One Week Challenge

Young Women Object Lesson...
At the end of our lesson on Showing Love and Support for Our Families (Lesson #10 in YW Manual 1),
I gave each of the Young Women a Bracelet, similar to this, only the beads are much smaller. I got a pack of bracelets at WM for $5. I asked each girl to place the Bracelet on her right wrist and gave the following challenge:

For One Week:
Speak uplifting, kind, positive words to everyone you come in contact with. For one week, refrain from speaking ill of anyone at anytime. If, for some reason you slip up, switch the bracelet to the left wrist and start over, and if you mess up again. switch the bracelet, etc.
I challenged the girls to keep the bracelet on one wrist all week. Of course, I am doing the challenge along with them and will check up with them mid-week. (I had to switch my bracelet last night when I was ranting about the FCAT testing....see below)
This challenge is based on one of my now very favorite quotes I shared a few days ago.

"Be one who nurtures and builds.

Be one who has an understanding and a forgiving heart,

who looks for the best in people.

Leave people better than you found them."

~Elder Marvin J Ashton~

We spent the majority of the lesson time yesterday discussing the counsel in this quote and how it applies to being a family member as well as the way it could change the world. I had already spent a few days practicing Leaving people better than I found them, so I was able to share some of my experiences with the girls about having the most positive experience with a WM Cashier ever, just because I was conscious of leaving the person better than I found them. (If you know me well, you are surprised about the positive WM experience)

One of my favorite places to practice lifting and building others is in the McDonalds Drive-thru..of course they are all shocked when I am understanding and pleasant....and of course....I have many, many friends at different McD's stores all over the area as a result of my attitude.

I plan on using this quote and giving out bracelets on the first day of Girls Camp with each of the girls from my Ward.

Could you do this for one week?

I thought it would be easy....

Try it and let me know...

Do you LOVE this quote by Elder Ashton?

Young Women Lesson Handout

Young Women Lesson Idea

"Forgiveness of Self and Others Is A Gift"

I love teaching, especially Children and Teens.

I have Three Areas of Focus when preparing and presenting

a lesson.

Touch the HEART, MIND, and HAND

Touching the Hand means two things:

1) Providing a Hands On Object lesson, and

2) Sending home a tangible reminder of the feelings and

spirit felt while the lesson was being presented.

It is a way to send a piece of the lesson home.

A Handout should not be the focus of the lesson,

yet a reinforcement and a reminder for the student

to apply the lesson in daily life.

When I concentrate on touching the Heart first,

touching the Mind and Hand flow in a natural way.

Usually, there is a quote or story in the lesson that

gives me an idea for a perfect reinforcement Handout.

Here is the way I touched the HAND after the lesson on

Forgiving Yourself....

(Which, by the way, was an AWESOME

lesson and so needed in our culture!)

This is a box of Movie Candy

( I used candy because Forgivness is SWEET!)

wrapped in this adorable paper from Target.

I loved this Pink and White polka-dot wrapping

paper the moment I saw it. When I got it home and realized that

it is reversible, with Blue and White Polka Dots on back...

I was so excited. Two for the price of one!!!

Some of the Young Women I have taught over the years

recently told me that they keep all the ribbon I have

used on various handouts, gifts, and projects.

They have a special box for the pieces of ribbon from me.

From time to time,I see them wearing the ribbons from me

in their hair. their purses, or around their ankles or wrists.

Wow!

Hopefully, the ribbons are another reinforcement of the

feelings felt during a lesson.

Young Women Lesson Idea

Honestly...Be Honest

For my object lesson this week, I am using the Decorative Spider Webs and the cheesy Plastic Spiders seen all over with Halloween Decorations.

Web=Tangled Web of Lies, Cheating, Stealing, etc.

Spiders=People involved in Dishonesty.

As we discuss actions or situations that are dishonest, I will place plastic spiders in the web. As more and more dishonest acts are discussed, the spiders will have more web pieces wrapped around them until they are tangled in a web of dishonesty.

Update:

For the Handouts, I used Provers 12:22

"Lying Lips are an abomination to the Lord. But they that deal truly are his delight." A tube of Lip Gloss was attached to this Scripture card. (The Lips gloss is 2 for $1 at my favorite, Dollar Tree) You could also get those fun Red Wax Lips as an attachement.

I used a talkon Honesty by Richard C Edgley from October 2006 LDS General Conference. I attached the following quote to a cut out Pumpkin:

"There will never be honesty in the business world, in the schools, in the home, or anyplace else until there is honesty in the heart."

We spent a great deal of the lesson focusing on getting our heart right, how to plant honesty in our hearts, how to have the desire to be honest at all times-especially the times when no one is looking and will ever know which choices we make.

At the bottom of the quote, I printed, Dont Get Caught In a Web of Lies, to tie in with the Web and spiders used.

The Spider Web was very effective. I wrapped it around the spiders 9 times to represent the 9 years it took for a woman to return a wallet she had stolen from Ardeth Kapp (story in the YW Lesson Manual) When we tried to untangle the spiders, it took a great deal of effort and concentration.

Young Women Lesson Handout

From Today's Lesson: Holding Fast To The Lord's Standards....

I got the base for this idea from one of my new favorite websites Sugardoodle

The Red Licorice Ropes representing The Ropes of The World...

"Hold Fast To The Lord's Standards...

Don't Get Roped-In By The World's Standards"

As an object lesson, I gave each girl a long piece of string.

I had them wrap the string around their finger one time to represent a choice that followed the world. I told them that the first wrap around the finger is easier to shake off and not feel, yet as I had them wrap and wrap and wrap around their finger, each wrap representing a worldly choice, it was clear to see how tangled they can become in the ropes of the world, one choice at a time.

To reinforce the section on Modesty...

I gave them a heart magnet that said...

Modesty is never about the climate, fads, or fashions,

It is Always About The Heart....

We discussed where their hearts need to be as far as following the Standards of The Lord as opposed having a heart set on the Standards of The World.

Next week's lesson is on Wise Choices.... at this point I am thinking it will involve Gumballs... "Chewsing" Well.....

Young Women Lesson Idea

From The Target Dollar Spot...A Simple Lesson Handout

When I saw these small tin lunch boxes filled with candy, my thoughts immediately turned to how I could incorporate them in to a Young Women Lesson.

With some fun ribbon, I attached a tag that says:

"Every Choice You Make NOW affects LATER... Eternity"

This fun reminder packs a very serious truth and can be applied to most any subject taught, especially to Teens who are making life changing decisions at every turn.

Fun Candy Bars

Using the Large Hershey Bars, this great reversible wrapping paper from Target, and assorted ribbon, I created these fun Candy Bars for my Young Women to take home at the end of Sunday's lesson. (See the end for the lesson that goes with the object)
I also found two other great wrapping papers(from one of those annoying fund-raising catalogs you feel obligated to make a purchase from). One with flip flops and one with all sorts of shoes. I will have fun covering other candy bars with these. The flip flop paper will have a "Happy Summer" or "Summer Survival Kit" note on it for those I Visit Teach and a few others. The shoe wrapping paper, well, being the shoe queen I am, I will figure it out using the phrase "shoe in", or "step in", "step up" etc. Other ideas?

They looked so cute in a basket together.
For great Candy Wrapper ideas you can download them for free at:
lds.about.com
This is a great site. I have used several ideas from there. In the search box, put Candy Bar Wrappers. I used the mini Young Women Values Candy Bar Wrappers as part of the table decorations at our Mother-Daughter Dinner prior to the Young Women Satellite Broadcast in March.

The above used to look like the below.....
Sunday, our lesson was on Sharing The Gospel of Jesus Christ. I explained to the girls that focusing on Jesus Christ should be the LARGEST Part of their lives (hence a LARGE Candy Bar) so LARGE that there is plenty to SHARE (just like this Candy Bar). They were encouraged to generously SHARE the LARGE Candy Bar and generously SHARE the gospel of Jesus Christ.
This could be adapted to so many messages. My mind always races with too many ideas at one time.
Another adaptation is not judging by appearances. Not being attracted to someone/something just because of the outside. Look past and get to know someone's heart, etc....
Dont get me going or this will be far too long.
PS- During the lesson, as a object lesson, I kept eating candy in front of the girls and not offering them any. I just kept opening up the mini Snickers Bars and popping them in (It was hard to talk after eating a few) At one point, I asked them, how does it feel for me to eat something so sweet and delicious in front of you and not offer it to you? Like the gospel, we have something very sweet and do not think to share with our friends. We discussed specific examples of how and what to share. I challenged them to not "eat" in front of others when in comes to enjoying the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Healing Power of Forgivness

Sunday morning, April 1, in LDS General Conference,

President James E.Faust , delivered a

powerful message for the entire world, yet at that moment, it was for me.

With my husband being of Amish heritage, I related to President Faust's account of the Amish School House killings of October 2006 at a very personal level. I have a great love and respect for the Amish, their way of life, their values, and the way they completely embrace the Lord as evidenced in the way they treat others and conduct their daily lives. On several occasions, my family and I have visited the town of Sugar Creek, OH, and surrounding areas. Going about town side by side the Amish and Mennonite is a fascinating experience for me. The spirit of love, cooperation, industry, and faith permeates the area. This is due to a people who understand who they are and what they are about. They embrace and live lives centered in the Lord at every level.

Easter Sunday, I decided to use this message as the Easter Lesson for the 12 & 13 Year old Young Women I teach each Sunday.

The Young Women entered the room to see all of my authentic Amish quilts on display. (I am totally an object lesson, "create an atmosphere" teacher)

As an introduction, I spoke about the quilts, the women who made them, and the Amish custom of "on purpose" creating a flaw in each quilt. This symbolizes the need to improve and repent in each of our lives. The flaw is so small that generally only the creator of the quilt knows where to find it. Like our lives, we all think every one else has it "all together"--no flaws--just us. Yet every one has an area they feel inadequate in and has a need for improvement.(The quilts could provide many backgrounds for teaching)

I did not spend too much time on this introduction as I wanted to get to the heart of President Faust's message. It was absolutely a perfect Easter and every day message. Whatever faith you are, when you read this message, it will change your life. As a class, we studied this message in depth and discussed it's application to us at many levels.

Acts of forgiveness take a years, and in many cases, a life time for many of us. We spend so much energy nursing hurt, pain, and grudges, that we do not use our energy to love and move forward in other areas of life. In many cases, forgiving others is easier than forgiving ourselves.

The instant forgiveness of the Amish Community was, to me, a miracle that changed the world forever. Why? Most of us do not consider that sort of forgiveness on the earth at this time in history. That level of forgiveness was recorded "in Bible Times" oh so long ago, however, no-- that was now! As a world, we witnessed a miracle of perfect forgiveness.

Every sentence, every paragraph of this life-changing message is full of wisdom.

Throughout the months of teaching these delightful Young Women, I have shared with them examples of times when others have caused me great pain, harm, or hurt and the temptation is to use my energy to "lash out" and "get even" I am able to look them in the eyes and tell them of the difficulties of moving on and forgiving, yet also the beauty and peace of loving and praying for your enemies and those who harm you.

I actually had an experience while serving Stake Young Women President when a parent threatened my life at Girls Camp. Knowing I had to keep the spirit of the Lord in the Camp, I could not, for one second, consider fear or retaliation. I spent an entire night praying for this parent. After hours of this, I had such a love and empathy for this person that still exists today. (Much longer story than this Reader's Digest version)

Other times the hurts from the words, actions, choices, and misjudgements of others, even family members come and require me to move on, let go and rise above, even when I have been the one harmed, not the one who made a poor judgement or decision.

As mentioned, this can be a life long process, one that takes energy and soul searching. Moving on and forgiving is an incredibly liberating experience. Sometimes the person who harms you continues in that pattern, this I know from personal experience. In those cases, you will know when you must stay out of that person's path or reach of influence. Their choices are NOT your fault, even though you are caused great hurt or pain. Remove yourself from their path, let go of grudges and hurt, do not allow their choices to hold you hostage. Choose to use your energy to love, experience peace and move forward.

With the desire to fully digest this message, I printed a copy for daily study and reference. It is perhaps, the best message I have heard from President Faust. Even with his age and failing health, the strength and power he presented was life changing. Grateful am I for the inspiring words of President Faust on The Healing Power of Forgiveness.