New Beginnings

Every year there is a program in the church for the Young Women, it's called New Beginnings.  This is when the girls that have been participating in the program welcome in the new ones into the "teen scene".  Once you turn 12, you move out of Primary and into the Young Women's program.

I don't know of a girl that hasn't wished for this day to come sooner because this means you can do fun things like go to girls camp, firesides, dances and hang out with the older girls, but more than anything, it means you don't have to do the Primary program in church once a year.  It's not that the program is horrible.  It's just that when you get to be about 11, you don't want to get up in church and sing and have speaking parts in front of EVERYONE. 

Of course, the parents love the program because they get to watch their little ones sing, wiggle, pick their noses, wave to everyone, and just have a laugh while trying very hard to be reverent.  These programs are a good mix of that.  I remember crying while watching our little ones up there but secretly hoping they didn't do anything TOO embarrassing.  There are very few things that tug at a mom's heart like that once a year program.  The songs they sing are so tender and sweet.  The sing about Jesus and how they KNOW He loves them.  They sing a song that says, "If the Savior Stood Beside Me...would I do the things I do".  They sing about families and how important they are.  They sing about prayer and how if they will pray, their Heavenly Father will hear and answer them.  It really is quite a program with all sorts of great emotions.  

For the children that are 3-11ish, they are so excited to perform for the parents but that fondness seems to wear off just in time to move on.  I'm sure that that is how it's suppose to work.  Well, Becca is on the verge of moving on and she is thrilled!  She will turn 12 on less then one month and she is READY!  


Our Young Women leader are amazing with lots of great ideas and tons of energy.  The program that they came up with was based loosely on the Sleeping Beauty story and all of the older girls were involved in the skit.  They talked about the 8 values (8 dwarfs), which are:

Faith, Divine Nature, Individual Worth, Knowledge, Choice & Accountability, Good Works, Integrity, & Virtue.  


These are the topics that all of the girls study and work on for the next 8 years until they graduate from high school.   Now, it's not all work, work, work.  Trust me, they have tons of fun while leaning these things too.  By the time they graduate, they will have accomplished the equivalent of earning the Eagle Scout award.  

Two down, one to go!  Now I just need to motivate Jeffrey to finish his Eagle!

These are all of the Young Women in our new ward.  Pretty impressive #'s

Amanda & Becca at New Beginnings 2011

Two of my girls...One in the last year and a half of Y.W. the other just starting.