Let Christ in!

A little over 5 months ago I was called to serve as the Young Women's President in my ward. For those of you who are not members of my faith this basically means I'm in charge of the young women in my area.  I made three promises to myself when I was called. 1: I would have no regrets and do everything to the best of my ability  2: I would make our activities meaningful. 3: I'd make sure every girl knows she is enough! I have really tried to stick with these three things. For the month of December we did a lot of combined service with the Young Men. 1- Decorated the Canberra rock area for the community Then helped an elder sister in our ward get her Christmas up. 2- Sang at an assisted living home where one of our ward members now lives. We also sang for some of our ward members who haven't been feeling well. 3- Did a service project where we made kits of clothing, shoes and toys for kids in Ethiopia. (One of our young men will be delivering the kits the day after Christmas.) We then gave the youth a Pay it Forward challenge. They will report on what they have done this Sunday.  4-Gathered money, coats, shoes and blankets for the homeless then delivered them. And we did a Christmas lesson third hour at my home where all of the leaders shared their favorite Christmas experience or story then ended with their testimony.  



In preparation for our last activity in 2014 I slowly converted my garage into a manger scene. The purpose of the activity is the help remind the youth to keep Christ in their hearts this Christmas season (And Always.) In the words of Elder Waxwell : "Each of us is an Innkeeper who decodes if there is room for Jesus".......A few hours prior to the activity I had a moment of reflection. I sat in my garage with the lights off watching the candles flicker. I looked at the empty cradle and realized I HAVE NOT LET CHRIST IN! Sometimes we are busy doing GOOD things but even good things and distract us from much BETTER things. I Promise to let  CHRIST into my heart this CHRISTmas...and all year long. How about you???

Pictures of our activities below

Because I have been given much

Last year my sweet friend Michele and her husband took the youth of our church to Salt Lake city for a service project. They collected hats, shoes, coats, blankets and gloves then gave them to the homeless. The youth loved the experience. What impressed me most was the fact that Michele was sick, really sick with cancer. She was the perfect example of TRUE service! Read her blog HERE. She has since passed away.We decided to take her idea and make it a tradition in our ward family. This year we asked our ward to donate money, coats and blankets instead of doing neighbor gifts. I was blown away by all the love and support we received.  A doughnut company donated 7 dozen donuts and we provided hot cocoa to give to the homeless along with the coats, blankets, underwear, and socks. We took the youth up on a Sunday afternoon. The spirit strong and beautiful. I couldn't help but think of my sweet friend Michelle all day long. I know she is proud of us.

Watch a video of our experience HERE
 
It was a great experience and I pray that the youth took it all in. They are seeing reality. I hope they realize how blessed they are and I hope they see what addiction can do and I hope they understand that to matter the struggles some face in life, god loves us all just the same. His love is beautiful and perfect. Merry Christmas!