother Blume and Brother Ricks for generously taking us out in their boats. Everyone had a great time!

The last few days of August were tearful, as we said goodbye to our Young Women's President, Sister Brenna Williams, who has moved to Pennsylvania. Sister Williams, we wish you and your family all the best in your new adventures. Sister Alice Graham and Sister RevaBeth Russell were also released as counselors in the Young Women's presidency. Sister Williams and Sister Graham had both served with us for 1 year. Sister Russell was newer to the presidency and had only been serving with us for a few months. To all three of you, we give heartfelt thanks for sharing your time, your talents, and your love of the gospel with us. We are better for our friendship with you, and we love you.

Although it is hard to say goodbye, we are also very happy to welcome our new Young Women's leaders. We are excited to announce that Sister Ginny Duncan is our new president. Also serving with her are first counselor Monica Blume, and second counselor Amy Kelly. All three women are brimming with energy and ideas and we can't wait to see what great things they have in store for us.

To see more photos of our trip to the lake and other youth activities, visit the photo gallery. (click here)

Pre-Camp Parent's Meeting. Don't miss it! : )

Remembering Christ

This week, Sister Graham put together a wonderful activity reminding us what Easter is all about -- the Atonement of Christ. It was an evening full of the spirit, sisterhood and testimony.

At the activity, we placed scarves on our heads to show humility, and as a tribute to New Testament times. We each had a taste of unleavened bread and grape juice to draw our thoughts to Christ at the last supper. Then we passed around a basket of Easter eggs and each took a turn opening one. Inside each egg was a scripture referencing Christ during his last days on Earth, and leading up to the crucifixion and His all important resurrection.

Thank you, Sister Graham for helping us focus on what is most important during this holiday season, our Savior Jesus Christ.

Tonight's Activity

Girls,

We are super excited for tonight's activity!! Please bring a favorite stuffed animal with you. We need it for what we're doing. Hope to see you all there!!

Sis. Williams

YW's Broadcast TONIGHT

Hey Girls, I just wanted to remind everyone of the broadcast tonight. It starts at 6pm in the chapel. I know tonight is preference, too. But we all know that dances are never fun until like 10pm anyway, so that gives you time to come to the broadcast and then still go to the dance in plenty of time! :) Hope to see you all there!!

<3 Sis. Williams

An Art Outing

Tonight's activity was an outing to the Harris Fine Art Center on BYU campus. Our main purpose for going was to see a photography exhibit titled "Daughters of Eve" by Whitney Hardie. It was a series of portraits depicting Eve in various stages and pivotal moments of her life.

This is the artist's statement for the exhibit:
Daughters of Eve is a collection of photographs that seeks to honor Eve and foster respect and admiration for women everywhere.

Eve, as the first woman, represents the essence of femininity to me. She was the crowning creation of our Heavenly Father, though her role has been widely misunderstood throughout history. Eve has been accused of great pride and is generally considered the weaker of the pair. She is often represented as a temptress -- a fallen creature who led to the downfall of all mankind. All of these misconceptions have contributed to the disparaging of the female sex as a whole.

By the light of the restored gospel, we are able to understand Eve's divine role in the Father's plan. She made a choice that set in motion the existence of mankind. She experienced the sweet and the bitter in life, always seeking to know God's will. I honor her decision, I admire her bravery, and I stand in awe of her beautiful daughters who continue on in the legacy she began.

I give my compliments to the artist because her work was both stunning and thought provoking. It prompted us into an interesting discussion about the role of women in the world today, as well as how the treatment of women has evolved through past generations.

To view a gallery of photos from this activity, as well as other youth activities, click here.

(Note: Don't forget that you can "right click" on one of the photos in the gallery to download it. Then you can use the photo in a blog entry and give us your take on the art exhibit. Or you can always just leave a comment here and tell us what you thought. I look forward to hearing from you.)

Back from the Coma

Lets see if we can revive this thing! I've re-invited all the YW to join as authors and really think that we can make some good use of this thing if everyone remembers to check it and read it.

For those of you girls who don't know what an RSS feed is, have an RSS reader, or even know what I'm talking about, you can make it so that you get new posts emailed to you every time there is a new post added. So, let me or Sis. Hawker know if you want that option and we can help you set it up that way so that you don't have to remember this address or check it daily.

I think this would make mass communication much easier, so lets everyone use it! OK?? :)

Sis. Williams

Get Ready to RRRRRRRRRumble!

Thanks go to the Teacher's Quorum for arranging last Tuesday's combined activity, which was an action packed round of gym hockey. Hockey sticks and youth were flying around the gym like you wouldn't believe, and some of the leaders even got in on the action. Everyone seemed to have a great time and the final score was pretty close, but the game ended with a tie breaking goal. Kudos to all involved for showing top notch sportsmanship. You guys rock!

New Beginnings

Last Sunday was our New Beginnings night. New Beginnings is an annual event teaching the purposes of the Young Women organization. It includes an orientation to the Personal Progress program and to the Young Women theme, logo, motto, and values. See www.lds.org .

Our Young Women were in beautiful form for the event. They worked hard planning and carrying out the entire thing. From the decorations, to the presentations, to the cupcakes, it was all them. They did an outstanding job, and the evening was ripe with a wonderful spirit of closeness with our Heavenly Father and with each other. As a Young Women Presidency, we couldn't be more proud of them.

Thank you, girls, for a perfect evening.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

The season just doesn't seem complete without sharing a bit of holiday cheer through some good Christmas music, so last night we all bundled up to brave the COLD and went Christmas Caroling. By the end my face was so cold, I had lost almost all feeling in my cheeks, but seeing the smiling faces on our dear neighbors as we sang made it worth it a hundred times over.

After a little hot chocolate and doughnuts in a warm house surrounded by good company, we were all back to normal... cheeks and all. : )

Christmas Dinner

This month's Young Men/Young Women Combined activity was a big night. We had the pleasure of preparing and serving a holiday dinner with all the trimmings to a roomful of our favorite brothers and sisters in the ward.

Everyone had a job, and did it well. The Deacons provided strong arms and big smiles to escort the guests in from the parking lot. The Beehives were buzzing from table to table serving food and clearing plates. The Mia Maids and Teachers worked the room to keep everyone mingling while the Laurels and Priests conducted interviews and recorded the guests telling stories of Christmases gone by.

The evening was brimming with Christmas spirit, and it looked like everyone had a great time. Special thanks go to Sister Vermillion and Sister Graham for the MANY hours of hard work they put into pulling the night together.

Kaylee Marie Hightower

I'm so excited that she is here! You can all see her now and I can wear normal clothes ;-)

Tuesday Treating!!!

This Tuesday for our combined Activity we will be "Treating" those in our ward who need a visit. Please dress up and make this night a special time for those who may not get to enjoy the Halloween experience. Remember, masks are not allowed, and modest church dress is required for any costume. This will be a fun and memorable experience if you help to make it so. Happy Halloween!!!

Consecration and Sacrifice

Today we learned about the law of consecration and sacrifice, and as I read my scriptures tonight, some more thoughts on the subject came to my mind. I'd like to share them with you.

First, I was reading in Alma Chapter 1 about Nehor and how he went around the land teaching false doctrine and establishing churches for the purpose of getting gain. Alma talks about the differences in the people who believed in true doctrines versus those who follow Nehor's false doctrines.

27 And they(members of the true church) did ^aimpart of their substance, every man according to that which he had, to the ^bpoor, and the needy, and the sick, and the afflicted; and they did not wear costly ^capparel, yet they were neat and comely.

28 And thus they did establish the affairs of the church; and thus they began to have continual peace again, notwithstanding all their persecutions.

29 And now, because of the steadiness of the church they began to be exceedingly ^arich, having abundance of all things whatsoever they stood in need—an abundance of flocks and herds, and fatlings of every kind, and also abundance of grain, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious things, and abundance of ^bsilk and fine-twined linen, and all manner of good homely ^ccloth.

30 And thus, in their ^aprosperous circumstances, they did not send away any who were ^bnaked, or that were hungry, or that were athirst, or that were sick, or that had not been nourished; and they did not set their hearts upon ^criches; therefore they were ^dliberal to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, whether out of the church or in the church, having no ^erespect to persons as to those who stood in need.

31 And thus they did ^aprosper and become far more wealthy than those who did not belong to their church.

Those last verses really caught my attention. We know that we are blessed through our obedience, but these verses really emphasized just how much the Lord blessed his people when they consecrated and sacrificed all that they had.

From there, I thought of Nephi and how he and his family were asked to leave all that they had to go into the wilderness. Later, they gave all their precious things to Laban in an effort to get the Brass plates. We know that Lamen and Lemuel murmmered but Nephi's response was "I will go and do". And while we don't know what exactly he said to his father when Lehi announced to his family that they were leaving Jerusalem and their home, and taking only provisions for the trip, we can know that Nephi's response must have been something similar to what he said when asked to go back and get the plates.

I struggled to know whether or not I could do what Nephi did. Nephi was asked to sacrifice all he had, and he did it. I wondered if it was hard for him to say "I will go and do", or if it came easy to him. When I read verses 12-16, I was comforted. "And thus Laman and Lemuel, being the eldest, did murmur against their ^afather. And they did ^bmurmur because they ^cknew not the dealings of that God who had ^dcreated them..... And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the ^amysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did ^bvisit me, and did ^csoften my heart that I did ^dbelieve all the words which had been spoken by my ^efather; wherefore, I did not ^frebel against him like unto my brothers."

I imagine that it was hard for Nephi to "go and do" but his strength to obey came from a sure knowledge given to him by the spirit that his father was a prophet.

I realized that we too can have the Lord visit us and soften our hearts and cause us to believe if we but ask. When our hearts are right, and we truely desire to do what the Lord wants us to, and to know that what we are being asked to do is coming from God, we will be given the faith necessary to "go and do" just as Nephi did.

While right now the idea of giving up all that I am and have to the Lord, being able to walk away from every earthly possesion, turn over all my time, talents, money, etc to the building of the Kingdom seems daunting and I question my capacity to do so, I take comfort in knowing that my desire to obey will be magnified. Through my testimony of God's prophets, the truthfulness of His church, and with an extra witness of the spirit, I have faith that the Lord will provide a way for me to live the law of consecration and sacrifice.

Young Women in Excellence--A Wonderful Night

Last week, as you know, was our Young Women in Excellence program. And, thanks to many people, it was a wonderful night. Sister Alta Taylor gave an incredible talk (an hour long!) about what life was like when she was in the MIA program. Everyone in attendance was edified by her sweet testimony, and I'm sure, like me, left with a gratitude for our many blessings and a desire to be the best we can be. Christa and Katelyn had a great musical number, and much was said about Bro. Hawker's chocolate chip cookies (thank you a million times over for making those)!

Because of time, I had to forgo giving my talk, but I will just share a few brief thoughts now. Every girl's treasure chest was just amazing. I am so proud of you girls for all the work you put into both your projects and your box. I hope that you will continue to gather the treasures that are of eternal value both into your hearts and throughout your lives.

President Monson wrote an article called "Treasures of Eternal Value". In it, he offers three pieces to a "treasure map" that will bring us joy in this life, and eternal joy in the hereafter. The first thing he says is to learn from the past. Sis. Taylor shared with us her life experience. I hope that you can learn from her example. Do not put of being a friend with some today. Reach out to those who are not coming to church and bring them in. Do now what you can do and do not put it off until tomorrow. Give love to those around you. Be a friend to everyone.

The second piece of the treausre map Pres. Monson offers is to live in the present. That may sound easy. Afterall, you're not Marty McFly in Back to the Future. But to live in the present means more than just breathing and being awake. To live in the present means we take advantages of opportunities we have now, such as opportunities to learn knowlegde and skills, develop relationships and make memories. It means having your body and your attention in the same place. It means not procrastinating things until tomorrow. It means enjoying life while you are living it. Do not rush your life, age yourself, or skip ahead of your youth. Time goes fast enough and you will miss the days you have now soon enough. Do not hasten the time when you look back and wish that you were young again. Live now so that you will not have regrets later.

The lastt piece to the map is to prepare for the future. To prepare for the future, we must know our potential and what we are striving for. Julie B. Beck, the General Relief Society President has said, “Oh, that every girl and woman would have a testimony of her potential for eternal motherhood. … Female roles did not begin on earth, and they do not end here. A woman who treasures motherhood on earth will treasure motherhood in the world to come, and ‘where [her] treasure is, there will [her] heart be also’ (Matthew 6:21). By developing a mother heart, each girl and woman prepares for her divine, eternal mission of motherhood” (“A ‘Mother Heart,’ ” Liahona and Ensign, May 2004, 76). And Elder Russell M. Nelson has said, “A woman’s richest rewards will come as she rises to fulfill her destiny as a devoted daughter of God. To all faithful Saints He has promised thrones, kingdoms, principalities, glory, immortality, and eternal lives. (See Rom. 2:7; D&C 75:5; 128:12, 23; 132:19.) That is the potential for women in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is exalting, everlasting, and divine” (“Woman—Of Infinite Worth,” Ensign, Nov. 1989, 22).

I testify that the Personal Progess Program will help you reach your potential and prepare for your future, as mothers, wives, teachers, leaders, professionals, and whatever other righteous roles in which you may find yourselves. I testify that the leaders of the church know what we need to do to fulfill our divine potential and they have given us all that we need start out on the path that will lead us there through the fulfilment of Personal Progress Program. We can activly prepare for the future by doing Personal Progress now.



These three elements, these pieces of a treasure map, given to us by a Prophet of God will fill our hearts and lives with treasures of Eternal Value. May we each reach our potential and become Women of Excellence with the truths of the gospel treasured in our hearts by learning from the past, living in the present and preparing for the future.

Treasure Chests

Girls,

Remember to come to our activity this week. We are making our treasure chests for Young Women in Excellence. We need you all to come! We will be mailing invitations to the program the week before so that your families can come.

We are very excited about this event and know that it will be a special night! We look forward to seeing you Wednesday.

Brenna

Young Women in Excellence Date

Ok, so the official date for Young Women in Excellence is October 12th at 7pm. The theme is "The Treasures of our Hearts". Put it on your calendars and start getting your projects in order! We are really excited and hope you are, too.

P.S. Madeline, if you're reading this, we miss you and hope you enjoy your first Sunday in your new ward!