I have had some great opportunities lately that have made me look at the way my life has 'turned' out. In my ward I am the Mia Maid advisor and so I get to serve the YW in my ward that are 14&15. For most people this would be a daunting task because the lives of 14&15 year old girls are so 'turbulent', but not me, when I was called to this calling I was OVERJOYED!! At first I think I was just being selfish, because let's be honest the Young Woman's program is a BLAST, because there are so many fun things to do like girls camp (which I am an assistant director of also), weekly activities, youth conference, dances etc. (and since I have no daughters, this may be the ONLY way I get to have these experiences). But then I got to meet the girls that are in YW (not just my sweet Mia Maids) and my view changed dramatically! When I was their age things were so much simpler. They have SO many things getting their way on the path to the Celestial kingdom, and yet they are SO strong. They have NO idea what THEY have done for ME so far! I have served in YW's before and it has never hit me like this. These girls are SO important to the future of the church, sometimes it's hard to express that to them.
This last Saturday was the General YW Broadcast and being so close to the conference center we were able to get tickets to go. I was so excited to go, and we only had ONE young woman decide to go, but we went anyway. It seemed that the whole day was against us going, I was not feeling well, the leader that was driving was caught in traffic on her way to pick us up, the parking lot we had passes for was full, and FINALLY, when we got to the door to get in there couldn't have been more that 20 people in front of us and we were all turned away cause the conference center was FULL!! But things couldn't have turned our BETTER!! We walked across the street to the tabernacle and were part of about 50 or so people inside to watch the broadcast. It was SO amazing! The message were so inspiring (as usual). All the speakers focused on Virtue and the love our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ has for each of them. The youth in the church today NEED the 'Virtue Value' so desperately, I am so thankful that it is now part of the YW program! As we walked into the tabernacle there was a group of 6 formally dressed couples walking up at the same time. They stuck out a little, but then I watched as those 6 young men dropped their PROM dates off at the tabernacle so they could listen to the leaders of the church give them guidance. I was SUPER impressed with: First those young women, for standing together in doing what was right, AND on top of that, ALL their dresses were MODEST!!! Second, by those young men for supporting their dates in doing what was right! As we walked away the ONE young woman that went with us, said, 'What a great way to start Prom. With a reminder to BE GOOD!' In that moment I learned the greatest lesson about the YW that I serve: I can try my hardest to share with them the tools they need to progress in this life and be the best example I can be, BUT.....in reality they learn from EACH OTHER's examples! I am definately learning from these girls who I am supposed to be teaching.......What 'they' say is true: 'the teacher learns more than the student'! I can safely say they teach me on a regular basis!
