The Word of God as a Standard

For the Young Women Manual 3 Lesson 37, The Word of God as a Standard, I prepared the following visual aids and handout.

To distinguish between Worldly Philosophies and Gospel Principles and Truths I created this table in order to discuss the topics one by one.

As we discuss the topics one by one, I prepared The Word of God as a Standard document for the youth to reference as we read and discussed them together. They are separated by the YW value colors.

Finally, I prepared this handout for the YW to take home.

None of the three Laurels that I teach attended this Sunday. So, I joined the Beehive class instead. In addition to using the Worldly Issue Poster, she used an orange with commandments written on it in permanent marker. She discussed how we are like the inside of that orange and when we follow those commandments that they help keep us afloat. Then, she placed the orange in a clear bowl of water to demonstrate that the orange floats while the peel representing those commandments is still surrounding the orange. After that she removed the peel and demonstrated how the orange now sinks to the bottom of the bowl. The commandments give us the ability, tools, and strength through our lives. (Idea found at Sugardoodle and described as follows: for an object lesson she had taken an orange and with a permanent pen wrote: chastity, temple marriage, pro-life, honesty, etc. She had a bowl of water and dropped the orange in it, after a second or two, it floated up!! She talked about the skin of the orange being kind of like a life jacket - keeping the orange a float - she likened this to the standards of our church. She then peeled the orange and asked the girls what they thought would happen if she put it back in the bowl - it sank of course! I thought this was a great object lesson for the girls that they could relate to. It was also good for them to hear each other talk about the differences between the world's view and ours. (Idea shared by Lynette Packard))

Scavenger Hunt

We had the most fun with this Scavenger Hunt. Even the adults wanted to join in. This is how it went. My counselor took pictures that morning of the building. She made sure to use items that would not move, would be there (like the cars), or they could access (meaning not using any rooms where classes would be taking place.) She made sure that within the picture there was enough information to distinguish between similar choices. For instance, the exit sign. It was the only one to the left of the door, rather than above the door. The outside windows, they were the only ones that had one smaller to the right of the larger with a bush, and so on. She did such a terrific job making us guess. I couldn't figure out how she took pictures of screwdrivers (see #2) that were even at the church and wouldn't be moved by that night. It turned out to be a New Era Mormonad behind the glass case/bulletin board. Do you know which one?

Here are the photos she took. She divided the girls into two teams. Each team had a different set of photos and a blank answer sheet numbered with numbers corrisponding with those in their set of pictures. The girls had so much fun running all over the building and outside of the building. It turned out only one item had been moved, which was the wood. She didn't realized that the YM were going to be using it that night and they had taken it.

Dating Basket

For the young women who are moving from Mia Maides to Laurels I created this dating basket. All of the contents are dating related. For instance, there is the Kissing Poem.

Then, there is the other fun stuff. (I had found this online) I didn't use them all. Here are the tags I used to make it.

1. Two dates (wrapped in saran warp) -"Double date, it's twice as fun."

2. Gum - "Eternity is a long time to be married, be Chewsy."

3. Small bar of soap - "Be morally clean - Keep yourself and your thoughts pure and clean."

4. Sucker - "Don't be a sucker for the temptations of Satan." OR Avoid all Immoral and Suggestive Materials and Entertainment - "Lick temptations! Don't participate in activities that aren't appropriate."

5. Ruler (or cut up measuring tape) - "How does he measure up? Choose now to only date young men who "Measure up" to high standards."

6. Eraser - "Repentance is like an eraser, it rubs out wrongs."

7. Hershey Kisses - "Save your hugs and kisses for someone special."

8. Tootsie Pop (with different color wrappers than the flavors) "Don't judge by outward appearances."

9. Frog Sticker or plastic toy frog- "You have to date a lot of frogs before you find Prince Charming."

10. Ring Pops (or play rings) - "Beware of Imitations - Date young men who are honest in thought, word, and action."

11. Candle - "Let your light shine - be an example in your appearance, speech and actions."

12. Now & Later candy - "What you do 'now' will affect what happens 'later' - make temple marriage your goal."

I printed out 7 articles (enough to cover the seven YW values).

1. Celestial Dating
2. A Note To the Good Girls
3. How Can I Become the Woman of Whom I Dream
4. Preparing for an Eternal Marriage and Family
5. Q&A Dating Non-Members
6. Searching for the One You Will Marry
7. What Do Kisses Mean?

I folded them and put them into the Seed Template packets. I had to fold them four times length wise, then in half to fit them into the envelope.

Finally, there was the Candy Bar Men. I clipped them together using silver rings, a white ribbon and groom or bride wedding rings all found in the wedding section of Hobby Lobby.

Finally, I took little flowers, one each of the YW
value colors and tied them together with their own wires and placed them into the basket, too.

Visiting the Sick

For FHE this week we visited a dear friend who is recovering from surgery. We stopped by DQ on our way (made sure first what her diet restrictions were so that we didn't tease or dissappoint her) and enjoyed a nice treat and a visit with her.

Seed Packet Templates

This has been so fun. I'm in the process of creating a Laurel's basket for those YW who are moving up from Mia Maids and the focus will be on dating. This focus was chosen because girls become Laurels at the age of 16 when they can begin dating in groups. I thought to make a cute little "seed" packet to go along with a quote I had found. I had so much fun that I just kept making them and making them. Mostly I used clipart that I already had with a YW theme. I cannot remember where I found them. I will post all the Seed Packets as I am able. Here are a few to get started.

First Set
Faith
Divine Nature
Individual Worth
Knowledge
Choice and Accountability
Good Works
Integrity

Second Set
Faith
Divine Nature
Individual Worth
Knowledge
Choice and Accountability
Good Works
Integrity

A Couple More Favorites
I will add them as I make more

Temple Marriage
Reap What You Sow
Reap What You Sow - Blank
6 YW Values - One page for each value
6 YW Values - one page covering all 6 - Having Fun

Dating Decisions - Candy Bar Men

Using So What Kind of Man do You Want to Marry? as my inspiration and guide (with the exception of the one I created myself to omit a gap) I created these "candy Bar Men" cards (4 per page) to print onto card stock, back to back. I will cut them into their respective four postcard sized info cards, punch little circles in the upper left corner and connect them with a little ring for the lesson this Sunday: Young Women Manual Three Lesson 35, Dating Decisions. There are four cards that I made for the beginning of the group. The first card will be the temple one, on the back of that will be the disclaimer. The next card will be the Ezra Taft Benson quote "Remember, Young Women..." and on the back of that will be the "Qualities that are important to me in a future husband" where the YW can list what they are looking for in their future spouse. These are always interesting and fun to look at years later. The wife of our current Stake President talked about what she had put on her list years ago. Among some important qualities, that he met, she also included something about him being a football player. He didn't meet that one. What fun this will be!

Ward Friendship Circle

A few years ago my family and I enjoyed getting to know the ward members better and building a closer relationship with them through this activity.

To begin with, I made this cute little circle using a poem that is often found on plates that folks are supposed to move from house to house, like a chain letter - but, it's a plate. Instead, I made a circle to remind them that we were thinking of them... and it is cute and I like to make things. I used clipart from programs that I had purchased at a LDS bookstore to put together the people around the circle.... this includes the word "WARD." For the name of the ward, using Microsoft Publisher, I added a word art and using the font "SnapITC", a shadow was added and the word was changed to the color orange and placed just above the word "ward." You can see that in the example above, but for the one that I am sharing below I removed it. I printed the circles onto purple paper, had them lamenated, and punched a whole in the top center for a suction cup. Finally, I cut them out using curvy scrapbooking sizzors.

For the activity I would make a homemade apple pie and we would grab some store-bought ice-cream and a game and show up at someone's house. There we would enjoy a dessert of pie and ice-cream and either visit or play the game we brought. I would give them the friendship circle, which was for them to keep - not share. It did invite them to do something nice for someone else, though. Showing up at someone's house uninvited worked most of the time. We still remember how one family kept insisting that they must have invited us and that they had forgotten and that we were just being polite about it. We always had a good time with the family we were visiting and we could always tell that they enjoyed it, too. So, all was well as the uninvited guests.

We really miss these outings. Maybe one day we will continue them. For now, I am happy to share with you our little "Ward Friendship Circle"