The Importance of Good Healthy Habits

My first activity as a newly called leader of Activity Days was one that I think is very important. It was based on eating healthy and being active. Here is my tie in for the YW program and Personal Progress-this falls under the value Knowledge as an idea for the value project or even under the requirement #2 of that same value. For the Faith in God program, this falls in under the Developing Talents section. Win win!

We started out with the girls each picking a food item. Now some of these items were healthy and some were of the sinful variety like chocolate chip cookies (YUM!). We had the girls look at the labels and we talked about serving sizes and calories and carbs and sodium and the like. We then talked about eating a balanced meal and how we can have the not so good stuff in moderation but our diets shouldn't be made up of junk food. We talked about how our bodies are temples and just like going into the temple and having to be worthy to enter, we need to make sure we are putting "worthy"   food into our "temples" and that along with eating right we need to exercise and keep our bodies active. 

So now we moved on to the active part of the night, we took the girls into the gym/cultural hall and ran some relays and some quick minute to win it type games that are more based on movement. The girls loved this and it was quite fun to watch them as they started to cheer everyone on. For refreshments we had some fresh fruit and veggies along with some water.

Here are some links to Nutrition Info:

eatright.org/resource/food/nutrition/nutrition-facts-and-food-labels/the-basics-of-the-nutrition-facts-panel

http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/LabelingNutrition/ucm274593.htm

I Am Back!!

OK...so not back in the sense that I have been recalled to the young women's organization but I am back and ready to get my ideas posted for all of you lovely leaders who are or have been missing my ideas. 

I am going to be completely honest with you on my absence from the blogging scene. Yes, it is true that I have been EXTREMELY busy with school work and my new Sunday School calling oh and my laptop was having some serious charging issues (but after 3 LONG FRUSTRATING hours...I finally got it fixed...even though I had to take it completely apart). These,even though they are valid excuses, were really just a front to what I had been feeling inside. 

You see I had loved being in the YW's...first as an assistant camp director and then two years as Camp Director and then a little over a years worth of being the 2nd Counselor in the presidency. I had felt that it wasn't my time to released (and still to this day I still question that choice) and I did hold some bitterness. I guess keeping this particular blog up to date was a little hard and a constant reminder of what I was doing. However, I have swallowed my get over it pill, pulled up my big girl undergarments and have just learned that being able to maintain this blog and help those of you who are in need of assistance or ideas. 

Thank you all for your patience and understanding...but I am back and I am going to do my best to stay up with you guys!

So for my first post back, I thought I would share this story with you that I got in my email this morning from LDS Living.

(Picture taken from article site listed below in the link-1965 Cover)

"For the Strength of Youth" Over the Years

It is an interesting short read on how this wonderful pamphlet/book came about and the different changes that it has over gone over the years. I thought that since they book has been updated and some minor changes have been made to it. This would make for some type of mutual activity or game to introduce the new book!

Click HERE to be taken to the article.

Deep Beauty

Such a wonderful reminder and message. I loved it the moment I started watching so I wanted to share it with you all. Sister Dalton gives an amazing talk that inspired the video. Click HERE to read the talk (there is a link provided) or to share/learn more.

The new For The Strength of Youth

It is so great to be back and get a chance to catch up on all the wonderful things I need to get posted. I love winter break!!!

Photo taken from HERE

So I know that there have already been several sites/blogs that have posted about the new changes in the FSOY booklet. So I am not going to get to much into it on here but I wanted to share some info and the link on where you can find these changes and get a pdf copy of the new book. Although you should note that all of the youth and I am hoping the leaders too, will be getting a new booklet shortly after the first of the year, but if you cant wait, click HERE to be taken to the FSOY website at youth.lds.org

For more information from the church on this exciting announcement, click HERE. 

Good Health Habits

Lesson #38 from YW Man. 3...its on the word of wisdom. The first part of the handout comes from the FSOY booklet while the quote comes from suggested talks given on the FSOY website under Physical Health.

Paper and element credit goes to Steadfast and Immovable.

Click HERE for download (set of four pdf)

Can I Just Say

I LOVE THIS LADY!! I know, I know I am posting another video yet again. I just can't help it...I LOVE her stuff!!

This video is on virtue and modesty...a must see and possibly a great help for future lessons and/or activities.

Click HERE to share the video or to watch other Jenny Philips videos.

Marriage Standards

Here is the handout for lesson 36 from the Young Women Manual 3 for Marriage Standards. One of my clever leaders came up with this idea (as a book mark) and I just adapted to what you see down below. 

As most of us are aware, the church has created a resource manual for each of the lessons so that there is current words from our leaders that benefit the girls we teach today. One of the talks that was listed that our leader used was a talk given by Elder Hales (which you can find HERE). I thought that this was a clever way to relate the path that our young women are on to head towards the temple. If they don't know where they want to go now and start making the choices that are needed to help them get there, then like the Cheshire Cat says, it doesn't matter which way you go. Enjoy!!

Click HERE for PDF download set of 4

Let's talk about dating....

Hello everyone...sorry for the delay...everything seems to be working just fine now...what a crazy weekend it has been. So I am finally posting some of lesson 35 from the YW Manual 3 handouts that I used for my lesson (still working on one...road signs are giving me a lil trouble but hopefully that will be up soon). 

To being my lesson I brought in some cookies for an object lesson. Now these were not just any cookies. They were my favorite recipe for chocolate chip cookies. This recipe makes a huge amount of cookies (like 12 dozen depending on size) so I took a about a 1/4 of the dough and I added half a bottle of curry...followed by half a bottle of cumin, then, not to be out done, I added 1/4 to a 1/2 cup of salt. Yes, I intentionally meant to do this!  Of course I then added some chocolate/white chips to it. 

 Don't these cookies look YUMMY?!? Guess again...it was a good thing I had some glasses and water near by. The looks that my fellow leaders and the girls had were priceless!!! I have been dubbed mean and am no longer trusted with food in my lessons (see the peanut lesson on consecration and sacrifice.. 28 i think).

These cookies were made into an analogy of dating...some guys look good on the outside but on the inside..they are not so great or there are a lot of "cookies" in the world...some good and some bad....which one do you hope to find?

So for some things that I used for my lesson, I used a picture that was circulating a lot on the net lately and came from sugardoodle with the saying "if this ain't your castle...you ain't my prince" and of course the castle being the temple.

Another resource I used was the mormon messages for youth "Chastity: what are the limits?"  For handouts I used a road map (which is the one I hope to have up soon), a talk given by a former bishop in our area (Click HERE for word doc.) and then I gave them a bag with a good cookie that had a treat topper with the saying what kind of cookie do you want?

Click HERE for pdf-4 to a sheet

"13th Night"

As promised from the short little blurb that I wrote last night from my phone, I am posting the details of last nights mutual activity.

The theme for the night was Being in the World but Not of the World or simply known as the "13th Night." 

We started out with the girls all repeating this years mutual theme, the 13th Article of Faith. Our idea for the nights activity was on the last words of "if there is anything virtuous, lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy, we seek after these things" and Elder Oaks talk on Pornography (which can be found HERE).

We had our stake president come in and talk to the girls, he is also a professional counselor and has had experience in the effects that pornography causes, plus our girls really responded well to him when he talked at girls camp. 

We had the girls and leaders sit in a circle so it was a little more intimate and so the girls would feel comfortable asking questions or making comments. Our stake president started off with some points that he liked in Elder Oaks talk and then proceeded with some current statistics which are and were quite alarming....for example if we took all the money that is spent on pornography we we could fix the national debt with in weeks. Considering there is about $180,000,000.00 spent in 60 minutes on the filth. Scary isn't it? He also mentioned that one in seven females get solicited. Even scarier!! 

He also brought up some great stories from the scriptures to drive his point. He used the story of David and Bathsheba (how thoughts turn into actions and so forth) and then he talked about Joseph and Potifer's wife (sorry if I spelled those name wrongs) and how Joseph knew what was wrong and how he made a commitment to avoid the temptations. 

We talked a little from our discussions how thoughts and being modest affect the young men that our young women associate with.  How being strong and committed to doing what is right can help them if they found themselves in a situation that would compromise their virtue when on dates or what not. The girls made a lot of great points and it made it for a great night to address some concerns and issues that our youth are being forced to deal with in the world that they live in. 

Avoiding Dishonesty

Avoiding Dishonesty, lesson 34 from the YW Manual 3. 

Took my inspiration from the FSOY booklet. 

Click HERE for download

Paper credit goes to Hot Pink Pansy!

Service in the Community

Here is lesson 32 from the YW Manual 3- Service in the Community. Bookmark style handout with 3 to a page. 

Paper Credit goes to Plum Dumpling Designs from their 6 Bees Kit from the April LDS Blogtrain

Click HERE for download