Family History

***This is a talk I was asked to give at a stake YW's activity about family history. I debated writing a whole separate post - & I'm sure I will eventually - but this talk tells you about my struggle with family history! I want to make it clear to anyone who is struggling that it's not just them, & it will ALWAYS be worth it!!***

Today I’ve been asked to speak on family history and different challenges I’ve had with it, and how I’ve been able to overcome those. So on my family history line, if you go straight back, it comes to a dead end on every line eventually. When I first started looking for names, I thought that the only thing I could do was find the names that weren’t there. For me, that didn’t work out so well. I couldn’t find any records or leads, and it was just really frustrating. I knew it was important to do family history, but I decided it was too hard and I gave up on it. Then, a couple of months later, we had a fireside on how you can find work in your cousin’s lines. It seemed easy enough so I decided to try the different approach. In an hour or so I found five names through my dad’s cousins. Unfortunately, after I found those names, I couldn’t find any more, even after working on it for another hour. Being the impatient person I am, I gave up again and decided that family history wasn’t for me. I was fine with that until my ward gave us a family history challenge in August. Each of the young men and young women in my ward were asked to find 5 names for baptisms and index 1,000 names. If we reached our goal, we would go to the Salt Lake temple to do all of the baptisms. They gave us three months and a lot of encouragement. We had several mutual activities on it, and they even called two youth family history consultants. 

Slowly I realized that this was my opportunity to really start doing family history. I knew that something about what I was doing to find names wasn’t working. I decided that I would pray before I started doing any family history, and I wouldn’t listen to music while I was doing it. They both seemed like simple things, but for me, they made all the difference. When I was really focused on what I was doing, it was a lot easier to keep a good perspective on it. I also realized how important it is to make sure the spirit is present when you’re doing the work, because sometimes it’s hard to know if what you’re doing is right. The first time I prayed before working on it, I was able to find 20 names in an hour. I haven’t been so lucky after that first time, but after working on it for several hours every week, I’ve found 94 names, 50 of which I’ll be taking to the Salt Lake temple with my ward on Saturday. (Remind me to blog about this - it was the neatest thing!!) For me, the names never just appeared in my line. Family history isn’t simple. We have amazing technology that makes it easier, but it doesn’t always immediately give you what you’re looking for. But I know that if you put the time and effort into finding names, you’ll be able to find them. Don’t give up like I did so many times. Trust in the Spirit and you’ll be able to do the work that the prophet and his apostles have called us to do. It really is important and it’ll bless you and bring you so much peace. 

I know that doing family history really has made a difference in my life, and I know it can make a difference for anyone who is willing to even try. And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

-Savannah

You Love Who You Serve

Today I have the opportunity to speak on service in sacrament meeting. I loved this topic, and I think it's so important, so I decided I would share it here! I think service is such a great thing and there are so many ways to help others and be kind. I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday and feel a little more directed and ready for another week!!


When my mom was in high school, my grandma and grandpa were in charge of the youth conference in Kirkland, Washington. They decided to do something completely different for their conference. Instead of choosing the usual flashy and entertaining route, which might have involved white river rafting and other exciting activities, they decided to do a huge service project. They gathered together 180 kids and built two barns in 3 days. The first barn was a half barn, half shed, built for an older man in the community. His old shed blew down in a bad storm, and the insurance wouldn’t pay to replace it. The second was more of a house, built for a family of 8 who had lost all of their money and were living in a small trailer. Their conference theme was, “You Love Who You Serve.” While at first none of the kids were very excited about working in a construction site for 3 days, as they began the project and worked together, they realized just exactly the importance of what they were doing. Their attitudes began to change as they found how much they loved what they were doing. Not so much because any of them really enjoyed construction or building barns, but because they loved putting the work into something that would benefit someone else. It was completely unselfish time spent, but it benefited the kids who were working the most. As one boy said in an article written in the New Era, “Mr. Roney (the man they were building the shed for) told us the quality of our work was A-1, top-notch. The look on his face as this place went up taught me I’m happiest when making someone else happy.” He continues on, saying, “I remembered working along with my friends and feeling something. I glanced around. It wasn’t just my friends; the Savior was there too.”

           

 Service can be an overwhelming thing. We are provided with plenty of opportunities at mutual, youth conferences, and camps, but trying to do things with a willing heart and on our own time can be a hard thing. A lot of times when I think of service, I think of huge projects, and it feels like a lot. But service doesn’t always have to be something as greatly big as building 2 barns in 3 days - in fact, as awesome as that is, it rarely has to be of that size. Service can be found in the way we treat others. Smiling at people in the hall at school, saying hi to someone you usually wouldn’t. A lot of times, service can be found in the kind of person you are. I really like this quote that says, “Fill yourself up with so much love that it spills into the lives of others.” When you reach out to people in the little ways and let them know that you’re there for them, even if you aren’t best friends, that’s one of the purest forms of service you could give to someone.

            So how do you become that kind of person? It always bothers me when I ask my mom how to do something and she tells me to “just make the choice to do it!” but in this case, it’s kind of true. Once we become aware of the people around us and the difference we could make for them, we can look for ways to reach out to them. Make the choice every day to look around you and find opportunities to serve, large and small.

            Another thing that would help us in our efforts to serve and be kind would be to make sure that we are sure of ourselves, and I think a good way to do that is to be rooted in the gospel. Like President Uchtdorf said, “We would do well to slow down a little, focus on the significant, and truly see the things that matter most.” If we understand God’s love for those around us, and we have Christ’s example to follow every day, it will be so much easier to be willing to serve. We are all capable of amazing things on our own, but I know from experience that if we have God’s power behind us it will hugely amplify what we’re doing by ourselves.

           

       So why should we do service? Why should we really worry about the people around us when we already have plenty of our own things to worry about? First of all is what I think is a pretty clear reason, and that is that the people around us matter. A lot of people that we have the opportunity to interact with everyday don’t have a lot of support in their lives. If we can recognize that and become the support and friend they need, we’ll be helping shape a part of their future. If everyone were to reach out to just one person every day, can you imagine the effect that would have on the kind of world we live in? Another reason would be that service affects each of us and the kind of person we’re becoming. When we look outside of ourselves, we can find the kind of joy and peace that we should find in this life. Like President Monson said, “To find real happiness, we must seek for it in a focus outside ourselves.” By becoming more like the Savior through service, we can become happier, better people. And I don’t know about you, but I kind of prefer joy over misery.

            I would like to bear my testimony that I know that service is a truly great thing. There are so many opportunities around us to help others. Whether it’s a huge project like building a barn or two, or just helping someone pick up papers they dropped in the hall, it matters, and it makes a difference. I know that if we each strive to become better and be better to those around us, we will become closer to the Savior and become more secure in the gospel and in our testimony of it. I hope we will all look for more opportunities to serve and be willing to take part in them. And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

            

(Do you write out your testimony in talks?? I always do! Personally it gives me more direction towards what I want to say. Sometimes I follow it exactly when speaking, sometimes not, but it helps me stay on topic! Do you have any talk tips or things you do to help when speaking?)



*New Era article credit - written by Tracy H. Barrand in the June 1987 edition of the New Era, called "Hair-raising, Care-raising, Barn-raising." Read the whole article here!


XOXO,
Savannah

Imperfect

Well hello everyone!

Long time no see....!

I had every intention of finishing out personal progress month strong, unfortunately I made it 2 posts in and then life kind of overwhelmed me! Almost two months later and I'm just barely stopping to breathe a little. This blog is still very important to me and I do plan on regularly posting, as soon as I figure out this whole schedule and balancing thing! And there will be many more personal progress posts in the future, I actually have 5 in my drafts folder right now that are in the works!

I think one of the things that has slightly overwhelmed me with beginning to blog is really just figuring it all out! There are so many ways to format your blog and make it look good, and I quite honestly don't understand any of them. It's frustrating to try to find things to make your blog nicer and then realizing you're not as technologically-savvy as you think you are! But I don't doubt that I'll figure things out and that I will get to where I want to be. 

I was thinking about how this applies to so many of us, in so many different ways. How many of us are willing to quit on something as soon as we realize we aren't exactly perfect at it? I'll be the first to admit that I often give up on things just because I don't get them immediately. But that isn't how we learn! If we give up right as we're learning, if we expect to be completely and utterly perfect at everything right off the bat, we're setting ourselves up for a lot of disappointment. We're also not giving ourselves the opportunity to learn and become better. There are definitely going to be things we get immediately, and that come more naturally to us than others. There are also going to be things that make no sense and are harder to go after! Those are the things you should chase!! 

Imperfection is nothing to be ashamed of. It shows that you're growing and learning and becoming better. And I don't know about you, but I would rather know that I was becoming better than staying exactly the same in my comfort zone!

XOXO,

Savannah

Personal Progress Tips

Here are a few short & sweet tips on how to make personal progress a little easier & hopefully more meaningful! I definitely used these to help me finish my personal progress, especially the sticky notes one! I hope they help you stay motivated to do personal progress!!

Personal Progress Tips!

* Try working on your personal progress online. You won’t have to keep track of your book! Search online for lds.org personal progress. All you need is your membership number (ask your ward clerk, they usually hang out around the bishop’s office) to set up your LDS account with a username and password.

* Each time you read a scripture or article, mark it with a highlighter or colored pencil. The next time you open your book, you won’t have to re-read the same scripture – you can go on to the next one.

*Use a dry erase marker to write a reminder message to yourself on your bedroom mirror. “Don’t gossip for 2 weeks”

* Use sticky notes to remind yourself of your goal that you are working on. “Read the Book of Mormon every night”

*Have you given a talk, been in a play, are you on a sports team, learning a musical instrument, served others, etc. You are already doing so many good things… get credit for it in personal progress!

XOXO,

Savannah 

Faith Value Project Ideas

To start out the month of personal progress, we'll be starting at the beginning of the values - faith! I want to share with you what I did for my project & other ideas of things you could do. I think the projects are one of the hardest but most fun parts of personal progress. You can do so much with them!

I completed my faith project in October 2013. I based it around general conference! To prepare, I bought a cute little notebook specifically for the conference. Then I decorated pages in the front of the notebook with pictures of all of the general authorities and little quotes from talks they had given.

(Once again - photo quality. I am so sorry!! I'll get better at this but I really wanted to get this post up, so I just used my phone again!)

I also had a page dedicated to quotes about faith (this was my faith project, after all!).

Then, during conference, I stayed awake & actually listened to all of the talks (something I do every time now!) and took notes for every speaker.

After conference, I went back through all of my notes and made goals for the next six months based on the prophet's counsel. I also wrote my thoughts on conference and my testimony of the truths that were spoken during it!

This was really a great project!! Before it, watching general conference was kind of a struggle for me. I definitely think it helped me realize the importance of conference! It also gave me answers that I so needed at that point in time. One of them was whether or not I should receive my patriarchal blessing - and I felt like it was a solid yes! I received it on November 10th, 2013.

If my project isn't really clicking with ya, here are a few more great ideas! (Faith was definitely one of the hardest values for me to find a project for.) Keep in mind that they need to total up to 10 hours:

*Write letters to missionaries

*Keep a scripture journal and write in it every day

*Memorize scripture masteries

*Memorize "The Living Christ"

*Memorize an inspiring poem

*Learn how to cross-stitch and make something that describes your feelings about the gospel

*Grow a garden

*Record stories from family or ward members who've demonstrated faith and compile a family history

*Create a website/blog featuring the YW values and your personal testimony (or an Instagram account!)

*Film interviews of friends and family members talking about their faith in Christ, then edit the video and set it to music

*Visit a church history location and create a scrapbook based on the trip, highlighting the faith of church members of that time period

*Write a book, play, song, short story or poem about faith

*Create a work of art that describes your feelings about the gospel

*Compile a family testimony book

*Sew scripture bags to give primary kids when they're baptized

*Make baptism books to give to primary kids when they're baptized

*Make a scrapbook about faith

(Disclaimer: I do not take credit for all of these ideas!! Huge shoutout to various websites & bloggers for 80% of these)

I hope you got a few ideas from this post!! Let me know if you like the formatting of it or if you would rather see these posts organized differently - I'm experimenting with it!

XOXO,

Savannah

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

Personal Progress Month

I hope you're curious about this from the title... Because I'm pretty excited about it!!

I was reading through a talk I gave almost a year ago, after I earned my young women's medallion. As I read it, I started to remember how passionate I was (am!) about personal progress, and how much I've lost that after completing the program! So, for somewhat selfish reasons, I decided that on here, March will be spent focusing on personal progress and the difference it has made/can make in each of our lives! I'll share LOTS of project ideas (I know how hard those can be sometimes!), Honor Bee ideas, reasons to love personal progress, little things you can do to make personal progress easier (but more meaningful!)... The list goes on! I was going to do a week, but then I decided there was just too much to fit in just 7 days. So here we are!

I really hope you're as excited about this as I am!! PERSONAL PROGRESS IS AMAZING!! Okay? Okay. Now let's have fun with this!!

(Also - hint, hint - you can totally pop your e-mail in that box over there to make sure you don't miss a single post, project idea, or inspiration! I highly recommend it(; )

XOXO,

Savannah