Young Women Camp

As Stake Young Women Camp Director, this Laurel Expedition would be my dream to plan and implement for the Young Women in my Stake.
Specifically, the YCL (Youth Camp Leaders who are 16-18 year old) or Laurels.

It takes a lot of "out of the box" thinking and support on the part of Young Women Leaders and Priesthood Leaders. A LOT. A lot that I would totally be up for!

The area I currently live in would not have the support or understanding for this need from the Stake Level and many of the Wards, It takes so much to change perspective and thinking of "this is the way we always do it".

As a people, we need to be much better at providing these opportunities for our boys AND girls. MUCH BETTER.

I love this. I love the leaders who made this happen!

Go Laurel Expedition 2017

Camp Planning Perspective

Camp 2017 is in the books and it was a remarkable year. One of the best I can remember. In the next few days, I will post photos and my thoughts on why it was such an incredible week.
For now, I am sharing this post I read a few years back and it rings true for me.

Planning Young Women Camp in different parts of the world takes a different approach for each leader. It is important to not compare your camp to others and to do the best with the resources and circumstances available to you and your Stake.
It is generally much more expensive and involved to plan a camp outside of the Utah/Idaho (Western USA) where there are more choices in low cost camp facilities.

My perspective is to do your best.

Enjoy this read from Mormon Girl in the Bible Belt. 
I totally get where she is coming from.

Happy YW Camp planning! Stay tuned for 2017 details.

Palm Sunday- The Triumphal Entry

My students were greeted by a palm lined entrance to class as we begin 

Easter Holy Week.

The Triumphal Entry of Jesus Christ is noted each Palm Sunday as he first day of the last week of Jesus Christ's life.

When He Comes Again

Music teaches and touches our hearts in a way that words cannot.
For our lesson on the Second Coming of Christ, we closed by singing, When He Comes Again.
I gave a copy of the music to each of my students and had them stand as a choir (all 6 of them) and sing.
The room was filled with the Spirit.
It was beautiful
The music I copied for each student is HERE or HERE
I used the accompaniment from the Children's Songbook in the LDS Music Library.

Another option is to have students sing along with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir using THIS LINK

Too many times, when we discuss the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, we focus on the negative, dreadful events that will happen. This song is a reminder of how sweet it will be to meet our Savior. The message brings hope and a clear vision of how blessed that day will be.

Use this song with any discussion/lesson on the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Use this method of having students sing with any lesson that has a powerful hymn to teach and reinforce the doctrines and principles taught.

Image is from LDS.org, Children's Songbook

Philippians 4

Philippians 4:8 is cross-referenced to Article of Faith 13.
I want my students to associate Paul's counsel to the Philippians with Article of Faith 13.

I sent my students on a "Treasure Hunt" to students seek the virtues that taught by Paul and in Article of Faith. (Honest, True, Chaste, Benevolent, Virtuous, Doing GOOD to all men, virtuous, praiseworthy, lovely, good report)

They were divided into color-coded teams  (see photos below) and had to go around the building seeking for the words to fill in the blanks. Each team had 11 words to look for (good report counted as 2 words). When they returned to the classroom, they had to put the words in the correct blanks.

Each team selected one of the virtues we seek after and had to look up a scripture or quote to support that virtue and then explain how we can best seek after than virtue.

I showed the video,  "Texting Truth", that reinforced seeking truth and using the recent messages from LDS General Conference.

This was an interactive lesson that created the opportunity for students to  get up and move, use foot notes,  and "dive in" to their scriptures.

We are at the time in the school year where everyone is tired. Spring Break was very early for us and the months of April and May have very few days off. These "up and moving" days are important to balance out the dark, sleepy mornings.

(and yes, I corrected the spelling of Philippians on the posters pictured below)

 Happy Teaching!

Forgiving Others- Part 2

Object Lesson:

In 2 Corinthians 2:11, the Apostle Paul teaches that when we don't forgive others, we give satan an advantage over us.
I showed this powerful video, click HERE  and used the following object lesson based on a few ideas I have seen.

This object lesson demonstrates the protection that forgiving others brings to us.
Other applications for this object lesson: Put on the whole armor of God-Arming ourselves with spiritual protection, etc.

Here are the supplies and method:

1) Jar of "Forgiveness" aka Liquid Dishwashing Soap (I used Dawn)

2) Container of "Temptation, Evil, Spiritual Danger, Wickedness" aka Ground Pepper

3) Clear glass bowl filled with water

 The bowl of clean water represents the world

 Add some Temptation, Evil, Spiritual Danger, and Wickedness to the world

Dip your finger into the world  filled with evil and it will come out covered with pepper, "evil"
Clean your finger completely and dip it into the jar of "Forgiveness"
Dip the finger coated with "Forgiveness" in the center of the dirty water.
The "Temptation, Evil, Spiritual Danger, and Wickedness" scatter to the edges of the bowl and will not stick to your finger that is protected with "Forgiveness"

 Your finger will come out clean demonstrating that forgiving others protects us from satan's influences. Satan will not have an advantage over us when we forgive others.

Forgiving Others

In 2 Corinthians 2:11, Paul teaches that when we don't forgive others, we give satan an advantage over us.
This powerful video featuring Kristy Glass shows the importance of forgiving others-even those who never apologize to us. Click HERE to view.
I told my students that one of the most difficult things they would ever have to do is to forgive someone who does not show remorse or never apologizes.
Forgiving others is not for them, it is for us and Kristy clearly shares this principle.

Image from Soulseeds