Becoming The Girl Of Your Dreams

Tonight's mutual was special because it was New Beginnings. The theme was "Becoming The Girl Of Your Dreams" and everybody wore their pajamas. That's because we talked about PJS--that's Prayer, Journal, Scriptures. Most young women won't leave the house without their make-up, yet how many times do we feel ok about leaving the house without our PJS? Or going to bed without remembering our PJS?

Sister Rock reviewed Personal Progress and introduced our theme. She reminded us to write down our "good turns daily" and add them to the bowl and thanked Sister Olsen and Sister Fox for doing a HUGE good turn by organizing our YW closet.

Our 3 new Beehives (Sydney, Sariah & Lindsey) who joined us in 2007 were introduced by their moms, except Lindsey who got a great introduction from her sister, and fellow Beehive, Becky.

Sister Brown spoke about prayer and to keep a constant dialog going with our Heavenly Father to pray for things in our heart and also for gratitude. Sister Billquist talked about journals and how there are many different ways to keep journals: calendars, blogs, notebooks, jump drives, gratitude journals, scripture journals etc. & shared a quote from President Kimball: "Get a notebook, my young folks, a journal that will last through time, and maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity. Begin today and write in it your goings and comings, your deepest thoughts, your achievements and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies." Sister Rodgers reminded us that scriptures are a vital part of Heavenly Father's communication with His children and invite the Spirit into our lives.

Brother Fillerup closed the evening with a moving story about Patriarchal Blessings and how the Lord knows us individually. Afterwards, Sister Rock treated us to pancakes and each girl got a sachet with a prayer rock, a pen, and a bookmark to remind them of their PJS.

We will miss you, President Hinckley

I think we are all reflective at President Hinckley's passing what his leadership has meant to us. For the Beehives, he is the only prophet you have known. He was an enduring example of optimism and was well-loved for his humor and grandfatherly smile. He doubled the amount of temples which have resulted in immeasurable blessings for people around the world. He was surely a living example of what it means to be steadfast and immovable. I know we will all miss him dearly, but what a reminder how important a temple marriage is, that two people who love each other so much know they can be together forever. How happy he must be to be reunited with his beloved Marjorie. And his family who said good-bye last night has the comfort this is not the end. Our dear prophet wore his mortal body out working to build the kingdom of God. I hope we can always honor his life by living by his teachings.

Testimony of Gordon B. Hinckley, 15th Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

I hope that all of you will remember that on this Sabbath day you heard me bear my witness that this is God's holy work. The vision given the Prophet Joseph in the grove of Palmyra was not an imaginary thing. It was real. It occurred in the broad light of day. Both the Father and the Son spoke to the boy. He saw Them standing in the air above him. He heard Their voices. He gave heed to Their instruction.

It was the resurrected Lord who was introduced by His Father, the great God of the universe. For the first time in recorded history, both the Father and the Son appeared together to part the curtains and open this, the last and final dispensation, the dispensation of the fullness of times. The Book of Mormon is all that it purports to be—a work recorded by prophets who lived anciently and whose words have come forth "to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations.

The priesthood has been restored under the hands of John the Baptist and Peter, James, and John. All the keys and authority pertaining to eternal life are exercised in this Church.Joseph Smith was and is a prophet, the great Prophet of this dispensation. This Church, which carries the name of the Redeemer, is true. I leave you my testimony, my witness, and my love for each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

-April 1, 2006, Sunday morning session of the 176th Annual World General Conference

Beehive Cribs & Pretzels

Tonight's Mutual was extra fun because we got another new Beehive! We welcomed Lindsey to our class and we are so excited to have her and she brings us up to 9 Beehives! And Becky & Shannon are wonderful friends to Ashley and Sarah who often join us on Wednesday nights.

We played Uno while Jessie got the video camera ready. HUGE thanks to Jessie for being our camera girl and traveling with Sister B to film every girl's "crib." We had fun watching each Beehive tell about what they like and showing off their room.

Afterwards, we made soft pretzels and sprinkled them with cinnamon and sugar and washed them down with bottled root beer.

We also remembered to write down some of our "good turns" to add to the stake jar.

10 Steps Closer to Christ

Many thanks to Sister Rodgers and all the leaders who participated in our combined YM/YW activity. The activity was inspired by a talk entitled "Toward Greater Spirituality: Ten Important Steps," by Joe J. Christensen. The youth were divided into 6 groups, and each group spent 5 minutes at each station. Various YM and YW leaders were at each stop to teach on a particular subject. Hopefully everyone considered the thought-provoking questions at each one and learned ways they can come closer to Christ.

1. Do I read the scriptures daily?

2. Do I really pray and not just say prayers?

3. Is my fasting meaningful? Do I do more than just get hungry?

4. Do I go to bed early and get up early?

5. Am I essentially a happy person?

6. Do I work hard?

7. Am I more concerned about how rather than where I serve?

8. Do I love everyone—even my enemies?

9. Am I striving to “become one” with what I know I ideally should be?

10. Do I share my testimony with others?

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President Ezra Taft Benson said: Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life in the service of God will find eternal life. (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1988], p. 361).

Baptisms

We had a wonderful time at the temple not-so-bright and early Wednesday morning. Unfortunately, Sister B was not on top of things and the batteries in my camera were dead so we didn't get any pics of the beautiful girls with wet hair in the dark. It was a big day for our newest Beehive, Sariah who got to celebrate coming into YW by going to the temple for the first time. How special! McKenna from our class was also there and Reagan & Kelly from the Laurels came too. Our stake had a good turn out and we were all surprised when we were done that it was still dark outside! Thanks to Sister Brown who provided breakfast. We are so lucky to have a temple so close. I know its a sacrifice to get up that early, but its such a privilege to do temple work for those who have passed on and the blessings and feelings from being in the temple are immeasurable.

Ward Conference

I hope everyone got their door hanger the stake YW presidency made to help you implement our 2008 theme and goals. "Look for more opportunities to serve" is part of a stake goal that we will be focusing on in YW.

You were also given a new lavender journal that is exclusively for you to record your acts of service and were asked to title it after the Boy Scout slogan, "Do a Good Turn Daily." It is important to write things down. It gives you a chance to reflect on the many ways that the Lord blesses you each day.

The blue pencil was given to you to mark your scriptures as you come across passages about service as read and study.

Sister Rock has slips of paper for you to write down throughout 2008 your good turns and they will be added to a "Do a Good Turn Daily" jar. The stake YW presidency is going to present it to President Greet at the end of the year. Wouldn't it be great if we could fill up our own jar in just the Pioneer ward?

Remember, even the simplest gesture can mean so much. Service isn't always in the form of an organized project through YW or adding something to your calendar. It is more often small acts of thoughtfulness or help to someone else as we go through daily life-- just as the Savior spent his life doing. I know from experience that you will find the cure to just about any problem if you focus not on yourself, but on following the Savior's example of serving others.

Matthew 16:25 "...whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."

Go # 10!

Concentrating hard at first base.
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Our darling McKenna with her super skillz and the Highland 7th grade softball team had a blow-out against Mesquite Jr. High this afternoon! Good job McKenna Louise!
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Great hit!

An Attitude of Gratitude: Blessing Basket Activity

Tonight's activity was so fun! Each girl took turns presenting their Blessing Basket and telling about themselves and what they are grateful for. We all enjoyed a moment in the spotlight and learning a little more about everyone.

It is wonderful to see we all share many of the same ides or things we are grateful for: family, The Church, candy... and also to see what makes each of us unique. The hit of the activity was Matea's tiny tortoise! Because the gender won't be known until its a little bigger, it doesn't quite have a name yet. But the girls were delighted to watch it eat its vitamin pellet (green only!) and learn fun reptile facts from Matea.

Sister B had the book "I Love You So..." in her Blessing Basket and read it to all the girls. She used it to tell how GRATEFUL she is for her calling over the Beehives. Boy she sure loves these 12 & 13 year old girls! How much? SO much! How much is "so?" Way, way more than you know...

Then we played 2 rounds of musical chairs and were joined by the Bishop who gave the girls a run for their money, but in the end, Jessie and McKenna were "the fastest buns in the West" as Sister Moore exclaimed!

Here are a few pictures:

Blessing Baskets

The idea for this week's activity came from a talk given by Sister Bonnie D. Parkin in April 2007 General Conference. She said:

Let me share a sweet story with you. A family was going through a difficult time. It was hard for them not to focus on their challenges. The mother wrote: "Our world had completely crumpled, so we turned to Heavenly Father for guidance. Almost immediately we realized that we were surrounded by goodness and were being cheered on from every side. We began as a family to express our gratitude to each other as well as to the Lord daily. A close friend pointed out to me that our family's 'blessing basket' was overflowing. From that conversation came a sort of game, which my children and I grew to love. Before family prayer each night we would talk about how our day had gone and then share with each other all of the many blessings that had been added to our 'blessing basket.' The more we expressed gratitude, the more there was to be grateful for. We felt the love of the Lord in a significant way as opportunities for growth presented themselves."

Welcome!

Welcome to the first blog for the Pioneer Ward Busy Beehives! We obviously need an updated photo since we now have Matea with us and will be getting 2 more additions in January. I want each of you to know how much you are loved and how special you are to us, your Young Women leaders.

This site will be updated with photos from our activities and what we have on the calendar so you can plan ahead. If you would like to be a contributor to the blog, please let Sister B know and all are welcome to add comments.