March: Atonement of Jesus Christ, Why do I need to forgive others? lesson

I tried to print Courtney's Let it go cards but they were so dark they were hard to read so I redesigned them using the same quotes but with dark letters on a light background.

Individual Worth #4

I love the ideas of Ann's Personal Progress blog.  I love to give the girls "worksheets" to do so I took her idea and made a cute little rainbow inspired worksheet to go with the activity!!

dress fix

OK, so a few weeks ago my daughter and I went to the mall looking for a comfy dress for her to wear on a temple trip.  With a 4 hour drive both ways she didn't want anything uncomfy.  We live in a small town but she did find a dress she loved at Rue 21.  It had an open back but she had a tank top to layer under it to cover her back and it was borderline on length but we bought it.

When she got home we washed the dress and it shrunk.  I didn't notice until we were dashing out the door on Sunday morning so unfortunately she wore it to church.  She mentioned to her friend's mom that she was NEVER going to escape the house so improperly covered again and the friend's mom suggested that she add a navy blue lace section.  I went to Goodwill and actually found a navy blue shirt from Forever 21 (that was shapeless) and with a little Pinterest inspiration I got to work.

We decided to fill in the back of the dress with the same part of the shirt first.  I did this by hanging the dress over the shirt on a hanger and pinning them together (the next crazy project I start I will try to remember to take photos for you!).  Then I just sewed over the 2 layers to sew them together here.

Then I trimmed the lace leaving me with a very holey lace shirt.

Then I cut off the bottom 3 inches of the dress.

Then I trimmed the hemmed edge off of the lace shirt and cut 2- 6 inch strips off of it.

Of course, it was already missing a big chunk in the back but it was higher than I needed to cut so it didn't matter.  The next part was the trickiest.  I cut a side seam out of each strip and made a big loop with the 2 fabric strips and started going around the bottom piece (the 3 inches we cut off) pinning it (right sides together) in place. I ended up with too much lace and had to resew to make it a little smaller.  I zigzagged that together and then pinned that piece (right sides together) to the dress.  I was really worried about this step but it turned out beautifully.  I did end up with a couple little tucks to get it to match up but they aren't noticeable.  I also matched the seams on the bottom 3 inches to the seams on the rest of the dress.  

The best thing is that my teenage daughter LOVES it!!  I thought about putting some navy or white knit behind the lace so it isn't see through but she doesn't want me to so we will see if it bothers me enough that I make her do it.  I am just really happy that her dress is more modest now.  It is so hard for her to find things she loves that cover well enough.  I hope this makes you brave enough to give it a try!

Update:  I did go back and put a strip of navy blue knit behind the lace fill in on the bottom.  I didn't on the back, my daughter wears her navy tank top under it so it wasn't needed.  

What is Grace? lesson

*Man in Pit

What is required in order for the person in the pit to be saved?

What is the role of the person at the top of the ladder?

What is the role of the person in the pit?

What does this diagram teach us about how the Savior's grace saves us?

* What is grace?

What do you think grace means?

How do you see grace in your own life?

Do you believe you are saved by grace?

What questions do you have about grace?

*In the Strength of the Lord

Write in the board:

What is grace?

How did grace help Elder Bednar?

How cab grace help you?

Show first 4 minutes of this talk. (Elder Bednar In the Strength of the Lord)

Have the young women answer the questions on the board.

*Bear Up their Burdens with Ease

We are going to read #2-6 and just discuss them.

*Pictures from Gospel Art Kit (if we have time)

 Invite them to find pictures (in the Gospel Art Book or a Church magazine) that show people who received grace or help from God, and ask them to share what they find in pairs or small groups. What similar experiences can they share from their own lives?

Candied Bacon Caramel Corn

OK, today's post is all because I was frustrated with http://momstestkitchen.com and her post that is very difficult to read because her margins are messed up.  Her recipe looks and sounds delicious (we will be trying it tonight, if its not great I will remove this post!) but I could read some of the necessary directions.

I tried to post a comment to ask her for help when I noticed that the comment box had the same margins so if I typed long enough my view of the page changed and I could see farther right!!  I immediately scrolled up and used the print screen to capture the info I needed.  In order for the people who re-post my post to actually have the full directions I am re-posting this recipe so all can see it!!

This section is only missing the rest of the word "removed".  I think we are all smart enough to figure that out, but the next section is horrible!!

I hope I'm not the only one who looks at this and wants to scream!  How long to you boil the mixture in step #5?!?  And step #6 is definitely missing too much info.  

The screen shot that saved my day!!  And here is a tip for you:  I have made candied bacon before and covered the baking sheet in step #2 with foil before putting the wire rack of bacon on it and it helped a lot with clean up.  I will be using foil in step #4 too.  No reason to make a bigger mess than you have to.  Good luck, I hope this helps you out.

Choice and Accountability #2 and Integrity #1

OK, our group of young women only has one Laurel right now.  We have been helping her finish the 6 experiences that she has left.  One of the was C&A #2 (Read the pamphlet For the Strength of Youth. List in your journal each standard of righteous behavior the pamphlet outlines, and record why it is important to choose to live those standards. Practice living righteous standards by choosing three standards in which you need to improve. You might choose to be more selective about television, music, books, or other media, or you might improve your modesty, language, or honesty. After three weeks share your progress with your family, your class, or a leader.)  After working on reading the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet for 2 Sunday lesson times I was reading through the PP book to see if our time capsule activity could be used to complete a PP experience I accidentally found Integrity #1 (Integrity is the willingness and desire to live by our beliefs and standards. Read Moroni 10:30–33 and think about what it means to “deny yourselves of all ungodliness.” Read the pamphlet For the Strength of Youth. Reflect on how the Lord’s standards differ from the world’s standards. Record in your journal appropriate standards for behavior, dress, and conversation, as well as literature, movies, television, Internet, music, cell phones, and other media. Also write your plan to stay morally clean and worthy to attend the temple. After keeping your standards for at least one month, record your feelings in your journal and continue to keep your commitment.) and realized that it was stupid not to do them at the same time!!  I wish that I would have originally been working on both of them because it is going to be a little difficult to add the extra interpretations of the For the Strength of Youth information when we are 2/3 of the way through the book but it is worth the effort I will have to make in order to pull it off.  

I have to admit that I didn't want to read the ENTIRE For the Strength of Youth with the girls, but the experience has been amazing.  We have had the girls take turns reading out loud and after we get done we discuss the section and they can take notes (that our girls will glue in their journals) on their handout.  Our discussions have been a great opportunity for us as leaders to share experiences for our lives on how we have been blessed by following that standard and the girls have also born testimonies of the ways they have been blessed too.  I never imagined that we would have such a positive, spiritual experience with the girls by doing something I deemed as "boring".  It is a true testimony to Personal Progress.  The more we can do to help the girls complete their PP the better. 

I love to have take homes for the girls to stick to their mirror or bulletin boards in their bedrooms so they have something to remind them of what they are working on.  My dad used to always say (I think he was quoting someone) "a goal not written down is merely a wish"  I think for my girls to actually work on their goals they need them written down, visible and they also need to be able to mark them off as they work on it.  Here is the hand out I made for this time.  I usually print multiple (like 4) handouts per sheet of paper.

Family Home Evening

Do you ever have you kids teach FHE?  When your daughters who are in Young Women teach FHE they should probably chooses a Personal Progress experience to base it on.  That way their planning can be doubly valuable to them and their family.  Some experiences require that they teach a FHE lesson but there are many more that could be easily adapted to the purpose.   Here is my list of ideas for young women trying to decide if they can kill two birds with one stone (I hope that didn't offend President Kimball).

Here is the link to the talk President Kimball gave about not killing little birdies.  https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1978/10/fundamental-principles-to-ponder-and-live?lang=eng