Evening in Excellence

On the 16th we had our Evening in Excellence which is a celebration of our Personal Progress achievements through the year. This year we decided to go with a Superhero theme. It fit well with our mutual theme this year of "Be Strong and of a Good Courage" and also tied in with the For the Strength of Youth standards that we have been focusing on the last few months. We are so proud of our young women and the goals they have set and accomplished and the incredible people that they are!

Each young woman was asked to focus on one value where they had a meaningful experience this year. Sister Gray, one of our fabulous Personal Progress Advisors, arranged for each girl to have a cape and crown in a value color. We added a value shield on the back to complete our superhero look. We decorated the shields ahead of time and also displayed shields with our favorite or most meaningful experience this year. The Beehive, Mia Maid and Laurel classes took turns coming to the front while wearing their value cape and talked about how they show their strength and courage through the power of their chosen value. It was awesome to hear everyone's experiences. We also got to have messages from Alaynah and Maddy, who both received their Young Womanhood Medallions this year, which motivated us to keep going with Personal Progress. Brother Jones and Sister Bird talked about the importance of the Personal Progress program. At the end of the program, the young women recited the theme together, but focused on individuals words for greater meaning.

italics=slow
bold=with emphasis

We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we love Him.
We will "stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things,
and in all places" as we strive to live
the Young Women values, which are:
Faith
Divine Nature
Individual Worth
Knowledge
Choice and Accountability
Good Works
Integrity
and Virtue.
We believe as we come to accept and act upon these values,
we will be prepared to strengthen home and family, make and keep sacred covenants,
receive the ordinances of the temple, and enjoy the blessings of exaltation.

Laurel President, Faithful Natalie

Sister Clark and Divine Alaynah

Kaycee, Individual Worth

Our newest Beehive, Maddy, already doing Good Works!

Virtuous Keeley

Juliana . . . serious about fighting for Divine Nature

Jessica, Good Works

Sam . . . isn't her shield awesome! Her focus was Individual Worth

Amy, Choice and Accountability

Jayden, Knowledge

Jasmine, Choice and Accountability

Paytene, Divine Nature

Jannelle . . . fighting for Integrity

Eagle Project

We were excited to help Denver work on his Eagle project by putting together Emergency Preparedness Kits that will be distributed to everyone in the neighborhood. We had a lot of support from the youth in the ward and got it done in no time. Thanks to Denver and his family for the yummy treats as well.

Juliana, Paytene and Tristan. Happy Birthday to Juliana who turned 13!

Tyler

Tristan

Sam and her Mom

Natalie and Jannelle

Michael and Danny

Kynz and Chandi

Keeley, Austin and Caitlyn

Kaycee

Jessica

James

Patch giving Braden a . . . love tap?

Allie, Caitlyn and Braden

Allie and Sister Salisbury. Check out Allie's smile . . . look, no braces!!

Look what Michael had in his pocket . . . nice job!!!

Standards Night: Faith Factor

A few weeks ago as part of our Standards Night activities we had a Faith Factor challenge. We divided into three different groups and as Brother Tilby asked a question from the For the Strength of Youth book, they were challenged to get the exact answer correct first. The winning team got an automatic 10 points. The two remaining teams got to compete in a serious of challenges, from athletic to food, for the chance to get 5 points. The losing team did not get any points. This was a great way to dig into what we believe with the For the Strength of Youth from our church leaders.

Natalie, Sam and Jessica ready to rumble

Tristan, Kaycee, Caitlyn, Allie, Denver and Kyle

Jayden, Maddy, Alaynah and Braden

Maddy and Braden battling it out in a basketball free throw challenge


Tristan and Tyler competing in the tie-tying contest. This was surprisingly harder than we thought it would be. The knot actually had to move up and down and not just be a knot.


Kaycee and Paytene competing in the whipped cream eating contest

This was also the night when Maddy extended the challenge to the youth and the leaders to keep the For the Strength of Youth card with us at all times. We are working on that challenge through the end of the year as a reminder of our standards and striving to keep them at all times and in all places.

Favorite Scriptures

We had an awesome combined meeting this Sunday where we each had the opportunity to share our favorite scripture, why we liked it and to testify of it. The spirit was strong and to help continue with that spirit, we wanted to share each person's scripture so you can look it up, read it, mark it (if you wish) and appreciate and remember the person whose favorite it is.

Brother Libberton - 1 John 4:8 (above Love)
Patch - D&C 1:37-38 and 20:53-55
Jason B - D&C 10:5 (pray when tempted)
Natalie - D&C 25:12 (hymns like prayers)
Maddy - 3 Nephi 22:11-17 (Heavenly Father is on our side)
Tyler - D&C 64:23 (Tithing)
Alaynah - Psalms 82:6 (We are a child of God)
Chandi - 2 Nephi 10:23 (Be cheerful about the choices we make as we work to make it back home)
Sister Jones - Alma 31:3 (comfort in Christ)
Sister Bird - Helaman 5:12 (keyword is "if" . . . in a world of shifting values, the gospel is our anchor to the storms of life)
Sam - Omni 1:26 (Devote our whole soul)
Denver - Mormon 9:27 (Don't doubt)
Jayden - D&C 42:14
Amy B - D&C 6:7 (Seek not the things of the world)
Jannelle - D&C 76:22 & 24
Brother West - James 2:26 (With faith you can do anything)
Tristan - Proverbs 3:5-6 (Happiness)
Caitlyn - 3 Nephi 22:2 (God is why we are here)
Jessica - Luke 2:11 (Where it all began)
Brother Marriott - D&C 45:3-5 (Love of our Savior)
Brother Brown - D&C 10:4, Mosiah 4:27 (Overcome weaknesses)
Sister Hein - 3 Nephi 9:13-14 (Healer/Comforter)