Progress on Personal Progress!: 2012

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

For the Strength of Youth

Choice and Accountability, Goal #2 includes the reading of the pamphlet For the Strength of Youth. (This was the goal suggested by the online Enhanced Young Womens Manual 1, to accompany the lesson on resisting sin.) To help encourage this goal, I sent out the following letter on facebook and announced this in Young Women meeting. I am sending out facebook messages everyday to those who signed up and email addresses to those who prefer it. It's helping me to review the pamphlet as well. I copy and paste all the words from the lds.org website in one section everyday, and am including the link at the bottom, in case they'd like to read the extra articles or scriptures, etc. I've had a good response so far. =)

HERE IS THE LETTER I SENT OUT:

Hi all girls, Moms, and Leaders of YW!

****Reply to this if you'd like to take part in it--even if it's later--I will tailor it to you!!!!****
SINCE ALL OF US ARE ELIGIBLE TO WORK ON PERSONAL PROGRESS, I HAVE THE FOLLOWING OFFER TO EXTEND TO EACH OF YOU!! [=)] (Some of you have already accepted--so this is just so you have a copy of the goal.)=) All you have to do is reply to this, or send me your email.

Here is the goal we are focusing on currently (Choice and Accountability #2):

Read the pamphlet For the Strength of Youth. List in your journal each standard of righteous behavior the pamphlet outlines, and record why it is important to choose to live those standards. Practice living righteous standards by choosing three standards in which you need to improve. You might choose to be more selective about television, music, books, or other media, or you might improve your modesty, language, or honesty. After three weeks share your progress with your family, your class, or a leader.

TO MAKE IT EASIER, I WOULD LIKE TO SEND THE FOR THE STRENGTH OF YOUTH PAMPHLET TO YOU IN DAILY SECTIONS, SO THAT IT IS EASIER TO READ. THIS WILL TAKE 21 DAYS, BUT THEN WE WILL ALL HAVE IT READ, RIGHT??

I FEEL THAT THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT GOAL!!!!!

Let me know if you'd like to participate, and please encourage your daughters to do so!!!
Love, Christy

Oh, and here is the link to the online version. Remember it was re-written for 2012! [=)] https://www.lds.org/youth/for-the-strength-of-youth?lang=eng

For the Strength of Youth - Morality Standards for LDS Youth
www.lds.org
For the Strength of Youth program and resources for young men and young women of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

For the Strength of Youth - Morality Standards for LDS Youth

www.lds.org

For the Strength of Youth program and resources for young men and young women of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Monday, April 16, 2012

Completing the Goal for Virtue #3 (could be done in a YW activity)

Here is the goal: 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.

Here are the questions (copied directly from the Book of Mormon on lds.org):

1. have you sufficiently retained in remembrance the captivity of your fathers?
2. have you sufficiently retained in remembrance his mercy and long-suffering towards them?
3. And moreover, have ye sufficiently retained in remembrance that he has delivered their souls from hell?
4. were they destroyed?
5. were the bands of death broken, and the chains of hell which encircled them about, were they loosed?
6. on what conditions are they saved?
7. what grounds had they to hope for salvation?
8. What is the cause of their being loosed from the bands of death, yea, and also the chains of hell?
9. did not my father Alma believe in the words which were delivered by the mouth of Abinadi?
10. And was he not a holy prophet?
11. Did he not speak the words of God, and my father Alma believe them?
12. And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God?
13. Have ye received his image in your countenances?
14. Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?
15. Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you?
16. Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?
17. I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?
18. Or do ye imagine to yourselves that ye can lie unto the Lord in that day, and say—Lord, our works have been righteous works upon the face of the earth—and that he will save you?
19. Or otherwise, can ye imagine yourselves brought before the tribunal of God with your souls filled with guilt and remorse, having a remembrance of all your guilt, yea, a perfect remembrance of all your wickedness, yea, a remembrance that ye have set at defiance the commandments of God?
20. I say unto you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands? I say unto you, can you look up, having the image of God engraven upon your countenances?
21. I say unto you, can ye think of being saved when you have yielded yourselves to become subjects to the devil?
22. I ask of you, my brethren, how will any of you feel, if ye shall stand before the bar of God, having your garments stained with blood and all manner of filthiness?
23. Behold, what will these things testify against you?
24. Behold will they not testify that ye are murderers, yea, and also that ye are guilty of all manner of wickedness?
25. Behold, my brethren, do ye suppose that such an one can have a place to sit down in the kingdom of God, with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob, and also all the holy prophets, whose garments are cleansed and are spotless, pure and white?
26. And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?
27. Have ye walked, keeping yourselves blameless before God?
28. Could ye say, if ye were called to die at this time, within yourselves, that ye have been sufficiently humble?
29. That your garments have been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ, who will come to redeem his people from their sins?
30. Behold, are ye stripped of pride?
31. Behold, I say, is there one among you who is not stripped of envy?
32. And again I say unto you, is there one among you that doth make a mock of his brother, or that heapeth upon him persecutions?
33. if ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd, of what fold are ye?
34. Behold, I say unto you, that the devil is your shepherd, and ye are of his fold; and now, who can deny this?
35. And this is not all. Do ye not suppose that I know of these things myself?
36. can ye withstand these sayings;
37. yea, can ye lay aside these things, and trample the Holy One under your feet;
38. yea, can ye be puffed up in the pride of your hearts;
39. yea, will ye still persist in the wearing of costly apparel and setting your hearts upon the vain things of the world, upon your riches?
40. Yea, will ye persist in supposing that ye are better one than another;
41. yea, will ye persist in the persecution of your brethren, who humble themselves and do walk after the holy order of God, wherewith they have been brought into this church, having been sanctified by the Holy Spirit, and they do bring forth works which are meet for repentance—
42. Yea, and will you persist in turning your backs upon the poor, and the needy, and in withholding your substance from them?
43. For the names of the righteous shall be written in the book of life, and unto them will I grant an inheritance at my right hand. And now, my brethren, what have ye to say against this?

Having them already printed up beforehand will save tons of time, and they can write their list on the back, or directly into their books (or online if they are signed into an LDS account and someone brings a laptop).

You could just read the questions and then have the girls think the answers in their heads, and pause to discuss any question you want, or explain it in reference to Alma's life and time. This is such powerful scripture! Love it!!

Then you could have some kind of refreshment with hearts, to emphasize the "mighty change of heart" part.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

"1" and "2" Will Get You Through!!

The Personal Progress book recommends at minimum to work on

1 Value Experience per month

and

2 ten hour Projects per year

That's it! And from age 12 to 18 it will get a girl all the way through the program. They can accomplish this!

Coordinating Personal Progress with Young Women lessons

I didn't know this when I started my calling, but the church has already lined up Personal Progress goal suggestions for each lesson in the manuals.

On lds.org, go to the click on the "menu" button and go to "study." From there click on "manuals" and then choose "Young "Women" on the left. This will bring you to page where the first manual is:

Young Women Manual 1 and Online Resource Guide

This above is the link, if you don't want to do all that. =)

Then open a lesson, and on the right hand side there are all kinds of awesome supplemental suggestions. The very last one usually is "Accept and Act," under which there is a link to Personal Progress goals associated with this lesson.

Here's how I apply that bit of knowledge:

Each week I print up the goals listed with a cute clip art (actual goals from the Personal Progress book, so they can start the goal without their book if they want) for each girl. I describe in opening exercises the goals listed, and have told the girls:

Listen to the Spirit and your heart. When one of the goals jumps out at you, work on that one.

I remind the girls what the Personal Progress book suggests: One Value Experience a month, and two 10 hour projects a year. That's not hard! And they will finish the program on time!

Here is a sample of what I pass out: (and I always add a cute little clip art for fun) and make enough copies for all, like I already mentioned.

DIVINE NATURE #3: Make your home life better. For two weeks make a special effort to strengthen your relationship with a family member by showing love through your actions. Refrain from judging, criticizing, or speaking unkindly, and watch for positive qualities in that family member. Write notes of encouragement, pray for this family member, find ways to be helpful, and verbally express your love. Share your experiences and the divine qualities you’ve discovered with that family member or with a parent or leader.

How ever you promote it, remember that the Personal Progress program is inspired of the Lord to help His daughters become what they need to become in these years. It will help them to know how much He loves them.

I LOVE PERSONAL PROGRESS!!

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Book of Mormon Reading Charts

I have really encouraged reading the Book of Mormon this year, since they have to read it completely through to pass of their "Virtue Value Project." To help them, I gave them a reading chart that I made. See this chart below and other links to other resources/charts, and another chart I made to start in April.

I often put at the top of this Rose Chart "My testimony will bloom as I read the Book of Mormon" before I copy it.

Enjoy! I hope this is helpful. I don't mind (I even encourage) use of things that I have created to help forward the work of the Lord. The only thing I mind is if you use my creations (written or pictures) to increase your own personal revenue.

A String Around Your Finger Remember to Read the Book of Mormon

I did a commercial today in Young Womens to promote the Book of Mormon project (the Virtue Value project).

I prepared before hand a string with a loop to put around my finger, but also this loop was tied to a Book of Mormon I was hiding in a bag. I proceeded to tell the girls that I had another infomercial (and then proceeded to explain what an infomercial was to the youngest ones). Then I said something like this:

"Everyone knows that a string tied around your finger helps you remember something. For today only, strings to remember your Book of Mormon reading are a very reasonable price!"

(Then I pulled the loop above the bag so that they couldn't see it was connected to the Book of Mormon, and stuck it on my finger.)

"See, the string is a very good reminder." (Then I pulled the whole Book of Mormon out by the string.) "When you are brushing your hair in the morning..."(I awkwardly pretended to brush my hair here, with the Book of Mormon hitting me in the head) "...you will remember to read your Book of Mormon!"

"And when you text your friends..." (I grabbed my phone and tried to text with the book in the way) "...it will remind you to read your Book of Mormon!"

"And when you take a test in school..." (I mimicked writing on a piece of paper, and adjusting the book out of my way, and then suddenly I pretended to notice it.)

"...it will remind you to..."

(I chanted it here, almost inviting them to join in by my tone...)

"...READ YOUR BOOK OF MORMON!!!"

"So, call now 1-800-read your Book of Mormon, to receive your handy string today!"

(Then I pulled out some pre-tied strings to pass around, without the book attached, and said)

"Here are your strings! (Book of Mormon not included)!"

Infomercials are always good for some giggles!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Promoting Personal Progress

I have been put in charge of Personal Progress in my ward (as well as teach the Beehives) and thought I'd share some of the things I've done.

PERSONAL PROGRESS COMMERCIALS

I dearly love the idea of someone I've never met (I read a post she left on a website)who suggested that you can do "commercials" to promote Personal Progress. (A shout out to Jyetta, where ever you are--Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this idea!!!)

So I try to do a commercial about once a month for Personal Progress (Hey, it works for T.V., right?)

The following are commercials I've done:

THE UN"FROG"ETTABLE YEAR

I've been promoting the reading of the Book of Mormon for completing the Virtue Value Project this year, since it January. Here is my commercial

I actually sang them a song I came up with before church:

Don't "frog"et to read!
Don't "frog"et to read!
In your Book of Mormon
Don't "frog"et to read.

It fills all your needs,
If it's words you heed.
Daily Book of Mormon
Don't "frog"et to read!

Then I passed around a basket of frogs for them to choose from slips of paper with the message printed above.

(The reading schedule I am encouraging is a chapter a day, or 2 pages a day, both of which with get you through the Book of Mormon in September.)

CHRISTMAS BREAK COMMERCIAL

(To the tune of Deck the Halls)

Deck the Halls for Christmas Break

fa la la la laaaa la la la la!

How much progress can you make?

fa la la la laaaa la la la la!

You'll have time you might get bored.

fa la la la la la la la la LA!

PERSONAL PROGRESS is it's own reward!

fa la la la laaaa la la la la!

INFOMERCIAL (with the help of a lovely volunteer Young Woman to showcase the Young Womens medallion.)

(This one really is Jyetta's idea, but since she didn't add text, I made it up and presented it like this:)

Home Shopping Network: (Put up a Home Shopping Network sign)

"Next up on the Home Shopping Network is a MUST HAVE item—this gorgeous Young Women's Personal Progress Medallion! Available in silver or gold, this little beauty will look great with any outfit. It is the height of fashion and never goes out of style because it is CELESTIAL! Like a diploma on the wall, it represents years of hard work. How many years would you pay for this priceless item? 10 years, 20 years? Now it can be yours for the low price of only 6 years of goal setting!!! That's only ONE value goal per month, and ONE project every 6 months. Sound reasonable? It's THAT easy!! Just one goal a month, and one project every six months (that's two projects a year) and this gorgeous necklace can be YOURS!!

And THATS NOT ALL!! This necklace comes with a sense of accomplishment, and increased understanding of being a daughter of God. How much would you pay NOW for it? And the next (pretend to count girls in the room) 17 girls or leaders who work on a goal THIS WEEK will also receive greater faith in the gospel and an increased understanding of service in the church! How much would you pay NOW??? 15 minutes of your time?? One hour? 5 hours?

Remember, the Queen of England cannot buy one of these beauties! Bill Gates wife (does he have one?) cannot buy one of these priceless necklaces!! Only you through your consistent efforts can obtain one! Remember: one goal a month and two projects a year.

Just call the toll free number 1-800-PROGRESS (Hold up sign with #) Once again that's

1-800-P.R.O.G.R.E.S.S. It's that simple!!!

SOMETHIN' IN A PUMPKIN

This is a jazzy little number to do at Halloween time, including snapping and a little rhythm. I did this with 3 girls who volunteered to help the week before; it was fun!

Somethin' in a Pumpkin

I heard that there is somethin' in a pumpkin

*Somethin' somethin' somethin' in a pumpkin*

It's really great, this somethin in a pumpkin*

Somethin' somethin' somethin' in a pumpkin*

Better than all the gold in the world

*Somethin' somethin' somethin' in a pumpkin*

It can be ours this somethin in pumkin

*Somethin' somethin' somethin' in a pumpkin*

LET'S SEE

(Pull the next pumpkin out of the pumpkin)

What do you know it's a pumpkin in a pumpkin