Personal Progress Month Intro

I decided to kick off our month of personal progress inspiration with the talk I gave at my ward's medallion night - an activity for 3 of my leaders, me, and another one of our young women (Kim) when we received our young women medallions back in April of last year. Kim & I planned the night. It was the first time I had planned anything and it was so much fun! The night was great and I loved the spirit there. I also gave the same talk later last year at girls camp - a lot of our young women were unable to come to the medallion night, so Kim & I both spoke again. I modified my talk for girls camp because of the theme. Our medallion night was based on 'The Princess and the Frog' (Remember What's Important!), and girls camp was 'Anchored in Christ'. They are really the same talk with minor tweaks, but I'll be posting the modified one from girls camp! 

So, without further ado - here's my talk! 

I'm so excited to be able to speak to you today! I originally gave this talk at the medallion night a while ago, where the theme was The Princess and the Frog, so I’ve changed my talk a little bit to fit the camp theme, ‘Anchored in Christ.’

When I think of being anchored in Christ, I think of matching our priorities to those of the gospel. We cannot truly be anchored to our Savior when what’s important to Him is not important to us.

           
I think one of the best ways to know where your priorities are is to ask yourself a few questions, and really think about the answers. Questions such as, how often do you go to sports practice? How many times a week are you hanging out with your friends? How many hours are you spending practicing instruments or going to lessons? Any other activities, really, can apply here. Then ask yourself, how many times have I attended the temple in the last month? How many hours have I spent doing service? And how many times have I picked up my personal progress book in the last few weeks? Are the numbers of those answers even comparable? If you’re spending more time with your friends or at a practice for something or other than you are doing what God has called you to do, I think you might need to ask yourself whether or not you are truly anchored in Christ. None of the other activities are bad at all, they’re just not as important as the spiritual activities are.

So, how can you really become anchored in Christ? It starts with a daily commitment to put God’s standards first.  Get a rock and put it on your pillow so you remember to pray every night. Get together with your friends, choose a day, and go to the temple after school. Go home and find your personal progress book, pick a value, and start working on it. Some of the value experiences can be done in way less than an hour. All of these are great ways to start, but what I’m going to focus on most is personal progress.

I think there’s this misconception that personal progress is insanely boring and it takes forever to do, when in reality, that’s not at all true. Personal progress takes time, but so do homework and play practice. If you make time every week for personal progress, you’ll be done with it before you know it. Of course, I know how hard it can be to find motivation to do it. I really love this talk given by Jan Pinborough on ‘five reasons to love personal progress’, and I’d like to share her five reasons with you.

           
Because it can change the world. Because it can change you. Because you’re so busy. Because it leads you to the temple. Because it can help you reach your dreams.

So I’d like to go through each of the five reasons and kind of explain a little bit more what they really mean.

Let’s start with the first two, because it can change the world and because it can change you. You might be thinking, how can personal progress change anything? Let me tell you! A large portion of personal progress is doing service and helping other people. If all of the young women of the church were to complete their personal progress, think of all of the good deeds and light we would have shared in other people’s lives! Personal progress can bring happiness to others and even provide missionary opportunities. But personal progress isn’t just for others – it’s also for ourselves. Personal progress is designed to bring you closer to your Father in Heaven, strengthen your testimony, and recognize your divine nature and opportunities in this life. I have discovered that by doing personal progress, my mindset has begun to change from one of negative judgement to kindness - not just for those around me, but for myself. Personal progress obviously doesn’t make you perfect, but it brings you so much closer to the kind of person you are truly meant to be.

Next is because you’re so busy, and I think this is my favorite. I think what stops most young women from doing their personal progress is their mindset of I don’t have time. The issue isn’t that you don’t have enough time, it’s that you aren’t making the time. Somewhat fortunately, I was able to finish my personal progress a lot faster because I was sick for three months. But it doesn’t matter how long it takes you to finish your personal progress, only that you’re willing to do it. Even if you can only make the time to do personal progress for half an hour each week, take advantage of that. Make it a priority and you will find the time for it, whether you work on it every Sunday or you have three months where you’re doing absolutely nothing. Once you start doing personal progress, you will realize how important it is to make time for the things that really count. Not only that, but one of the main purposes of personal progress is to make your spiritual goals part of your everyday life. I think Sister Julie Beck said it best when she said, “The busiest girls use Personal Progress as a tool to accomplish what they most want to do. It brings your temporal and spiritual pursuits together. It shows you that what you do on the volleyball team or the chess club has a direct relationship with who you are as a daughter of God.” Not only should you be making time for personal progress, your time should already be spent doing things that would apply to it.

Then is because it leads you to the temple. I hope every young woman wants to ultimately be married in the temple someday. And while having your personal progress completed and your medallion earned isn’t a requirement to enter the temple, it will prepare you to go there. The temple is our ultimate goal, and personal progress is the course that will prepare us for the daily dedication it takes to get there. With personal progress, we will be all the more prepared for our futures.

And last but not least, because it can help you reach your dreams. Sister Elaine Dalton said, “This is what Personal Progress is really all about—being focused on good things, becoming a better person, feeling the Spirit, and being happy!” Personal progress is essentially making and accomplishing one small goal after another until you complete the entire thing. Doing personal progress will give you the attitude and strength to accomplish any goal and work towards making every dream come true. Personal progress doesn’t just end when you close the book, it stays with you for the rest of your life.

I would like to leave my testimony with you that I know personal progress is so important. It’s changed me so much for the better, and I know it can change every single young women who is willing to just open up her personal progress book and start. Take advantage of what you’re doing right now or what’s going on in your life and apply it to personal progress. Let Christ be your anchor and let personal progress be a part of your life. I know this gospel is true and I am so grateful for it. And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

XOXO,
Savannah