No Room in the Inn

Last night we had a wonderful activity inspired by many accounts of other wards doing it, including this one. We decided to make it a fireside for the youth. We told the youth that we would meet at the church and go caroling. We tried to carol to 5 houses, all of which rejected us. The first house had to run to a Christmas party, the second had a headache, the third looked out the front door and then turned off the porch light, at the fourth house she had hurt herself, and the fifth house her husband was sleeping.

So we decided to go back up to church and decide what to do next. When we turned on the gym lights, there were chairs set up around the TV. As soon as everyone had a seat, we watched the church's nativity story. Then the Bishop (who was the house that had to go to a Christmas party) talked to the youth about how Joseph must have felt to have been turned away from the inns and how Christ must have felt during his life to be rejected. The spirit was amazing in the room. While he was talking the families that rejected us slowly started trickling in. After Bishop was done we let the youth carol to the families and have refreshments.

As I was helping plan this I thought I would be a great experience, but it was better than I had imagined. I rode in a vehicle with several of our young women. They were so excited to go caroling and had been talking about doing it all month. After each house, they would just jump back in the vehicle, say oh well, and then ask to go to the next house. They showed concern for the families but they were not discouraged by the rejections. They sang in the vehicle as we traveled to each of the homes and enjoyed being together. I think they felt the spirit as strong as I did while our Bishop spoke and I think it will be something that stays with them.

Christmas Party

Tonight we had a Christmas party with the young men and young women.

First we split our youth up into two groups and asked them some Christmas trivia, including these canticles.

Then the teams had to each make a gingerbread house. We invited the missionaries to come judge.

House with a tree

Manger scene- Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus

Then we had the youth give the missionaries gifts that they had brought- cards, restaurant gift cards, food, gum, etc.

Afterwards, we had a snowball fight. Our YW Pres. made cute snowballs and the youth had a blast since we probably won't be seeing snow anytime soon.

New Beginnings- shoes and other details

Here are the sayings that went along with the shoes. I would love to give credit to the person that come up with these but the website (ywconnection.net) is no longer in service. : (

When it comes to Personal Progress- "Just Do It" (Nike's)

Don't Flip Flop with your standards. Have integrity and always stand for truth and righteousness. (flip flops)

Always set your standards and goals high. Make a commitment to "dig in your heels" to attain them. (high heels- spikes!)

Just like Dorothy, your main mission in life is to "want to go home!" (red shiny shoes)

Like your favorite slippers, the Holy Ghost is comforting and peaceful. He will also be your companion as you listen for that still, small voice. (fluffy slippers)

No one wants to be a "loafer"- being lazy will get you nowhere fast! (penny loafers)

Just what the Dr. ordered to keep you spiritually in tune- Young Women Values! (surgical boot)

Never let your standards slip or slide. Focus on the eternal principles of life and jump high to attain them! (basketball shoes)

Jesus Christ provided the way for us when we have need to repent and he healed. (surgical slippers)

Always keep on your toes and dance through your life with confidence and grace. (ballet slippers)

Round up your spiritual potential! (cowboy boots)

Prepare now so that when you marry you can walk hand in hand with the righteous young man who will be a part of your eternal destination. (temple slippers)

Don't get caught in an avalanche of sin. Use your testimony to stay on top and trudge through your trials. (hiking boots)

Elevate your spirit as you grow closer to your Heavenly Father. (high platform shoes)

Don't get out of the swing of things. Stay straight by attending all of your meetings. (saddle shoes- black and white)

Never let your testimony go flat. Nourish it daily and keep it burning strong. (flats)

---------

Here are the young women value centerpieces. We have used these for our YWIE's and New Beginnings. 

---------

Here are the tags we used for our milk cups.

--------

For more ideas, visit my pinterest board- http://pinterest.com/dillyann/2013-stand-ye-in-holy-places/

New Beginnings 2013

Last night we had our New Beginnings. For a few reasons, we decided that this would be the best time to do it rather than wait for the beginning of the year. Early is better than late, right?

We decided to use the 2013 theme- Stand ye in holy places and be not moved. We thought and feet and shoes and ran with that idea.

Sunday we handed out invitations that a few of our Mia Maids made. They were in the shape of a foot with the details of the night and invited their mothers to attend.

We had the girls soak their feet while the YW presidency talked. We talked about making sure you are clean so that you are worthy to stand in holy places. We also talked about where we can find holy places, including that our bodies should be a holy place. We also talked about being strong enough to not be moved by temptation, but that that did not mean we stood still and without action. Then we showed the year's song.

We cleaned up the foot soaks and then the mothers gave their girls pedicures. Refreshments were sugar cookies in the shape of feet and shoes, donut holes for standing in "hole-y" places, and milk.

Check out this post for more details.

Life is like a football game

Here is my talk from YWIE Bowl 2012-

1^st down- accomplishing good goals like Personal Progress

Cheerleaders and fans in the stand- fans in life, your extended family and friends

Touchdown- Getting to the temple (You don’t want to go just once. You want to continuously feeling the joy and score the points!)

Penalties- Sometimes we need to repent, reassess our life. Just because we get a penalty does not mean that the game is over or a lost cause!

Referee- Sometimes our penalties might be big enough that we need to have the ref help us get back on track and correct those penalties.

Coaches- The Young Women leaders, parents, seminary teachers, and Sunday school teachers that you have will teach and coach you on how to live the best life. They’ve been playing the game for longer so they know the ins and outs better, what plays work better, and how to get to the end zone more efficiently.

Offense- You are the offense. You have control over that ball and decide where to take it.

Defense- There are things and people out there trying to keep you away from the touchdown. They are willing to drag you down in the mud and grass in order to make sure that you do not achieve the ultimate goal of getting to the temple.

The team- You will always have teammates, YW friends, in this game of life with you. Be loyal to them. Help block for them so that they can get further down the field.

Time outs and half-time- Sundays, They are the moments when we get to take a break and evaluate how we are doing and if we need to adjust our course

Ball- goals, need to have them in order to make progress

YWIE Bowl 2012

Our Young Women in Excellence was last month and our theme was football. We tie-dyed shirts a few weeks before for their jerseys. Most of our inspiration was from Go Forward with Faith and A Little Crafting.

Our program-

After the opening song and prayer, the young women leaders did a cheer. Then each young woman was announced for the starting line-up and ran through a banner they made. Then the YW huddled up and said the Young Women's theme. The YW leaders gave pep talks on how life is like a football game and how the young women's value help us "practice" for eternal life. Then we had the "game" where each young women had the opportunity to share what they did for their project. Then we watched a slideshow of pictures from the year. The girls received their super bowl rings (ring pops) for winning the game and the bishop and a counselor from the stake YW spoke as well.

We had concessions available afterwards- nachos, peanuts, football brownies, etc.

Each young women took home a playbook. The playbook contained a summary of each girl's project and what they learned. It was printed on football scrapbook paper and the girls each had a football position and named their play.

Sock it to the Standards

For a quick standards night we did the idea here with our young women and young men. I decided it would be easier to just ask multiple choice questions and have the "a,b,c,d" on the wall. That took around 45 minutes. Then we did a few group games which I tied into the fact that we need to help each other.

Young Women in Excellence- 2011

For our YWIE program we had an awards night and called it Stars Night. Each girl was given an award for the project she chose the present. We had one young woman write an essay, so she was nominated for best writer award. She was up against people like C.S. Lewis, etc. We decorated envelopes and read off the categories. After each young woman excepted their award, they had the opportunity to do an acceptance speech. 

We fixed hair and make-up before-

Each girl had a table to decorate. We made silhouettes for mutual a few weeks before-

Refreshments were cheesecake and sparkling cider-

Love these girls!