Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

To help the Young Women learn the importance of looking inward rather than outward, we had a blindfolded make-up night. Each of the girls were blindfolded and put in front of another girl, and had to apply make-up without looking. Comedy and tragedy ensued.

Let me tell you, I heard more "I am so scared!", and "What are you doing?", and "Oh, brother!" than anything else. Tons of laughing and screaming emanated from that house.

Meagan even said, "You so can't use that for the blog!"  Oops! Too late... :D

The final results of all our YW and their beautiful makeovers. 

They even convinced our Bishop to join in on the fun. Being a good sport, he obliged. 

After all that was said and done, we talked about how our Father in Heaven sees us and how we need to see with His eyes rather than with our imperfect ones. We also discussed how true beauty comes from actions, words, and deeds. It doesn't matter what you wear, or how much makeup you have on; but it does matter how you speak and treat one another.

 "But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." (1Samuel 16:7, emphasis added)

-Sarah

Wacky Wednesdays!!

Being in Young Women's is so much fun. I love the youth in our ward, and enjoy the unique characteristics of each of the girls. Meagan is such a joy, and I am privileged to have her as my daughter. She can sure be crazy sometimes. During a combined activity they had to race using stilts. Meagan, once she got the hang of it, actually did very well.

She even won a few races, and I think she really had a great time!!

-Sarah

Human Scripture-Hungry Hippos

For the Youth Combined Activity this month, Sarah, in her capacity as Young Women's Secretary took charge and did a game.  Making its way around the internet are several videos of humans playing the game Hungry, Hungry Hippos.  Sarah, being the awesome woman that she is, found a way to play, that taught a spiritual message.  We cut up most of a scripture (Romans 1:16 to be exact) into individual words, and put each one in a set of colored balloons (we had enough for 4 teams if enough people showed).  Then, armed with a laundry basket, a skateboard, and a long rope, the kids became Human Scripture-Hungry Hippos.

 

Once the kids had all the balloons of their color, they had to arrange the words (sans scriptures, iPhones, and other aids) in the correct order.  Only once they had gotten the order perfect could they look up the reference.  Once they had that, they had to tell who was speaking and who (specifically) was being spoken to.

Once the teams had both gotten all of that completed, we sat them down in the middle of the gym and talked about the scripture, and what it means to "not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ".  We shared a quote from Elder Holland.

And therein lies a message for every young man and young woman in this Church. You may wonder if it is worth it to take a courageous moral stand in high school or to go on a mission only to have your most cherished beliefs reviled or to strive against much in society that sometimes ridicules a life of religious devotion. Yes, it is worth it, because the alternative is to have our “houses” left unto us “desolate”—desolate individuals, desolate families, desolate neighborhoods, and desolate nations.

So here we have the burden of those called to bear the messianic message. In addition to teaching, encouraging, and cheering people on (that is the pleasant part of discipleship), from time to time these same messengers are called upon to worry, to warn, and sometimes just to weep (that is the painful part of discipleship)

       - Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, The Cost and Blessings of Discipleship, General Conference, April 2014

It was a great activity and the kids all loved it.  I am excited to see what else is in store for our youth (and Sarah) as we move forward in this ward.

- Josh                      

Modern-Day Miracles

I have, for all intents and purposes, been a member of the church all of my life. I have done all of the standard activities including, but not limited to: church meetings, temple trips, youth conference, general conference, meetings with General Authorities, and more. I saw something today, however, that I have never seen personally before.

My daughter and I have been practicing for over a month to sing a duet in Sacrament Meeting at church. The song we chose to sing is the primary song, "A Child's Prayer". Sung as a duet, it is a conversation between a Child and her parent. The child asks if Heavenly Father actually hears and answers prayer, and the parent, reassures the child that they are indeed heard and that children are so precious to Him.

We got up to sing. We were prepared, we had practiced, and if I might say so without sounding too proud, we sounded pretty good. The song started, and as my daughter sang her part, her breath gave out to nervousness and her voice failed. She was so embarrassed. The song stopped. I held her. She ran off the stand in embarrassment. My wife and I followed her out.

What happened next was the most amazing thing I believe I have ever witnessed personally. A group of 6 young women, got up, essentially as one, and went out after her to comfort their sister who was hurting. These young women then proceeded to convince her to get back up and sing and so that she wouldn't feel alone, they would sing with her (even though they had not practiced and were not prepared). At this point, I was also in tears and was concerned that I would not be able to sing my part of the duet. My wife came and sang my part of the duet with me (so I wouldn't be alone - thank you, honey). I am no professional singer, and neither are these girls (though, I must say that my daughter has talents that lie in that direction). There are not words to describe the sound that came from the pulpit this morning, but I can authoritatively say that it was the single most beautiful piece of music I have ever heard in my life.

I am reminded of a scripture in the Book of Mormon. We covenant with God at the time of our baptism to "bear one another's burdens", "mourn with those who mourn" and "comfort those that stand in need of comfort" (Mosiah 18:8-9). I saw that in action today. I have never seen such a beautiful group of young women in all my life. Today, they were an example of the boundless mercy of the Savior. They taught a young woman that she was valuable and loved. They taught me that even with all the evil influences arrayed against those who wish to follow the Savior in today's world, that there are still some who are willing to raise youth that are powerful pillars of good.

I am blessed beyond measure to associate with these young women and their families. I am grateful for the opportunity that my daughter has to associate with them, to learn from them, to be strengthened by them, and to share HER strength with them.

I am grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord that remind me as a father that the efforts that we make to teach our children do NOT fall on deaf ears, but that there are miracles that happen even today.

- Josh                             

Girls Camp

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

2014

This was the first year Meagan had the opportunity to go to Young Women's camp. I will let Meagan tell you all about her adventures....

Girls camp was soooooooo fun, my favorite thing was the zip line. Our cabin was crazy the best day was the last when we had testimony meeting. The spirit was so strong and I know that I was supposed to go to girls camp to help those to feel the spirit and I can't wait til next year!

The crazy thing was they had to drive 4 and a half hours to get to girls camp!! That and they had cabins with electricity and bathrooms with showers (I remember having to jump into a freezing cold river to "take a shower"). All in all, I think she had a blast and many came up to me afterwards and comment on how impressed they were with Meagan and excited to get to know here better (our new bishop said he was so impressed with how she would give all the girls who bore their testimony and cried a hug, even if she didn't know them). We actually moved to our new home two days before camp, so she went with our old ward but got to meet some girls from our new ward and really liked them. 

 Before...

After...

Strep throat did go around and a few even went home early because of it. Meagan wasn't feeling good so I took her in the next day and sure enough she had strep. I asked her if this would prevent her from wanting to go next year and she said, "Heck no!" 

 I have such fond memories of girls camp and I was praying all week that Meagan would have a good experience and also that I would survive without her (it was my first time being away from her for more than one night in a row). Well I did survive and so did she. She even said she missed her brother and that she wanted to be a better sister to him (The Lord really does work miracles). :P

-Sarah