New Beginnings

We had New Beginnings this week, and I wanted to share what we did. Our theme was the 7 Wonders of the World, and each wonder represented a value. On July 7 of last year, 7 new wonders were chosen (voted on by lots of people around the world) and we based our program on those. Each of the 7 YW Leaders chose or was assigned a wonder and a value. We then had to decorate a room to represent that wonder, and come up with an activity to do with the girls and parents based on the value. We divided the girls and parents up into groups, then had them rotate through the rooms. I got pictures of all of the rooms except for two, because they were still being decorating when I had time to take pictures! Hopefully she got some pics and can share them.

After we did all of the activities, we met back in the gym for dessert (fruit pizzas with toppings in value colors) and a slide show. We have been taking pictures of the girls at different activities since we became a ward, and one of the talented leaders put them together and made a DVD out of them. She chose 3 songs from the "Steadfast and Immovable" CD as background music. It was so much fun! We also had 2 of the graduating girls bear their testimonies about the value of Personal Progress. We gave each girl a copy of the DVD to take home. It was a really fun night; a little laid back than usual. We have decided that we like making New Beginnings more of a fun night, and YW in Excellence a more spiritual night.

In each room we talked a little bit about the wonder, then did our activity. The Christ Redeemer Statue in Brazil represented Faith. The girls decorated these cute plaques:


The Taj Mahal represented Divine Nature. In this room they talked about how the Taj Mahal was actually a mausoleum built by an Indian King for his wife. Then they talked about temple marriage, and they were each given a small mirror. They were told to look in the mirror and see their own divine natures.


Machu Picchu, Peru represented Individual Worth. The leader who did this room had a mom and brother visit Machu Picchu, and she put their photos together and showed the girls a slide show. Then the girls wrote nice things about each other.


I did Chichen Itza, Mexico, and it represented knowledge. I built a pyramid out of construction paper, and decorated with greenery. We played Book of Mormon trivia. Winners were given "gold bars" of chocolate!


Choice and Accountability was the Colosseum in Italy. She had fresh bread for them to eat, and told them a story of a girl who lived in Rome and who came to hear about Christ. She was engaged at the time, and had to make a choice between her testimony of Christ and her finace. They used their scriptures to look for answers to help her. In the end, she was true to her testimony, and was sent to the Colosseum to face her death.

Petra, Jordan represented Good Works. In this room they were given a poem and a pen. They talked about service, and what things they could do to be of service to others.


Integrity was the Great Wall of China. Here the leader talked about some of the things that we are doing in YW to try and promote more reverance, and asked for the parents help in doing this.


Here are some pics of the decorations we used in the gym, and the DVD we gave them: