Young Womens in Excellence

Last night I attended Young Women in Excellence with Holly and Emily.  In past years my mom has come with us since she lived close and loves fun events like this.  When I was there last night I was missing my mom who is serving a mission for the Mormon church.  I decided to take a few pictures so she could feel like she was there, even though she wasn't.  I hope you enjoy them too.

My daughter Holly played the opening song I'm trying to be like Jesus and did a great job.  After the prayer and theme each of the Young Women in our ward took a turn coming up to the microphone in the chapel and talking about a personal progress activity that they had recently completed.  There were 20 young women and it was amazing to hear about all the good they are doing and how personal progress has changed their lives for the better.  One of the girls spoke about reading the Book of Mormon for the first time, another spoke about attending the temple and doing family history work, another about learning to sew and making a modest dress.  After all the girls shared, one girl was presented with her YW medallion for completing all of her goals.  A sweet slideshow set to music was shown about this girl. Then all the YW went up to the front and sang the song Stand in Holy Places.  A very talented man in our ward played the piano, one of the YW leaders was the director, and the YW were like a choir of angels.  It was such a beautiful song and hearing all the Young Women in our ward sing it was very touching.  They sounded just as good as the singers on the official video.



You should listen to the song as you picture these sweet girls from my ward below singing it.  The top picture is of Emily and her friends and the picture below it is of Holly and her friends.

After the song, a closing prayer was said and then we moved into the cultural hall at the church. Everyone was drawn to the dessert table where there were cupcakes made to look like high heeled shoes.  Adorable!

Tables were set up with balloons in the YW value colors.  Each of the girls had brought one of their shoes, in keeping with the stand in holy places theme, and something to represent a personal progress goal they recently completed.

 Emily's poster was about her experience in drama camp last summer and how that helped her to gain individual worth and also make new friends and show support of their talents.

Holly's poster was about her experience learning to play songs from the hymnbook and playing the piano every morning in her seminary class (about 160 times) for the opening song.  Doing this increased Holly's knowledge of the hymns and now she is very comfortable playing the piano while others sing along.

It was a great night and sure made me proud of my two Young Women Holly and Emily.  I can't believe how quickly they are growing up. 

 

Today I am thankful that:

*Nathan is at preschool and I get some time to myself (3 times a week!)

*A new neighbor came over to visit with her two little kids.  She had a 6 month old son who reminded me so much of Nathan when he was little. 

*Even though I am sad summer is over, the leaves on the tree are changing colors and look so beautiful.