Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
The Puppy And The Watchman
Hello darling Young Women....
It's been a while since I've written, but I want you to know that you have been on my mind very much.
We loved seeing the Mia Maids at the Mia Maid Conference - thank you for coming! We hope you enjoyed yourself and find yourself look forward to next year.
I am excited about Stake Girl's Camp coming up June 21-25! There are going to be many great activities including crazy sock day, crazy hair day and pink princess day. And the best part of all - we get to all hang out together!
I wanted to share something with you that happened when I was coming home from working out one morning. I was walking up a steep hill and in the middle of the road was an adorable little puppy.
The puppy was in a place where it couldn't see that there were cars coming over the top of the hill and there wouldn't be any time for the puppy to run to safety - it would be too late. The puppy was playing and rolling around; when I realized the danger, I tried to get the puppy's attention and get it to run to me.
In the scriptures there is the term "watchman"; anciently, a watchman was responsible to keep the surrounding country under surveillance from a spot on the watchtower, to identify any hostile force that invaded the land, and to warn citizens of the invasion.
The day I found the puppy, I was the watchman - I could see from a spot that the puppy couldn't that there was danger ahead and I needed to move the puppy to safety.
Each one of you are blessed with watchman; sometimes it's your parents, sometimes it's your leaders - but you need to take notice of them and realize that they can see what you can't.
I love you, dear young women. It is my hope and prayer that each one of you will take notice of the watchmen in your life and know that they can see things that you don't see yet. They love you and want the very best for you.
I love you and hope you have a great week. TTYL~
It's been a while since I've written, but I want you to know that you have been on my mind very much.
We loved seeing the Mia Maids at the Mia Maid Conference - thank you for coming! We hope you enjoyed yourself and find yourself look forward to next year.
I am excited about Stake Girl's Camp coming up June 21-25! There are going to be many great activities including crazy sock day, crazy hair day and pink princess day. And the best part of all - we get to all hang out together!
I wanted to share something with you that happened when I was coming home from working out one morning. I was walking up a steep hill and in the middle of the road was an adorable little puppy.
The puppy was in a place where it couldn't see that there were cars coming over the top of the hill and there wouldn't be any time for the puppy to run to safety - it would be too late. The puppy was playing and rolling around; when I realized the danger, I tried to get the puppy's attention and get it to run to me.
In the scriptures there is the term "watchman"; anciently, a watchman was responsible to keep the surrounding country under surveillance from a spot on the watchtower, to identify any hostile force that invaded the land, and to warn citizens of the invasion.
The day I found the puppy, I was the watchman - I could see from a spot that the puppy couldn't that there was danger ahead and I needed to move the puppy to safety.
Each one of you are blessed with watchman; sometimes it's your parents, sometimes it's your leaders - but you need to take notice of them and realize that they can see what you can't.
I love you, dear young women. It is my hope and prayer that each one of you will take notice of the watchmen in your life and know that they can see things that you don't see yet. They love you and want the very best for you.
I love you and hope you have a great week. TTYL~
Thursday, April 1, 2010
The Windows To The Temple
Dear Young Women,
It was wonderful to see so many of you on Saturday at our Young Women Recognition Dinner and Broadcast. I wanted to share some of the remarks I gave that night with you, because I want you to remember to always look out your spiritual windows toward the temple.I am humbled and privileged to share some thoughts with you. I want you to know how much I love you and hope you recognize that each of you are part of a noble generation and as righteous young women, your actions can and will change the world.
When I was a little girl, my parents used to pack up my sisters and I every summer and take us to Manti, Utah where we visited our great-aunt and watched The Mormon Miracle Pageant. The Manti temple sits high on a hill known as “Temple Hill” and the pageant is held on the lower part of the hill – right below the temple. This was something we loved and looked forward to every year with great anticipation.
Our great-aunt’s large, old house was just blocks from the temple and we loved spending our afternoons there waiting for the pageant to begin and playing games in her home and yard. One of our favorite games was hide and seek – her yard seemed to go on forever and the house had a large number of rooms which were perfect for hiding in. One afternoon as I was hiding in one of the rooms of the house waiting to be found, I noticed that I had a very clear view of the Manti Temple out the window. After I was discovered, I went to hide in another room and noticed that that room also had a window with a beautiful view of the temple. As I made my way from room to room I realized that from every window in that house, I could see the temple.
Although none of us live in homes with windows that look out onto the temple, each one of us can picture the temple through spiritual windows. Spiritual windows are things that we do that help us to keep the temple in clear view. Some of these spiritual windows include reading our scriptures every day, saying our prayers and working on our personal progress and achieving the Young Womanhood Recognition Award. The righteous things you are doing now will help you to clearly see the temple through your spiritual windows.
In 1888, the Manti Temple was dedicated by President Lorenzo Snow. The dedicatory prayer of the Manti Temple says this: “We pray for Thy blessing upon the Young Ladies' and Young Men's Associations …that our youth may find Thee early…” My heart echoes that prayer – I pray that you will be strong and courageous as you walk toward the temple, that you will live the highest of standards like those found in the “For The Strength Of Youth” pamphlet so that you will always be worthy to enter the temple.
Last year, Young Women General President, Elaine Dalton, shared a story of how as she was leaving the office of President Monson, he presented her with single white rose. Sister Dalton said, “The moment he handed me that beautiful white rose, I knew why. I went back to the time when, as a young woman, I chose the white rose as my symbol of purity—my personal banner. How did President Monson know? I took that precious rose home, put it in a beautiful crystal vase, and placed it on a table where I could see it every day. Every day that rose reminded me of the importance of my own personal purity and virtue, and it reminded me of you. As you grow and blossom, your personal purity will enable you to become a force for good and an influence for righteousness in the world. I truly believe that one virtuous young woman, led by the Spirit, can change the world.”
Tonight we honor the 2010 Young Womanhood Award recipients. We will be presenting them with several items that we hope will always help them remember to look to the temple. Sister Spackman along with Sister Patsy Needham have made a beautiful envelope for each young woman that she will take with her the first time she goes to the temple; beautifully stitched on this envelope is the San Diego Temple. We hope that you will remember this evening and how the things you worked on were an important step toward achieving your goal of going to the temple. We are also honoring those young women who had previously completed their Young Womanhood Recognition award, but with the addition of the value “Virtue”, have gone back to complete those requirements. We commend them for their desire to go the extra mile and we have a heart charm for you to attach to your necklace. Our dear Stake President, President Hatch, has asked that each young woman being honored receive a white rose as a reminder to her of her personal purity and her influence for righteousness in the world.
I know that the temple is a place where we can find peace and feel the guidance of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that you will never regret making righteous decisions that lead you toward the temple. I testify that Jesus Christ lives and loves each one of us. May we each look out our spiritual windows toward the temple and go forward in the strength of the Lord is my prayer.
I love each one of you and hope you have a wonderful weekend watching General Conference.
TTYL~
It was wonderful to see so many of you on Saturday at our Young Women Recognition Dinner and Broadcast. I wanted to share some of the remarks I gave that night with you, because I want you to remember to always look out your spiritual windows toward the temple.I am humbled and privileged to share some thoughts with you. I want you to know how much I love you and hope you recognize that each of you are part of a noble generation and as righteous young women, your actions can and will change the world.
When I was a little girl, my parents used to pack up my sisters and I every summer and take us to Manti, Utah where we visited our great-aunt and watched The Mormon Miracle Pageant. The Manti temple sits high on a hill known as “Temple Hill” and the pageant is held on the lower part of the hill – right below the temple. This was something we loved and looked forward to every year with great anticipation.
Our great-aunt’s large, old house was just blocks from the temple and we loved spending our afternoons there waiting for the pageant to begin and playing games in her home and yard. One of our favorite games was hide and seek – her yard seemed to go on forever and the house had a large number of rooms which were perfect for hiding in. One afternoon as I was hiding in one of the rooms of the house waiting to be found, I noticed that I had a very clear view of the Manti Temple out the window. After I was discovered, I went to hide in another room and noticed that that room also had a window with a beautiful view of the temple. As I made my way from room to room I realized that from every window in that house, I could see the temple.
Although none of us live in homes with windows that look out onto the temple, each one of us can picture the temple through spiritual windows. Spiritual windows are things that we do that help us to keep the temple in clear view. Some of these spiritual windows include reading our scriptures every day, saying our prayers and working on our personal progress and achieving the Young Womanhood Recognition Award. The righteous things you are doing now will help you to clearly see the temple through your spiritual windows.
In 1888, the Manti Temple was dedicated by President Lorenzo Snow. The dedicatory prayer of the Manti Temple says this: “We pray for Thy blessing upon the Young Ladies' and Young Men's Associations …that our youth may find Thee early…” My heart echoes that prayer – I pray that you will be strong and courageous as you walk toward the temple, that you will live the highest of standards like those found in the “For The Strength Of Youth” pamphlet so that you will always be worthy to enter the temple.
Last year, Young Women General President, Elaine Dalton, shared a story of how as she was leaving the office of President Monson, he presented her with single white rose. Sister Dalton said, “The moment he handed me that beautiful white rose, I knew why. I went back to the time when, as a young woman, I chose the white rose as my symbol of purity—my personal banner. How did President Monson know? I took that precious rose home, put it in a beautiful crystal vase, and placed it on a table where I could see it every day. Every day that rose reminded me of the importance of my own personal purity and virtue, and it reminded me of you. As you grow and blossom, your personal purity will enable you to become a force for good and an influence for righteousness in the world. I truly believe that one virtuous young woman, led by the Spirit, can change the world.”
Tonight we honor the 2010 Young Womanhood Award recipients. We will be presenting them with several items that we hope will always help them remember to look to the temple. Sister Spackman along with Sister Patsy Needham have made a beautiful envelope for each young woman that she will take with her the first time she goes to the temple; beautifully stitched on this envelope is the San Diego Temple. We hope that you will remember this evening and how the things you worked on were an important step toward achieving your goal of going to the temple. We are also honoring those young women who had previously completed their Young Womanhood Recognition award, but with the addition of the value “Virtue”, have gone back to complete those requirements. We commend them for their desire to go the extra mile and we have a heart charm for you to attach to your necklace. Our dear Stake President, President Hatch, has asked that each young woman being honored receive a white rose as a reminder to her of her personal purity and her influence for righteousness in the world.
I know that the temple is a place where we can find peace and feel the guidance of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that you will never regret making righteous decisions that lead you toward the temple. I testify that Jesus Christ lives and loves each one of us. May we each look out our spiritual windows toward the temple and go forward in the strength of the Lord is my prayer.
I love each one of you and hope you have a wonderful weekend watching General Conference.
TTYL~
Monday, March 22, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Returning To The Rocky Path....
Dear Young Women,
Last year I wrote to you about going hiking on a rock path and how difficult it was because I wasn't properly prepared.
Several weeks ago, I returned to the same area - but this time I came equipped with the proper hiking boots. As the trail turned from dirt to rocks, I thought to myself how much easier it was this time because I knew what was coming - and I was ready!
As you go through life you're going to come in contact with many "rocky paths". You might wonder how you can be ready for those hard times; taking the time to read your scriptures every day and developing a real relationship with our Heavenly Father through prayer will help you when things get tough. Doing those things won't remove the rocky paths from our lives, but they will help us to be properly prepared for them - and give us courage and strength as we encounter them.
Also, never forget that you aren't on the rocky path alone - you've got parents, good friends and leaders who will walk with you. I love you all!
PS....this is a picture of the REAL rocky path - it's hard to even see the path, isnt it!
Don't Forget The Priest-Laurel Conference This Weekend
See your Young Women Leaders for Details. It's going to be so much fun! Friday - 8:00-11:00 PM at the Felicita Building; Saturday 11:00 AM-7:30 PM at the Del Mar Stake Center. Attire: nice-casual (no shorts or t-shirts). Hope to see you there!
Monday, January 25, 2010
The Hard Thing Is Usually The Right Thing....
Dear Young Women,
Happy New Year! I know I'm saying this a little later than I should be, but I hope that each of you is excited about this year and all that it has to offer. New and exciting things are happening in the Young Women program! If you haven't already, you'll be receiving a new Personal Progress booklet and journal - they are beautiful. We also have a new 2010 Mutual Theme which is found in Joshua 1:9: "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord Thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." I hope that as you read this, you feel the great hope and comfort that I do.
I have been thinking about the things that test our strength and courage; they come in many forms but one thing that I've learned is something that is hard and requires us to be strong and courageous is usually the right thing. There are so many things you do that test your strength and courage - you do them everyday and they are so much a part of your life that you probably don't even realize how strong and courageous you really are. It takes strength to get up for seminary, it takes courage to turn away when friends are telling an off-color joke, it takes strength to turn off the tv and read your scriptures before you get too tired, it takes courage to forgive a friend who has hurt your feelings and it takes strength and courage to ask for forgiveness....these are just a few examples but there are many, many others.
Last week there was one day that I had a difficult day - nothing really bad happened, but there were just a lot of things that tested my patience. I ran into the bank for what should have been an easy transaction, but the teller told me that she couldn't do what I asked her to do without some additional paper work. I wasn't exactly rude, but I certainly wasn't as kind as I should have been. After I left, I was haunted by my reaction - it bothered me for several days. Later in the week, I found myself back in the bank. The same teller was sitting behind the counter and I prayed to myself that she wouldn't help me - but that didn't happen. She called me forward and very politely assisted me. In my head, I heard the words of our theme about being "strong and courageous" and I knew I had to fix my mistake and apologize. I really didn't want to - in fact, several times during the short time she was helping me I almost talked myself out of it saying "I really wasn't that rude", but I knew I wouldn't feel good about it until I took care of it. Finally, just as I finished my business, I leaned over to her and said, "I was in here several days ago and you helped me." She nodded and smiled. I continued, "I'm afraid I wasn't very kind to you and I've felt terrible about it. I hope you'll forgive me." She looked stunned and shook her head saying, "Oh no, no - I don't even remember that." I think she was being kind; I think she did remember, but I appreciated her graciousness. As I was leaving the bank, I felt so much better. I knew that I had the strength and courage to do something hard. And you know what? You do too!! Whether it be big or small, you can find the courage and strength to do hard things.
Happy New Year! I know I'm saying this a little later than I should be, but I hope that each of you is excited about this year and all that it has to offer. New and exciting things are happening in the Young Women program! If you haven't already, you'll be receiving a new Personal Progress booklet and journal - they are beautiful. We also have a new 2010 Mutual Theme which is found in Joshua 1:9: "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord Thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." I hope that as you read this, you feel the great hope and comfort that I do.
I have been thinking about the things that test our strength and courage; they come in many forms but one thing that I've learned is something that is hard and requires us to be strong and courageous is usually the right thing. There are so many things you do that test your strength and courage - you do them everyday and they are so much a part of your life that you probably don't even realize how strong and courageous you really are. It takes strength to get up for seminary, it takes courage to turn away when friends are telling an off-color joke, it takes strength to turn off the tv and read your scriptures before you get too tired, it takes courage to forgive a friend who has hurt your feelings and it takes strength and courage to ask for forgiveness....these are just a few examples but there are many, many others.
Last week there was one day that I had a difficult day - nothing really bad happened, but there were just a lot of things that tested my patience. I ran into the bank for what should have been an easy transaction, but the teller told me that she couldn't do what I asked her to do without some additional paper work. I wasn't exactly rude, but I certainly wasn't as kind as I should have been. After I left, I was haunted by my reaction - it bothered me for several days. Later in the week, I found myself back in the bank. The same teller was sitting behind the counter and I prayed to myself that she wouldn't help me - but that didn't happen. She called me forward and very politely assisted me. In my head, I heard the words of our theme about being "strong and courageous" and I knew I had to fix my mistake and apologize. I really didn't want to - in fact, several times during the short time she was helping me I almost talked myself out of it saying "I really wasn't that rude", but I knew I wouldn't feel good about it until I took care of it. Finally, just as I finished my business, I leaned over to her and said, "I was in here several days ago and you helped me." She nodded and smiled. I continued, "I'm afraid I wasn't very kind to you and I've felt terrible about it. I hope you'll forgive me." She looked stunned and shook her head saying, "Oh no, no - I don't even remember that." I think she was being kind; I think she did remember, but I appreciated her graciousness. As I was leaving the bank, I felt so much better. I knew that I had the strength and courage to do something hard. And you know what? You do too!! Whether it be big or small, you can find the courage and strength to do hard things.
The YW theme states, "We will stand as witnesses of God at all times, in all things, and in all places...." Most of the time, standing as a witness requires courage and strength; an important part of having courage and strength is found in the rest of the theme for this year - "...for the Lord Thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." I know each one of you will feel the strength of the Savior as you choose to be strong and of a good courage.
I hope you have a great week. I love you all.
TTYL~
TTYL~
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