Arise in Yellow

Last week we had New Beginnings for the Young Women in our ward. I was in charge of decorations, and the president suggested I keep it simple. I am really not the most coordinated person, especially when it comes to design. So when you see these pictures you should know that it is only by divine inspiration or intervention that this event turned out as cute as it did. I most definitely cannot take credit for the scrumptious food, which was prepared by Sis. Charley.

The theme for the youth in the church this year is Arise and Shine Forth. Our program was focused on the value of integrity, including having each young women share a specific scriptural story of integrity (PP #3) and having the moms of new beehives share a story when they personally showed integrity. At the end of the night, we challenged the girls to share their moments of integrity with us throughout the year. With each story, we will drop one of the shiney ornaments into the jar picture below.

With our theme, we decided to go with mostly yellow decorations. I forgot to take a picture of the table tops. I had the hardest time trying to find chinese lanterns in the Lebanon area. So I ended up making lanterns out of dollar section caddies and yellow tissue paper. Each lantern had a pop up, battery operated, light inside. So when the lights went down to show the theme video, all of the girls oohed and ahhed over the lanterns, that you really couldn't tell contained light before it went dark.

This was THE BEST new beginnings I have ever attended! The stories shared and the effort put forward by the young women to express the theme for this year was really outstanding and impactful. Our personal moments reflecting integrity, whether showing or lacking, are really something that stick with us our whole lives. I'm excited for the new year resolution to exercise my courage along with the young women.