|
|
Margaret D. Nadauld
|
| We are so grateful for the wonderful new materials which we have been given to help strengthen the youth and help them achieve the ultimate goal of going to the temple - prepared. As these new materials have been received, we have heard heartfelt words of gratitude from you, their leaders. We thank our Father in Heaven and priesthood leaders. We thank you wonderful leaders for your joyful service to Young Women. How grateful their parents must be for the love and interest you have for their daughters. These magnificent young people are a priceless asset to the Church and to the world. They are our future and we must continue to work together to help them "stand in holy places and be not moved until the day of the Lord come." (D&C 87:8) PERSONAL PROGRESS Personal Prgress will help young women stand in holy places. Everywhere I go, leaders express their delight with the new book, the size, the simplicity, and especially the inspired content with its increased focus on the Savior, helping young women develop the qualities of womanhood and prepare for their future responsibilities. A young adult woman living in New York City recently spoke to the young women in her ward, holding in her hands her Personal Progress book of her youth, and she explained how her life had been changed by Personal Progress. She grew up in the Philippines in a very poor family. Although her father is very poor, he is a good Christian man, a member of the Church who made sure his daughter was active in the Church. She received her Young Women Personal Progress book as a teenage girl and loved it. Here she learned more about living the gospel and importantly for her, she learned how to set a goal and accomplish it. She blossomed as she began implementing this process to other aspects of her life. While she was doing this, she was growing spiritually. As she had done in Personal Progress, she set goals and worked to accomplish them in her schooling and eventually this led her to the United States where she received graduate degrees. Today she is managing a company as a business executive in New York City. She bears testimony that it was Personal Progress that helped her catch a vision of all that she could become. It helped her keep her perspective of eternity. Personal Progress helped her stand in holy places as she moved out of poverty and worked to accomplish her dreams. She still considers her Young Women Personal Progress book as one of her treasured possessions. The depth of the Value Experiences will build a framework for testimonies. Projects for each of the values will help the girls internalize the principles they have studied and written about in their journals. Thank you for your willingness to make the transfer to the revised book a pleasant experience. The young women will reflect your attitude. By now most of you have worked out the details. Just a little reminder, please don't make it hard for the girls to make this change. The other program was also inspired and very wonderful. We hope that parents know that they are an important part of the Personal Progress team. One family had the following experience with their daughter as she worked on the value of faith. The daughter, Lauren, reports, "I chose to work on an experience where I had to read about the mothers of Helaman's stripling warriors." She included her father in this value experience. He said, "Studying as a family the faith of the stripling warriors has reminded me of the profound influence that a mother has on her children. My responsibility as provider for the family has often taken me outside the home for extended periods. My wife is home with our family. Her commitment to the gospel and to being a teacher and example is the key ingredient to raising our children in faith." A father and daughter decided to work on the value of integrity together. This is the experience they recorded. "My daughter and I sat down and went through the Personal Progress book together to find an experience she could work on. She selected to focus on developing a pattern of personal integrity. We decided that we would both do some research on integrity during the week and discuss what we had learned later in the week. I was able to share with my daughter some lessons I had learned in my life dealing with different aspects of integrity. This experience was a great thing to work on together. I appreciated the bonding that took place between us as we spent time talking about a spiritual matter." The daughter goes on to explain her experience. "I had the opportunity to reflect with my dad on my own standards and compare them with the world's standards. I seemed to notice Satan's power more and more as I looked at the world around me and saw so much evil. I prayed every morning and night and asked my Heavenly Father for special help to help me always remember to choose the right no matter how hard the situation. I have to say that times got tough and I had to turn my heart to the Lord with all my trust, but it is unbelievable the peace and joy I have felt inside when I know I have done the right thing. I testify that if you keep your integrity no matter how hard things get you have made the Savior happy. There is no greater blessing than that." A girl we'll call Sarah and her step-mom report, "Together, my step-mom and I chose to make an eating plan for me because I was trying out for the junior high basketball team." Her step-mom said, "Not only did we get her eating better, but I also made a special effort to encourage Sarah while she was trying out for the team. I would pick her up from practice and talk to her about how she felt she was doing in the workouts. Sarah did make the team, and we were all so proud." Sarah recalled, "This brought us closer together because it gave us something to talk about." And her mom reported, "And we found out that we had more things in common than we had thought. This was a great project and I am glad that Sarah and I worked on it together." Continue to encourage work in Personal Progress and remember that parents are always an important part of their daughter's progress. We hope you have ordered and are receiving the Personal Progress emblems for the Personal Progress Achievement Certificate. Make the presentation of the Personal Progress emblems for completing the work in a value a meaningful occasion. This can take place in Young Women on Sunday or at Mutual. After all, these Personal Progress emblems take the place of three pieces of jewelry. Many of your questions on Personal Progress are answered in the Guidebook for Parents and Leaders of Youth. I hope you have discovered this resource. FOR THE STRENGTH OF YOUTH For the Strength of Youth helps young women stand in holy places. In fact, the First Presidency promises that as youth "keep these standards and live by the truths in the scriptures, [they] will be worthy to go to the temple and to receive holy ordinances." They continue, "You will be able to do your life's work with greater wisdom and skill and bear trials with greater courage. You will have the help of the Holy Ghost. You will feel good about yourself and will be a positive influence in the lives of others. These blessings and many more can be yours." What marvelous promises. One stake president told me that a family is receiving the missionary discussions in his home and the daughter in that family was recently baptized. He gave the parents the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet and told them that this is the kind of material their daughter would now be exposed to and encouraged to live by. Another told me that they are giving For the Strength of Youth to all new converts in their stake so they understand the standards members of the Church are expected to commit to in their lives. Many families are using For the Strength of Youth as the basis of weekly Family Home Evening discussions. For the Strength of Youth is a clear, prophetic voice to youth in this day. For the Strength of Youth for my generation was more mild, so were the times. It stated, "A 'real lady' does not go out in public, to the market, or to shops with her hair in curlers." "Youth should never litter rest rooms, public buildings, or highways with papers, food or refuse." (For the Strength of Youth...LDS standards,1965, 8, 11) There was a real worry with the temptations we faced! The section on Clean Living stated in part: "The admonition of the Church is to uphold the sanctity of the body in accordance with the scriptures and the counsel of the General Authorities of the Church. Bodies are precious temples of the spirit given by the Eternal Father. Keeping this in mind, youth should live in a way that will enhance their purity as well as their personal appearance." (For the Strength of Youth...LDS standards,1965, 16) Today For the Strength of Youth teaches, and I quote: "When you obey God's commandment to be sexually pure, you prepare yourself to make and keep sacred covenants in the temple....In God's sight, sexual sins are extremely serious because they defile the power God has given us to create life. The prophet Alma taught that sexual sins are more serious than any other sins except murder or denyiing the Holy Ghost (see Alma 39:5). Before marriage, do not do anything to arouse the powerful emotions that must be expressed only in marriage. Do not participate in passionate kissing, lie on top of another person, or touch the private, sacred parts of another person's body, with or without clothing. Do not allow anyone to do that with you. Do not arouse those emotions in your own body. "Homosexual activity is a serious sin. If you find yourself struggling with same-gender attraction, seek counsel from your parents and bishop. They will help you." (For the Strength of Youth, 2001, 26-28) May we as leaders join with parents in using this inspired, plain, and powerful booklet to teach the youth very clearly the path they must follow in order to find happiness and peace in their lives. Living by these teachings will bring youth out of the world and into the kingdom. We are grateful for continuing revelation. We thank God for a living prophet. His promise for living lives of purity is that youth "can do the great work that lies before [them]." (For the Strength of Youth, 2001, 2) The First Presidency concludes their message to the youth by saying, "We pray for each of you....We pray that you will be worthy to carry on the responsibilities for building the kingdom of God and preparing the world for the Second Coming of the Savior." (For the Strength of Youth, 2001, 2) Another way of saying, "Stand ye in holy places and be not moved until the day of the Lord come." (D&C 87:8) GUIDEBOOK FOR PARENTS AND LEADERS OF YOUTH Mutual helps youth stand in holy places. This midweek youth meeting receives renewed emphasis in the Parents and Leaders Guidebook. This is a companion to the Church Handbook of Instructions [as are all the new youth materials] not a replacement to those policies and instructions. We are seeing enthusiasm from those who are following the instruction to have Mutual "at the same day, time, and place each week" (Guidebook for Parents and Leaders of Youth, 2001, 23.) and begin with a combined opening exercises for young men and young women together. After following this instruction for only two weeks, one ward reported that the attendance of the priests had doubled. Another Mutual reported 95 percent attendance the second week. Youth are coming to see that this is the place to be because they know that when they go to the church on the appointed night, at the appointed time each week, that others will be there too and there will be an experience worth coming for. One ward invited a Laurel to play a piano solo for opening exercises of Mutual. No one really knew that she played. It was an excellent way to encourage the develpment of talents. Everyone was enthusiastic in their response to her very fine performance. She had played a Beethoven number. When she finished, a leader stood up and extemporaneously told the youth briefly about the great composer Beethoven and how he had become deaf in his later years and they discussed the wonder and beauty of his composition. This little bit of music appreciation was painless and interesting for the youth, and valuable. On page 223 of the Church Handbook of Instructions and page 22 in the Guidebook for Parents and Leaders of Youth, there is a discussioin about planning a balanced activity program for the youth. Work with the Young Men presidency in planning meaningful, worthwhile Mutual activities. I would just like to address four of those areas. Music The Church Handbook of Instuctions page 218 talks about a ward Young Women music director. It has not been the tradition to have a music director for Young Women as we do in Primary, Relief Society, and all the other organizations. This has been to the detriment of music among the teenagers. Music directors can train young women to conduct hymns and accompany. They can also form youth choirs or smaller groups including duets, quartets, etc. She can bless young men as well as young women at Mutual. Discuss this with Young Men leaders. Drama Some wards or stakes have performed commercially available presentations. Such productions can involve every young person in a chorus or with speaking parts. Some stakes have written their own. Youth can rehearse for four to six weeks during Mutual time. We have seen this done with great success. We encourage roadshows (short, original musical plays or skits teaching a gospel principle) where everyone is involved in some aspect including performing, lighting, staging, etc. These activities can all be rehearsed on Mutual nights. Speech We know of a year-long activity which was designed to help youth develop in the area of speech. During the year prior to a culminating event, a stake speech specialist had been assigned to work with the youth to familiarize them in the different kinds of speeches and how to give a speech. The stake youth council also made a video for each of the wards of examples of good and bad speeches. A specialist was asked to be the speaker at the final event. She taught the youth the format that she uses professionally in giving a speech, then had everyone prepare a speech on the spot about their favorite hymn. She asked three or four youth to give their speeches to the congregation, then they were critiqued in a fun, non-threatening way. That night the youth also prepared speeches using their favorite scripture. The event was a great success, the youth enjoyed their time there, and it was not competitive in any way. Dance We have had reports of dance festivals being held on a multi-stake basis with great success in different locations around the world. The key to this event is having someone qualified who can teach various kinds of dances to the young people. Typically, they learn dances in their wards and rehearse them on Mutual night, and then come together to perform in a high school football field or other large facility. This is a great missionary and reactivation tool. It involves people to design and make constumes, write a script, choreograph and teach dances. The beauty of this activity, besides the sociality it provides, is that it teaches youth some of the dances such as the waltz, swing, or dances typical of their countries' culture. They then transfer this to other dances they attend. Mutual is a great place to invite those who are less-active or not members. It was just one year ago in the General Young Women Meeting that I invited each young woman to bring in one other young woman to full activity that year. I have heard of many experiences where this has happened and Mutual is invariably the place youth bring less-active or friends who are not members of the Church. I often visit with adult women who tell me of their experiences as teenagers where they were introduced to the Church at Mutual and subsequently became active members. Today one woman is the mother of six children, all returned missioinaries, all married in the temple. Another is the wife of a bishop, mother of eight children, all active and growing in the Church, another the wife of a General Authority and so the stories go. Truly, President Gordon, B. Hinckley spoke prophetically when he stated, "When we save a girl, we save generations. No one can foretell the consequences of faithfulness in the life of a young woman." (Ensign, September 1988, 10.) Please use the class presidencies. Allow, encourage, and teach them how to reach out to include every young woman in the class. Review with them their responsibilities as outlined in the Church Handbook of Instructions on pages 218-219 where it says, "Class officers care for each class member. They help her feel needed and loved. They pray for her, spend time with her, and become genuine friends. They also help class members establish close relationships with each other, learn leadership skills, and live the gospel. They plan a special welcome for each young woman as she enters the class. "Class officers have a speical responsibility to friendship new class members, less-active members, and members who have disabilities or other special needs." (Church Handbook of Instructioins, 1998, 218-219.) I saw an excellent example of how this can happen when I was at a youth conference fireside in another country. "Two young women stood before the audience to share an experience. One, Beatriz, had been fellowshipped by her Mutual class years earlier and had returned to full activity in the Church. The other, Brenda, had been the president of the class that encouraged Beatriz to return to the Church. "'One day about five years ago,' said Beatriz, 'a group of girls came to my house. I was surprised to see them because it was such a cold day. They brought me a basket of cookies and a letter. I've kept that letter ever since. this is what it says: "'Dear Beatriz, "Then Brenda addressed the group, telling her side of the story [as recorded in her diary]: "'In 1994 I was president of the Beehive class in our ward. We had a class meeting and decided to go find the girls who were not attending church. We made a list and thought about giving these girls some cookies. We went to work and made the cookies at my house and put them in baskets we had made ourselves. Then we made a card for each girl and went out to find them. It was a very cold winter day [and we were very nervous to do this], but we were filled with courage and love. Will you picture with me one young woman standing in holy places, and now look into the future and picture the generations that will follow her, see the lives she will influence. Please help young women catch such a vision of themselves. A LEADER'S INFLUENCE As a leader you can help young women stand in holy places. You are the key to everything we have discussed today. You, however, have not been through editing, correlation, approval by the Quorum of the Twelve and First Presidency, as Personal Progress and For the Strength of Youth have. You were not sent to your bishop or stake president in a nice big box with instructions. You, dear sisters, came from a far greater place and were designed by someone who is perfect. The scriptures tell us that we were taught in the heavens and our spirits came here prepared for the mission we were called to perform. "Even before they were born, they, with many others, received their first lessons in the world of spirits and were prepared to come forth in the due time of the Lord to labor in his vineyard for the salvation of the souls of men." (D&C 138:56) That is what you are doing. With this and more as your background, it is your joyful responsibility to help these young women "stand in holy places and be not moved until the day of the Lord come." Elder Ballard reminds us that "parents bear the first and greatest responsibility to teach their children principles of gospel living and good citizenship." (M. Russell Ballard, Ensign, November 1997, 37.) You have been called to assist parents in teaching them and helping them catch a vision of what they can become. How can you best do this? President James E. Faust said: "Why does the Church grow and flourish? It does so because of divine direction to the leaders and members....If worthy, we are entitled to receive revelations for ourselves, parents for their children, and members of the Church in their callings. But the right of revelation for others does not extend beyond our own stewardship." (James E. Faust, "Communion with the Holy Spirit," Ensign, Mar. 2002,4.) "'Every day leaders of the Church are led by revelation to conduct the affairs of the Church, general and local, throughout the world.'" (Ibid. 7. Quoting Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, 61.) Those who use this heavenly help are able to find ways to address their needs so very well. We may not know what to do, but the Lord always does. It is He to whom we should turn. By the power of the Holy Ghost a parent or a Young Women leader can know what to do and how to do it. This kind of customized help doesn't come without effort, however. It requires, first of all, being spiritually in tune with the Lord, being spiritually fit. We know the importance of being physically fit and what that requires. Being spiritually fit is ever more vital to our well-being. President Faust teaches us that a regular regimen of spiritual fitness would include some rules and guidelines that are necessary if we are "to be the recipient of revelation and inspiration. They include (1) to try honestly and sincerely to keep God's commandments, (2) to be spiritually attuned as a receiver of a divine message, (3) to ask God in humble, fervent prayer, and (4) to seek answers with unwavering faith." (James E. Faust, "Communion with the Holy Spirit," Ensign, Mar. 2002, 5.) By so doing we can tune ourselves to the quiet prompting of the Holy Ghost. We must each ask ourselves if we are living up to our privileges as members of this Church, including the privilege of personal revelation. Certainly we can run to the bookstore or click on the Internet or call a friend and come up with creative ideas for an activity, but is it tailored to meet the needs of the girls you have been called to serve? May we suggest that first of all we identify the need. To do this, listen to priesthood leaders, including the bishop or the stake president, as they share their concerns for young women. In addition, as a presidency, or as an adviser or a music leader, we ourselves must prayerfully consider the needs we see in the lives of the young women we are called to serve. We can also talk to parents and determine how we help them. That is how we identify the need. Then we apply the formula President Faust outlined as we take this need to our Father in Heaven. It is my testimony that He answers our prayers. He will help us succeed in our callings because He cares about us and He cares about the young women. He more than cares, He loves, and He provides. In conclusion, may I express our sincere gratitude to you for all that you do. Thank you for trying so hard to tune yourself with Heaven. May the Lord bless you for all the time you give, for all the love you give, and for all the marvelous truths that you teach. Most of all, thank you for being a model of worthy womanhood--for who you are is your most powerful message. We pray for you that you may be found standing in holy places and that young women will see in you a woman of faith, one who honors the priesthood and loves the Lord, who magnifies the exquisite gifts of womanhood, a woman who puts family first, and who finds her greatest joy and happiness in living the gospel. May He help you to truly teach with inspiration, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. |
|
Home |
Products |
Product Order Form |
Product Ideas |
Related Links |
Free Clipart |
Young Women |
Primary |
Sunni Hollow |
Newsletter |
Specials |
Catalog |
Contact Us
|