HSM

When is a theme more than a theme?
Tonight was our Ward's New Beginnings program and I thought they delivered a theme, a program, a thought that tied the young women together in a good way.. They did the traditional elements of: class purposes of each class; introduction of the new Beehives; an Overview of the Personal Progress Program. From there it took on an aire of its own.

Four vignettes of girls dealing with the challenges of every day life and how they are better, or more easily dealt with when: We are in all in this together. They were kind of cheesy, kinda of cute, and on target. We have frequently and consistently encouraged our boys to participate, attend, support, go and do a particular activity that might not have been the top of their list of interest but one which we felt they needed to be involved in because of Quorum. That the sense of Quorum provides strength and courage and support and ability to cope with the world that surrounds us. Tonight's presentation was the best non-quorum quorum presentation I can recall.

The YW president reviewed the YW's theme:
We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we love Him.
We will "stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things,
and in all places" (Mosiah 18:9) as we strive to live
the Young Women values, which are:
Faith
Divine Nature
Individual Worth
Knowledge
Choice and Accountability
Good Works
Integrity and
Virtue.
We believe as we come to accept and act upon these values,
we will be prepared to strengthen home and family, make and keep sacred covenants,
receive the ordinances of the temple, and enjoy the blessings of exaltation.

The theme could be written in the first person but it isn't.
It could be focused on the me but it isn't it is the we.
The theme is built around the unity of the Young Women
The discussion was further strengthen by looking at the Mutual Theme for the year:


"We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men. Indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul: we believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."(Article of Faith 13)

Count the "WE" that appear in these two statements. We succeed, we believe, we thrive together not as silos not as individuals but collectively. Now that is all well and good but it has to be done with a level of fun. So that was added into the evening with the YW advisers doing a dance number from High School Musical.They turned on the music, got up front of the group and 'cut the rung'. It was funny, it was entertaining, it helped connect to the girls.


Even the words of the song relate to the theme of the night
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Everyone is special in their own way
We make each other strong (we make each other strong)
Were not the same
Were different in a good way
Together's where we belong

We're all in this together
Once we know
That we are
We're all stars
And we see that
We're all in this together
And it shows
When we stand
Hand in hand
Make our dreams come true

Together, together, together everyone
Together, together, come on lets have some fun
Together, were there for each other every time
Together together come on lets do this right


Ok, maybe using a song from a Disney Movie is a stretch for you but it worked for me.I appreciated the evening.

Super Saturday

Super Saturday launching the new theme for 2011 was held from 4- 9 pm. We have not had one for awhile and today we did. We had pretty good attendance - around 160 youth,  with all but the seniors being well represented. The planning and running of the program is entirely by the Stake with no Ward leaders in attendance so no additional strain on them. The kids were involved, engaged, interactive, fed, and lifted up. I thought it was great. The flow was as follows:

• Opening where we watched the YM/YW New Theme introduction a great DVD go to the link I couldn't get it to embed
• Then we broke up into three groups
• Human Fusbol in the gym ( a much too structured version shown here but it gives you the idea. Think PVC pipe held onto by 4-6 kids squared off like in fusbol, in a gym with beach balls as the ball.)
• Carnival games and a group game of Love your neighbor
• Group games of Flying Nija and Dip, Dip, Dip
• (A really fun game that involves any number of people standing in a circle. One person says "dip, dip, dip" and on the third dip has the option of pointing at anyone in the circle. That person must now say "dip, dip, dip", and the cycle continues. In addition, the people to the left and right of the "dip" must face the "dip" and say "dippity dippity doo" in the goofiest way possible. The person with the "dip" may also say "dip dip doo", and point their hands up to the sky, which means everyone in the circle has to spin around once and say "dippity dippity doo". After spinning, the "dip" stays the same and everyone must continue their role as it was before. A person is out if they forget to either "dip" or "dippity dippity doo" at any time.)
• (One ninja version here) 
• Next came all the pizza, bread sticks and oranges they could eat - limitless food always a key to success
• Three rotations of Seminars one by each couple of the Stake Presidency breaking down the 13th Article of Faith, great teachers and great presentation
• Believe , Hope, Endure - ending in the very personal story of one sister's dealing with a brain tumor
• Seeking  the good - 
• Being - leaving New York behind referring to church history experiences, and capped by one of my favorite stories from Voyage of the Dawn Treader and Eustace transforming from a boy to a dragon and then losing his dragon self
• The evening was capped by a quick summary and ice cream sundaes

A great day. A great activity