Table Displays

We live in a world that places a lot of value on the physical attractiveness or celebrity for hero worship.  I love these posters that ask "Who Is Your Hero?" and gives the YW a scriptural hero to emulate.  How wonderful it is to have Esther or Mary, the mother of the Saviour, as an example to follow.  I have a couple of these for my table and like to display one when I give my lesson on Sunday.  The artwork is beautiful and the message is wonderful!

(These posters can be found at: http://www.ldsengine.com/heroposters)

Service in the Community

On occasion, we have gotten the MIA Maids together for a class service project that they really like.  We meet and bake a large batch of cookies, put them on plates with bows, and deliver them to people who serve in the community.  We stop at the 3 firehouses in our area and at the emergency room with them.  They identify themselves as the Young Women from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and thank them for their hard work and dedication.  It's a fun, quick service project that we enjoy doing.

Back to School

I wanted to give the YW something for their return to school that had a spiritual reminder on it.  Taking advantage of the bottle cap fad, I bought some bottle cap pendants at Hobby Lobby at 4 for $1.49.  I added a round sticker to the center, added a stamped CTR charm and a bead.  I had lots of keychains lying around left over from girls camp and I attached them all to the chain.  It can be used as for keys or a zipper pull on their backpacks.  (I am notoriously impatient and CTR was the only thing I had the patience to stamp over and over.)  I thought about adding an initial to them but this way, I will just have a basket full of them and then can choose the one they want.  I thought they came out kind of cute for a first time try!

Puzzles as Object Lessons

"Is a puzzlement!" says the King of Siam in the King and I.  I like using puzzles for object lessons.  I give each girl a piece of a puzzle as they come in the door or sometime during the lesson.  As we discuss our principle, I will stop and have put the puzzle together.  I hold a piece back so the puzzle cannot be completed.  We can then discuss "finding the one" or making efforts to bring a YW back into activity.  How incomplete our class is without her!  We can discuss how each girl makes an important contribution to our class.

This object lesson can be used for so many different things such as pieces we need to put together to make ourselves Temple worthy.  We can discuss how our talents contribute to making us who we are and can add so much more to our lives as we develop them.  We can talk about how the teachings of the Gospel lead us, line-upon-line (piece-upon-piece) back to our Heavenly Father.  We can discuss how Personal Progress helps us by building a testimony and learning to recognize the Father's hand in our life. 

I usually just buy a child's 25 piece puzzle and that works well for our class.  If you are more inclined, you can cut up a picture of the Temple or have a puzzle made of the entire class and then keep one of the pieces so that a face is missing.   With some creativity, you may be able to find a way to make it work for your lesson.

Make a Decision Once

  

We often tell our YW that a decision only needs to be made once.  After that decision is made, we can make a commitment to that decision.  In her talk, "Guardians of Virtue," Sister Elaine Dalton states that when she was a youth, she made a list of things she would always do and things she would never do in a small tablet.  She committed to always obey the Word of Wisdom, always pay her tithing, never to miss church, etc. When faced with temptations, she knew that she had already decided what she was going to do.  She then encourages YW to make a list of their own of things they will always do and things they will never do.  

I handed out a small tablet.  On the front, I placed a small label stating "Little Things I Want to Remember."  On the first page, at the top, I wrote:  "Things I will always do."  On the second page, at the top, I wrote:  "Things I will never do."  I also encouraged my girls to make such a list.  They can then use this little notebook for whatever purpose they want but when the open it, their commitments are the first thing they see.  We talked about including going to church, attending meetings, paying tithing, and praying.  We also talked about not kissing on the first date, choosing only clean language, and uplifting entertainment.  On talking about not kissing on the first date, one of my YW said, "Well, it's too late for that!"  I reminded her that repentance is a great gift of the Father.  Once she has repented, she can start anew.  She is only 17.  She will find she will have other first dates in her life.  Why not commit now?  

What a blessing it is to have the Gospel standards to help us guide our YW toward the Temple.  How great is the gift of repentance. As we live these standards, Heavenly Father will be our strength and the Holy Ghost our guide.