For the Strength of Youth

Today's submission is a YouTube find sent in by Sister Ferguson

(Littleborough YW President)

Cee-Lo Green Clean Forget You Clean Parody (Mormon) For the Strength of Youth

Not sure what "For The Strength of Youth" is ?
Click here to see all 17 values LDS youth try to live

Scavenger hunt at Dovestones

The Stake Youth activity, held at Dovestone Reservoir and organised by Oldham Ward was well attended and a fun night for all.

The event was well planned, people arriving were split into groups of about 8 and sent out to collect as many things they could from a printed list. Some items were to be physically collected and brought back, things like leaves, sheep poo, a fish. Other items / tasks just needed photo evidence, a sign, a picture of a couple married for more than 30 years and a video of the group singing a church song ! These are just a few of the listed items !!

Here are a few of the pictures taken ...

There was also a slip of paper handed out asking you to finish the sentence. Ashton Stake Youth the best because ... with a number to text your ending too, if you haven't done it yet. DO IT !!!

The 6 replies received so far "Ashton Stake Youth are the best because..

...everybody is so close and its like a big family were I can go and know everyone there loves me for who I am"

...their special"

...we have the best activities, like scavenger hunts at Dovestones"

...of their example to me"

...I am in it"

...they care about each other, they unite when they need to, they have leaders that care about them and pray for them, they have the best little blogger in the stake"

Family Search Indexing

Today's submission is from Sister Amy Young (Oldham YW Presidency)

The coolest and most effective way of contributing to genealogical efforts!!!!

I'm a busy mum of 5 young children and therefore researching out my own family history is very time consuming with great effort and commitment of my time being required amongst all other things....time which at the end of a busy day of being a mum and fulfilling my calling in Young Women can often be scarce.....................that is until I was introduced to the Indexing programme!!

My good family friend and fellow Young Women leader introduced me to the world of 'INdexing' just a couple of months back when as a presidency we decided to introduce it together with our Young Women in Oldham ward. It truly was a mutual night of learning???....intrigue???...fascination???.....frustration???...too late I was hooked!!!

It was the perfect way to help contribute to family research.......I was unsure about it all at first but that feeling soon passes once I became used to the programme and how it worked.......spending more and more time completing work I soon became interested in the names I had submitted where they where from...how many siblings they had etc etc...the information I was inputting was becoming more and more real to me...these pepole aren't just names but people who actually existed and belonged to someone out there!!!!!!

That night seeing the Young Women eagerly becoming a part of this great work truly was a marvelous sight to behold.....seeing the girls set themselves goals and encourage each other and dedicate themselves only strengthened my own drive to continue and do more.

To personalise this effort I can look at the following facts.Hundreds of thousands of people each month search the records I've helped "unlock" through this ongoing effort. My efforts help make hundreds of millions of names from some of the world's most valuable records collections available online for open access.My Indexed Records are Being Used today.....and so it is our duty to fullfill these efforts. I made a difference and so YOU can Make a Difference!!!

The family search indexing programme needs your help. Working together, our collective efforts allow people around the world to find and document the lives of their ancestors........Every person matters. Perhaps it’s this feeling that prompts millions to seek out their family history.

For most of us, records of our ancestors provide a link to our past. I am now part of an army of volunteers The Young Women of Oldham Ward are now part of that same army from around the world working to make these records available to everyone.

I do not consider myself highly intelligent at all and I'm barely computer literate but Indexing is so easy...even I can do it!!! I t may appear a little hard or confusing at times but the great thing is any mistakes we make can and will be corrected by other volunteers that check our work. So it's a sure winner....you can do as many trial runs beforehand just to give you a little practise. Family search.org has everything on there and they keep in regular contact by email to encorage you with your efforts and thank you for all of your efforts made........you even have a goal setter and a point scorer that tracks all the work you submit and complete...this enables yourself to keep track and for the church to review and record all that is being completed. The Oldham ward Young women have even been challenged to make it part of their Personal Progress Projects....10 hours of indexing is very easily achieved.

You can help. No special skills are required. Volunteer when you have time. Make that time!!!! Just register ( make sure you have your church membership number), sign in, and follow the easy steps that are clearly displayed through www.familysearch.org and away you go....it is that simple!!!!!!!!.............it is my hope that everyone catched the little 'indexing' bug that I caught...................enjoy and away you go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Amy !!! 

Spiritual Crocodiles

At church today in Oldham, we had three missionaries speak, the final one Elder Dittmer mentioned the address by President Packer all about Spiritual Crocodiles.

This video was made for Seminary and inspired by Elder Boyd K. Packer’s analogy from a General Conference address “Spiritual Crocodiles” Ensign, May 1976, 30–32 . 

Elder Packer compared deadly crocodiles that lie in wait for unsuspecting animals to the spiritual and moral sins of our day, which can be deadly to our young people. The Seminary guide goes on to discuss why temptations are so like Crocodiles.

• Crocodiles are often well camouflaged.
• Some victims, like the English boy, ignore warnings.
• Crocodiles often victimize the young, who are innocent and less wary.
• Victims underestimate how fast and powerful the enemy is.
• Victims see others go down to drink without being attacked.
• Crocodiles wait in places where victims go to satisfy needs, that is, the watering hole.
• Crocodiles are patient; they let the animals feel safe with their presence and then attack when the animals’ guards are down.

Provo, UT Girls

Today's post is just for fun



1 Minute in - "Big Hair, leggings and layered shirts on top" its not just a Provo Fashion !

EFY Dress Standards

If your planning your summer wardrobe, you may want to CHECK OUT the EFY dress standards, before you SPLASH OUT your cash !

Click HERE or on the picture above, to visit the official EFY dress standards page.

Mothers and Daughters

Is there a woman in your life that deserves an "I love You" today ?
It may be a Mother a Grandmother or a Young Women Leader....

If you love them - Tell them !


You could even SEND them this message... 

Integrity Personal Progress Project

The following has been submitted by Rachel Teal (Oldham Ward)...

In May 2006 I set out to complete my integrity project. I would have been 13 at the time, so as I was rather new to young women's I was still eager and finding personal progress lots of fun! (Not that it's not lots of fun ;))

Anyway in the 'my project is' section I wrote:

'finding out more about having personal integrity and being worthy to enter the the temple, then making a booklet with important information in to help me remember to prepare to enter the temple, through personal integrity.'

 

My Plan to carry out my project was:

1) Read general presidency talks on preparing to enter the temple and integrity

2) Study on how to have personal integrity, and the strength of youth booklet

3) Pray that I will have integrity and be worthy to enter the temple

4) Make a booklet to remember the important information through quotes and scriptures'

I then started reading and looking for lots of talks by general authorities about integrity. I would read them and highlight my favourite parts. I then chose to make a little booklet with pictures and quotes from a talk by Joseph B Wirthlin, which can be found in the May ensign 1990.

I made the book and evaluated my project:

'I completed the project on the day I wanted, I read talks and the strength of youth booklet. I then made my booklet. Through this project I have been able to realise how important it is for me to have integrity in my daily life, because I want to be worthy to one day enter the temple. I hope that through the book I made I will always be able to remember this.'

 

Looking back at what I made it is still nice to look and remember how important it is for us as latter day saint young women to have integrity. To me this means always doing what's right, even when it's not the most popular thing to do and requires courage. I am glad I was a keen new young woman when I did this project because it is very nice to look back at what I made and always remember the value of integrity.

A link to this page has also been added to the Personal Progress Page for future reference

YW camp Arizona style

Today we have a post from a guest Young Women leader all the way from Tucson Arizona. I thought it would be fun to see what YW camp is like on the other side of the Atlantic. Sister Pistol has just returned from their trip and shares here what they got up to ......

Endure To The End, Sister Pistol

OH! Where oh WHERE should I begin??!!  So many wonderful things occurred whilst I was away from you, my dearest friends.

I feel new.

I'll begin with a conversation I intruded upon.  Eves dropping has it's benefits...

"I still haven't had my first kiss," said a lovely, athletic (but not too athletic) 17 year old girl.

"Don't worry about it.  It's so not worth it," said another beautiful 17 year old.

I was perplexed.  Teenage girls generally don't hold conversations to this effect.

"Not worth it?" I asked.  "How so?"


"She shouldn't waste her first kiss on just ANYBODY.  I kissed some guy once and I wasted my kiss.  I don't even LIKE that guy anymore."

I was dumbfounded.  The gorgeous almost-18-year-old had "kissed some guy ONCE."

I thought of my own first kiss...  I was fourteen. A mere child playing with sparks of Love.  One never knows when a spark might result in a raging wild fire.  Dangerous, now I am wise enough to see.

(In the above pic I am on the far right with a gray bandanna fastened securely to my noggin.  It is my own daughter hamming it up front and centre...I have no idea where she learned such garish behaviour... ;) .

I spent the week with young women of magnificent calibre.  I was meant to teach and lead in some way.  I can assure you, I was the individual led and taught.

The girls I fed and served all week are precisely the type of woman one wishes to become one day.  They are intelligent, well-read, witty, athletic, leaders among their peers, well-liked by children and adults both.  They are spiritual giants in multi-colored Vans and lime green nail polish.

Below is my luxuriant kitchen... Soooo much better than a smoky camp fire, in my estimation!  I was happy here.

I have discovered I find great satisfaction in feeding the hungry.  Cooking tasty foods and satiating empty bellies is my way of saying, "I Love Ya,  Ya big Ol' Goof!"  I felt like a hero three times a day.

They called me Sister Pistol, those girls did. 

Mormons call one another Sister or Brother [Insert Last Name Here].  I've never been comfortable being called Sister Pistol until this week.  I had no choice.  They said it so often I heard Sister Pistol in my sleep.

"Sister Pistol, what are we having for lunch?"

"Sister Pistol, what's on the menu for dinner?"

"I think Sister Pistol would like to drink the yucky purified lake water..."

(Do you SEE the yellow liquid I hold in a jug?  That is the liquid I consumed.  I HAD to do it... Peer pressure, you know...  I couldn't let them think I was a PRISS, now could I?)

They continued the Sister Pistols.

"It's Sister Pistol's turn!"

Sister Pistol scraped the flesh off her knees engaging in this particular Trust Building Activity.  Trust Building, indeed!  Can you imagine the damage incurred to my person had my faithful young friends lost grip of the poles?  I discovered I am far braver than I had previously imagined. 

"Sister Pistol, would you run around in circles while holding this rope so we can swing high in the air at your expense?"

Why certainly.  I'd be happy to.  Please be sure to kick my backside in the process...

If you insist, Sister Pistol.  We only wish to please.

Well, then by all means.  Give my bum a good hard boot as I fly through the air against my will, as the sum of your weight is much heavier than the sum of mine...

One of the littlest girls scraped the flesh off of her left shin from knee to ankle while enjoying this death swing. Another young lass was kicked so hard she went flying into a nearby boulder and bruised the entire left side of her torso.  We were lucky to get out alive.

The highlight of the week was an eleven mile walk/hike.  We joined forces with two other groups of young women and leaders.  60 girls in all participated.

I took an Exederin and led my girls in song and dance for much of the walk.  Many of the girls sustained various injuries ranging from blisters, bruises, headaches, cuts and scrapes to a busted-up nose.

My own daughter, Serena, walked directly into a tree branch while trying to avoid stepping on a cow pie.  I had stepped on one and gave it no second thought.  She watched her feet and BLAM.  A tree to the face.  It jumped at her from out of nowhere! Blood gushed from her nose like... like blood gushing from a busted up nose...

Serena cried and cried.  I welled with pride when I discovered the reason for her tears was... (I'll let her tell you in her own words...)

"I want to keep walking!! I don't care if my nose is bleeding!  I WANT TO KEEP WALKING WAHHH HAAAA!"

We all walked the eleven miles.  Along the way we laughed and told stories.  We sang and sweated like smelly little pigs.  We complained and sighed and smiled.  Some cried.

At long last we saw our destination in the distance.  A beacon in the night. 

A Holy edifice dedicated as The House of The Lord.

Our Temple.

I was asked to speak a few words to the girls.

I told them that I was impressed with their success at reaching the temple despite their various injuries.  I pointed out specifically the girls who had walked after being knocked down and bruised.  I reminded them my own daughter had run into a tree. :)

You all endured faithful until you reached your goal.  You endured to the end.  I am so proud of all of you.

As you go through life there will be many times you will be knocked down.  You will certainly walk into trees.  These things will hurt.  But you have proven today you have what it takes to continue faithful.


You have what it takes to Endure To the End.  To always follow your heart and do what is right.


When you do what is right you WILL be happy.  


When you do what is wrong you WILL be sad.


It's that simple.


We never know what trials we will have to face in life. Often painful situations are thrown our way that we never could have foreseen in our wildest dreams.

We are here on this earth to prove ourselves worthy to return to our Heavenly Home.  Our bodies house spirits of divine worth.  We will be tested and tried throughout our lives.  

Our trials make us strong if we endure them well.

Continue faithful and Endure To The End.   

This post is contributed by regular fun and humorous LDS blogger

Crystal's A Pistol

Welcome to an Overseas Guest

A couple of posts ago we shared a video made by the Farley family, which if you missed can be found under the title Young Women Powers. Farley fun comes in the form of making and editing pretty cool and professional looking videos. Tonight Reed Farley popped in on the blog and added a comment so we thought we would give a warm welcome to our first YW contributor from Arizona.

Here is another FarleyFlick

On other fronts our Stakes YW blog is also gaining in popularity else where, a quick check of Manchester Stake Youth Facebook page will reveal several of the posts from here. In return we have added a link to them, on the right column in the form of a Facebook Badge. Our posts are also appearing on the YSA ward Facebook page.

Stake Youth Activity

The next stake youth activity will be hosted by Oldham ward on the 26th of July.

The venue is Dovestones Reservoir which is only a 10 minute drive from Oldham, the plan is to meet in the car park for a 7.00pm start. Please note the council parking wardens are vigilant in the evenings and it is pay and display until 8.00pm

Facebook users please visit the invite page and respond to let the organisers get a rough idea of how many to expect, it can be found HERE

If you havent been before its easy to find from Oldham Bypass coming from Oldham..

		0.3 mi
	6. At Mumps roundabout, take the 3rd exit ontoLees Rd/A669 Continue to follow A669
		3.9 mi
	7. Sharp right onto Shaw Hall Bank Rd/A669
		0.1 mi
	8. Take the 1st left onto Chew Valley Rd/A669
		0.8 mi
	9. At the roundabout, take the 1st exit ontoHolmfirth Rd/A635
		0.4 mi
	10. Slight right onto Bank Ln
		0.5 mi

Dovestones Reservoir

Stake Athletics

Get excited, dust of your spiked running shoes !! This coming Saturday (9th of July) is Stake Athletics. As last year the event is combined with Manchester Stake. This is home turf for Oldham Ward who will be training at the venue this Tuesday Evening.

The Venue 

The Radclyffe School

Hunt Lane
Chadderton
Oldham
OL9 0LS

Start Time : 10 am

Leave the M60 at jnc 21 and head towards Oldham on "Broadway" 

You will pass Costco on the left,

Mcdonalds on the left (call in a treat yourself) 

The Sportsman pub on the right (don't go in) 

Turn left onto Hunt Lane

Arial view picture source : School Website