Personal Progress: Faith #3

This one is pretty involved, so it's gonna take me a long time to explain it. The requirement is for the YW to plan and present a Family Home Evening lesson about faith and how faith helps us keep a gospel principle. For the activity, the girls will be putting together their own lesson on faith and prayer while they participate in my lesson as I model it for them.
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As the girls arrive, I give them each a card from a deck of playing cards. That is so I can divide them into groups. (An old teaching trick.) The groups will be the 4 suits.
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The main activity is a scavenger hunt. I have picked 9 locations around the church building. At each location, they read something related to the lesson, pick up a part of the materials needed for their own lesson, and get the next clue. I am using scriptures as the clues so they are being challenged. Here is the course of the scavenger hunt (each group is going in a different order, though):

1. Kitchen (Exodus 23: 16) - Here they pick up a pack of recipe cards that they will use to make the scavenger hunt clues for their own FHE.
2. Relief Society room (1 Corinthians 13: 8) - A leader will read about faith from the Bible Dictionary. They will pick up a copy of the same (for all of these, the selection the leader reads is also given to them, unless noted).
3. Stage (2 Samuel 6: 14 - this is the most challenging clue) - A leader will read about faith from True to the Faith.
4. Cleaning closet (Isaiah 1: 16) - A leader will read a selection from True to the Faith that I have pieced together from the section on prayer.
5. Foyer near the chapel (Doctrine & Covenants 20: 75) - A leader will read the first verse of "A Child's Prayer." The girls will get a copy of the sheet music with the link to the song on the church website: http://tinyurl.com/childsprayer.
6. Library (Doctrine & Covenants 88: 118) - A leader will read a paragraph from the Bible Dictionary section on prayer (the paragraph about how prayer aligns God's will with ours).
7. Primary room (Matthew 19: 13-14) - A leader will read some scriptures about prayer (Alma 34: 17-27; Alma 37: 37). The girls will pick up a list of scriptures about prayer (Matthew 6: 6; Matthew 21: 22; 1 Thessalonians 5: 17-18; James 1: 5-6; Alma 34: 17-27; Alma 37: 37; Doctrine & Covenants 19: 28).
8. Coat racks (Genesis 3: 21) - A leader will read some scriptures about faith (Hebrews 11: 1, 3-9, 11, 13, 17, 20-31). The girls will pick up a list of scriptures about faith (Mark 11: 22; 2 Corinthians 5: 7; Hebrews 11: 1, 3-9, 11, 13, 17, 20-31; Alma 14: 26).
9. Young Women's room (Deuteronomy 31: 6; Joshua 1: 9 (the 2010 theme scriptures)) - The girls will be given a page with the instructions and outline for preparing their own Family Home Evening Lesson.

Wish me luck!

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Hindsight Advice: Explain to the leaders exactly what they need to do. They won't get it implicitly. Explain to the girls that the scriptures on the clue cards are clues to lead them to the next location. They won't get it implicitly.

Personal Progress: P Party

Lois the Visiting Teacher was recently also made Lois the Young Women's Personal Progress Specialist. So I figured I might as well post my ideas for those activities on here as well. After each activity has passed, I'll go back and post the hindsight advice after I've seen how my activity goes.
The first activity I had was a P Party. Got the idea online, totally not mine. The idea is to get the girls excited about doing Personal Progress, but it really was so I could get all their records. The Young Women and leaders were instructed to wear as many P items as possible (pink, purple, polish, pigtails, etc.) and there would be a prize for the most Ps (a pack of penguin playing cards!).
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The girls played P games (Pictionary, Phase 10, Pass the Pigs, Parcheesi) and ate P snacks (pretzels, peanut M&Ms, pop in plastic cups).
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Hindsight advice: Having multiple game options didn't work out. Stick with Pictionary.

January 2010

"Becoming Self-Reliant"

(Pretty much any emergency supply will work. I bought reflective emergency blankets.)

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"‘Self-reliance means using all of our blessings from Heavenly Father to care for ourselves and our families and to find solutions for our own problems.’ Each of us has a responsibility to try to avoid problems before they happen and to learn to overcome challenges when they occur. . . .
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"How do we become self-reliant? We become self-reliant through obtaining sufficient knowledge, education, and literacy; by managing money and resources wisely, being spiritually strong, preparing for emergencies and eventualities; and by having physical health and social and emotional well-being."
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–Julie B. Beck

December 2009

"Nurture through Compassionate Service"

Since it's Christmas and the theme is service, I made Christmas Jars, based on the book.

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Put change in this jar throughout the year--

It will bring your family endless good cheer.

As Christmas approaches, think long and think hard

Of someone who needs what you've put in the jar.

For Christmas is loving and sharing and giving

And thinking of others, unhappily living.

It doesn't take much to share some delight

And have Christmas all year, shedding Christ's light.

November 2009

"Every Woman Needs Relief Society"

(November and May we are supposed to pick a Conference talk as our Visiting Teaching message. My ward picks for us.)

Reasons to be thankful for Relief Society (cause November is a thanking month): WARMTH of the SPIRIT:
JOY in SISTERHOOD:
STRENGTH in LEARNING:

Increase of FAITH (faith, mustard seed . . . get it?):

October 2009

"Nurture the Rising Generation"Nurture the JUNIORS in your life!

(Junior Mints, Junior Caramels, or modify to use Sugar Babies.)
"Our rising generation is worthy of our best efforts to support and strengthen them in their journey to adulthood." –Elder Ronald A. Rasband

"They have been held back to come forth at this time, but now they need to be pushed forward to meet their rendezvous." –Elder Neil A. Maxwell

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For October's gift, I went to the local dollar store and bought some children's toys (since it's October, I made sure there were some Halloween toys, too).

September 2009

"Understand and Live the Gospel of Christ""Plant your spiritual roots deep and enjoy the fruits of the Gospel."

This one is pretty easy, especially in the fall when fruits are abundant. You could do pretty much anything that relates to plants (seeds, potting soil, etc.), but since it is fall, I chose fruit. I went the cheap route and got no-name jellies/jams. To make the gift more unique or special, use fresh fruits and vegetables from your garden or a farmers' market, or stuff you canned yourself.