What An Accomplishment

So I don't know if you have seen this going around social media but wow. This woman is amazing and goes to show just how far you can go once you set a goal and make up your mind that you are going to do it.

Let us take a moment and write down some PP goals for the week. Challenge you YW to do the same. Maybe it is just one value experience to work on or maybe it is a goal to find your PP book or if you know where it is to maybe browse through it and get reacquainted with it again.

Click HERE to read the story of this 102 year old woman and her journey through PP.

A Late PPW

So I thought I would let you all know (and yes in pure me fashion I am a day late) but last night was our ward's New Beginnings and I was invited to come because I was being awarded my YW Medallion that I had earned. I was really stoked to still be able to receive it even though I was released. I will update you on that in a bit (I got an essay to get out of the way for school first).


Hopefully you all are still working hard towards you personal progress goals. If I can do it I know that you can really do it. 

{PPW} 1/11

Well my dear friends and faithful readers. If you have kept up with the things that have been happening over the last 24 hours from here and on FB (sorry Twitter followers, I have slacked with informing you...I will fix that here in a few) you will have heard that I got the worst news that any leader in a call that they love hates to hear. Yes, Sunday I am being released from the Young Women's group along with the first counselor and secretary. It is sad to have to break the news to you all, I mean I cried for I don't know how long (even in front of the counselor that had to deliver the bad news to me). 
As much as I feel strongly that this was and still is a bad call, I am going to go out with my head held high although tonight is going to be tough since it is my last mutual with the girls and I have fallen in love with each and every one of them. So that being said, I am afraid that this might be the last PPW update that I do for a while.  I will not be able to reach my goal of finishing my personal progress (all those requirements that leaders have to do) before New Beginnings. 
However, as you might have read, I will continue to update the blog with handouts, ideas and thoughts so that all of you who are lucky to be serving in currently or soon to be, will be able to benefit from my release. I can't tell you how much I have loved serving in this calling and being able to have an out for all my pent up creativity (or attempt thereof). I always looked for the Sundays and Wednesdays as we much welcomed break from my studies and academic life. I felt like I had some sort of a social life while I was serving in the capacity as a member of the YW presidency and leader. 
To close this post as my final ta-dah for PPW, I want to leave with you my testimony of this gospel. I have been a member of this church my entire life and at times I have felt my testimony waver back and forth from being strong to being weak or even lack thereof. I had a lot of doubts and experiences in my life that I questioned our Heavenly Father on why I had to endure the trials that I had. I asked the Why question on several occasions and was always reminded of the scripture found in Proverbs 3:5-6 where it tells us to trust in the Lord with all thy heart and lean not into they own understanding. And in all ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths. 
The YW program allowed me to get back in touch with our Savior and his atonement. It made me realize that I still had a testimony that was struggling to grow again. Reading the Book of Mormon for my Virtue project really emphasized that this is the true church that Joseph Smith was a true prophet, that we have a living prophet and leaders on the earth today that speak the words and truth of our Father in Heaven. I have a strong testimony of the Savior and all that He did for us. He loved us enough to pay the ultimate price, I think sometimes that we forget that. We can be so caught up in what the world wants us to be caught up in that the personal progress program is a way for the young women of the church to focus on what the Lord would have them do. 
I don't believe that I will ever stop asking why (as I think it is only human nature) but I will always try to remember that scripture that to trust in the Lord and in His timing. That everything happens for a reason. I love the girls in the ward and wish them the very best in their future endeavors and pray that they will know that I love them and I hope that I made a difference in just one of their lives. If I have been able to touch a soul to make them feel more loved and cared for, then I have done my duty, no matter how unfair I think it is. I know that our Savior and Heavenly Father loves each and everyone of us. He knows our needs, or desires, our weaknesses along with our strengths. He will never forget nor forsake us. I am truly blessed in knowing this and I say these things in the name of thy son Jesus Christ, Amen.

{PPW} 1/4

Well here it is, the first PPW of the new year!!! Are we excited??? For those that are just joining us let me catch you up. I have decided that I am going to make my self accountable to each of you for my progress in completing my own personal progress. Each Wednesday (as that is the day my ward has mutual and it is easy for me to remember) I will report to you here about my progress. I will tell you what I have completed or, at times, what I failed to complete and also set new goals on what I want or wish to accomplish within the week. Whew....that is a lot of responsibility. However it comes down to this: how can I expect my girls to do their own personal progress if I don't do my own as well (I have to be honest though, the ribbon bookmark is a pretty good incentive for me to complete my PP). 
I have already heard from some of you of your success and fails to complete your own PP and I am so happy that I am not alone. I enjoy hearing from you and knowing your progress through this very enriching program. Keep me updated still on how you are doing!!!
Anyway, last week I made a goal to have my personal progress (all the requirements for a leader to do) by the time we have New Beginnings which is going to be sometime in February--yes I got to get on the stick. Then once I completed that, I am going to go back and complete all the remaining goals (a black out so to speak) and hopefully earn my Honor Bee. 

Right now, I am still struggling to complete Faith number 1. I have the hardest time remembering to say both morning and evening prayers! I know I shouldn't but I do I struggle with it. Sometimes I am so tired that I crash early and I am not a morning person so when I get up I am usually running to get ready. However, I have made a deal with someone to remind me to say my prayers and today he has done his job. Only 20 days to go. They say that once you do something for 3 weeks it becomes a habit. Hopefully that rings true because I need to get it into a habit.
Going through my PP book, I noticed that  a lot of the value experiences involves prayer for a few weeks as a requirement, I can easily conquer two birds with one stone so to speak.  I don't exactly remember which ones those are but I know that there is a few of them in there. 
I'm also working on my integrity and good works values along with the choice and accountability (all 3 required) so hopefully with any luck with in the next week or two I can provide positive feedback/news. 
That is a lot to undertake but when you read them, they all sort of go together any way. I have also gone through and looked at the optional experiences for each value and realized that I have done more than what I thought I have so I am well on my way to getting a black out. I am learning so much from working on my own personal progress. It is interesting to think back and compare the goals that I did as a young women back when we still had Beehive 1 and Beehive 2 etc with required list of goals to do versus what these girls have to do today. Amazing and humbling at the same time.  
I love working on personal progress. I truly believe that it is an important part of the the YW program and an essential need for any one growing up in the world today, especially as a teenager. It provides so many teaching opportunities and life skills that kids today don't get the chance to learn. It has brought numerous blessings and wisdom into my life. 

PPW: 12/28

It is the last PPW for the year of 2011! Whew....what a year and journey through this wonderful program. That being said, with the closing of the year, 2012 is literally just around the corner!!!! Eek! It hit me that I made a goal to complete my personal progress leader requirements before New Beginnings (which I think is in February???) and there is still some large goals to accomplish. 
Who is with me in getting back on track and working on their personal progress with me??? Time to get off our holiday behinds and start the spiritual workout...let's get ready to grow!

Update! PPW

Personal Progress Wednesday as you probably have seen has been temporarily put on hold til after the holidays. Between school finals and the Christmas spirit, I haven't had much time to update and inform let alone work on any value experiences (unless I have been and just haven't realized it).
Will start back up after Christmas...be on the look out! I challenge you to do the same and join me on my journey. Grab my button for PPW and share with everyone your commitment to finish and/or work on your own Personal Progress. I would love to hear from you!!!

PPW: 11/23 (but on Thursday)

So I am doing this on Thursday instead of Wednesday I know but it has been a busy week. Other than being sick, I have had family and friends down to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday and my birthday (yes it is on Thanksgiving...I was even born on the holiday) so you can understand why  I have been busy on top of being sick. 


So to update you on my progress...I have completed Integrity #3. Working one Good Works #3 and hope to be done with the Faith experiences in about another week and a half. Hope all of you are able to complete your weekly goals!

PPW: 11/16

So it is that time again.time for me to check in with you all and let you know how I am doing with my own personal progress journey. First and foremost I am still working on my faith experiences 1 and 3. I am hoping that come Thanksgiving, that I can pass off number 3 as I will have some family at our house (its just me and my mother at this point). I am still working at the whole praying thing. I have always prayed but I have always struggled with being consistent and doing it at least twice a day. I keep missing days so I have to start over again. I think I need to make some reminders and place them around my room and house to remind me to say my prayers. That sounds so bad to say considering my calling and as being a member of the church as long as I have. I will succeed and hopefully it will turn into a habit and I wont be able to function if I don't say my prayers. 


I have been working on Integrity value 3 I think it is. The one that lists a bunch of scriptures and people and you have to read and write down how they showed integrity and then share a personal experience of showing integrity. I am also starting to read the FSOY and working on the value that goes with that. I think it is choice and accountability? I can't remember and I don't have my book with me to check. I think that as I get finished with a section I will create a handout to go with it. We will see, with everything else I have to get done and caught up on we will see what happens with that.


So there is my status for the week. I am always looking at the book to see what I could be doing and getting ideas. How are you doing? I would love to hear!  

PPW: 11/5...LATE AGAIN!!!

It's Friday and I just realized that I didn't post an update for my PPW! I must really apologize, the last few days have been really nightmarish and have had some family issues come up that needed my attention. So please forgive for not getting this posted as soon as I should have.


This is going to be a short post as there is not much to update about. I have still not finished my faith values...I need to start over on my daily prayer for 3 weeks but I am looking at working on a few of the C&A, GW and Integrity values. Will keep you posted! 

PPW...a day late!!!

Sorry that I missed yesterday...it was crazy!! If you have been following this blog then you would know we had our YWIE last night and I spent most or rather a good chunk of the last two days (maybe 3) preparing for it. Which I will blog about in a different post. 
Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I finished my Book of Mormon reading yesterday (Wednesday 11/2) at 2:30 pm. It was a bit of a challenge at times but it really was a worth while experience. I did learn a lot, not only about the people in the BOM but also about myself. 
I learned that the Lord does really look out for those that are faithful to his commandments and that follows his example. I have learned that greed and power are easy ways for Satan to take hold of our hearts. I learned that through true repentance that we can be saved and that if we have enough faith and are righteous that the Lord will bless us with what we need. 

I mentioned a while back about parable of the olive tree that was taken from the bible but can be found in Jacob chapter 5. As a leader of our ward's YW, I found this particular story to hit home. I learned that as a leader I am the person who tends the garden. It is my job to help see that the trees grow to the best of their ability. That they bring forth much fruit that they are capable of. I learned that each of my girls that I am asked to lead are a tree and there are those who are active (the good productive trees) and those who might be less active (the trees that produce but not as much as they could) and then there are girls who have been planted in bad soil and not tended and they are in a way "dead." As a leader it is my job to help those girls who are struggling to be the best of who they were meant to be, to reach out and graft together their branches with those of the gospel. To help their testimony grow and to let them know that they are of worth and they are Princesses and future Queens, that they have a father in heaven who loves them. 
It sounded better in my head 2 weeks ago but this is part of the things that I learned. It truly is a true book and another testament of the savior. He really does love us and knows us and wants us to be eternally happy not only here on this earth but in the life to come. I know that the teachings the book holds are true and that they are just as relevant today (if not more) as they were in the day that they were written. I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God who was called to bring back the restoration of the Lord's church on the earth today. I know that President Monson is a true prophet that he has been called to lead the church today. I know that we are  also capable of receiving personal revelation if we have the faith and are righteous enough to receive it. We have the power to be examples of Christ and to bring others back to the fold. We might not all be called as missionaries to go to various places in the world but we can be missionaries here in our own ways. Whether it is by being called as a teacher or even if it is just leading by example. If we live the way we should we will allow others to want to know Christ as well. 
As for the rest of my personal progress goals, I did achieve my goal and earn my gold ribbon for virtue and my green ribbon for knowledge. My other two value projects are completed, I just need to finish the experiences to go with them. I still haven't finished my faith requirements that I have been working on...I got lazy and busy...oh ok...I got LAZY and put them off. I am going to set another goal to have earned my YW medallion before our New Beginnings (which I think is in Feb/March) so I will be looking at my goals and start completing them. 
How is your personal progress coming along? I would love to hear about your achievements (or lack of...if your like me sometimes) or any ideas that you might have or are doing currently to get your YW to work on Personal Progress. 

PPW: 10/26

So here is my first progress report for PPW. I have to be honest with you all,  I have not hit my goal with the reading. I posted last week that I should be in Heleman chapter 11 today and I am only in Alma chapter 5. I am a little disappointed in my self for that but I know that I can meet my goal come our YWIE. 
I also need to report that I am still working on Faith value #1 and unfortinately I have not completed Faith value #3 but I have completed the following: Diving Nature #1, Individual Worth #1, Knowledge #1 and tomorrow I will have completed Knowledge #2. I am also going to meet with my YW president and see if my working on camp stuff will count towards a value project based on unity. 
So there is my progress report. I am still in hopes that I will pass of my faith value experiences by then and also my book of mormon reading. How is every one else doing? Remember if you wanna link up and share your progress that would be great! I have also created a button that you can post on your blog that will link back up with my Personal Progress Wednesday (PPW)!

Personal Progress Wednesday!!

So here is my first progress report for Personal Progress Wednesday (PPW):

I am currently working on my Virtue Value Project: Reading the Book of Mormon. 

This is the only thing that is holding me back from earning my gold ribbon in two weeks (I really want the book mark!). I started this project back in November 2010 and since that time (up until a few weeks ago, I was stuck in the first few chapters of 1 Nephi. 

I made my self a goal to earn that gold ribbon by our YWIE night and I am going to hit it. I have 12 days to do it in (that way I can have it done by the last Sunday of the month to report on my progress) which means from the place that I left off in my reading I have to read 34 pages a day or 16 chapters. Yeah I know that is a lot but I know I can do it. Especially if I have any more nights like last night and couldn't sleep until 4 in the morning.

Right now I am in the middle of Jacob chapter 5 which means that I should be reading Helaman chapter 11 when I check back in with you next Wednesday. Yikes! That is a lot but you know what I can do it. I know what you are thinking, how can you possibly learn anything by reading that fast through the Book of Mormon. Well, I have learned a lot in just the few books that I have read and have been able to apply stories and teaching to my life. (Soon there will be a post in the next day or two to show case one of my analogies...ok it might be a common one but hey...I will take it).

Other than the Virtue value project, I am working on the Faith value experiences value 1 and 3 ( I already completed #2). So this is my project and goal. I hope to have at least experience #3 passed off by the next PPW. 

My Journey and Challenge

With our YWIE coming soon upon us, I have given much thought to my own personal progress. I will admit that I have been rather relaxed in completing values and the value projects. As soon as I got busy with camp, personal progress just kind of fell to the wayside and then school started up and yeah, its like a snowball rolling down a hill. 

This got me thinking a little bit. I want to be an example to the girls that I have been called to lead and teach and this nagging thought has always been in the back of mind telling me that how could I expect my young women to work and complete personal progress goals if I myself am not working towards my YW medallion. It comes down simply as this: I can't. 

So I have decided that I am going to hold myself accountable and challenge myself to post on this blog my progress (and journey through this really wonderful program). I am asking that you, my fellow readers...for I know you are out there, that you hold me accountable. If I slack I want YOU to tell me to be better.

So here is my plan: I am going to commit myself to work on personal progress (at least one goal a week). Then I am going to use Wednesday as my day to check in with all of you and blog about my progress (either my success or failure...I am going to bear myself to you all). We are going to call this Personal Progress Wednesday (its the day that I do all my YW stuff...such as mutual).