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Once a month (the first Wednesday of every month) our ward YW secretary, Sister McGrath, does a Personal Progress Spotlight for the first 1/2 hour of Mutual. This has been one of the many tools she has used to start sparking interest in Personal Progress among the girls (see the posts under the  Personal Progress label on the right side of this page for more of her ideas).

When you hear the term Personal Progress Spotlight, it probably sounds like we “spotlight” one of the girls who has signed something off for Personal Progress. Actually, what she does instead is spotlight the Values themselves and tries to encourage all of the girls to work on Personal Progress.

Sister McGrath focuses on the YW Value of the month (Faith, Divine Nature, etc – whatever our monthly Value theme is) and how it can be applied to our lives, especially with Personal Progress. Sometimes she gives a presentation, sometimes we play a game – its different every time, so it never gets old. The girls are always encouraged to work on their Personal Progress and set goals. Some do, some don’t, but at least they are all reminded about it.

This month in our Ward’s YW the Value is “Individual Worth.” Sister McGrath wanted to have a Personal Progress Value Experience that the girls could start that night and finish the same night. That way, everyone could have at least one Value Experience completed by the end of the night. We have a number of brand new Beehives (and some older girls) who haven’t completed any Experiences yet, so if they could get started on one and finish it the same night, they could finally mark something off on our big Personal Progress Chart and get the ball rolling!

Individual Worth Value Experience #7 is what she chose to focus on this month, and it worked perfect.

Here are the requirements to pass off this Value Experience: 

“Heavenly Father has given you special gifts. Read 1 Corinthians 12:4–12; 13; Moroni 7:12–13; 10:8–18; and Doctrine and Covenants 46:11–26. Ask a family member, a Young Women leader, and a friend to write down positive qualities the Lord has given you. List your gifts in your journal, and write how you can continue to develop these gifts and use them to serve your family and others”

Sister McGrath printed off a sheet for each girl with their name on the top. She also added a cute picture of Ryan Gosling saying “Hey girl – your YW Medallion really brings out your eyes” (see photos below). She laid them all out on a table with pens and had the girls (and leaders) go around to each paper and write down at least one positive quality for every girl. The girls loved this and spent a long time writing nice things about each other.

 

If you read the specified scriptures together as a group, and have the girls ask a parent to add another positive quality to their daughter’s sheet (when they get home), then write in their journal, they will have completed all of the requirements to pass off Individual Worth Value Experience #7! Have them bring their Personal Progress books on Sunday to get it signed off! (they can also get it “signed off” online or by a parent)

QUESTION: Does doing a Value Experience together as a group like this count, since its not “individual”? YES! Depending on the Experience or Project, you usually need to work with someone else in some way. In fact, almost all of them require discussion with a friend, relative, or leader. “Listing” of positive qualities as a group like this just adds an element of fun and provides even more positive feedback for each girl. They will still need to speak with a parent and write in their journal on their own. The important thing is always that the girl is actually participating herself instead of just being pushed through a mill, so to speak (“ok, I read a scripture about virtue to everyone, so I’ll just sign off everyone’s Value Experience now” (whether they were paying attention or not) )

 

QUESTION: What about girls who have already completed this particular Value Experience? What will they do? They can still participate and have a sheet with nice things about them on it (whether it “counts” for something or not), and they can also write on everyone else’s paper to help the other girls with their Value Experience. They could also help younger girls or girls with special needs during this project as needed.