Card Games...Part 2

As promised here is the other came that I was telling you about. Please see previous post or part 1 to read a quick little note and to learn about SPAZ Uno.

So as mentioned before, some people have a problem with standard playing cards or poker cards as they are known as. If this describes you, you might want to stop reading now. 

Also, some might find the name of this game offensive, it was what I have known it as but it also has different names. I learned it as being called Egyptian Ratscrew but I have heard it called Egyptian War or ERS. Call it what you will... I won't judge ya.

However, because this game can be a bit confusing to some, I am going to send you to a link that explains this game perfectly. Please note, to make it simpler I have only played it with the Double Slap rule enforced. The website will give you other options you can add in as well but that is up to you. I like this game because its fun and no one is ever truly "out" because you can always slap in but again, its a player with all the cards wins. Enjoy!

Click HERE to be redirected to the rules of play.

Taken from Pinterest. Link followed to Wikihow.

Card Games Part 1

Man, I feel like I am on a roll today. I had a lot of inspiration while I was at work today and you guys are getting to reap the benefits of it. 

So these are a couple of games that I use to play in groups and the first game is one that I taught my girls up at girls camp when I was a fellow camper and then again a few years later when I was a leader. 

All you need for these games are a couple of decks of Uno cards and regular playing cards (one deck will do if you have a smaller group but you'll needs more than one if its a larger group. Also, with Uno cards unless they are different versions (like years that they were produced) they might look the same so you will want to mark one set a bit differently so that when you are cleaning up, you can get the right cards with the right deck.  Also, some leaders or camps might frown on having playing cards (you know poker style cards with face cards), we had a camp director one year that was staunchly against having those kind of cards around even though we played fun games with them. So please, no judgmental comments here-follow your camps rules, this is only a suggestion on some fun.

So the first game that is fun for all ages and requires the Uno cards is a game called SPAZ Uno. Player beware this game can get intense and painful because it is all about speed.

So the premise is to get all the cards BUT first things first. I gotta tell you what the cards mean. In a typical Uno deck you have your basic number cards with instructional cards. We are going to ignore the numbers and words and just focus on the colors:

Green=place your hand on the surface (being a table if you are playing at a table or the ground if you are sitting on the floor). To remember this think of GREEN being GRASS. 

Red=hand across your heart. This should be pretty explainable. Red for heart.

Yellow=Hand at forehead. Now this has a couple of references, YELLOW fever or if you have a bright idea.

Blue=sky. Again, pretty easy. Blue as in the blue, blue sky.

Now come the tricky part. The Wilds. These cards you have to keep an eye out for the two different wild cards:

the standard Wild card you do all four actions in order. Green, Red, Yellow, Blue. 

the DRAW 4 WILD card you have to do all four actions and back down again. So Green, Red, Yellow, Blue, Yellow, Red then Green. 

Now, remember I said the premise of the game is to get ALL of the cards. How do you do this? The person who does the action the fastest wins the cards that have been played. 

Here is how you play:

You deal all the cards out. The cards are to remain face down. First place goes to the person on the right of the dealer. They take the top card of their pile and place it face up in front of them. Then the next person goes. What you are looking for is doubles (for example two reds in a row or two blues in a row, etc.). When a double comes up, EVERYONE needs to perform what ever action correlates to that color (two reds mean you need to race to be the fastest to put your hand on you heart).  Fastest wins all the cards that has been played so far and collects them and places them face down under their stack of cards. The winner of that round begins next play. If at any time a WILD is played EVERYONE does the actions that correlates to the type of wild card that was played. Winner takes all the cards and they start the next round. Doubles are counted as the card you play and previous card that was played.  When you run out of cards you are out of the game. Last person standing wins. 

Photo from Vanilla Sky

Part 2 to learn about the other game go HERE

A Game of Chance...

Hello! I promised that I would post a fun activity tonight that would work for any group! This activity would be perfect for Activity Days, Mutual (especially a YM/YW combined activity) and even a daddy/daughter or mother/daughter activity night. 

I was at work when the idea hit me but I had come across some Youtube videos of it (google it and you will find some funny videos) and then I remembered the time that this happened to me. I was at my now ex sister laws house and this was just when Harry Potter was coming out and getting big and they came out with the Bertie Bott jelly beans. UGH! She had taken a bag of those and mixed them in with two bags of regular Jelly Bellys. Talk about mean! 

Anyway, if you haven't guess by now, I am talking about the Bean Boozled game/challenge (seriously, if you don't know what I am talking about google it). Now, I have found some stores in my area carry this game but I have also seen online where you can just buy the bags or boxes of beans for relatively cheap (again, another quick search on google will give you several options). 

Grab two beans of the same color (example: sour milk and coconut, vomit and peach, etc.) and put them in a container. Condiment cups are perfect for this and number them. You'll want to keep track of what flavors are in which cup. Then have some willing victims participants and have one of them pick a number. Then they each grab one bean. Who ever gets the normal or good flavor gets a point. Now if they both get the good flavor they both get a point if its the bad flavor-no points. You will probably want to have a garbage can readily available and some bottles of water to help those who loose their round. 

This makes for a fun night of laughter and entertainment so make sure you get videos or pictures!

Daughter of a King...I am a Princess!

Hi...it's me again (in case you forgot). I know it has been ages since I have posted anything of real value but being a first time mother, a wife and working has taken up a lot of my time and to be honest I am exhausted. You get it, right? I can't possibly be the only one who is feeling like that.

I have had this idea in my head for a while, especially the closer that school had become. Many of you know that I am no longer in the YW program but am currently serving as an Activity leader of our girls ages 8-11 and we have struggled with the idea of unity and inclusion. Most of the time, the girls are pretty good. However, there are times when they are not so good. This also has come to my mind after I, myself, personally have felt like a lone little gold fish swimming amongst sharks. I have felt lonely and finding it difficult to want to go to my meetings because I feel that I just don't fit in....anywhere in my ward. Which is a great ward...I...uh...just...don't...fit....well.

So this idea of mine (and I apologize that this doesn't have any pics yet because this is still an idea in my head and haven't put it into reality...just yet...hoping to in November) involves our favorite Disney Princesses and a little known kids book that I have blogged about before (you can read about it HERE), the Paper Bag Princess. 

Every girl has a favorite Disney Princess...and if they don't they are lying *wink wink*. There is Aurora, Snow White, Merida, Belle, Cinderella, Tiana, Jasmine, the list goes on and on. I would have the girls name as many as they can think of. I would write the names on the chalkboard or have them printed up in cute fonts so everyone can see them. I would then ask them, what qualities or traits do each of the named princesses have? This could be a tough question to answer to try and get as many different answers as you possibly can.  

Next, read the book the Paper Bag Princess and talk about the qualities that this princess had and how she didn't need to have the stuffy old prince's attitude or shallowness.  Now that you have done this. The next section will take some pre-planning. 

Make a poster for each girl. Have a crown on the top of the poster and their name below. Then hang them up and have each girl stand in front of their poster. Hand them each a marker or pen. Then, picking left or right, have the girls go to the next girls poster and write something nice, some sort of quality they admire that the girls who poster they are at, has. Keep going until all the girls are back at their own and let them take a moment to read over the things that their peers wrote to them. You can have the girls sign who wrote what or keep it completely anonymous.

 Close with the talk if time allows from President Uchtdorf and remind them that all of them are a princess because they are a daughter of God and that no one, NO ONE can make them feel any less inferior. 

2014 Theme Has Been Announced!

So the 2014 has been announced (OK so it was announced a couple of weeks ago) and I am in love with it! The theme fro this year is "Come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness." (Moroni 10:32). 

I think that the theme this year definitely goes with the Young Women's program since the symbol, the torch, represents just that, inviting all to come unto Christ. 

So this is just the first of a few ideas that I have cooking up in my head. I know I haven't been great at keeping up with the curriculum this year but life has been pretty crazy between graduating from college and now becoming a working lady. Plus, not being in YW's has definitely played a part in it. So now that life is less crazy, I am hoping to be more with the program :D

So I am providing a few different links here. I should warn you that the program that I usually use has been giving me some issues and I have been waiting to hear from the company to send me a replacement file so turning the projects into PDF's has been nearly impossible for me. So please bear with me as I have had to resort in using Microsoft publisher to create.

Click HERE for JPEG

Click HERE for PDF (or so I am hoping)

Click HERE to open in publisher (editable!)

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.

How Much Do We Really Know?

I love history and I love to learn about different organizations in the church and how they came about. 

Photo taken from HERE

I think this would be an awesome mutual activity/game to have during mutual...Stay tune for an updated post with a trivia game all about the history of the Young Women's organization. Click HERE to be taken directly to the lds.org page.

Guys View on Modesty

I was surfing around on the web for some awesome YW ideas and one blog that I came across talked about this video SO I just had to go in search of it. It is an awesome reminder for our young women from the mouths of YM their own age!

HERE is the link if you would like to share or download this video

Halloween Party and Service Activity

I thought I would share with you what we did as our mutual this past Wednesday. Since Halloween is on a Monday this year, we planned to have our annual Halloween party on the 26th (the Wednesday before). However, we thought that it would be a nice change to do a bit of service for those who wouldn't be able to go trick or treating. 

At first this was going to the hospital and visiting the children's wing and take treats into them, then it was going to be at the rest home to the elderly and take them some pumpkin bread, but then we had someone in the ward with a truck full of potatoes (we live in SE Idaho...they are kinda a big thing here) and so we ended up going around to families in our ward singing pumpkin carols and taking them a bag of potatoes. It was a nice to do some service to those who can't get out or who are struggling and the faces on some of the families were worth it. 

Once we got done with the service we did head back to our YW president's house and had treats and a mini party. Everyone was all dressed up (I mean what is pumpkin caroling without a little costume??). Everyone had fun and got full on many disgusting looking (but really yummy) treats/food.

Click HERE for a word doc with some pumpkin carols and HERE to be taken to the Kitty Litter Cake post (we served this to our girls that night...it was rather comical).

Hope your Old Hallow's Eve is a real scream! Be safe!!!!

Also be sure to check out my next post about some super easy candle light decorations we had on the food table and we took caroling!

YWIE Fair

So I just mailed out our invitations to our girls and leaders (both on the ward and stake level). Thought I would share with you what our invite/flyer looks like. 

If you would like to use this as something for one of your events, email me at wearedaughtersofaheavenlyking@gmail.com and let me know and I will personalize it for your particular ward or event. Right now this is not an editable file, sorry! 

The flyer it self was printed on bright green paper (called vulcan green) I tried to take a picture of it but it turned out yellow =(

Preparing A Talk

So last night our Beehive adviser gave a really good mini lesson to our girls about how to prepare a talk. She took her notes from the current (October 2011) New Era and Ensign. 

Here is what she did.  She prepared several treat bags that were filled with candy and a piece of note book paper along with small piece of paper (the girls could not open these bags when they got it). She then proceeded to ask questions based on things she had went over. 

Once everyone had a bag she allowed them to open them where, on the small sheet of paper, was a topic for a talk. The girls then had 10-15 mins to prepare a 2 min or so talk. We showed the girls how to use the scripture, FSOY, True to the Faith books and other resources. 

It was really good practice for the girls. Once they had prepared their talk they had to get up and deliver it for all of us.  They did really well for being "put on the spot." Such great sports. They also were able to pass of a PP goal (Knowledge #4).

"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. 

...Search of treasure? Part 2

Thanks for checking out the second part of this post. I was worried that the other post was getting to be rather long. I told you I would provide to you the clues that we used. I will share them here and then  when I get them typed up in a word document I will post them as well. I just took an extra copy of the clues...I actually didn't type them up...the words in ( ) are the answers to the clues we used.

CLUES:

1. Ye will need to seek high and ye will need to seek low, if you want to get close to gold. Seek ye in a small space where the water runs both hot and cold. (Handicapped Bathroom)

2.Aye...Nothing beats a good pirate performance! "Under," over, in out...look carefully for your next clue. (Stage)

3.Ahoy mateys! Pirates often have secrets or skeletons in their closets. Sometimes they have them in their family "trees." Sometimes they are "stored" away from the the ship. (Storage shed in back of church)

4. Ahh, our dear Captain is a busy man! He believes we should improve on our reading skills while we wait to talk to him.  (Bulletin board by the bishops office)

5. Pirate ships are usually hot and stuffy. A chill wind blows today. Brrr...its freezing in here! (Freezer in kitchen)

6. Davey Jones' locker is as big as the deep blue sea. However, young, 8 year old Pirates get their feet wet in a much smaller sea.  (Font Room)

7.The ship's mast is tall and inspiring to all who cast their gaze upon it. Our ship's mast is pointing to heaven. (Steeple or wall nearest to steeple)

8."Train up a child in the way he should go..." Pirate children must learn, too. Get them while they are young! "Babies" are even better! (Nursery)

9. The ship's doors seem to say, "Shh, Be Still." You will find the treasure you seek near by. Look closely. (Chapel overflow)

10. Aye...all this searching for treasure has made me thirsty! I need a drink! (drinking fountain)

11. The Captain is sending you down into the bowls of the ship. Below deck level can be a dark place. Beware of the young men who hang out there! (Stairs leading to the scout room)

12. Your beginning is where you will end! You have collected valuable treasures along the way...but the best is yet to come! (Primary Room)

The clues that we had matched the maps. They were made out of the same brown card stock and crumpled up just the same and then laid flat to dry. We had an old antique key stamped onto the front of the clues. 

As you read from the last clue that was given...it took our girls back to the primary where we had started. Let me share with you our decorations. We raided our local dollar store into the party isle and found maps, and hanging things from the ceiling. Treat bags (which we bought some plastic gold coins and put four coins in a bag). We had the sound track from the first Pirates of the Caribbean playing in the background the entire time. All of the leaders involved dressed up like pirates. 

We had wanted posters placed with fun pictures of our two pirate thieves. They were stationed all over the church (depending on the clues) and they "attacked" the girls by taking their cell phones and shoes and hair clips...anything that could get their hands on. We told our girls that they might have to barter for things...none of them did. 

As part of the hunt, their were 3 stations before meeting back in the primary room. The family tree (clue 3 would be the clue leading to this station). Here we had one of our YWs mother talk about the past...she shared stories about her past and present and also about her daughter as a baby. A family history type of thing.

The next station was in the font room. We had a lady come in and talk about education and studying habits that the girls need to start develop and how they will help them in college and life (this was great since this activity was the night before school started).

Then they would start the clues that would take them to our 3 station which was in the chapel overflow. We had a lady come in to share about how personal progress and goals will help get the girls to their future and the importance that those two items. 

Finally the end of the hunt led the girls to a large treasure chest (we had jewels and candy (oh at each of the station they would collect treasure which was candy like ring pops, candy jewelry, hershey nuggets and any other candy that was gold or silver) and was spot lighted. Here we had a member of the stake YW presidency speak to the girls about the ultimate goal and the cummulation of the hunt (past present and future) about going to college, getting married in the temple and then starting a family and then concluded with the ultimate goal of returning back to Christ and our Father in Heaven.

We closed with the map handout and prayer. It was a great night and the girls had a ton of fun. I will hopefully get some pictures from the person who was taking pictures and get them posted on here. I will also type up the clues and the intro script and post them on here as well. 

Click HERE for pdf of Clues, Answers, and Send Off Script

Any comments or questions just let me know!

Aye, are ye in search of treasure? Part 1

So I just wanted to take a few moments and share with you some of our mutual activity that we had last night. I do not have actual pictures of the events that took place (hopefully I can get a copy of those pics so I can share with you all on here). 

So as you can see from the last post and the title of this post that we have taken our girls on a treasure hunt. Our inspiration came from a talk that President Monson gave at BYU in 1997. You can find a copy of that talk HERE. 

Once we had our "muse" we set out for invites...

For the invites I used Srapbook Max to create. I borrowed a  black and white image of the skull and crossbones, except for this I used the skull and swords...once I had my image I lightened it up so it was pretty much just in the background.  I used the font Pieces of Eight (very close and sometimes used, I heard, for the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. You can find and download the font HERE. Its really cool in my opinion. I have these if you would like a pdf copy of them...I can personalize them for you too. Just comment me or sent me an email.

Once I had them I just printed them out on paper (the one you can see in the pic I took Tim Rangers Tea Dye ink pad and went around the edges cause I couldn't find my black...but since it didn't go with the rest of the invite I left it off. So to finish it..I cut and rolled it up and then some twine/hemp/jute cording to tie it up and then I placed them in a glass bottle.

For our handout out to give to everyone at the end of the night...

 OK, this looks a little different. The paper that we used is actually card stock! It looks like a brown paper bag but I assure you it isn't. I don't know where my other leader on this project got it...I think it was Michael's craft stores. So it came in the size of a 8.5 x 11 sheets. What we did was take it and cut it in half. I found a treasure map from Google and used my nifty scrap booking program (you can find out about it HERE) so I could get two maps to a page.

Here comes the tricky part. To get the crinkle effect, you have to spray the paper with water. Ink jet printers will work if you let the ink sit for quite a few days...and you really only want to spray it enough to make it soft enough to crumple it up. Laser jets are awesome! We went to Office Max and photo copied it. This was great but the toner on the paper would rub off when it was wet and crumpled together...so I ended up having to go over ALL the maps with a Sharpie prior to wetting it. 

Once wet and crumpled...uncrumple it and let it dry flat. Once it was dry (and it doesn't take long) apply a jewel heart on the "X"

Once it was all dry and the heart is glued on we go to the back of the map. Here we have the scripture from Matthew 6:19-21 and a little bit of the talk that Monson gives us. This was typed up and cut out with a cricut embellishment. It was stressed with a stamp background to give it an aged look with the stamp up caramel color ink pad (not a member of the club so not sure of the name). Then it was applied to the back with glue and then we glued three jewels...to represent the past present and future. 

Check out part 2 for the rest of this activity (mainly the clues and script).

AYE....We Be in Search of Treasure

Sorry for the absence...school started this week...and to kick it off, I was put in charge (well in co charge..is that even a word?) of this weeks mutual activity...which has become a huge undertaking... I have been involved in making treasure maps, clues, decor, invites and everything else that comes with a pirate themed treasure hunt...but it is going to be FUN!

I will be posting pics of the ideas once they are in a fully completed state and provide you with our activity details so that you could, if you so wanted, to do your own!!

Heads Up

From my previous posts you all know that I will be gone this week thanks to Girls Camp!!! Life has been pretty crazy at my house getting handouts, and lists made and trying to get everything done before I leave on Tuesday! So excited (although I am not to thrilled at the idea of becoming some massive group of mosquito's dinner...hopefully the bug stuff I have works well).

So with all that centers around camp, and if you have EVER been involved in the planning, you know how crazy it can get. So when I get back I solemnly swear to start back on making handouts (I have a TON to catch up on) and getting more PP ideas out there. Also I will be posting a tutorial on our Paper Bag Scrapbook/Journals once I get back from camp! Also...I have been working with another leader to create an awesome Mutual activity....its a TREASURE HUNT!! so make sure you are on the look out for that, which will be coming your way.

I am hoping to get caught up before school starts again...wish me luck. Thanks again to all my faithful readers. I would love for you to follow me here and on Facebook....links for those are on the side bar. I would also love to hear from you! Any ideas that you would like to have shared or if you would like to be featured or guest spot on this blog let me know!!! However, whether you follow me or not (its always nice to show a lil love) I do greatly appreciate you taking time out of your busy life to support this blog...it makes me feel like I am contributing in some small way!

Personal Progress Helper....

We just had our PP fondu night...what better way to get your young women together to work on personal progress than by offering food!

Just to tell you what our night was, before getting into the reason behind this post, we had two different kinds of chocolate (dark/milk and white) and then we had a variety of foods that went with the colors of the YW Values (marshmallows for faith, blue gummy sharks for DN, strawberries and swedish fish for IW, granny smith apples for knowledge, yellow gumdrops for good works, orange slices for c&a, the leader who had purple wasnt there but you could use grapes or something, and then pretzels for virtue). We also had pp interviews with each of the girls (one on one) while the rest worked on their individual pp. We provide journal sheets, scriptures, magazines for the girls to use. It was great.

So moving on. I was searching all over the net for some ideas on how to encourage the girls to do pp. I saw that a lot of wards/leaders have the same problem, either the girls don't care for the pp program or they dont have time. I was one My Place for YW Stuff and saw this great idea. It was a spread sheet that laid out all the value experiences and how long you need to complete them. I recreated it using excel and then pasting it into word 2007 doc (I was trying to get it so I could get more than one on a sheet...yeah...I failed) but I also wanted to redo it because the original was so dark in color (and you really need to have it in color to work) that to print a ton of them out would go through a lot of ink so I lightened the colors up a bit.

Here is a picture, click HERE to download the word docx.

Paper Bag Princess

I wish I could take credit for this activity idea....but I can't. It was borrowed from an idea suggested from Sugardoodle (you can click HERE to see it) but with some little adjustments made to it.

To start off the night we had a photographer come in (lucky enough our YW secretary and her hubby are photographers and were so willing to take our pictures) and photographed each girl with a tiara/crown. The girls were already excited by this point.

We popped popcorn (which I kinda burned because the church's microwave was unfamiliar territory to me) and had the girls gather round in a semi circle and my Beehive advisor read to them the story of The Parable of the Princesses by Jenny Philips. While she was reading this, I was in the back printing out all of the girls photos (if you do not have access to a photo printer...I would suggest that you take the pictures ahead of time, before the activity, and have them already printed and ready to go).

Next, I read to the girls the story of the Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch. Then we asked them questions about the qualities that these princesses had and which of those qualities are ones that the girls wanted to develop.  Next we helped the girls by getting their Paper Bag Time Capsule put together. We just downloaded the attachments that were on Sugardoodle for this activity because I didn't have time to create other ones, because it was literally put together hours before. We had the girls write down the qualities they wanted to have developed by the time they were married and what qualities they want their future husbands to have.

Then then wrote a letter to their future prince. Once these letters were finished they folded them up and put them into their paper bags along with a picture of a temple and the photo of them wearing the tiara. Once everything was in their bag, we sealed them up and told the girls they were to open them on the night of their engagement.

The girls seemed to have fun with this and it looked as if they put some real thought in the qualities that they wanted both in them selves and their future spouse. It was a great night!

Dr. Seuss Night

So I must apologize again for the absence...I have been busy helping my mom and her committee plan a state convention that was held this past weekend and I have only now begun to get my motivation back to do some things I have been meaning to do. Whew....its been a long week but I am back and have tons of ideas to share!

So let me start the next few posts with ideas that we have done for our YW and mutual. The first activity I wanna talk about about happened just this past week. We had our Dr. Seuss night and the girls (and leaders) had a blast!

The idea for this activity came from Sheri Dew's talk that she gave May 1, 2008 at the BYU Women's Conference. You can find a copy of her talk HERE and a talk that was given by the guy who is Famous for his cookies (Famous Amos) in a article he wrote for the Costco Connection a few months ago. This man compared the all time classic (and one of my favorite books) Dr. Seuss book:

to that of sales, Sam being the customer and the sales person being the other man in the story. How many times have you been bugged by one of those pesky sales people who just won't take no for an answer? Did you know that every time they get you to say no, you are one step closer to saying yes?? 

So the leader who came up with that idea compared that idea to that of the power that Satan has on the world. Are ya starting to see the connection??? If not let me explain our night a little more. We started off with a leader (and most of the girls) reading the story of Green Eggs and Ham. Then the question was asked, why we liked or didn't like the book. Then the leader brought up the idea that Satan is just the guy in the story who tries to get Sam to eat the green eggs and ham. He keeps pushing and pushing until he finally asks Sam to try them once. As we all know Sam gave in and found that he actually likes green eggs and ham. (Get where I am going now???)

So to get more into the whole understanding different ways how Satan influences us we divided the girls and leaders into two mixed teams. One team (which was the side I was on) played the "devil" and had to come up with different "ads" to get the others to do what ever the paper strip they were given said. The other team were the "angels" and had to promote a counter ad to persuade others to make the right choice (they had the same strips of paper).

So your are probably thinking what were some of these topics that our groups had to advertise? Well here were some of them (or at least the ones I can remember)...

*Modest clothes/swimwear

*Rebellious friends

*Pharming Parties

*Drinking Alcohol

*Making out

*Violent/sexual movies and music

The girls had fun presenting their ads for their different sides and here were some of the pictures that were drawn to emphasize their ideas....(SORRY THE PICTURES ARE NOT UP CLOSE)

Personal Progress Challenge

So tonight is the first mutual of the year and the Beehives are in charge of the activity (we have such a small group that we meet together each week for mutual). As a presidency we have planned our New Beginnings in February and wanted to tie in a little of Evening in Excellence in as well since we were unable to hold ours last year. So, we wanted to do a personal progress night where we as leaders could meet with the girls one on one and find out what goals they have completed and where they were and to see what we as leaders could do to help them along.

So while we pull one out one at a time, the other girls will be working on their personal progress in the form of playing a game that will help the girls become more familiar with their personal progress books, scriptures and even the Young Women's program. You can find a copy of the game and rules HERE (word document).


Here is a sample of some of the questions (there are 30 altogether)

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1.         "As you learn to accept and act upon the Young Women values in your life you will form personal habits of prayer, scripture study, obedience to the commandments, and service to others. These daily habits will strengthen your  faith in and testimony of Jesus Christ. They will also allow you to _________ and develop your unique gifts."    HINT: Welcome message  (page 1)

           

                        ANSWER: recognize

2.         "The Young Women logo is a torch surrounded by the motto. The torch makes

            represents the light of Christ, inviting all to 'come unto Christ.'  It invites all   young     women to make a  __________ to hold up their light by being an example and remaining worthy to make and keep sacred covenants and receive the ordinances of the temple."    HINT: page 2

        

                        ANSWER: commitment

3.         What is the Young Women motto?     HINT: page 2

           

                        ANSWER: "stand for truth and righteousness"

4.         Using the scripture reference in Integrity value experience #5, explain how you can "personally stand as [a witness] of God at all times and in all things, and in all places."

                     

                        ANSWER: (you be the judge of how well this question is answered)

5.         Value projects must take a minimum of ____ hours of your own time.

            HINT: page 9

                       

                        ANSWER: 10

14.       To complete Divine Nature value experience #1 or #2, you have to review The    Family: Proclamation to the World which can be found on what page of your Personal Progress book?

                        ANSWER: page 101

15.       Faith value experience #3 asks you to read6 about faith in the bible dictionary. Using your bible dictionary look up and find faith and then turn to and use the scripture reference it gives for Alma to answer this question: "faith is not to have   a ________ ________ of things"

                        ANSWER: perfect knowledge