Finance Tips from Amanda Christensen

Virtue Project - Reading the Book of Mormon

Also, find Book of Mormon Reading Charts here to help you track your reading!

Virtue Activity Ideas

Virtue

From our Winter 2015 Issue, some thoughts on the YW value of Virtue!!

The Plan of Salvation

This month's Come Follow Me topic is The Plan of Salvation

and I just have to say that I'm LOVING it!

For the first Sunday I prepared the lesson: What is The Plan of Salvation?

While preparing the lesson, I figured that our girls would be bored and this would just something they've heard a million time. But our Miamiad's had SO many questions about The Plan that I was shocked! Of course I answered as best I could using the scriptures and other church sources. On some questions I just had to say, "I don't know!" We ended up only talking about the order of The Plan and the girls' questions, and soon our time was up! The girls asked if we could continue the lesson the following week and so of course we did!

I was so glad that they were thinking and analyzing and pondering! It brought so many things to my mind that I wanted to learn more about as well! But it also gave us an opportunity to realize that we don't know everything and we must have faith that God knows those details.

I am thankful for the knowledge that God has given us of His Plan! We ARE daughters of God and we CAN live with Him again! What a beautiful and wonderful thing to know.

*And if you're interested, here is the handout I made so that the girls could have a visual of The Plan and also a list of the questions I wanted them to think about.

We also used this lesson to help the girls pass of Faith Value Experience #6 while in class. They could also do Individual Worth #1 at home since it relates!

Divine Nature Activities

From our Fall 2015 Issue

Integrity Value Experience #3

To help some of our Young Women pass off Value Experiences, we made some easy-to-use templates that break down the experiences into easier chunks. Check out this one for Integrity and you can find our other Personal Progress helps here.

Click on the image below to download from Google Drive:

Personalize Your Personal Progress Journal

From our Fall 2015 Issue

Divine Nature Value Projects

From our Fall 2015 Issue

Divine Nature

The Attitude of Gratitude

Yesterday in YW, our lesson was about the importance of gratitude.

At the end of the lesson I gave the girls and leaders a challenge to be more focused on gratitude this week...promising them that if they did so, things would look brighter and better even when going through a bad day. 

I want to give you the same challenge!

And I'll share the same resource with you...I made "A Week of Gratitude" book that I printed off, cut into individual pages, and turned into a booklet for each girl. Every day they are given a simple task to do to show gratitude. And next Sunday we'll report about our experiences and those who completed it can also count it as an additional value experience for personal progress!

Download HERE

And since it goes right along with it, I wanted to share an article from our last issue that focuses on the attitude of gratitude as well! Enjoy, my friends!

From our Fall 2015 Issue

Choice & Accountability Value Experience #6

We are having a big Personal Progress activity with our Young Women next week - a multiple stations and build-an-ice-cream-sundae as you go sort of activity!!! It's going to be so FUN! We're trying to help the girls pass off some of the Value Experiences that they haven't completed yet...especially the ones that you can complete in one day. This is one of the papers I put together for a station.

Basically I just broke down the Value Experience into three sections so the girls can go through and complete each section. On #1 I will give them three highlighters - they'll use one color for each of the who/what/why's as they mark the theme to the left. And then continue to write their answers on the remaining portion of the chart.

Happy Personal Progressing!!! 

Click on the image below to download from Google Drive:

The Importance of Temple Marriage

This month in Young Womens and Sunday School, you're learning all about Marriage & Family. You'll probably cover a variety of topics, one of them being about the importance of Temple Marriage. Last Sunday my Laurels and I had a good discussion about it, and I just wanted to share some of my thoughts from the lesson.

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Say hello to my wedding day!

My husband and I were married in the Logan Temple on a FREEZING day in January.

Seriously, don't get married in the snow. Haha.

Even though I remember the biting cold and can see our red noses and frozen fingers in this picture,

it's not what I remember the most about my wedding day.

I remember being in the temple, waiting in a room with my then-fiance.

The Sealer who was going to perform our wedding ceremony came and spoke to us for a few minutes. Honestly, I can't remember much of what advice he actually gave us :)

He left for a few minutes to go see if our parents and other family/friends were all there.

In just those few moments of being alone, a deep feeling of peace came over me.

I knew that I was in the right place, at the right time, and with the right person...those three things that you will hear people say a lot. 

But why does that matter? What does the temple have to offer that a civil marriage can't?

One of the major differences between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other religions, is that doctrinally we believe in ordinances and covenants that last after death. Specifically, we believe that to live in the highest degree of glory with our Father in Heaven, we need to be married and sealed in the temple. Marriage is not just a lifetime commitment but an eternal covenant. 

You can read more about this in D&C 131:1-4 and in True to the Faith.

The other difference this creates is that a husband and wife in a temple marriage don't commit "until death do us part" but they make a covenant for eternity! Now this obviously doesn't mean that every temple marriage is perfect and that some don't end in divorce. Everyone has their agency to first MAKE covenants and then choose how to KEEP them. And sometimes a spouse or both spouses don't keep their covenants for various reasons. But if both spouses live faithfully and keep their covenants, their love can last forever!!! Doesn't that sound like the best love story ever!

I found this great story on Pinterest (of course!) from Seth Adam Smith that illustrates the idea of a temple sealing very well - (and if you click on the picture it will take you to Google Drive to download this handout!) I gave each of my Laurels an empty mason jar and then read this out loud to them:

I just LOVE that analogy. Getting to the temple and being sealed to your spouse is VERY important, just like we discussed before. But it is also very important how you keep those covenants. How you build a marriage that you WANT to last eternity. And the beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that when you create those good fruits and happy relationships, they CAN last forever. God can seal all good things to last eternally.

Elder Scott gave a beautiful talk entitled "The Eternal Blessings of Marriage" that you should read! Basically during the entire talk he speaks of his sweet wife who had passed away and you can see a glimpse of the beauty and love that comes in a committed and covenant marriage.

Now is the time, as a Young Woman, to decide what kind of marriage that you want. Make the goal now to be sealed in the temple so that there is no question about what you want later on. I promise you the blessings of the temple are real and deep. You will find greater purpose and knowledge within it's walls. You will find joy and happiness. You will feel the love of God.

And the joy and love of your temple marriage can last beyond death...it can last forever!


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Individual Worth Value Experience #4: You are preparing now to fulfill a unique mission on the earth. Read Doctrine & Covenants 88:119. In your journal make a list of your hopes and dreams for your future home, family, and education and some important things you would like to accomplish in your life, including becoming a wife and mother. Then write a plan that will help you achieve your goals. Share this plan with a family member, leader, or friend.

Virtue Value Experience #3: Prepare to be worthy to enter the temple and to participate in temple ordinances. Read Alma chapter 5. Make a list of the questions Alma asks. Answer the questions for yourself, and make a list of the things you can and will do to prepare yourself to be pure and worthy to enter the temple and receive all the blessings our Heavenly Father has promised His beloved daughters.

Personal Progress "P" Parties

Personal Progress is an awesome program and I LOVE it so much!

However, I know that sometimes it can feel overwhelming when you look at how many experiences you have to complete and then with how long the projects can take.

BUT. Believe me when I say it's worth it.

Studying your scriptures and contemplating the gospel of Jesus Christ

will always bring you closer to God.

And that's totally worth it.

However, if you're looking for a way to add some fun to Personal Progress,

think about planning a Personal Progress P Party for a class or combined YW activity!

You can make the party whatever you want, just focus it on the letter "P" and

spend the night having fun while going over each girl's Personal Progress books to see where you're at and set goals for the upcoming month or two.

Here are some ideas to get your brain thinking...and you can mix and match and change these however you'd like. Remember, if you're a YW you can help organize one of these nights and have it count towards your own personal progress or even your Honor Bee...

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Pancakes & Pajamas

Girls wear pajamas for the activity and make yummy pancakes!

This invite was something you could use:

From Freshaire Designs

PIE Night

I love this idea! The girls earned tickets for each experience they passed off before the activity began. And the girl with the most tickets got to throw a pie in the YW President's face!
You can read more details about the activity here. 

From A Little Crafting

Polka Dot Pizza

Have the girls wear as many polka dot clothing items as possible and eat polka dot pizza...ya know, pepperoni!! You could even make mini pita pizzas. The more P's the better!

From Sugardoodle

Purple People Eaters

Have the girls wear purple clothing and bring treats that start with the letter "P".
This cute idea below is an invite for such a night :)

From A Little Crafting

Integrity Value Project Ideas

Need some ideas for your Integrity Value Project?

Check out 11 ideas below! And if you did something different, we'd love to know about it!

From our Summer 2015 Issue

Integrity YW Activity Ideas

The value we focused on in our last issue was Integrity!

You can find our article here as well as some personal progress ideas coming soon.

Today we're sharing some YW activity ideas that focus on Integrity.

Any others you would add to the list?

Integrity

Enjoy our article on Integrity from our most recent issue!!

And check out our Personal Progress tips at the bottom!

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Integrity Value Experience #2: Conduct a self-assessment of your personal integrity. Ask yourself the following questions: Do I avoid gossip, inappropriate jokes, swearing and profanity, and being light minded about sacred subjects? Am I completely truthful, morally clean, honest, dependable, and trustworthy in my schoolwork and other activities? Pray daily for strength and for the guidance of the Holy Ghost to help you live with integrity. Write in your journal the things you can do to improve your personal integrity and at least one new habit you want to develop.

Integrity Value Experience #3: The Savior is the perfect example of integrity; He did what hE promised the Father HE would do. Read 3 Nephi 11:10-11. Study the lives of other individuals in the scriptures who lived with integrity. Read Genesis 39; the book of Esther; Job 2:3; 27:3-6; Daniel 3 and 6; Acts 26; Doctrine and Covenants 124:15, and Joseph Smith History 1:21-25. In your journal identify the ways these people demonstrated integrity. Think of a time when you had the courage to show integrity, especially when it was not easy or popular. Share your experience and your feeling about it in a testimony meeting or lesson or with a parent or leader.

Personal Progress Helps

We know that Personal Progress can seem like a daunting, never-ending thing.

There are so many Value Experiences that you need to work on and the hours upon hours that go into Value Projects! We know it's tough work!

But that's what makes Personal Progress SO rewarding.

We promise, that when you finish and receive your medallion, 

you will be so proud of yourself knowing all of the effort you put into it!

And you'll have some awesome experiences along the way :)

And because we're awesome (and really humble) we want to help you out any way we can!

So you'll see a few new things on the blog to do just that!

This lovely stamp . . .

. . . will be at the end of posts and articles that apply to a specific Value Experience or Project Idea.

It is also located on the side bar so that you can easily click on it to get to a page with ALL of the ideas.

And you'll also notice on the toolbar a lovely new tab . . .

. . . that when you click on it you will be taken to this page with ALL of our Personal Progress ideas for Value Experiences, Projects, and Activities!!!!!!

Since we're just getting started with this, there are not a ton of links on there right now, but we'll be adding more and more throughout the next, well, forever so check back in often!!

We loved our own experiences of working on Personal Progress back we were young and hip Young Women (haha) and we hope to pass on that excitement and help to you!!!!!!

GOOD LUCK!

Tithes & Offerings

What are your thoughts about Tithes & Offerings?

Have you had an experience of paying your tithing and it blessed your life?

Read below from our Summer 2015 Issue to see one way it has blessed ours!

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Faith Value Experience #7: The Lord has commanded us to pay tithing. Read Doctrine & Covenants 119 and Malachi 3:8-12. Since obedience to the law of tithing is an evidence of your faith, pay a full tithe. After three months record in your journal how paying tithing has heaped your faith grow. List blessings in your life, both large and small, that have come because of your faith in the principle of tithing.

Choice & Accountability Value Experience #7: Making choices is part of Heavenly Father's plan for us. Read Moses 4:1-4; 7:32; and 2 Nephi 9:51. Establish a pattern of wise money management by making a budget for saving and spending your money, including the payment of tithing. Live within your budget for at least three months. Set priorities that allow you to meet your most important needs before satisfying your wants. Record in your journal what you have learned and how following these patterns will continue to bless your life.

Index Card Journal

Check out this fun idea for an Index Card Journal from our Spring 2015 Issue!

This would also be a FABULOUS idea for Mother's Day - your Mom would love a way to keep track of the comings and goings of your family - and you could add cute pics of your family in between each month!

It could also be a great YW Activity, Personal Progress project, or something you just make for yourself!!

You can get the steps below or also check out Jenn's tips at Endlessly Inspired!