Welcome
to Young Women
By Kimberly Webb
Church Magazines
A special message to
11-year-old girls.
Kimberly Webb, “Welcome to Young Women,” Friend, July 2006, 46
Mutual. Personal Progress. Theme.
Do these words sound familiar? If
you’re a girl about to turn 12, you’ll soon be hearing them all the time. We
asked Sister Susan W. Tanner, Young Women general president, and her second
counselor, Sister Elaine S. Dalton, to tell us everything you need to know
about entering Young Women.
The first thing?
“We love you!” Sister Tanner says.
“You are so fresh and beautiful and enthusiastic. You desire to do good in
your lives. We’re excited for you to enter Young Women, and we’re there with
arms to wrap around you and make you feel welcome.”
Your First
Sunday
Finally you’ve turned 12. Now
instead of going to sharing time, you’ll enter Young Women. Sister Tanner
says, “There will be loving people there to meet you: Young Women leaders, a
Beehive class presidency, and other friends.”
A Beehive is a young woman age 12
or 13—in other words, you! Young women ages 14 to 15 are called Mia Maids,
and those 16 to 18 are called Laurels.
Even though Young Women is
different from Primary, you have nothing to fear. “You’ve been lovingly
prepared in Primary, and you’re ready,” Sister Dalton says.
The Young Women
Theme and Values
“We are daughters of our Heavenly
Father, who loves us, and we love Him.”
You’ve heard the same message in
Primary, Sister Tanner explains, when you learned to sing “I Am a Child of
God” (Children’s Songbook, 2–3). But it’s not a new verse—it’s the
first line of the Young Women theme, which you’ll recite each week.
“It’s so important for that
message to be instilled in your heart,” Sister Tanner says. “If you have a
firm testimony that you are His beloved spiritual daughter, it affects
everything you think and every way you respond to life’s challenges. It
gives you courage.”
Sister Dalton adds, “If you know
who you are, you will have the strength, desire, and commitment to stand as
a witness of God. That’s so important in these latter days.”
Being a part of Young Women can
help prepare you for the future as you learn about the seven values listed
in the theme: faith, divine nature, individual worth, knowledge, choice and
accountability, good works, and integrity.
Personal
Progress
“I love the name of Personal
Progress because it’s exactly what it says it is,” Sister Tanner says.
“Heavenly Father’s plan is for each of us to progress throughout our lives.”
Like Primary’s Faith in God
program, Personal Progress is a way to “develop a closeness to Father in
Heaven. You can practice keeping commitments and learn to keep covenants,”
Sister Tanner says. Personal Progress goals are listed by seven
categories—the seven values.
Sister Dalton points out, “As you
work on Personal Progress you’ll use your scriptures, and they’ll help you
feel the Spirit.” You’ll begin to better understand the scriptures, your own
great worth, and your baptismal covenants. Then you’ll be prepared to make
temple covenants.
“That’s why the Personal Progress
book has a temple on the cover,” Sister Tanner says. “It reminds you that
Personal Progress is a way to prepare.”
Activities and
Firesides
Activity night, or Mutual, is held
every week. Usually you’ll meet with the young women or just your Beehive
class, but once a month your activity will include the young men too. You
might enjoy a cultural event, give service, learn a skill, play a sport—and
always have fun!
Being a part of Young Women can
also give you the chance to attend firesides, youth conferences, and other
meetings. Each year you’ll enjoy a special session that is broadcast all
over the world like general conference. It’s the general Young Women
meeting, the Saturday before April general conference. You’ll hear counsel
from our prophets and leaders just for you.
Camp
“This is a time when you get to
leave the rest of the world behind, go out into Heavenly Father’s beautiful
world, and feel His love for you,” Sister Tanner says. You’ll not only have
a great time in the outdoors, but you’ll also feel “a great sense of
belonging to Heavenly Father’s eternal family.” You might hike, sing, laugh,
learn, and make crafts; but many young women agree that the testimony
meeting is the best part of all.
Wait, There’s
More!
You will not only receive
many gifts from being a part of Young Women; you’ll be able to give of
yourself too.
Sister Dalton says, “In Young
Women you’ll be able to develop your talents more and also use them to bless
others.”
You may even receive your first
calling in Young Women. If it is large enough, each class has a president,
two counselors, and a secretary. Sister Dalton says, “The class presidency
will look out for you and make sure that you’re informed about all the
activities.” As you watch them, pay attention because you may be called
someday to be in a class presidency.
Another way to contribute is to be
excited. Sister Tanner says, “Share your enthusiasm when you come into Young
Women!”
Don’t be afraid to give of
yourself, and you’ll receive even more.
A Young Woman
Wherever You Are
Perhaps your ward or branch is too
small for your class to have a class presidency. Maybe you live too far away
to attend weekly activities. But you can still participate in Young Women!
Even if you are the only young woman in your ward or branch, you can say the
theme each week. You can learn to live by its values, and you can work on
Personal Progress.
Sister Tanner says, “No matter
where you are and no matter what your circumstances are, you are a young
woman in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You can always be
personally progressing toward the temple and coming unto Christ.”
That’s what Young Women is all
about..
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"Choose
you this day
whom ye will
serve
but for me
and my
house we will
serve the Lord "
