Women in the Scriptures blog

A dear friend of mine just recommended this blog to me, and I couldn't be more grateful for the insight it has provided for me already.  I especially love her post on a new a beautiful form of "feminism" (click here) Studying the stories about women in the scriptures is such a wonderful way to learn about our divine nature and destiny!    It is a great place to turn to for planning lessons or when you just need a good pick me up.  I am so grateful to be associated with such wonderful examples of women as each of you are.  Thank you for upholding the good name of womanhood.

Women in the Scriptures

Hope you find this blog as enlightening as I did!  ~Emily

Girl's Camp 2011 - How Great Shall Be Our Joy

What a fantastic week Girl's Camp was this year!  It is clear that everyone's testimony has been strengthened because of the magical experiences we shared at Camp Drake.  I'd like to open up this post to anyone who would like to document some of the uplifting moments they experienced at camp. 
Here's how you do it:

click on "new post" (top right corner of the screen)
click on "edit posts"
click on "edit" for "Girl's Camp 2011...."
write your experiences below! 

Remember, pictures are worth 1000 words.  We all slept in different camps and took pictures of different people.  Let's see how many different faces we can document on the blog! 

Blog Font

FYI - if someone can change the font for these postings, it would be much appreciated as this font you have chosen is not "eye" friendly and extremely hard to read!

Thank you.
LynnEl Springer

Mahomet Ward Getting Ready for Girls Camp

We are excited for Girls Camp this next week. Our girls can't wait. We have 10 girls attending! Yahoo!! As for us leaders, tonight (Tuesday) we are preparing and making little gifts to give the girls each night (pillow thoughts) to let them know we are thinking of them and give them a positive thought to sleep on! We are making little scriptures with the theme on them made out of little Hershey Nuggets and more, also little $1.00 boxes with starburst in them with a catchy little 'star' quote. Then we have bubbles to give them with a sticker on them about being bubbly and friendly to everyone while at camp. We also have a glow necklace to give the girls with the quote from Pres. Monson that says "If you want to give a light to others, you have to glow yourself" which is so appropriate! So there you have it! Some fun ideas to let the girls know how much we love them and appreciate them and want them to have fun and know we're thinking of them.

LynnEl Springer
Mahomet Ward YW Pres.

High Adventure 2011!

Yet another successful high adventure!  In fact, everyone had so much fun that they forgot to take pictures :)  But from what I heard, the girls who went said "LET'S DO THIS AGAIN NEXT YEAR!!" 

The girls and leaders ended up rafting a total of 21 miles, and learned a lot about team work and coordination along the way.  They also learned about what it means to be prepared... and how it feels when you forget things like sunscreen :).  Next year's high adventure will bring a few changes to increase the challenge and spiritual rewards of the high adventure, but you can be sure it will be just as fun as it was this year.  Can't wait!

Memories of Youth Conference

Looks like everyone had a great time at Youth Conference 2011, Quest for the Best!  Thanks to everyone who put in so many hours of hard work to make this Youth Conference possible.  The testimony meeting made it clear how much the youth of the Champaign and Springfield Stakes loved interacting with other LDS youth and strengthening their testimonies at the same time.

Everyone learned a lot from this conference, including all the leaders who organized it.  The Stake Young Men and Young Women leaders are already making plans for next year's Youth Conference using the experiences gained in Springfield.  The first steps to another successful Youth Conference include putting together a new youth committee and deciding on a new location.  We'll fill you in on all the details as soon as we have them, but you can be certain that next year is going to be awesome!  

A Fairytale Beginning....

I just had the amazing opportunity of attending the temple sealing of my sister-in-law, Christie. I will never forget the peaceful, celestial atmosphere of the temple, nor her radiant countenance during the sealing. We all felt as if we were sitting in the presence of God and his angels, especially as the bride shone with the absolute epitome of purity and happiness. I have never seen two people more certain about the life changing decision they were making together. I wept as she knelt across the altar and entered into the holy covenant of eternal marriage with the love of her life, and my spirit stood up and cheered the moment they were pronounced "husband and wife". It was truly magical!

Aren't they perfect together?

But things have not always been so wonderful for my dear sister-in-law.

She has had a long and difficult life because of the actions taken towards her by another human being when she was a small child. I believe she grew up thinking that her innocent experiences would keep her from entering her heavenly father's presence, and therefore, as a teenager got involved in behavior that would keep her from eventually entering the temple. Miraculously, she quickly discovered the healing power of the Savior's atonement and was able remember her own self worth. Only then did she meet her eternal companion who helped her take the final steps of temple preparation. She is now a married woman at 18 years old, and I have much respect for her. She deserves the temple blessings more than anyone I know!


Here is what she says of her experience:

When I was in High School, I struggled a lot with my beliefs. I wanted to have fun and be accepted with the popular crowd, and eventually found myself abandoning the values that my parents and religion instilled upon me. After a while of engaging in immoral and inappropriate activities with my friends, I realized that I wasn't happy. I had a lot of fun at times, but I was never quite happy. I argued with my parents constantly, started slacking in school, and eventually stopped caring about anything. After years of mistakes and heartache, I eventually turned back to the gospel and began the repentance process. It took a long time, but the bishop was so understanding, and my family helped me every step of the way. Some members of the church, however, were not quick to forgive me. They held onto the "old Christie" and her bad habits and attitudes, and judged me even when I was trying so hard to be righteous. I felt hurt, and didn't hold a lot of value for myself I began to accept the idea that I would have to "settle" for a husband, because I figured that no good guy would want someone with a negative history quite like mine. That was until I met Brooks. Brooks was my brother's roommate at BYU, and I met him while visiting my brother and sister. We immediately liked each other, and continued to talk on the phone and text after I left. Our relationship continued to progress quickly, but rather than being happy, I was upset. I knew that Brooks was "too good to be true," and that upon hearing about my past he would change his mind and move on to bigger and better things. So one night while we were on the phone, I decided that it wasn't fair to lead him on like this, and told him the entire story. I told him that I would understand if he didn't want to date me any longer, and that I was telling him all of this because he deserved better than someone like me. Brooks, on the other hand, did not feel the same way. He told me about his powerful testimony of the atonement, and how he knew I was clean. He told me he didn't care about anything I'd done, he just wanted to be with me, and was willing to help me get through it all. I was so touched, but not quite convinced. It took me months, in fact, to finally understand the love he had for me and rebuild my self worth. Brooks helped me so much that way by constantly complimenting me, reading scriptures with me, and treating me like how I deserved to be treated. We were engaged on New Years Eve, 2010, and were married on May 14th, 2011. I still marvel sometimes at the old girl I used to be, thinking so little of myself. I now know that I am a daughter of God, and that I should be treated that way. I know that I am so blessed to have the husband that I do, and that other girls like me can marry a man like mine. The atonement is so powerful. Jesus came down and died for us all so that we can all have our fairytale endings like I am. I am so grateful for Him and for His sacrifice for me, so that I could be sealed to my husband for time and all eternity.

The best part of it all is that this is just the beginning of their fairytale romance! They still have the rest of their lives together, and that will most certainly include school, jobs, kids, callings, moving, vacations, retirement, grand kids, missions, and church service. Eternal commitment is such a magical thing. It doesn't get much better than "enduring to the end" with the person you love the most! Isn't this worth sacrificing anything for?


I testify that our Savior LIVES, and Christie's happiness is what he wants for all of his beloved daughters. The only way to find true and lasting happiness is to turn to Christ and follow His commandments. We all have things to repent of, and though it can be hard, it is the only way to find peace in this life and joy in the next. Just look at Christie's amazing example! Our Father in Heaven will be so proud of you when you find someone who will respect you like the daughter of God that you are and will take you to the temple to be sealed for time and all eternity. Keep hanging in there, girls! You'll make it because it's SO worth it!