Worth week

For the past three years, we have spent a week in the summer helping our YW to remember that they are children of God.  The original idea came from the blog 71 toes and her "daughter of God week".  This past week was our "worth week" and I think it's one of the best things we do as a young women's presidency.  I love having this opportunity to remind the 12-18 year old girls at church that they are truly daughters of God and that their nature is divine and they have infinite worth.   As the ward young woman's presidency, we also make envelopes for ourselves as a presidency, our Bishopric, our stake young women's presidency and any other leaders serving in the young women's program.  For us, that meant we created 30 envelopes this year.

Each year, we begin by having a beautiful lesson about worth.  This year Sara taught the lesson (last Sunday).  She put up this equation on the board that I love...Come to know God=feel His love=gain self worth=help others feel their worth=happiness and peace.

She also had the girls read a lot of quotes about their worth and talk about what they meant.  One of my favorites was this one by Boyd K. Packer:  "You are a child of God.  He is the father of your spirit.  Spiritually you are of noble birth, the offspring of the King of Heaven.  Fix that truth in your mind and hold to it.  However many generations in  your mortal ancestry, no matter what race or people you represent, the pedigree of your spirit can be written on a single line.  You are a child of God." 

I also really love this quote that she shared from H. Burke Peterson:  "My dear friends, you are a royal generation. You were preserved to come to the earth in this time for a special purpose. Not just a few of you, but all of you. There are things for each of you to do that no one else can do as well as you. If you do not prepare to do them, they will not be done. Your mission is unique and distinctive for you. Please don’t make another have to take your place. He or she can’t do it as well as you can. If you will let Him, I testify that our Father in Heaven will walk with you through the journey of life and inspire you to know your special purpose here."

 It's so important and so empowering to really know who we are...it really can change everything.  When we truly understand who we are, it gives meaning and direction to our lives.  It gives strength to face challenges.  It helps us to recognize that others are children of God, our literal brothers and sisters.  It helps us to remember why we are here and where we are going.  It really does help us respond with greater love.  Sara shared a really beautiful story.  I've been thinking about it all week.  When she was newly married, someone said some really awful things about one of her sisters and her sister's family.  Sara was really angry.  She wanted to get revenge, to retaliate, to hurt this person who had hurt her sister.  She called her sister with an idea of how they could retaliate...and her sister said that they should think about that person and what she might be going through, that they should invite her to a social gathering and do all they could to make her feel welcome, to go the extra mile to be kind and loving.  That taught Sara an important lesson.  I love that.  It's something I've been really working on lately...to respond to criticism or unkind acts with love, forgiveness and kindness.  It's hard...and I'm not always very good at it...but I'm trying.  It seems like kind of the work of a lifetime to always respond to others with love, kindness, and mercy.  

After a week of being reminded of my worth, I'm feeling really close to my Father in Heaven.  I'm so grateful for this knowledge.  I wish I could somehow help every person I know and love to recognize their worth.

Here are the items we put in our worth week envelopes this year:

Day 1 (Sunday):  On the front of 12x12 paper, we put a photo of all the girls at girls camp.  Then while at girls camp (we actually added the photo later...I just put a 5 x 7 rectangle of patterned paper in the middle and told them to leave that area blank) we passed around all the papers and had them write kind notes about the positive qualities they see in each person.  Then on the back, we glued a copy of the lyrics to Jenny Phillips' song Happily Ever After.  Surrounding that,  we glued words that describe their divine nature.  The words all came from these two conference talks:  A Plea to My Sisters and Young Women in the Work.  Here's a photo of the back:

Because this one was too large to fit into the 10 x 13 manila envelopes we put everything into, we just handed this to them after the lesson on Sunday...along with the envelope with everything else.

Day 2:  On Monday, each Young Woman received a copy of the talk Am I a Child of God? by Elder Brian Taylor.  We asked them to read the talk and then to say aloud and write each day, "I am a child of God" and see how that impacts them.  The envelope also had a Dr. Seuss "Oh the Places You'll God" bookmark and pencil.

Day 3:  On Tuesday, each girl received an excerpt from Elder Uchtdorf's talk  Three Sisters along with a tree of life charm.  

Day 4 (Wednesday):  Each girl received a bag of popcorn with the "Parable of the popcorn".  

Day 5 (Thursday):  

President Hinckley said...."There is a sad tendency in our world today for persons to cut one another down. Try the opposite of that. Try handing out compliments."

Our young women were given a "SHARE HAPPINESS" kit. It included a packet of Post-it notes and a Sharpie, along with the following message....

Write a note to your mom to tell her how great her dinner was, or leave a note on a stranger's car telling them to have a good day, or on a friend's locker telling her how great she looks. No matter who it is, leave compliments and encouraging thoughts everywhere. As you share God's love with others you won't be able to help feeling his love for you too. I guarantee that there are plenty of people out there today feeling a little down. I know from experience what a simple encouraging text can do for a down trodden heart. OR even for a happy heart. And even better...remember actions speak louder than words! Let's do it!

Day 6 (Friday):  Each girl received a pen and this little card about who she is...with a few lines for her to add her own divine characteristics/words of affirmation.

Day 7:  (Saturday): A crown charm and these two cards:
(The quote from Harold B. Lee says, " I would charge you to say again and again to yourselves I am a daughter of God and by so doing begin today to live closer to those ideals which will make your life happier and more fruitful because of an awakened realization of who you are.")

On the following Sunday (which for us was yesterday), we have a testimony meeting. This year, we decided to have a bit more structured experience than just a testimony meeting.  We came prepared to ask a couple of questions and then let the girls answer/share based on our questions.   I was impressed with their thoughtful responses and the spirit was definitely there during the meeting.  Sara also asked her sister to come and sing a beautiful song to close the meeting.  I'd never heard it before but this is a video of the song:  Safe Harbors

A couple of conference talks that I think go very well with worth week and that I encourage you to read are these:

Rosemary Wixom:  Discovering the Divinity Within
President Russell M. Nelson:  Woman --Of Infinite Worth
Elaine L. Jack:  Identity of a Young Woman

***I wrote about one of the projects I created for worth week 2 years ago here:  Our Divine Nature

And apparently, I never wrote about what we did last year.  Here's a quick summary of what we did the past two years:

1.  A photo of each girl with their divine qualities written around the photo.  Here are Michelle and Ella's.
   
2. A balloon…with instructions to pause between each breathe and think of a divine quality they possess and say it out loud before continuing.  When the balloon is blown up fully, they were to write each of these qualities down on the balloon.
3. A copy of the book “The Parable of the Princesses” by Jenny Phillips.
4. A mirror that said, “You are loved, valued and so very important.”  They were to look at themselves in the mirror each day and repeat those words.
5. A note that said, “You are God’s treasure and He “mint” to create you the way you are!  Love yourself the way God sees and loves YOU!”  with a mint attached.
6. A note that says “Service is a characteristic of His followers—A Divine Quality.”  Then it has a list of small ways the YW could serve others and little cards that say “May this Act of Kindness brighten your day.”
7. A copy of the talk https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2006/10/eternally-encircled-in-his-love?lang=eng with a baggie of kisses and hugs and a personal note to each girl.
8. A little ring with quotes for every week of the year about their divine nature and individual worth.
9. A CD filled with songs about divine nature and individual worth.
10. A copy of the Draper sisters singing “Walk Tall, You’re A Daughter of God.”
11. A letter from “Heavenly Father” telling how much He loves each of them and how much He wants them to come home to Him.
12. A pencil with lessons (similar to this:  http://scrap-lyf.blogspot.com/2009/11/allegory-of-pencil.html) 
    
    **There were a couple of other things…but I don’t seem to have them or remember what they were.

Washington D.C.:Paddle Boats, Memorials

On our last day, we headed back to D.C. We arrived around lunch time.   After grabbing something to eat, we spent an hour paddle boating around the Potomac, near the Jefferson Memorial.  It was fun, but very hot and hard work.  My pictures are in a jumble because I'm using some of mine, some of Alfredo's and a few of Annette's. 

After we finished paddle boating, we visited the Memorials.  I really loved seeing all the memorials.  Most of them I had seen when Alfredo and I went to DC on our honeymoon.  But I didn't see the Roosevelt Memorial or the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial or the World War 2 Memorial.  World War 2 and MLK weren't completed until after our visit back in 2001.  I'm not sure why I didn't see the Roosevelt Memorial...but I'm sure I didn't. 

Alfredo and Leo saw the President in a procession as they were doing a bit of souvenir shopping.