New Beginnings 2014

Last night, I had the privilege of attending our ward's New Beginnings, a meeting to teach young women and their families about the Young Women program. The theme for the night was Dr. Seuss, and the decorations, and the refreshments, and the displays were Dr. Seuss-esque. They turned out really cute. (I'm sure the leaders found the idea on Pinterest somewhere.)

Hannah and a friend performed the musical number for the evening, a violin/ viola duet of "A Child's Prayer" which I had arranged for them. If I had known they were only going to have about 1 1/2 hours of practice together, I would have made it a lot simpler for them. As it was, they did fine. Most people in the room weren't very musical and might not have been aware of the times they weren't quite in sync, or weren't hitting quite the right pitch. I admire their bravery in being willing to perform and share their talents.

At the end of the evening, the Bishop stood up to speak, and to introduce the Youth Theme for the year, which is "Come unto Christ", based on Moroni 10:32, "Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God."

The Bishop also talked about a concept he had on his mission, what he calls the 12 second rule, which says that God will send us the blessings we need 12 seconds before we are about to explode. He talked about how this life is a test, a crucible. He described how a crucible is a container in which metals are heated to tremendous heats so that different metals and impurities can be separated, leaving something pure and clean. He talked about how our crucible is what helps us "deny ourselves of ungodliness."

I was reminded of the quote shared in institute Tuesday, "As you are grateful and obedient, you can become all that God intends you to be." (Elder Richard G. Scott, Finding Joy in Life, General Conference April 1996 ) This means being grateful, even when the walls of our living house (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity) are being broken down, when we are having trials and challenges, because those trials and challenges are what will make us stronger. They are the crucible which will rid us of our impurities. They are what will bring us to Christ. 

The bishop also talked about the Personal Progress program, and how we should be setting our goals high, always striving to reach higher, to become better. He suggested that if we are always meeting our goals, we aren't setting them high enough. It is when we are reaching and really stretching that we grow the most. I have noticed that it is when I am writing about the lessons I've been taught that I really come to understand and internalize them. He talked about how the grace of God is the difference between what we can do all by ourselves, and the heights we can reach when we rely on God's grace (or as I envision it, when we are standing on Christ's shoulders). We should be coming to Christ, and seeking his grace to help us become perfected, able to reach the great goals of going to the temple and being worthy to enter God's kingdom.


I am grateful for the Young Women program, for the way that it helps Hannah to stretch and grow. I am glad that she has that motivation to set goals to improve her talents, that she has opportunities to strengthen her testimony and to become truly converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ.