A Journey's Ending...

Ready??

I GOT MY YW RECOGNITION AWARD!

I am so happy! 

So here is a recap of my Value Projects, if you guys need ideas (and a huge thank you to all the YW I know who suggested great projects that they did that inspired me!).

FAITH:

I memorized 'The Living Christ'! So cool! My testimony of the Savior and His life was really strengthened and solidified through this.

 

DIVINE NATURE:

I organized, coordinated, and participated in an annual Christmas Cousin Gift Exchange on both sides of my family. I was able to start it for the first time on my dad's side, and continue the tradition on my mom's side!

INDIVIDUAL WORTH:

Family History! I was able to do ten awesome hours of searching for and reserving names and performing or sharing ordinances for my ancestors! Throughout this project, I visited the Jordan River, Mt. Timpanogos, and Draper Utah temples, as well my 'home' temple, Columbia South Carolina.

KNOWLEDGE:

I read D&C 89 and committed to ten hours of exercise and preparing a healthy snacks and meals for myself. Many summer evenings, I'd grab my brother and a cousin or two and walk, run, scooter, or bike around the block for 20-30 minutes. And I ate lots of salad!!! :)

CHOICE & ACCOUNTABILITY:

I took a week-long tech vacation! This was an interesting one and harder than I expected. Even though I don't have a phone, tablet, or iPod, I was still tempted. For example, the TV show Granite Flats (which is, btw, phenomenal, and produced by BYUtv) is premiering on TV and my siblings and I were anxiously awaiting its release. However, because of my project, I had to be able to suggest not watching the new episode. That was probably the hardest moment throughout the week. (I have caught up on all the episodes now!) I stayed away from tech for the majority of the week, but I must admit to giving in for a total of probably 1 1/2 hours. But we are all human, right? Anyway, I spent the time I would have used on technology to get more sleep, read, or finish schoolwork. It was so cool! 

GOOD WORKS:

All right, I really loved this one! I put together a recipe book of my favorite recipes, as well as others I've never tried that sound great! I still have lots of room for more as I grow up, but I have enough to give me a start. This is one way to ensure that my future college student self and her roommates won't be eating Chinese takeout every night! :) I think it will also be awesome for a mission. 

INTEGRITY:

You saw this, but I'll link to the post here:

Integrity, YW in Excellence, and Things People Hang on Their Walls!!!

VIRTUE:

I also posted about my reading of the Book of Mormon here. I love this book!!!

So, there's my Young Women's journey for you, project by project! Please tell me about yours in the comments, whether completed long ago or not yet through. I'd love to hear from you! 

Value Video of the Month--Faith

And now, the long-awaited first monthly value video, pertaining to the value of FAITH:

From Fear to Faith 

This is such an inspiring video, though not Church-produced. My aunt, the same one who suggested the idea of a value video, showed this video to me, and I thought it was perfect! Enjoy!

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Now Serving!

This is a wonderful video produced by the Church! Please take the time to watch it.

While we are on the topic of service...Personal Progress has tons of ways to serve! Just a small listing below:

You need Faith that your service will bless you and the recipient of your service.

You have to know of your Divine Nature and the potential you both nurture and gain when you serve. 

Remembering the Individual Worth of the person you're serving can help you to serve them more personally, knowing that you are both Children of a King!

When you've made gaining varied Knowledge and experience a priority, you can serve people in more unique and personalized ways.

Choice and Accountability - you can choose to serve or not, but you will be accountable for that choice!

Good Works and service are the same. Service can only be good works. Good works is defined as service!

Integrity is required to do the service well and to do it with a pure heart, with no intent of personal gain. 

And finally, Virtue is needed because, as one 2009 MormonAd put it, "Virtue [is] the Gold Standard". And how can we achieve the 'Gold Standard' without serving others as Christ did? Christ led a virtuous life, and thus we can look to HIM as our Gold Standard.

I hope we can all remember how our Savior lived and how much He served everyone during his life and through His Atonement!

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Note: I found this video on my cousin Lily's blog. Please read her many informative and fun posts on family history and the Spirit of Elijah here. Don't forget to comment!!!

As Sisters in Zion We'll Gather Together...

Did you watch the General Women's Session last night?? Wasn't it just fabulous? What was your favorite talk? Tell me in the comments. 

LDS.org now has the highlights of each talk here so that if you didn't get to watch it or you want to keep it fresh in your minds till the talks come out in print, you can review them now. 

***I'm not going to comment on every talk. You'll just have to do that yourself in the COMMENT section. ;) It's there for you!***

There was a strong emphasis on defending and building the family, especially since this year we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of Family Home Evening and the 20th anniversary of The Family: A Proclamation to the World, and because that is our main role as girls and women. 

Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson, Young Women General President, said, “The proclamation on the family has become our benchmark for judging the philosophies of the world and I testify that the principles set forth within this statement are as true today as they were when they were given to us by a prophet of God nearly 20 years ago.” (emphasis added) The family is being attacked from every angle! Sister Oscarson challenged each of us as sisters to commit to boldly defend the Proclamation on the Family and keep those values alive. 

President Henry B. Eyring was the concluding speaker. I really enjoyed his talk. It was sweet, and you definitely need to go back and read/watch it when you have the time. He spoke about the Holy Ghost and its role in comforting Heavenly Father's children.

He told about a little boy who died at the age of five unexpectedly on a family vacation. He visited with the boy's family and testified that the Holy Ghost was there, in that room with them. 

He also spoke about a young lady who was at the funeral. She told President Eyring that she had come to the funeral to possibly offer comfort, but she was also seeking comfort. She had recently lost her own child. The woman was holding a little girl in her arms. President Eyring leaned over to look into the child's sweet eyes. "What is her name?" he asked the young mother. 

She replied, "Her name is Joy. Joy always comes after sorrow." Joy does come after sorrow. The Holy Ghost will bring us peace, joy, and comfort beyond imagination. 

I hope every covenant sister in the Church got to enjoy this broadcast! It is always so wonderful. 

Also, don't forget to watch General Conference this coming Saturday/Sunday (info), and have a lovely Sabbath afternoon!

P.S. Can you think of some Personal Progress ideas? You can write a few of your own in Faith (faith in living prophets, faith to follow prophets, etc.), Individual Worth (along the lines of 'prophets speak to you and answer your questions in General Conference'), Knowledge (increasing your knowledge of the gospel), and so forth. But don't limit yourself to these! Be creative!

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