8 Lessons Learned from serving as Young Women President...

Lesson #1:  A call to be the ward Young Women President is a call to love, teach, and be an example.

Lesson #2: The Lord has given tools to teach you what to teach your young women. 

•  Scriptures
• General Conference
• Handbook
• Temple
• Your patriarchal blessing. 

Lesson #3:  Let your life be guided through Personal Progress. Let the girls know what goals you are working on and when you accomplish them.  Let them pass off your goals.  It is their program, but you can inspire them as you do it.

Lesson #4:  Build their testimony in the Savior, not in you.  Here is an example of why I say this… Komiko was my first investigator that I found and taught on my mission.  We had a great relationship right off.  I felt quite accomplished as a missionary because of how great we got along.  She faithfully attended church, called to chat with me every evening.  We became best of friends.  I actually thought my companion was a bad missionary because she did not get along with her as I did.  When I asked if she would be baptized she smiled and said, “If you want me to!” She was baptized the next week.  Soon after that I found out I would be transferred.  At that time in my mission, they didn’t allow missionaries to write to previous investigators.  Leaving meant a true goodbye. Komiko and I had a teary farewell, but I promised her to visit before leaving Japan.  Almost a year later I was transferred back into that area. I immediately called Komiko.  After talking to her for a while, I realized she was completely removed from the church.  When I asked her why, she said what I will always remember, “I only went because you were there. When you left, there was no reason for me to go.”  I realized I had converted her to our friendship and not to Christ, His gospel or church.  Through that very sad experience, I learned a valuable lesson that I will never forget and has been the base for my time in Young Women’s.

 If the Girl's relationship with me is stronger than their relationship with the Savior, I have failed.  I am to be a conduit to help them know Him better.

 Lesson #5:  Write down insights you learn along the way.  You will be guided.  First teach your counselors the insight you gained and the work you did to get it, then (along with them) teach it to the girls.  Actively teaching the revelation you gain will open you up to receiving more.

Lesson #6:  Meetings are not just a duty, but an opportunity for a revelatory experience. ~Russell M. Ballard.  Everyone's time is valuable.  Make sure you are coming spiritually prepared to "feed" them, and ask them to come ready to receive revelation.  When those two happen, wonderful things will happen in both your presidency and in your current group of young women.

Lesson #7:  Give your family the best you have, just as you are giving to the young women.  If you are making something cute or yummy for your young women, make a little extra for your family.  If the time you are spending with the young women is making you too tired to enjoy your husband and kids, practice delegating some of the things that you don't have to do.

Lesson #8  You will have weeks that your calling will make your testimony and spirit soar and strengthen you in ways you cannot believe. You never know when exactly that will happen, but understand that Satan does not want you or the girls to have those experiences.  He will do everything possible to make you not go.  Go anyway.

Lesson #9:  Plan and prepare as if your life depended on it, but be as flexible as if you don’t have a care in the world.

 Lesson #10:  Have fun and Be fun.  If you aren't having a good time, the girls probably aren't either.  Reach out.  Smile. Visit.  Hug.  Laugh.  And smile some more.   It will be all right.  As President Gordon B. Hinckley said, "Carry on.  Things will work out.  If you keep trying, and praying and working, they will work out.  They always do."

__________Quotes___________

Let us sound the call today to revive the old profession of lamplighters. Let us each pick up our torch and illuminate the sacred histories, the eternal truths that divine providence has bestowed on us. Let us have the faith and courage of Nephi, roll up our sleeves like Ben Franklin, and “go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded.” May we be prepared and ready with pride and thanksgiving with the comforting knowledge that we have made a worthy contribution to safeguard and protect divinely inspired principles.                                                        ~L. Tom Perry

If we are going to criticize how something is done,, we must offer a positive alternative.

                                                                   ~ Rand Packer

Pray to know: Why me? Why now? Why Here?      ~Ardith Kapp

Bloom where you are planted.   ~VT Conf. 2004

The church is a church of inclusion not exclusion.  Invite, invite, invite.
   ~ President Walker; Stake Auxiliary mtg.

Blessings are predicated upon obedience to principles of the gospel.  Teach the principles, and the blessings that will follow.

Tell your life stories.  What have they taught you?  How have they brought you to a good place? 

Take them by the hand and watch over them with much tenderness             ~Joseph Smith Jr

To build trust with a person you must have Frequent, Personal, Positive, and Low Risk experiences.

-Hank Smith

Never teach the same thing in the same way for more than 7 minutes. ~ Cynthia Weiss

Remember:  We believe in handouts.                                                   ~ Kevin Miller
 

If we are to prosper rather than perish, we must gain a vision of ourselves as the Savior sees us.                 ~O. Vincent Haleck

----

Favorite quick-treat recipe 

Fill a ½ baking sheet with Cheerios.  Top with M& M’s. 

In a sauce pan bring to a boil:

2 cups Sugar

2 cups Karo Syrup

       Boil one minute. Remove from heat then add:

2 cups Peanut Butter

Pour the sauce over the Cheerios

 

 

Run for your Life...

Running is more than exercise.  I believe running is the answer to many of my life’s complications.  My philosophy actually began 20 years ago when a friend suggested I make a list of 100 things I want to do before I die.  These lists are common now, but at the time they were unusual.  In a moment of desperation, ‘run a marathon’ became #90 on my list.  Number 90 stayed with an empty checkbox next to it for 18 years.  Two years ago, realizing that if I was going to place a check mark on #90, it would need to be sooner than later.  I began running simply to move toward checking  #90 off my list.  In the process, running became much more than a check box and these are just a few.. 

1.      Running is my psychiatrist.  Grouchy, gloomy, or even feelings of grief are softened if not handled with a good run.  By the end, my mood is elevated to something closer to gratitude.  Life seems manageable, and I feel more competent and capable to conquer the day.  If a problem can’t be worked out with an hour of running, then I say it should simply be shelved with other “unsolvable” issues.

2.      Running is my medic. High blood pressure and elevated pulse was invented by my family.  Six months after beginning my running adventure a doctor deemed my heart to be a “slow, steady, runner’s heart” with none of those negative family traits present.  Many people worldwide are noticing health benefits that runners enjoy.  Some say they visit the doctor less.  Others have even made the bold statement that people who run reduce their risk of cancer by nearly 30 percent.1  Add all that to reports that running boosts immunity and my running shoes have become the best medicine in my cabinet.

3.      Running is bonding.  In a race there may be a healthy dose of competition, but out on the road there is a general comradery. I have yet to encounter another runner without some word of encouragement or cheer.    When I began running, I joined a group made up of mostly beginners who were preparing for a high mountain relay.  The common goal, the weekly group runs, the preparation for the race all culminated in bonding us together as lifelong friends.   Yes, running bonds and unifies both friends and strangers.

4.      Running increases beauty.  I dare to say that most people prefer to have a healthy glow.  Running will cause you to sweat, and while that may be unpleasant to some, perspiration pushes impurities out of your pores.  My daughter found this benefit when she began running.  Clearer skin is hers during cross country season.  Beauty may be only skin deep, but healthy skin is the key to beauty.

5.      Running is good for my soul.   Few things beat the feeling I get when I settle into a good stride with a steady rhythm.  When I run, concerns in my mind and tensions in my body seem to melt away.  It leaves me more prepared for the rest of my day. 

soul.

The modern-day prophet, Joseph Smith, was inspired to write in 1833 that a show of good health is to “run and not be weary”2.  Although some days every part of me feels weary before and during a run, I always feel better after. What started out as a way to place a check mark in #90’s box, has become so much more.  I believe in running; running towards a better me.

Notes:

1.  Reynolds, G. (2014, July 30). Running 5 Minutes a Day Has Long-Lasting Benefit. Retrieved from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/30/running-just-5-minutes-a-day-has-long-lasting-benefits/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

2.  (Doctrine and Covenants 89:20)

 

Glass Jars and Life...

While walking and talking with my very wise group of friends, one commented, “Life is like a storage room full of glass jars.  Some jars come pre-filled, but for the most part, we get to choose what we put in our jars of life.” 

 

 

 Our lives are a gift from God.  He gave it to us ready to fill it up.   Our lives will be filled with something.  Time does not stand still.  We choose what we will be. 

 

The ancient prophet Nephi "The Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 17"  filled his "life jars" with great things, like providing for his family,  gratitude, hope for the future, loving God and serving Him.

 

Sometimes filling our "life jars" takes a lot of work (like schooling , being missionaries, Eagle Scouts, or receiving the YW Recognition), but those are good things that bless our future self and others around us.

 

What about our attitudes?  How does this effect the contents in our jar?   My opinion is that when we have negative attitude about something it puts a dark  putrid smelling stain on the outside of our jars.  It contaminates it so we can't see the beautiful things we have put into the jars and it smells so no one even wants to be in the room with the jars.  Positive attitudes have an opposite effect.  These clean and brighten every jar that comes close to them making it easier to see the beauty and it smells divine!  All who are within range of a positive attitude want to stay because it feels so good.  We even want to be like them.

 

Kirk Astel put together a short video about the power of attitudes shown in the book of Nephi. 

You can view it here.

 The questions we should ask ourselves every day are these….

1. What will I fill my glass jars up with today?
2. What will be my attitude be while I am filling them?

Do you want to know my answers? 

For my answer to #1?  I am filling my jars with smiles and service.  For #2, I am working to fill my jar up with hope and happiness. 

 

I "hope" you will join me.

 

One more thing about these glass jars.  The contents are constantly changing.  If we fill them up good today, it will do us GREAT GOOD now and will help us later, but we have to continue filling them with good things for it to do us the MOST GOOD later.