Sunday, November 23, 2008

Young Women OF Excellence

Last Tuesday we had our big Young Women in Excellence evening. I'm SO proud of my girls! They have done such great things this year and worked so hard amidst their personal struggles! Man I love them!
We started our Young Women In Excellence Week by talking in church on Sunday. We prayed about this and were preparing for weeks. In our ward, among the adult members, we are fighting an attitude of negativity and a lack of hope for our youth. Many of the adult members of the ward that I have talked to seem to think that our Young Women are beyond help--and hope. Sunday, I think we started to maybe change some minds. Two of my girls spoke about Divine Nature and Individual Worth, and then my second counselor and I spoke along the same type of vein. All of the girls participated in singing one of the value songs by Janice Kapp Perry, and it was awesome! Picking that song was truly inspired, I'm sure, because almost everyday this week someone stopped me to tell me about how the musical number had affected them; about how it had reminded them of how tough it was to be a teenager and had given them a reason to care about our girls. YES!
Tuesday night we had a fun evening celebrating all the great things our Young Women do, each and everyday. It was a bit shorter then I had hoped, but I think it helped everyone there, and each of the girls to remember how much they are loved and how great they have the potential to become--and how great they are today!
Each mom decorated a table for the girls, and here are just some quick snapshots of their accomplishments. If you ever come to my ward to visit, you're in for a treat! These girls are the best! Wish I had a picture of all my girls--but these will have to do as a shout out!





Today I Am Thankful For My Young Women: Missy, Gabbie, Teresa, Gabrielle, Hannah, (Kayla and Tabitha too!)

4 comments:

Jeff & Ashlee Olsen & Family said...

Mindy, Hey! Your mom said you wanted an invite to view our blog. All I need you to do is send me your email address. Ours is ashnjeff03@gmail.com. Have a good day!

Holly Strong said...

Ah Mindy, if it makes you feel any better we have a tough time in our ward too, with the lask of enthusiasm from parents especially...it is so sad. I hope you are able to make a difference in the lives of those you touch. Keep up the good work.

Corinne said...

Your program sounds wonderful I love the ideah of having the moms do the girls tables. I am always looking for ideas. Congrats on your new business. That sounds like so much fun. your blog is cute too!

Stephanie Hancock said...

You're the perfect one to teach these girls what they're worth and how to be great--even when we were teenagers you were always the one who lifted everybody else up! I'm so glad you're feeling good about things in YW--I can tell you're doing an awesome job!