Young Women's General Conference

Loved the Young Women's General Conference!  I was able to attend with my daughter and soon to be Beehive, Melissa.

I was surprised to find the chapel not full of young women and their mothers from our Stake.  There were probably a total of maybe 35-40 in attendance.  Most of the girls in my ward had dates or parties to go to instead of the conference.  It's unfortunate that they were not able to hear the uplifting and encouraging talks.  I especially loved to hear from President Monson.  His talk focused on three words - Believe, Obey and Endure.  I thought I'd make a little clip art that also works for the Arise & Shine Forth theme for this year.  I think it turned out pretty good.

May we all have the faith to believe, obey and endure!

Arise and Shine YW Activity

Well, it seems that planning for Young Women activities has taken over my thoughts.  I am always browsing for ideas for activities or handouts.

We just had an activity on the "Arise and Shine Forth" theme for this year.  I showed the video and music video that the Church produced http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=FXrFpgxdly4&list=PLA313CC396ABEBB1C, then I talked to the girls about what a "standard" is - something to look up to, like a flag or banner that stands for something.  I brought examples like the American Flag (our standard of liberty) and a homemade "Title of Liberty" and we discussed Moroni's "Title of Liberty" from the Book of Mormon.  I also had a pennant banner like for a birthday party - something that helps people find their way to a party.

Then I had them make their own "standard" or banner for our "Arise and Shine Forth" theme for the year that they could look to and remember what they should stand for.  I used the symbol from the music video, a couple I found online and one I made.  Then we added glitter and the garland to make them cute.

Then I encouraged them to make additional pennants with ideas of what they could do to "shine forth".

When they were finished, I had them write their testimony on a card and tie it to a balloon which we took outside and let "arise" and "go forth" to the nations.

I think the girls enjoyed the activity, and I think that the ideas got through.  It took an amazing amount of time to create and prepare for one little hour of presentation, but I hope it was worth it.