Money Management

I really don't mean to monopolize this blog, but we had a fun activity on Wednesday night that was a good way to help the young women understand the importance of budgeting their money so I wanted to share it.

One of the last lessons in the manual is on Money Management and we aren't going to get that far before the end of the year.  It's an important concept and so we decided to teach it at a midweek activity instead.   I used this activity idea 2 or 3 years ago with my kids and adapted it a little for the young women.

In a nutshell, I gave them this scenario:  You are married with two kids.  Only one of you works.  You have two cars and a mortgage.  You make $40,200 per year which is $3,350 per month.  Then I gave them (as a group) $3,350 in Monopoly money.  From there, I had them choose slips of paper out of a little basket.  The slips each contained one typical expense.  As the girls took turns drawing the slips, they would pay me the amount of money indicated.

To start, there was one slip colored yellow that said, "Pick me first."  I made sure they started with that one:

A few of the girls wondered what this first one would be.  They decided it must be taxes.  When they opened it and read, "Tithing:  $335," their reaction was, "Oh, of course!"  We had a brief discussion about paying tithing first.  Then they took turns pulling slips from the basket and paying the required amount of money.

The other slips contained the following categories:  fast offerings; savings; Federal and State income taxes;  auto registration, fuel, insurance, and service; electricity/gas; trash; telephone, internet, cell phone(s); water/sewer; groceries; household expenses (non-food); housing (mortgage); property taxes; homeowners insurance; health insurance.

When we got done with these, they were at $0.  (I didn't plan it that way, that's just how it happened to work out.)  I then threw a few more slips in the basket that just contained categories (no dollar amounts) of the things they wouldn't be able to afford - at least this month - and we read through those:  other charitable donations; magazine subscriptions; Christmas; Birthdays; clothings; hobbies/crafts; education; entertainment; memberships (clubs, gym, etc.); music, dance, sports; vacation.

It was eye opening. I told them that I didn't do this to scare them. They initially thought that $3350 a month sounded pretty good but now they weren't so sure! (For the record, I assured them that I know from personal experience during our lean graduate school days that it's possible to live happily on much less and stay out of debt!) I pulled out my scriptures and we read 3 Nephi 13:32:  For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. (Isn't that a great verse?)  Then we backed up and read vs. 31-33. Again, we discussed tithing and the importance of putting the Lord first and the blessings associated with that. Sister Swensen shared a powerful testimony of tithing from her days as a single parent.  We also discussed Jacob 2:18-19 and the message contained there. I think it was effective and hopefully will help the girls to be realistic and wise as they plan for the future. I hope they will learn to trust in the Lord and to know that He is aware of their needs and that His promises are sure!

S.T.A.R. - Young Women in Excellence

{I just posted the following on my personal blog and thought I'd share it here as well.  I'd love to see your ideas for these events!}

We had our Young Women in Excellence program last night.  I was a little bit worried about it.  Some of our girls haven't been very excited about Personal Progress.  Since Young Women in Excellence is a "celebration of Personal Progress," I challenged each of them to do something that they could share last night.  Well those amazing girls stepped right up to the plate and did a great job!  I was so proud of them as they shared what they've learned, what they still hope to accomplish, and how setting goals has helped them.  A member of our Bishopric is doing the program with the girls so he contributed his accomplishments last night as well.

Our theme was S.T.A.R. - Stand for Truth And Righteousness

There is a Primary song called I Am Like a Star which went along with our theme for the evening: S.T.A.R. - Stand for Truth And Righteousness. (No credit to myself for that one.  The internet is full of good ideas!!)  I wrote a second verse to the Primary song which went like this:  I am like a star shining brightly, shining for the whole world to see.  I can be a light, stand for truth and right, and be all that He wants me to be. The young women sang that as our special musical number for the evening.  Simple and sweet.

Our Bishop challenged each young woman to:  Seize the Day (Carpe Diem), live life more abundantly (see John 10:10), and be anxiously engaged in good causes (D&C 58:27).  [Maybe he forgot he was speaking to the young women because I'm pretty sure that was all for me!!]

It was a great evening, complete with an impressive display of food at the end.  From spiced cider, meatballs, little sausages wrapped in crescent rolls to a huge veggie tray and star shaped cupcakes, there was something for everyone.  The young men and cub scouts who found us after their activities enjoyed the treats as well.  :)  (Hooray for a wonderful counselor who took on the food challenge and outdid herself.  Otherwise, we would have had homemade cookies and water...)

Overall, a great evening!  (I am SO glad it's over!!)

Memorize the Family Proclamation.... Check!

The Stake YW Presidency has a special announcement to make:  3 of us have finished memorizing the Family Proclamation!! 


That's right.  Our president, Sister Becca Anderson, and her two counselors, Sister Janna Allan and Sister Emily Savage, have just passed off a big personal progress project.  And let me tell you, memorizing it certainly brought about a lot of personal progress.   There is so much joy and wisdom to be found in that inspired document.... and it feels so good to have it committed to heart and memory.

We're excited to hear about your own personal progress stories!  How are you doing with your personal progress?

Words of Wisdom

I just redid one of the bulletin boards in our Young Women classroom.  It's definitely nothing fancy - I wanted to keep it simple - but it displays recent quotes from our leaders.  All of the quotes are from the most recent General Conference with the exception of Sister Dalton's quote which is from the General Young Women meeting this past March.  I plan to update it regularly to keep it current.

 A few close ups:

 

Fundraiser Help...

Rantoul Young Women need your help!  They are trying desperately to raise funds for Girls Camp, but are meeting obstacle after obstacle in their efforts to find an appropriate way to earn money.  Do you have any ideas???

Here are their specific needs:

• **Earn money WITHOUT asking the members of the branch to contribute.**
• Raise money within the boundaries of the Rantoul branch.
• Avoid associating the church with brand names.
• Encourage non-member friends to participate and earn their own way.  

 Here is what has come from brainstorming so far:

• Bagging groceries for tips at a local County Market.
• Spraying, tending, picking, and selling apples.
• Selling water bottles at a county fair. 

Please add your comments if you have anything else to share!

Young Women Fun-tastic! Activities

Here is a link to the book Margie Swensen (Mattoon) talked about at our auxiliary training on Saturday.  It has mid-week activities to go along with the Sunday lessons.  A book that focuses on Personal Progress activities can be found here. 

LDS YOUNG WOMEN Yahoo Group

Sorry - I'm not a very good blogger - and I don't see that the website showed up - so here you go: Go to groups.yahoo.com and do a search for LDS_Young_Women and you will find the group. You have to 'ask' to join, but it only takes not even a day to get that confirmation. It's easy-peasy! Do it! You'll be glad you did!

LynnEl Springer

Stake Auxilliary Training Meeting Info

Sisters,
I spoke to you about online YW Personal Progress and I also told you about belonging to a LDS Young Women Yahoo Group. I thought I would post that here so you can all "join" if you are interested. It is a great group with lots of suggestions, questions, helps, etc. Hope you have fun doing your Personal Progress online now too!



Sis. LynnEl Springer
Mahomet YW President

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!

Youth Conference 2011

It's that time of year again, and Youth Conference is right around the corner! Springfield Stake is hosting YC this year, so everyone will be headed over there for an awesome weekend of spiritual feasting! This year's theme is based on the 13th Article of Faith, which includes a list of virtues we seek after as righteous Latter-Day Saints. Since it ends in the words "we seek after these things", the theme for Youth Conference 2011 is...

Quest for the Best

What a perfect title! Remember the dates are June 16-18, so be sure to clear your calendar and turn in your registration forms. The deadline is May 31! You can contact Jana Allan (janaallan5@yahoo.com) or Jodie Tidball (jodie.tidball@hotmail.com) for more details.

Here are some of the fun things that will be taking place:

• A service project for the special needs children of the Springfield area.
• A drive-around, photo scavenger hunt hitting some of the best sites of Springfield.
• Workshops including: dance instruction, scripture study, effective communication, church school exploration, proper etiquette, and more!
• Keynote speeches by inspiring leaders in both stakes.
• 2 AWESOME dances!
• A reverent testimony meeting to conclude it all.
  

This is setting up to be one amazing event. Where else can you socialize with so many other righteous youth while building your testimony and preparing for your future? No where! We hope you decide to attend. See you there!