Tag Archive: attendance

If they don’t have a testimony of Jesus Christ and his restored Church, why would they want to do any of the things we’re trying to teach them to do?

• Part-member family (one or more parent is a non-member)
• Less-active (not attending class and/or activities as much as she should be, may have a calling but usually does not do it)
• Inactive (not active in the church in any way – not attending church/activities)
• Non-member (not a member of the church, perhaps visiting with a friend or relative)
• Unbaptized member (active in the church, but unable to be baptized for some reason)
• Investigator (meeting with the full-time missionaries to learn more/prepare for baptism)
• Recently Re-activated (used to be inactive, has recently become active or less-active and may not have a large gospel knowledge background)
• New Convert (baptized after age 8, did not grow up in the church, possibly never attended Primary)
• Disgruntled (upset about church policy and/or gospel doctrine and/or leadership decisions)
• “Over it” (thinks she is too mature, too cool, too whatever to listen or participate)
• Forced to attend class/activities (don’t want to be there, but parents make attendance non-optional)
• Paid to attend class/activities (don’t want to be there, but parents bribe them to attend)
• No testimony
• Weak testimony
• Not sure if she has a testimony or not
• Thinks the standards are ‘old fashioned’/rules should be bent to fit her preferences
• Has no intention of keeping the standards, but lies about it so her parents don’t find out
• No home support (parents may be inactive or non-member, but do not provide support like rides, help with personal progress, etc)
• Speaks a different language
• Special needs (physical)
• Special needs (mental or developmental)
• Special needs (emotional)
• Special needs (abuse victim)
• New Beehives (less familiar with the program, may be unsure of higher level concepts in lessons)
• “Hermoine Granger” (totally “gets” it, bears testimony at every opportunity, raised hand to answer every question, volunteers for everything, may be labeled a “goody-goody”)

We may place a lot of focus on helping the girls who need the extra support or are struggling, but even the girls who already have a testimony (or the beginnings of one) will need to be strengthened to keep their testimony going through all they have to face in their teenage lives. Many times the “goody-goody” is the outcast, even among her fellow youth in the church. 

Just like adults, every single one of the girls I’ve worked with could use some testimony-strengthening. Specifically their testimony of Christ- who is the center of everything we believe and do.

1. No matter what the assigned topic, Jesus Christ is the topic.
2. Prepare/teach a lesson as if it were the last one they are going to hear (because sometimes it is).

Several years ago we had a teenage girl join the church. One Sunday, her mother (a Catholic) unexpectedly attended church with her and she was invited to YW class. I was teaching all of the girls that particular day, and the lesson was about a very sensitive topic that I knew was a point of concern for her. I only had 1 hour notice that the mother would be attending class with us. I was panicking a little. Not because I didn’t know what to say, but because I had already geared the lesson toward active girls who are familiar with the concept, so I needed to make some changes to my plan. I tried to think of how to explain the concepts to everyone – but especially to the mother of this recent convert. I tried to explain the doctrine and my feelings about them. I bore my testimony. I tried to say everything I would want someone to say if my own parents had been present.