A. got tapped by the Young Women's President in our ward to organize New Beginnings this year, for her Personal Progress. She did a great job with very little nagging on my part, and it went off well. But since I give her so many assignments, she thought she'd get back at me and make me be the main speaker. Paul said he liked my talk, so I thought I'd sum it up here, since I don't seem to write much about Church things, and that's the most important thing that I do.
The theme was "It's a Wonderful Time" (we had a "clock" cake served on "clock" tables afterward) and so I had the girls think about what this is a wonderful time for. The life cycle of a butterfly is a good metaphor. Small children and babies are like caterpillars. They crawl around, eat frequently, and when you meet them, you don't really know what they are going to become. They continue to grow, and then sense that they are about to change, so they become a cocoon (or a chrysalis - but a cocoon works better for my metaphor). When passing through the phase of change, teens often retreat to their rooms a lot, but you should think of the whole world as your cocoon. At this phase of life, your parents are protecting you and providing for you, making your life soft and comfy. Because in our modern affluent society teens aren't usually required to do anything to support their family, many teens just focus on entertaining themselves and put a minimum effort into their education. The time passes all too quickly, however, and then they're out on their own, unprepared for life as an adult.
But think about the butterfly. It is hard at work in there preparing itself for adult life, growing, stretching, redefining itself, so that when it emerges, it is radiantly beautiful.
This is your time to develop yourself - your talents, your intellect, your body, and your spirit.
We then read a bunch of scriptures to find out what the Lord would have us use our time on, and discussed how the Personal Progress program could help us in those goals.
That's over! Next......
