Beauty Challenge: Day 1 Kick Off

For our Beauty Challenge Kick Off, we started the activity night with a talk from President Uchtdorf and how he compares us to swans in the Hans Christian Anderson story, The Ugly Duckling. We went over each day of the upcoming weeks and then had a lovely class on how to take care of our skin and nails. Along with a nail kit as a favor, we sent them home with a copy of President Uchtdorf's talk. I posted this video and quote on the YW's facebook page along with pictures from the night. 

You are daughters of the greatest, most glorious being in the universe. He loves you with an infinite love. He wants the best for you. There will always be voices telling you that you are foolish to believe you are swans, insisting you are but ugly ducklings and that you can’t expect to become anything else. But you know better, you are no ordinary beings.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

The 12 Day Beauty Challenge

So for October, my ward is having their Young Women in Excellence night. And as part of Personal Progress I thought it would be fantastic to do a beauty challenge leading up to that night. I got the idea from BYU's 10 day beauty challenge. For 12 days we are hosting activities, teaching lessons, posting videos on our facebook page, and encouraging the girls to post their journey on social media with our own personalized hashtag. The theme is Come Unto Christ, Moroni 10:32. Each day will have it's own theme and either a video or quote to go along with said theme. Here is the schedule for our beauty challenge:

COME UNTO CHRIST

YOUNG WOMEN 12 DAY BEAUTY CHALLENGE

Each day find the beauty within yourself that helps make you a divine daughter of our Heavenly Father. Document your journey through online social media by using ‪#‎BeautyChallenge‬

Day 1

“12 Day Beauty Challenge Kick Off!”

Skin and Nails

6:30 pm at the Church

Day 2

“True Beauty”

Mirror/ Self Talk Challenge

Day 3

“Au Naturel”

No Make-up & No Styled Hair

Day 4

“Yoga & Meditation”

Learn to ponder and feel peace.

6:30 am 

Breakfast will be served.

Day 5

“Become More Christlike”

Attend Church

9:00 am

Day 6

“No Media Challenge”

Break away from all things media. Turn to the scriptures and nature for your entertainment.

Day 7

“Make Peace with your Food”

Eat to feel joy, not guilt.

Try food you’ve never tried before, or share your favorite recipe.

Day 8

“YW in Excellence Projects”

Finalize our projects and get ready for Excellence night!

6:30 pm at the Church

Day 9

“Make Peace with your Body”

Go out and do an activity you’ve never done before, or always wanted to try!

Day 10

“Dare to Wear What You Want”

Wear your favorite outfit, or wear something or a style you’ve always wanted to wear.

Day 11

“Remember Your Genes”

Temple Square and 

Family History Library Tour

Meet at the Church 9:00 am

Bring your signed permission slip, a sack lunch and your LDS account login name and password & a family name to research (optional). Be prepared for a fun filled day of activities downtown. We will return about 5:00 pm.

Day 12

Young Women in Excellence Night

“Come Unto Christ”

6:30 pm

In the Relief Society Room

Parents are invited.

Set up your YW in Excellence project between 6:00 and 6:30 pm.

Refreshments will be served

You can easily customize these activities to meet your young women's needs. I hope that you take this idea and run with it. It's a great way to teach the YW how divine they are and what true beauty is. Follow my posts to see our beauty journey. 

Virtue Value Experience #3 - Preparing for the Temple

We haven't actually completed this value experience yet, but I wanted to give as many of you opportunity for the idea as I can since my plan is time sensitive. For this experience we are taking a tour of the Ogden Temple Open House. You can reserve your tickets here. Since the experience is to prepare to go to the temple, what better way to help prepare them than to show them! 

Prepare to be worthy to enter the temple and to participate in temple ordinances. Read Alma chapter 5. Make a list of the questions Alma asks. Answer the questions for yourself, and make a list of the things you can and will do to prepare yourself to be pure and worthy to enter the temple and receive all the blessings our Heavenly Father has promised His beloved daughters.

I then went to bomhandouts and found the questions that need to be answered in Alma 5. Instead of just printing them, I re-typed them up in a cute font and condensed them into a book mark form to make it seem less of a daunting task to complete. I also added a journal page for them to write their list of ways to be prepared to enter the temple. I plan on passing them out to the girls at the end of the night. 

The following activity week we are planning on doing baptisms for the dead and Virtue Value Experience #2 to go along with this value.

I hope this gives you an idea on how to make this value experience a fun one! If you come up with a different idea, please share it in the comment box for the rest of us :)

Time Capsules - Integrity Value Experience #2

This week we decided to expand on Integrity Value Experience #2 by creating a time capsule. I remember doing this when I was a Laurel. I have until 2017 to open mine so I do not remember what is in it. I ended up looking in various places and books for inspiration. I basically generated work sheets the girls could fill out that would journal who they are now and who they would like to become. We discussed the assessment portion of the value experience as we filled out each paper. Here is what I came up with:

Conduct a self-assessment of your personal integrity. Ask yourself the following questions: Do I avoid gossip, inappropriate jokes, swearing and profanity, and being light-minded about sacred subjects? Am I completely truthful, morally clean, honest, dependable, and trustworthy in my schoolwork and other activities? Pray daily for strength and for the guidance of the Holy Ghost to help you live with integrity. Write in your journal the things you can do to improve your personal integrity and at least one new habit you want to develop.

Basically I typed these up in my Word program with a cute font and a quote to support each question being asked, and then put together a packet for each girl to fill out. 

The quotes are as follows:

• What qualities do you want to develop in yourself?
  "Your success in marriage will depend largely on your ability to focus on improving yourself rather than trying to reshape your spouse. It will depend more on being the right one than finding the right one." ~Elder Lynn G. Robbins
• What qualities do you want in a husband?
  "In selecting a companion for life and for eternity, certainly the most careful planning, thinking, praying, and fasting should be done to be sure that of all the decisions this one must not be wrong. In true marriage there must be a union of minds as well as hearts." ~President Spencer W. Kimball
• How many children do you want to have?
  "Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord, Jesus Christ." ~The Family: A Proclamation to the World
• How would you like to get married?
  "The noblest yearning of the human heart is for a marriage that can endure beyond death. Fidelity to a temple marriage does that. It allows families to be together forever." ~Elder Russell M. Nelson
• What do you want to accomplish in this life?
  "It's in the doing not just the thinking that we accomplish our goals." ~President Thomas S. Monson
• What are the things that make you special?
  "We should remember that saying 'I love you' is only a beginning. We need to say it, we need to mean it, and most importantly we need consistently to show it." ~Elder David A. Bednar
• Who are the people you spend time with most?
  "True happiness comes only by making others happy." ~President David O. McKay
• What is happening in your life right now?
  "You hold in your hands the happiness of more people than you can imagine." ~Elder Henry B. Eyring
• What do you believe in?
  "Our firm personal testimony will motivate us to change ourselves and then bless the world." ~Elder Dieter F, Uchtdorf
• What do you want to tell your future self?
  "She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness." ~Proverbs 31:26

Then I had them decorate a manila envelop to store their packet in. We also taped them really good to prevent any peaking from happening. 

And because I love to bake so much, we actually made my Grandmother's Coconut Bread before we started the packet. That way the house smelt of delicousness while we journaled. Once it was done baking, we had a warm delightful treat to share. (We also took pieces of the bread and extra time capsules to the girls who couldn't make it that night.)

Integrity Value Experience #1

This week we worked on Integrity #1. I decided we needed a little fun and chose to make it a movie night. We watched "The Little Princess" and ate Belgium waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. Then I sent them home with a "For the Strength of Youth" care package. Here's how I did it:

Integrity is the willingness and desire to live by our beliefs and standards. Read Moroni 10:30–33 and think about what it means to “deny yourselves of all ungodliness.” Read the pamphlet For the Strength of Youth. Reflect on how the Lord’s standards differ from the world’s standards. Record in your journal appropriate standards for behavior, dress, and conversation, as well as literature, movies, television, Internet, music, cell phones, and other media. Also write your plan to stay morally clean and worthy to attend the temple. After keeping your standards for at least one month, record your feelings in your journal and continue to keep your commitment.

• I made a worksheet to fill out that made it easy to do what was asked of them in the experience.

• I made a front and back cover to go with the gift bags I planned to fill as party favors at the end of the night. It was a list of all the Strength of Youth standards as well as the scriptures Moroni 10:30-33.

• I printed the description given for each standard outlined on the church's website, cut them out and attached them to various items that represented the definition of each standard. Here is the list of items I picked up:

~For the Strength of Youth pamphlet from the Distribution Center. 

~Agency & Accountability - Wherefore, men . . . are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death. 2 Nephi 2:27

A package of gum.

~Dating - Virtue loveth Virtue; light cleaveth unto light. D&C 88:40

The New Era dating issue from the Distribution Center.

~Dress & Appearance - Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? . . . The temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 

A picture of the Salt Lake Temple from the Distribution Center. 

~Education - Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. D&C 130:18

A pencil.

~Entertainment & Media - If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things. Article of Faith 1:13

A bag of microwave popcorn.

~Family - The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. . . . Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Family: A Proclamation to the World

My Family booklet from the Distribution Center. 

~Friends - Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Matthew 25:40

A can of Diet Coke that said "Friends" on it.

~Gratitude - He who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious. D&C 78:19

A blank "Thank You" card.

~Honesty & Integrity - Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Exodus 20:15-16

A bag of gummy bears .

~Language - Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good. Ephesians 4:29

A bar of soap.

~Music & Dancing - Praise the Lord with singing, with music, with dancing. D&C 136:28

My favorite LDS cd, Michael McLean, As I Am

~Physical & Emotional Health - All saints who remember to keep and do these sayings . . . shall receive health in their navel and marrow in their bones; and shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge. D&C 89:18-19

A granola bar.

~Repentance - By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sings - behold, he will confess them and forsake them. D&C 58:43

A Band-Aid.

~Sabbath Day Observance - Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Exodus 20:8

A book mark for their scriptures (a simple ribbon with a knot at the top).

~Service - When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God. Mosiah 2:17

A picture of Jesus Christ from the Distribution Center.

~Sexual Purity - The sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife. The Family: A Proclamation to the World

A Ring Pop.

~Tithes & Offerings - Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse. . . . and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour out a blessing. Malachi 3:10

A tithing envelop.

~Work & Self-Reliance - Thou shalt not idle away thy time, neither shalt thou bury thy talent. D&C 60:13

A pot of soil.

~Go Forward with Faith - By small and simple things are great things brought to pass. Alma 37:6

A package of seeds

• I finally packed them all into a gift bag from the local dollar store. I presented it much like a party favor bag that you'd get at the end of a kid's party. 

I went through the meanings of each topic and then bore my testimony of why all the standards we are asked to live by are so important. I referenced the movie we watched as well as parts of my own life experiences. It made for a fun filled evening. 

If you don't feel comfortable showing a "Hollywood" movie, you can show all the church video shorts that are linked to each standard. You can find them through the church website, at the church Distribution Center, or on Youtube. 

I have a small number of girls in my group, so I didn't mind spending a $1 here and a $1 there for some of these items. But if you have a larger number of girls, or a smaller budget, you can easily substitute anything you feel portrays the topic in an object lesson form to fit your situation. If you come up with a better suggestion, please put it in the comment box to share with the rest of us. :)