Young Women in Excellence.

It's done. I was put in charge of YW in Excellence. I was totally caught off guard by how much work there was in preparation. I chose D & C 18:10 as our theme for the night. It's "The worth of souls is great in the sight of God". I played off of the "soul" part and thought of the sole of a shoe. A few years ago in a YW presidency that I was in we did a similar thing. I had the girls choose their favorite pair of shoes and then write a small paragraph describing why they are their favorite and tie it into the gospel. It was so much fun to see what each of the girls wrote. We sung "Make Us One" - by Sally Deford. It has such a beautiful message that I think tied right into the theme of the night.

Whew, I am so glad that, that huge hurdle is done. On to New Beginnings, thank goodness it's not until Feburary!

Pudd'n Head Hillman

The lesson today in YW was about service in communities. It was a really short lesson so I tried to fill it up with object lessons to make it a little bit more exciting for the girls. One of the object lessons that I did was holding up 2 spoons. One is very large and the other is really small. I asked the girls which one they would want me to use while scooping ice cream or some other yummy treat. They of course all said the the big one. After that I explained that when we serve others we are offering service to Christ. I then held up the spoons and asked how we should serve Christ, a little or a lot. I had made some chocolate pudding and brought it for a treat after I finished the lesson. I found this cute little saying to go with the pudding. It said, "Pudding your shoulder to the wheel...as we accept and do our part, the Lord blesses us with wisdom beyond our natural selves." - Elder Franklin D. Richards. I love teaching the YW. They continually amaze me with their vast knowledge of the gospel.

When we got home from church there was a little bit of pudding left in the bowl, and Tyler started helping himself to the bowl while Jamie and I were changing. At least he shared with Carter. They look so cute with that pudding all over their faces!

My new calling

Well, it's not all that new, at least to me. Today I was called to be the laurel adviser. I am so excited to be in with the Young Women. I felt like the short time that I was in the YW in our last ward just wasn't long enough. I was just starting to feel like I was getting my feet wet. The YW are smaller here than what they were in ID, but I think that is to be expected.

On to some more fun adventures with the YW!

I apologize for the grotesque picture above but I promise it will make sense by the time you are done reading this post. Last night was mutual. It was a combined activity with all the young women. We went on a service scavenger hunt. Each leader took a group of girls around with a list of things that had to be done at peoples homes. (Clean mirror in bathroom, mop floor, take the trash out etc.) Me and the girls I was with were nearing the end of our list. We knocked on a door and a man answered. The man was trying to keep his dog inside and while we were walking in the dog managed to squeeze out the door. We were standing in the entryway of this guy's house and I notice a red thong on the couch. I was just hoping that none of the YW noticed. But of course they did. Nothing gets passed their eyes. They are all giggling when the man comes back in with is dog. The girls clean his bathroom mirror and we leave. Before the door is even shut one of the girls yell out, "DID YOU SEE THAT RED THONG ON THAT GUYS COUCH???!!!?" Oh boy. Then the same girls says, "My mom doesn't leave her underwear out especially that kind!" Oh to be young and naive again.

Young Women

For those of you who don't know, I am in the young women's as laurel adviser. I love it. I get to teach the lessons and go to activity with them every week. I have always been so shocked to see how prepared these young women are. I don't feel that I was as prepared as they are, that 's for sure. Every single one of them has their head on straight, and has such an amazing testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The reason that I have decided to share my thoughts on these amazing young women is because tonight for mutual we all through in a couple bucks and bought 3 gifts for 3 young women here in Rexburg who are in need. We of course have no idea who these girls are...that's what makes this kind of thing so great. We had opening excerises, and then pilled all the money together and added up how much we had. We had $110.00 and only about 3/4 of the young women were there. We split that into 3 and decided on going to K-mart to shop for the 3 young women in need. We were all getting our coats on and right before we walked out of the room one of the laurels (who I think is the most outstanding of them all) suggested that we have a word of prayer. She offered the prayer and prayed that Heavenly Father would guide us to the items that these 3 young women were in need of or that they particularly wanted. I can't even begin to tell you how strong the spirit was in that room. It was amazing! I think of how I was when I was in Young Women's and I don't think I would have been as humbled as these girls were to do such a special thing for someone that they will probably never meet. We purchased the gifts and went back to the church to wrap the presents. The girls were singing hymns as they wrapped. It was such a great evening I had to share it with all of you.