inspired to be more...

i was called to serve in the  young women program this past summer.  it has been just what I've needed.  being around these young women takes me back to the wonderful thoughts and feelings i had about the gospel when i was a teenager.  seeing their eagerness to learn and live the gospel inspires me to be more.  i also feel a greater need to be better so that i may be more prepared to assist these beautiful young ladies on their journey to discovering their worth.

not only to i get to see them on sundays, but i get to spend every wednesday night with them involved in activities and learning opportunities.  here are a few of my favorite activities...

for christmas we made these for each of the girls.  it has the 2012 mutual theme printed on vellum paper, with their picture in the back...

this is not an original idea, I actually made one of these when i was in the y.w. program a few years ago, but i wanted to do these for my young women to start off the new year-- a journal jar.  sometimes its hard to have inspiring things to write every night in your journal, but having a journal jar kind of helps get  the ball rolling.  i found a list of questions of the internet.  questions like, tell about your favorite family vacation, or write down all the found memories you have have your grandparents, or tell about your first date... and so on.  we cut the questions into strips and put them in the jar after we decorated it.  then we decorated fun journals to go along with them...

we have started a "thing" of kidnapping the new girls that come into the mia maid (the 14 and 15 year old) class.  chick fil a & ice skating was a blast..

i dont usually don't teach the class on sundays, but this past week the teacher asked me to teach the lesson.  we talked about learning to follow the example of Jesus Christ.  as i was preparing the lesson, one of my favorite songs from when i was in high school, came to mind, "His Hands".




i have always loved that song.  my favorite line is at the end when it says, "and though I'm not yet as i would be, He has shown me how i could be.  i will make my hands like those from Galilee."
i made the girls bottles of soap with that phrase in it.  i made a similar thing for teacher gifts years ago (with a different saying in it).  you just print on transparency paper, then roll it up and slip it in the bottle.  so easy!