Our invitations had a small box of crayons on the front and inside it said,
These are the colors of the world
with these simple colors,
Many more can be unfurled.
Like the colors, we each are different,
From our size and shape and name.
We strive for different goals
But our colors are all the same.
Come share an evening of Excellence with us.
We will show you how our colors can shine.
We decorated with a paint theme.
We were able to get paint cans donated and cover them with the colors of the Values and the Value name printed on them. We filled each can with painting supplies, brushes, paint sticks rollers etc. We covered the tables with butcher paper and added crayons along the table also. For a napkin holder we used the cardboard paint chips you can get for free at your local hardware store. My counselor also picked up free painter hats and put an embellishment on each one in the different value colors. We tied helium balloons to each can to add height.
Each girl was previously assigned a value that she was to introduce then tell of an experience that she completed in that value this past year. We gave each of the girls a t-shirt in the value color that we bought for really cheap.
We served dinner, it consisted of 3 different kinds of soup, salad and bread sticks. We also had pumpkin cake for desert.
We began by welcoming everyone and having dinner. We then had all the girls present their value. I then took a few minutes and explained the paint theme.
A basic breakdown of my talk. I spoke about how our lives are like a blank canvas. We are the artist of it. What we put on it depicts who we are, what we stand for and who we will become. I talked about how if we paint our canvas using these inspired values(colors) we can become wonderful women of the gospel. I also shared the story about the three horseman who while crossing a dry riverbed were told by a voice to stop and dismount and gather pebbles. They were told if they obeyed and gathered pebbles in the morning they would be both happy and sad. The next morning they stopped and reached into their pockets and pulled out the pebbles. A miracle had happened the pebbles had been transformed into diamonds and other precious jewels. They were happy that they had gathered the pebbles, they were sad because they hadn't taken more. I related this to life and how we don't ever want to be sorry we didn't partake of the blessings of the gospel to it's fullest. We don't want to wish we had done more. We want to fill our lives with pebbles. Or values. This story came from the New Era that was based on Personal Progress. I believe Oct or Sept 2011 issue. I also talked about how personal progress isn't something we do to just fill time in Young Women's. It is an inspired program received through revelation specifically for young women. It's what Heavenly Father wants young women to be working on to strengthen their testimonies and receive the blessings of the temple. It has been around for a long time in one way or another.
We also had a personal progress book for every mother. We encouraged mothers and daughters to work on PP together. Mothers are allowed to receive their medallion. The only rule is that the daughter has to be awarded it first.
Our advisor also spoke. She is quite young and so has earned her award the most recently. She talked about her experience with personal progress and how it changed her. She also talked about how it is an inspired program.
The painter hats.
Photos of the room.
Our Young Women plus a few leaders in their shirts and hats.
What sweet darling young ladies.
They love each other and support each other.
It was a very successful evening. My whole presidency worked very hard to make this night a great event. I am so grateful for them and their service. I am also grateful for the spirit they bring into this Young Women's program.
After clean up BP and MW put a quick testimony about living the values down on paper and attached it to these balloons and let them go. I thought it was cute of them.
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