Ideas for YW Individual Worth Personal Progress Activity: Self-esteem Retreat, For this activity I really wanted the girls to understand their importance and their individual worth. To begin the activity, I showed the girls this video: Dove Real Beauty Sketches | You’re more beautiful than you think We discussed how we often are our own worst critics! We pick ourselves apart, when others often see us in a much better light. Discuss how each of us are uniquely and beautifully created by a loving Heavenly Father. The world tries to define our worth by beauty. But our worth is not defined by beauty. We are of great worth, just because we are Daughters of God. We also showed this video: Our True Identity Explain that our worth never changes. That it is infinite and eternal. Our worth was so great that our Heavenly Father sent down his only begotten son to suffer, atone and die for each of us. He has given each of us special and unique gifts, talents and abilities. Invite the Young Women to read the first part of the Young Women Theme, "We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us and we love him" Who are you?? You are a daughter of Heavenly Father. He knows you and loves you! You can give each of the young women the Individual Worth Packet, to help them journal during the activity. Click the Free Download below. Work on Personal Progress Individual Worth Experience 1: "You are a daughter of Heavenly Father, who knows you and loves you. Read Psalm 8:4–6; Jeremiah 1:5; John 13:34; Doctrine and Covenants 18:10; Abraham 3:22–23; and Joseph Smith—History 1:1–20. Write in your journal how these scriptures teach you that Heavenly Father knows you, loves you, and is mindful of you." Give each of the young women a legal size piece of paper. Invite them to write in the middle of the paper the words, "I Am..." Explain that you would like them to think of things that explain them. They could only be positive things. Have them write those things on their piece of paper. When they are finished explain that you would like them to stand in front of the rest of the girls and tell everyone those things. They will begin by saying "I am" I told my girls to "to say it like the believe it". I went first and with conviction said the things that I had written down. This activity was really great! Each girl stood up there and I could see their confidence grow as they said wonderful things about themselves. We explained that recognizing strengths in ourselves does not make us prideful. Because we understand that all of these strengths are because we have a loving Heavenly Father. Explain that as a daughter of God it is good to recognize the strengths of others. Work on Personal Progress Individual Worth Experience 3 (Part of this will be fulfilled in the Chalkboard activity below): "Read Doctrine and Covenants 18:10 and 121:45. Do all you can to build others and make them feel of worth. Every day for two weeks notice the worthwhile qualities and attributes of others. Acknowledge them verbally or in writing. In your journal write what you have learned about the worth of individuals and how your own confidence grows when you build others." The next thing we did was each young women took turns standing in front of the chalkboard and all of the other young women wrote amazing things about them. When everyone was done writing, I took the picture. We actually had three chalkboards going, because we have so many girls it was going to take all night :) I later printed the pictures and gave them to the girls. They loved this activity. Really, this whole activity was just a big feel good activity!! I think that the goal of helping them understand their individual worth and build their self-esteem was accomplished. The Young Women were encouraged to go home and work on the rest of the Individual Worth Experiences. With experience 7 they could write in their journal some of the things, their fellow Young Women had written about them. We closed the activity by asking the young women how they felt as the recognized their own strengths and were able to say them out loud? Then asked them how it felt as they were able to recognize strengths in others and be able to write them? And finally how it felt to read all of the strengths that others recognized in them. Then I shared my testimony of each of our individual worth. I hope that you found this Young Women Personal Progress activity idea helpful. If you are looking for more Personal Progress Ideas click HERE. If you would like some more Young Women Activity ideas click HERE. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest, where we share even more ideas!!
This post is featured over at the Sugardoodle blog today but I couldn’t help but share it here as well. Happy Saturday! With the end of school drawing near and Girls Camp activities in full swing, there’s no time to think of weekly activity plans or what the rest of the summer will…
Once a month (the first Wednesday of every month) our ward YW secretary does a Personal Progress Spotlight for the first 1/2 hour of Mutu...
A blog with ideas to aid us on our life's journey to perfecting ourselves and our families. Crafts, Printable Pages, LDS lesson helps and more.
Since I've been called as the YW President in my ward (which by the way...was a total shocker to me...but that's another story for another t...
I'm teaching YW class this Sunday, and I've created this "Temple Prep Bucket List" to go along with the lesson. 16 thin...
I am making these signs for our Young Women Birthday gifts. Kinda cute? I got the boards at Hobby Lobby, spray painted, and vinyed it up! We gave 2 out last week, and they seemed to love them!
A lifestyle blog about crafting, baking, sewing, decorating, and family life.
Looking for some creative Young Women Easter ideas? Here's some inspiration that include ways they can complete some Personal Progress experiences along the way and help their testimonies of the Savior grow. A list of lesson ideas, handouts, and more!
Be sure to check out our EMBARK Girls Camp posts (based on this year’s youth theme)! A great fit for Girls Camp and full of activities you could use on any weeknight. We’ve all b…
Need some ideas for a YW Personal Progress activity on Divine Nature?? What about, "Do-nut" forget your Divine Nature!! Man, I love the Personal Progress Program!! Divine Nature is such an important value to gain a testimony of!! How much more happier and manageable life is, when you know that you are a daughter of God, that He loves you and you have the potential to become like Him! Below are some ideas of what we did for our Personal Progress activity on Divine Nature... Who's the Baby Guessing Game... Before the activity I asked all of the mom's to send me pictures of their daughters when they were babies. I then put them all onto one folder in my cell phone, so I could hook it up to the TV and flip through them for our game. The leaders' baby pictures were in there too, as well as the girls who were not at the activity. To Begin the Activity, I had, Jenny Phillips song, "Daughter of a King" playing. Then I stood up and explained that today's activity was going to be all out Divine Nature. I asked the girls if they know what Divine Nature was, then I read to them what it says about Divine Nature in the Personal Progress book: "Be partakers of the divine nature. … Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity (2 Peter 1:4–7). I have inherited divine qualities, which I will strive to develop." We then played the Who's The Baby Guessing Game. Each girl was given a numbered piece of paper. (See Free Download button towards the bottom of the page) We have a large Beehive group, so our paper was numbered 1-19. Beforehand I had saved each picture onto a file on my phone, which I then hooked up to a TV and I was able to flip through each picture and they had to guess who's baby picture it was. (You could also do this on a tablet or laptop) After they were done guessing, we went back through the pictures. I had them tell me who they thought it was and then we told them the correct answer. It was pretty funny, because there were some girls who didn't even know their own baby picture. The girl with the most correct guesses received a cute chap stick. I think this was the favorite activity of the night! I then tried to tie it into Divine Nature. That we each spirit daughters of our Heavenly Father came to this earth as little babies. We have each inherited divine qualities from Him. Throughout our lives we can better develop these divine qualities. Each girl then received the Divine Nature Personal Progress Packet (See Free Download button towards the bottom of the page). The first thing we did was read through, The Family: A Proclamation to the world. (I printed off a copy for each girl) I asked them to listen for divine qualities and the roles of a mother as we read it. After reading it we discussed the requirements for #1 and #2 experiences. For number 2, the leaders shared attributes that they think are important and have helped them be a mother. The rest of the night we just went through and talked about each value experience, we did not read every scripture, the girls were invited to do that at home. Something I did with this packet was I put a start date and a goal finish date on most of the values. The girls really liked this, because then they would not procrastinate and would have a date set of when to finish each experience. To close the activity we watched this video: Daughter's of God Video Followed by sharing my testimony of how important it is to know their eternal value. Then we had DONUTS!! (It might be fun to make donuts too) Tip: Follow-up!!! They are busy teenage girls! Sometimes a quick little reminder goes a long ways!! If you'd like more Personal Progress Ideas Click HERE! Thanks for stopping by!! Check out and follow us on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook for more fun ideas for young womens!
Personal Progress Interviews Sometimes (well a lot of the times) we have to stay on top of our Young Women to see where they are at ...
We had a FANTASTIC New Beginnings last night. Our theme was based on the Dr. Seuss book "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" The invitation: Th...
Eighteen of the most exciting and challenging months of my life were spent on an LDS mission in California. In some form or another, I think about those months almost every day. Just this morning I…
We were in charge of our 2 ward combined YW/YM activity this week. We decided to do Angry Birds Live! We painted balls, took lots of boxes, and used a resistance band for the sling shot. We divided into 2 groups, and had a 5 minute scripture chase. How ever many scriptures they got equalled how many birds they were allowed to shoot. The kids loved it, even though it was a little organized chaos! I made 70 angry bird cupcakes. It was serious craziness at my house...frosting everywhere! (my friend watched my 2 crazy kids and Hallie napped for most of the time...I'm soooo missing my Mallory) Our little kids wanted to play it so bad, so this morning we went to the park and let them play. Fun idea for kids. We melted at the park though. We met at 9:30 and by 10:00 we were dying from the heat. I think it was 106 at 10 this am!! Crazy crazy!!!
“Who Am I, and Who Can I Become?” Come Follow Me January Lesson Before We Go On: This is a lesson I taught on the first Sunday as a Presidency Member, but it doubled as our introduction for their Value of the Month and Jar. Normally we do a colored Personal Progress Night where we do a lesson like this. But the lesson was a good one to teach on a Sunday. You'll see below where we ended the lesson. Then on the Personal Progress Night, everyone still dressed in blue, but they worked on the worksheet. I just kept this post as both of those lessons just in case you want to do it all on a Sunday. Month: January Value of the Month: Divine Nature Color: Blue Value Experience: Divine Nature #2 "As a young woman you are blessed with divine feminine qualities. Increase your understanding of and appreciation for womanhood. Read Proverbs 31:10–31 and two talks on womanhood from a conference issue of the Church magazines. Review what “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” says about being a wife and a mother. Then ask your mother or another mother you admire what she thinks are important attributes for being a mother. List the attributes in your journal. Then choose one of those attributes and strive to develop it. After two weeks report your success to a parent or leader." Introduction: “I wanna ask each of you to tell me who you are… what's your name, how old are you, what are your interests? That kind of thing." Explanation: Those things are their Individual qualities they were born with in this earthly life. But let’s go back even further than that. Before we were born, we lived with whom? (Heavenly Father and Mother) So if we have a Heavenly Father and Mother, then we are heavenly, divine beings ourselves, right? Thus, just like our earthly father and mother of whom we have received attributes from, we have received attributes from our Heavenly Father and Mother. Heavenly attributes that were born in heaven before we came to this earth. What was it like in Heaven? Here is how one woman wrote a poem about what it was like in heaven before we came. Give them the poem “I Am A Child of Royal Birth” and have one girl read out loud. So, I ask again, who are we? And who can we become??? The Family Proclamation tells us… Quote 1- Family Proclamation... (Fill in the blanks on your binder sheet) ALL HUMAN BEINGS—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. In your own words: We all have a divine destiny, given to us before we came to earth. And we were given special qualities, gifts, talents and promises if we stay on the right path. This is what we study in Personal Progress with Divine Nature. We will be learning what our divine birthright is. READ Psalms 47:7 (God is King) In your own words: This is your destiny. We are all daughters of a king. We are all princesses, destined to be a queen. We will inherit more treasures than we could ever have here on earth. But just in case you still don’t believe me, we are going to have a coronation ceremony to dub thee royal eternal princesses. Make them each a crown (I just used Burger King crowns and used someone else's clipart glued to the front. Despite the picture below they all thought it was awesome. Or if you want to make each of them a crown, go here. http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/young_explorers/create/paper_crown.aspx Coronation Ceremony: As your placing the crown on their head, say “I dub thee, Princess ____(name)_______.” Then afterward say to all of them… “I give thee this crown so you may see your worth, your divine nature, and your royal lineage. You are the daughter of a King. You must act and present yourself like the princess you are. In your conduct. In your demeanor. In your actions. You must stand for what God stands for at all times, and in all things, and in all places. With or without your crown, you will always be princesses and should act as such. Always wear your invisible crown.” This was really important that I did each girl by name. It was actually really eye opening for the girls. At this point I gave them each a blank piece of paper and glue sticks to glue their handouts on them to see their binders can be used as scrapbooks. They were made by other people. I'll try to find the links again. But the one I gave out here was the one about wearing your invisible crown. The other ones are further down. Question 1: Do you think it’s important to know your divine heritage and where we came from? Would that change your life or change your future? Quote 2- (Have someone read from lesson)… By divine design, we have unique gifts and talents that will help us fulfill our destiny as daughters of God. Knowing who we are gives our lives purpose and helps us make the right decisions. Scriptures Let’s review some of our divine qualities and promises? Genesis 1:26–27 (We are created in the image of God) Abraham 3:22–23 (Our divine potential is to inherit eternal life) 1 Peter 5:4 (Crown of glory) James 1:12 (Crown of life) D&C 59:2 (Crown in the mansions) Revelations 2:2 Watch video by President Uchtdorf video called “Our True Identity” on the Mormon Channel Earthly Princess? So, “knowing who we are gives our lives purpose and helps us make the right decisions…” Let me put it this way… if you were an earthly princess, say Princess Kate, or one of the Dutch or Spanish princesses, do you think you would conduct yourself in a special way? What ways? (This was eye opening for the girls. They said things like, "Yes, I'd need to talk differently, walk better, dress better.) I said, "Well you are! You are real princesses. So, act the part!" Read this Story In a speech President Harold B. Lee gave in 1973 as a BYU Devotional, he said, “One of our Latter-day Saint men during World War II was over in England. He had gone to an officer's club where they were holding a riotous kind of celebration. He noticed off to the side a young British officer who didn't seem to be enjoying himself at all. So he walked over to him and said, "You don't seem to be enjoying this kind of a party." And this young British officer straightened himself a few inches taller than he was before and replied, "No, sir, I can't engage in this kind of a party, because, you see, I belong to the royal household of England." As our Latter-day Saint boy walked away he said to himself, "Neither can I, because I belong to the royal household of the kingdom of God." Do you realize that, you young people? There are things that you cannot and must not do if you remember your heritage. I am reminded of the old court jester who was supposed to entertain his king with interesting stories and antics. He looked at the king who was lolling on his throne, a drunken, filthy rascal, doffed his cap and bells, and said with a mock gesture of obeisance, "O king, be loyal to the royal within you." And so I say to you young people today, remember your heritage, and be loyal to that royal lineage that you have as members of the church and kingdom of God on the earth. Hand out "Be Loyal to the Royal in You" (see above) Watch Video: “Significant in Every Way,” (2:40) END-- Personal Progress Party Night At this point we ran out of time so we saved the worksheet and talk for our Personal Progress Night. Basically to get the jar, they need to read the talk and fill out the worksheet. The talk is pasted below. I cut out a few stories to make it easier for them and bolded the portions that there were questions about. Then at the end they need to interview a mother to find out what divine qualities they have and then choose one of those as a royal princess and work on it for two weeks. When they report back they get a blue jar. Worksheet-For New Beginnings last year, we made binders for each of the girls with tabs and worksheets to help them work through some of the experiences. Some were a little daunted by it so we thought we would sit with them and show them how easy they were. At this point we gave them the worksheet for Divine Nature #2 with the talk “Your Happily Ever After,” Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Ensign May 2010.
The Personal Progress Helper has hundreds of fun and worthwhile resources to help young women stand for truth and righteousness and come unto Christ.
EDITED: Since I've received so many requests for this pattern, I've made a Google doc for the instructions and the patterns. You can view al...
A blog with ideas to aid us on our life's journey to perfecting ourselves and our families. Crafts, Printable Pages, LDS lesson helps and more.
For the last couple of years I have been in the Young Womens Presidency in my LDS Ward. (Please visit here to learn more about my faith.) I...
**PERSONAL PROGRESS IS ENDING! It's so crazy! I am so excited to start the new Children and Youth program, and I also value the memories that I have from this Personal Progress experience. If you haven't gotten your medallion yet, it's NOT too late!! You have until March to wrap up things and get the amazing award. I will not be deleting the worksheets from this website until then, or delete the pages. You can still access the worksheets by visiting their value pages. And if you need anything that you can't find, use the search bar on the right, or write a comment and I can direct you to where you need to go. ;)** Guilt tripped into doing Personal Progress yet? I'm here to help! Get Personal Progress trackers, ideas, worksheets, and so much more all for FREE! Just getting started with your Personal Progress? Print yourself a lovely Personal Progress tracker for free. Once you've been able to assess your progress using the amazing color coded chart, print off the worksheets, which are organized by value, below. Faith Divine Nature Individual Worth Knowledge Choice and Accountability Good Works Integrity Virtue Want the Personal Progress Binder? Get it for free here. You can get some two-week trackers here and two week journals here.
I’m teaching a YW lesson titled, “Who am I and who can I become”. I LOVE this lesson. Once we come to realize our true identities as children of God, EVERYTHING changes. Our choic…
Looking for Latter-day Saint mutual activities for youth? You have come to the right spot! Here are TONS of ideas for fun activities - both for individual
“Who Am I, and Who Can I Become?” Come Follow Me January Lesson Before We Go On : This is a lesson I taught on the first Sunda...
Printable Personal Progress Certificates for Young Women - download to print for Young Women.
Need ideas for a Young Women Personal Progress Activity all about Faith?? The past three month's I have been making packets for my Young Women for our Personal Progress Nights. This month we focused on FAITH!! Here's what we did... We have a large group of Young Women so we split them into 4 groups. There were 4 stations that they would rotate through and a leader to head up each station. Each rotation would be 12-15 minutes. Each young woman was given the Faith Packet (See Free Download Below). Station One: In this station the young women would be working on Faith Value Experience #1. We used these 2 General Conference talks about Faith, "Let Your Faith Show" and "Faith is not by Chance but by Choice" (They will probably not make it through both talks in the allotted time. What ever they don't make it through, just send it with them to do at home) The girls also took turns reading the scriptures. At home they will need to: Exercise their faith in regularly saying morning and evening prayers for three weeks. Then after the three weeks they need to discuss with a parent or leader what they learned and also record it in their journal. Station Two: In this station the young women would be working on Faith Value Experience #2. I had printed and laminated them each a bookmark of "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" (I got the bookmarks from Fab n' Free). They each got their bookmark and then discussed the roles of a mother and recorded their thought in a journal (aka. on the packet) They also took turns reading the scriptures. (This is the one they could completely pass off at the activity) Station Three: In this station the young women would be working on Faith Value Experience #3. This one was a fun one, because they learned how to do a FHE that they could take home and use for their own family. We started off by reading what the True to the Faith Book says about Faith. Then we did the FHE. Yep we even made the airplanes and flew them. To finish this experience they will need to do the FHE at home and share experiences that have strengthened their faith and write in their journal. The outline for the FHE is included in the download below. They also received a picture of Christ to help with the FHE. Station Four: In this station the young women would be working on Faith Value Experience #4: They took turns reading the scriptures and then watched this little video about the Sacrament: Sacrament. They then discussed the importance of the sacrament. To complete this experience they will need to establish a pattern of pondering during the sacrament for three weeks and then record in their journal. Station Five: In this station the young women would be working on Faith Value Experience #5. We met all together for this one. We spoke of the importance of the atonement. We were a little short on time, so I had them read the scriptures at home on their own. We showed them this movie of the atonement: The Savior Suffers in Gethsemane. To complete the experience they will need to write in their journal and share their testimony in a testimony meeting. Our girls were a little apprehensive about it. I just expressed to them how their testimonies bring so much strength to those who listen to them. It is a scary thing to stand up and share your feelings and beliefs, but it helps to strengthen your own testimony and those around you testimonies as well! Then we had some Root beer Floats!! (a pretty cheap treat ;))
Young women activity ideas for class activities or combined mutual activities. Cheap, fun, and easy activities to put together.
Despite our best efforts, sometimes the class activities we have planned just don't stretch out the entire 1 1/2 hours of Mutual, so I w...
Setting personal goals for children and youth will help to build purpose, identity, and character-- and to follow our Savior, Jesus Christ.
My cute little niece has been making these as gifts for all the girl cousins who are in the Young Women organization at church. They hold a Personal Progress booklet and journal, a pen or pencil, a…
mutual last week was such a party omigosh!🥳😂 hahaha ok, for the LONGEST time our mutual activities were not the greatest. My silence about them on the blog pretty much might have been me saying "uh, yeah, there was pretty much nothing to blog about without ranting" but finally, an amazing activity has occurred. But this activity didn't just fall out of the sky. We did have to do a lot of planning and work in advance, but finally, we were able to hold such an amazing and unifying activity. I won't go into specifics about our ward, but I'm a Young Woman, I've visited lots of wards, I'm in one, and I think soooo many of us are longing for more unity. I see this as the Lord has prompted revelation, and we saw President Nelson delegate the announcement of "bye-bye" to Beehives, Mia Maids,+Laurels to Sister Cordon. All of these inspired changes are amazing. And in my completely biased opinion, this activity is amazing! But, there is no one-time fix where everyone starts holding hands, singing kum ba yah, and never is cliqueish again. The perfect YW group wasn't built in a day! If I claimed this packet solved everything, maybe I'd be a better marketer but I'd be a liar as well. Even though I won't claim that with the purchase of this amazing activity, all about unity, and diversity, every issue will be gone, I will honestly say that doing this activity was a great step on the path to unity. Aaagh, I'm sorry, and I hope y'all don't think I'm just riding on the tail of the buzzword, but I have to keep saying it because in honesty, that's what this activity is about! The outline of this is for the Young Women to learn about themselves and others, notice the differences between themselves and others, and celebrate them. One of the steps in this was the Princess Posters. No one's unique personality can ever be captured in the Myers-Briggs 4 letters, but it's an easy way to talk about the different types of people in the world. So, I made a Princess poster for each one. All of these princesses are so fun and amazing, and that's the point. There simply isn't a bad personality type. I know it's a lil hard to see; I apologize, but do you see this in all its glory? We had so much fun taking Post-It notes and slapping them under our personality types and it was so eye-opening to see the diversity (or lack thereof hehehehe) of personalities in the group. We had 1 Campaigner, 1 Adventurer, 1 Architect, 2 Advocates....and everyone else was a Defender! Additionally, we rounded up and planned a bunch of activities to go with the results of the personality tests. There's enough to get you through the 1-hour block of "youth activity night" (still shaking off the death of mutual😂) but not so much that you get overwhelmed. There's scenario cards about certain church situations -- lessons, activities, dances, girls camp, and more. All these questions are designed to help you learn more about the YW and what makes them tick, especially in certain situations. We had some good discussions on those. Others involve talking & learning about others, walking around the room, and really, there's just a lot of good lessons to be learned from this. One of this was that I was so surprised when my close friend slapped her Post-It under Introvert. We're opposites, it seems like, and she is super outgoing, and I just assumed she would be an Extravert. Maybe she answered some questions wrong, I thought to myself. Everyone else in the group continued talking about their results, how accurate they seemed to be, etc, and then one of my leaders said, "I was shocked that YOU weren't an extravert." I was shocked at her shock tbh hahahaha, and then I realized that if my leader could be so wrong about my true personality, then of course I may be prone to misjudge what others are really like. This was just one lesson that I learned, but there are really so many more opportunities to discover these types of things in this activity. You can check out this activity packet on my Etsy shop and grab it for only $3.99. We spent a few weeks planning and creating the material, so y'all can know you're getting the maximum value with your purchase. If you're wanting to support the blog & what we do for free, be sure to favorite the shop on Etsy or follow us on Pinterest. And don't worry -- there are tons more mutual ideas (dang it I said it again!) freebies on the blog, which you can find the biggest comprehensive list of here. That was just so fun to create & host, and I'm beyond excited to share it with the world.
A lifestyle blog about crafting, baking, sewing, decorating, and family life.
Over the past few months I've been asked to teach etiquette to young men and young women 2 different times. This has been a fun experience to reflect and write down what I know and do a little research. I'm thankful my parents and grandparents were strict with good manners when I was young. I didn't appreciate it at the time, but now that I'm older and teaching my children I can see the benefit of learning good manners. Good manners don't happen over night. It takes years of training. YM & YW need to know the basics! Most basics are not taught or enforced at home. Teach and educate them NOW and set them up for a "polite" future. These are my typed up notes of what I went over and demonstrated. We had a 4 course meal at one activity with both YM & YW and a "tea party" at another with just the YW. The 4 course meal included Soup Salad Entree Dessert The Tea Party Cookies Mini Cupcakes Small sandwiches Crackers and dip Hot Chocolate Hot Tang/Juice _________________________________ INTRO - Why do we need good manners? Why do we need good manners? Are we not all children of a King? We are all princes and princesses and are expected to behave as such. We need to act with the utmost decorum for dates, meeting future in-laws, business dinners, dances and more. Presenting yourself properly, and behaving in a dignified manner is what being royal is all about. First impressions last a lifetime whether it's over a meal or in public. Sitting in a chair Sit up straight - DON'T SLOUCH (it's not attractive) (Demonstrate how silly a forward and backward slouch looks) When sitting ESPECIALLY in a dress or skirt, KNEES SHOULD BE TOUCHING! (Your underwear may be cute, but we really don't want to see it!) Table Etiquette - Serving and being served When setting the table, knife blades should always be facing the plate. Present an average table setting or have the youth set their own place and tell them what is right and what is wrong. (2 forks, 2 spoons, 1 knife, napkin, dinner plate, salad plate, bread plate, water glass) When going to a fancier restaurant and seeing lots of silverware - just remember WORK YOUR WAY FROM THE OUTSIDE IN. Serve from the LEFT REMOVE from the RIGHT Pass food in a counterclockwise motion or to the RIGHT "It is always the RIGHT way when passing food" DO NOT BEGIN EATING UNTIL EVERYONE IS SERVED! Hold your utensil properly. (Do not act as if you are shoveling the food into your mouth.) When finished with your plate, do not push it away or place your napkin on top. Act as if your plate was the face of a clock, you would place both handles of your utensils on the number 4. If you have to yawn....COVER YOUR MOUTH! Nothing is attractive about a HUGE gaping mouth open wide for all to see! COVER YOUR MOUTH! *Say you're on a first or important date, you may want to keep in mind, some foods are messier to eat than others. What would you rather? A clean face with something you can use utensils? Or something that is messy or you have to eat with your hands? First impressions last a lifetime. Top 10 Basic Table Manners 1. Chew with your mouth closed 2. Avoid slurping, smacking, blowing your nose or other gross noises. (If necessary, excuse yourself to take care of whatever it is you need to take care of.) 3. Hold your utensil properly, don't stab or shovel your food. 4. Don't pick your teeth at the table. 5. Remember to use your napkin at all times. 6. Wait until you're done chewing to sip or swallow a drink. (No floaties allowed!) (The exception is if you're choking - please drink if you're choking) 7. Cut no more than 3 pieces of food at a time. (The most logical answer of why, is so your food doesn't get cold!) 8. Avoid slouching and placing your elbows on the table while eating. (Although it is okay to prop your elbows on the table while conversing between courses) 9. Instead of reaching across the table for something, ask for it to be passed to you. 10. Always say 'excuse me' whenever you leave the table. _________________________ Having good manners in LIFE! BE RESPECTFUL TO EVERYONE We always need to respect the golden rule. "Treat others the way you want to be treated." Young, Old, Male & Female. Rumors and gossip is sadly part of life. But... it is YOUR CHOICE whether you want to participate in the continuous spreading of those rumors. How would you feel if those rumors were about you? Respecting others and seeing those around your with God's eyes will change your perspective and bring you joy. Make sure all of your interactions with those around you reflect positive feedback- not negative. Everyone around you are always watching. You may not realize how much you are under the microscope. Would your parents be pleased with your actions? Would your bad habits and manners affect your future children? Most importantly, how would your Father in Heaven think of your words and actions? "It's never RIGHT to do WRONG" "It's never WRONG to do RIGHT" The perfect example of how you should act and behave was our Savior Jesus Christ. Ask yourself in ANY situation, "What would Jesus do?" Smile and BE HAPPY! Everyone gravitates towards happiness. Be a MAGNET! Shine your smile and have a happy disposition. No one wants to be around others who always find bad in the world. Gratitude is the true base of happiness. PUNCTUALITY! Being punctual or "on time" is polite. Tardiness or always running late is rude. It shows your lack of preparation. Plan and prepare ahead of time. How long is the drive to the destination? How long does it take to get ready? (Always take into consideration that it takes at least 2-3 minutes to put on your shoes and get in the car before you actually start to drive.) Girls, be ready for your date when they have specified. It is extremely akward for a date to wait over 5 minutes for you. Boys, always be on time. There is nothing worse than waiting on your date to arrive. (I would know- my date showed up 1 hour late for HOMECOMING! I WAS TICKED! Not a good way to start the evening) PHONES Cell phones are an amazing tool. They keep us connected to those around us. But phones are a HUGE distraction. You may physically be in an area, but when scrolling through facebook or pinterest keeps you mentally from the conversation and the space you are literally in. Phone usage needs to be practically eliminated during dates, dinners and family activities. You can't gain the experiences everyone posts on facebook if you're always on the phone and never out making them. APPAREL You may not realize that you appearance can come across as polite or rude. Be confident and comfortable in your apparel but, don't wear things that are too tight, baggy, or show too much skin. There is a proper way to dress. And showing off your body or not even getting ready are not polite. Wearing pajamas, yoga pants, sweat pants, basketball shorts etc. are a sign of laziness and lack of preparation. Wake up 1 minute earlier and throw on some JEANS for goodness sakes! Don't be looked upon as lazy or unkept. Manners at the table and manners in life will keep you polite and positive. Remember- Practice makes Perfect _______________________________________ This was a VERY fun activity and I think a good reminder to youth and adults to always have good manners in life and at the table. When practiced and used regularly, good etiquette lasts a lifetime.
Personal Progress Value Experiences Calendars help LDS young women track their progress on the value experiences that take 2 weeks to 3 months to complete.
I LOVE smash books. They are so much fun. The fancier they are the more I like them but when it came to making my own, lets be honest, “Ain’t nobody go time for that.” I wish that I could create a beautiful doodled page in a few minutes but they would take me hours. Have you […]Continue Reading
If you're a YW leader, you might relate to this. I tend to get phone calls Wednesday afternoons and evenings before the YW activity, asking...
My husband and I recently team-taught a lesson for the youth (combined ym/yw) about personal preparedness. This was specifically focused on temporal preparedness and life skills for teens. We felt lik
