Welcome back to my first LDS Faith and Beliefs post of the new year! These posts generally go live on the 1st and 3rd Fridays of the month, although I missed the one two weeks ago since it was New Years Day. Ah, well.
Today I want to share with you something very near and dear to my heart, and that is the Young Women Program in the church. I mentioned it back here in my logistics and programs post but wanted to go more into depth about it today. In fact, while writing this post up, I decided that since there is just so much to this program – as well as break off programs that we use – that today’s post will just be a sort of overview of the program as a whole, and then the next 2 or 3 posts after this will dive more into the different programs we use.
The Young Women Program is for all girls ages 12-17. The girls are also divided into groups based on age – Beehives are 12-13, Mia Maids are 14-15, and Laurels are 16-17 (although if a girl turns 18 while she’s still in high school, she is more than welcome to attend YW until she graduates). This simply makes it easier for them to relate to one another and to have more leaders available for their needs. However, many times lessons and activities are combined, as it’s also beneficial for the girls to get to know peers of all ages. The YW program has a YW president, 1st counselor, 2nd counselor, and secretary, along with specific advisers for each age group. While everyone works together to oversee and to teach all the girls, the president generally meets with the Laurels, the 1st counselor with the Mia Maids, and the 2nd counselor with the Beehives. Then in each class (Laurels, Mia Maids, Beehives) there is a class presidency as well. In this way girls are able to learn leadership roles as they take part in planning activities and praying for their class members and they meet together with their adult leaders.
On Sundays, all the young women meet together during the 3rd hour of church (again, read this post if you’re confused) to be taught by their leaders about the things of God and how it pertains to them as women and daughters of God. We utilize the Come, Follow Me program, which I’ll do another post on at a later date, because it’s amazing and deserves it’s own post. On one weeknight a week (generally a Tuesday or Wednesday, but as assigned by the leaders of the ward and stake) they get together and have fun doing activities to strengthen their testimonies and relationships with each other and God. One weeknight activity a month is usually combined with the young men in the ward (the young men program is similar, except for, obviously, it’s for the boys). Activities range from service activities (raking leaves or shoveling snow) to learning activities (like learning and making new recipes) to fun (like a spa or game night). Once a year, during the summer, the young women also have the opportunity to go on a week long camp out (which I’ll talk about more in depth later) and it is so fun!
The program has a theme, which we simply call the young women theme. It is as follows:
We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us and we love Him. We will stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in places, as we strive to live the young women values, which are Faith, Divine Nature, Individual Worth, Knowledge, Choice and Accountability, Good Works, Integrity, and Virtue. We believe as we come to accept and act upon these values, we will be prepared to strengthen home and family, make and keep sacred covenants, receive the ordinances of the Temple, and enjoy the blessings of exaltation.
Isn’t that an amazing theme? Those values are what we help the girls work on and learn, because we feel that they are so important to us in life and so important in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love it so much. Another amazing program, that goes along with the theme, and that was created for the young women specifically, is the Personal Progress program. Again, like the Come, Follow Me program, it deserves it’s own post. In a brief synopsis, it is a goal making and habit forming program, where girls choose activities for each of the above mentioned values, read scriptures about them, and perform an act or create a habit, that relates to the scriptures and values. It’s also amazing, and I’ll be excited to share more with you at a later date.
I hope you enjoyed this overview of the program. In a nutshell, the goal of the Young Women Program is to teach the girls not only the Gospel, but to instill in them a love for it, so that they may create habits now (scripture study, prayer, service) that will benefit them in their lives and families as they grow older. It’s to prepare them to enter the Temple, and to understand all of the blessings that God has in store for us. It changed my life as a youth, and I hope it changes theirs, too. I’ve been privileged to not only take part in the program as I was growing up, but to serve in the program as an adult. I have been the secretary, the Mia Maid adviser, and I am currently the Laurel adviser, and I love every minute of it.
More in the series:
Intro and I am a Christian | Joseph Smith, The Restoration, and the Book of Mormon | The Plan of Salvation
The Godhead | Grace and Good Works | Logistics and Programs | Families and Family Home Evening
General Conference | Jesus Christ | Prophets | #ASaviorIsBorn
