Call me brave (or foolhardy), but I volunteered my house for the first annual Crystal Lake 2nd Ward Young Women's Conference/Sleepover. The boys get to do scout camp-outs, but the girls just get camp in the summer, so we thought this would be fun. Our stake theme for the year is "Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." (1 Timothy 4:12) So the theme for our conference was the word and conversation part. We had talks about virtue (the new word in the yw theme), gossip, standing up for your religion, etc. We played getting to know you games and had all kinds of sugary/salty snacks. The first picture shows our fireplace mantel. Going along with our theme, we are giving the girls candles each month or so, with the colors representing the different yw values. Gold is the color for our new value, virtue, so we found some beautiful gold candles with pretty holders (Ikea). We lit them all and then had a testimony meeting. They looked so pretty up on the mantle that I may buy some myself and make it a permanent decoration. The only drawback was when we blew them all out it set off the fire alarm and woke Scott up (it was about midnight). It is a very loud alarm, not just a siren sound but a scary voice that says, "fire in the house!" Anyway I went up to bed (ah, my own bed) soon after that, Katie and Jen (other leaders) slept in the basement along with the 13 girls that came. There was plenty of room, everyone brought blankets, sleeping bags, pillows, etc. Most of the girls stayed up all night. I wish I had that kind of energy! I went back to bed after everyone left this morning and stayed there for several hours.
Anyway in the morning we had a wonderful breakfast. Jen had made these awesome casseroles (1 bag of tater tots, thawed and mashed up, 2 cups milk, 2 eggs, and 2 cups cheese, with a little chopped up ham, cook at 350 for 50 minutes - - delicious!) and we also had fruit, OJ, hot chocolate, muffins, and cinnamon rolls. Cleanup was quick and easy, and I really think the girls had a nice time. I sure did. These young women live at a challenging time, and there are very few LDS kids at the schools here. It can't be easy facing the peer pressure that they do, but they are remarkably strong. They all get along well, and I am so glad, because they need eachother. One of my friends told me that as Ethan gets older, make sure he goes to activities, parties, etc., with his church friends, because they can be his greatest support. It was so different for me growing up because my church and school friends were the same. But living in the missionfield is not like that. Ethan has great school friends, and so far hasn't had problems with peer pressure, but I know that will come, and I'm so glad he has a bunch of great church buddies to hang out with as well.
Anyway I feel privileged to work with such wonderful women as leaders, and such valiant, beautiful young women. I love getting to know them and seeing their beautiful spirits shine through. Each is an example to me, and I just hope I can help them as much as they inspire me!
1 comment:
Why is my daughter the only angry face girl. She had a great time and thanks so much for doing this. She was very proud of the fact that she was still up at 9 in the morning.
Helpful hint for the next time you're putting out candles - use a wick dipper - less smoke. :)
Post a Comment