These are busy and rewarding times! I love being with the youth. They are a really truly great bunch! There is so much to look forward to and plan this summer, it seems extra busy these days.
The Laurels planned a fun Mormonad activity, it went really well and it was fun to see how creative the kids can be!
My Laurel class planned a fun activity where they had a small budget, we took them to Macy's to shop for dinner and dessert and came back to my house to cook. It ended in some fun games and the girls stayed and stayed and we had some great chats.
We try to do a temple trip once a quarter with the Young Men and Women. Here's a few of the gals:
We played "Water Kick Ball" with the Young Men. We had a great turn-out and Adren said it was so much fun. I love to have him there at our Joint activities. Eli is counting the days until he can join in.
I was able to participate in the Stake Laurel High Adventure the beginning of June. We camped in Moab and river rafted down the Colorado River. It was so hot but so fun! We dived in that river the first day to cool off, we felt much better after that. We had a nice dinner that night and great fireside by the Stake President. The moon was so bright that night, it woke me up. I thought someone was shining a spotlight in my face. The rafting was really great. We got plenty wet, many went overboard going through rapids so it kept us cool. It took us about four hours, we stopped at one point on the bank and had lunch. It was so beautiful on that river, with the huge walls of red rock on either side of us. It was really fun to be with all the girls in the stake. I feel like between this trip, monthly stake laurel scripture study and girls camp- I know the other Laurels in the stake pretty well and I love that.
My Laurel presidency has been wanting to go camping~ Just our class, for quite some time. I thought, Why not? I loved that they wanted to be together, and once the Bishop cleared it, I let them plan away. We met at my house with everyone's gear and headed to the grocery store to get shopping. This group of gals really are so much fun! My advisor, Lori was able to come, I enjoy her so much. We arrived to our camp site and set up, the girls explored around at the nearby river a little bit and then we got started on dinner. We realized we forgot firewood (oops!) but the girls said they'd scavenge around and find some- and they did! Enough to roast hot dogs and s'mores later. I was way impressed.
This is exactly what they wanted- no schedule, no agenda, stay in swimsuits if they wanted, and just be together. It was really nice!
We played game after game around the fire and then the girls put shows on for us, singing songs from Hamilton.
The next morning we had breakfast, sat around, told stories and chatted some more, then broke down camp and headed out so some of the girls could get to work.
Of course, we've got Girls Camp right around the corner. My awesome Camp Director, Leia had the girls make these cute pillows out of denim jeans with a long handle so we'd have something to sit on at the amphitheater. They worked out great! (but this was a big undertaking) Girls Camp makes the summer so busy!
Our two day ward Youth Conference for 14 & up was the beginning of August. We took the youth up to Deer Creek for a day of boating and playing and lunch, then went to the old Granite High School (now a make-shift Refugee sorting facility) to help receive, sort and organize items in need. We worked hard for a solid two hours and felt really good at what we were able to accomplish! 400 backpacks were delivered locally just during the time we were there! Then we headed back to our church where we had dinner and games with the four Chrysalis houses in our ward boundaries. I visit teach one of the houses and to say they were all excited would be an understatement. The youth were so great with all of them!
The next morning we headed up to Temple Square. You can schedule a group for youth conference, and your whole day is set up- starting with a devotional with the Sister Missionaries, speakers, visits to the Family History library, Church History Museum, a boxed lunch, a cooking demo with a Lion House Chef, the Testaments movie, and a lovely dinner at the Joseph Smith Memorial building ending in a testimony meeting. It was a wonderful day.
We had our annual Back to School BBQ and games Joint activity at a local park. I commented to the other leaders as we were busy grilling and setting out food- Lately it feels like 90% of this calling is feeding this group of kids!
My Laurel gals planned a fun Back-to-School Laurel panel. They gathered questions from the girls on school, friends, dating, the Gospel- anything they had questions about or wanted to discuss. We just had the graduating Laurels do the questions. They are such wonderful examples for the girls. It felt like big sisters giving advice. It prompted a great discussion on several topics~ and the brownie ice cream Sunday's also added to the fun!
Another fun activity is when we combined with the Priests (always a favorite with the youth) and had a great cooking demo while discussing dating. The Soza's are excellent cooks and served us a delicious dinner while giving the kids great dating tips in their funny, edifying way.
I feel like these pictures only show a snippet of all we are involved in. I have a great presidency and advisors. I love serving in Young Women's! These are wonderful times I will remember forever!
We try to do a temple trip once a quarter with the Young Men and Women. Here's a few of the gals:
We played "Water Kick Ball" with the Young Men. We had a great turn-out and Adren said it was so much fun. I love to have him there at our Joint activities. Eli is counting the days until he can join in.
I was able to participate in the Stake Laurel High Adventure the beginning of June. We camped in Moab and river rafted down the Colorado River. It was so hot but so fun! We dived in that river the first day to cool off, we felt much better after that. We had a nice dinner that night and great fireside by the Stake President. The moon was so bright that night, it woke me up. I thought someone was shining a spotlight in my face. The rafting was really great. We got plenty wet, many went overboard going through rapids so it kept us cool. It took us about four hours, we stopped at one point on the bank and had lunch. It was so beautiful on that river, with the huge walls of red rock on either side of us. It was really fun to be with all the girls in the stake. I feel like between this trip, monthly stake laurel scripture study and girls camp- I know the other Laurels in the stake pretty well and I love that.
My Laurel presidency has been wanting to go camping~ Just our class, for quite some time. I thought, Why not? I loved that they wanted to be together, and once the Bishop cleared it, I let them plan away. We met at my house with everyone's gear and headed to the grocery store to get shopping. This group of gals really are so much fun! My advisor, Lori was able to come, I enjoy her so much. We arrived to our camp site and set up, the girls explored around at the nearby river a little bit and then we got started on dinner. We realized we forgot firewood (oops!) but the girls said they'd scavenge around and find some- and they did! Enough to roast hot dogs and s'mores later. I was way impressed.
Of course, we've got Girls Camp right around the corner. My awesome Camp Director, Leia had the girls make these cute pillows out of denim jeans with a long handle so we'd have something to sit on at the amphitheater. They worked out great! (but this was a big undertaking) Girls Camp makes the summer so busy!
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| Fun combined game night with rotations. |
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 Human Battleship with the Young Men~ Huge hit! This was so much fun. We used water balloons to launch back and forth but even 200 didn't go far. We thought if we did this again, we'd have a bucket full of big sponges in water instead. It would go much farther. |
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| We have a Personal Progress Celebration every three months. We invite parents, give out ribbons, then set some goals and help the girls work on PP! Here's what I posted on our private Youth Facebook page: | We love Personal Progress! These beautiful girls are developing talents, discovering divine attributes, planning for their futures, strengthening families, learning to do hard things and supporting each other. It's all GOOD! |
The next morning we headed up to Temple Square. You can schedule a group for youth conference, and your whole day is set up- starting with a devotional with the Sister Missionaries, speakers, visits to the Family History library, Church History Museum, a boxed lunch, a cooking demo with a Lion House Chef, the Testaments movie, and a lovely dinner at the Joseph Smith Memorial building ending in a testimony meeting. It was a wonderful day.
We had our annual Back to School BBQ and games Joint activity at a local park. I commented to the other leaders as we were busy grilling and setting out food- Lately it feels like 90% of this calling is feeding this group of kids!
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| Playing Missionary tag- a favorite. It's really fun! |
I feel like these pictures only show a snippet of all we are involved in. I have a great presidency and advisors. I love serving in Young Women's! These are wonderful times I will remember forever!