This year our YW chose the 'Young Women in Excellence' theme and carried out the program (I'm super big into giving the girls as much responsibility as I think they can handle, instead of me and my presidency carrying out an entire program on our own) So, the YW chose the theme "Following in Christs Footsteps". And they asked me to speak. I thought I'd share you all of you blog readers my notes from my talk. I also had a little slideshow going when I was talking about my favorite hike. Anyway, here you go!
Topic: How to draw closer to the Savior and follow in his footsteps. (5-10 minutes)
As a teenager in Southern Utah, I fell in love with hiking! I l fell in love with the beauty and majesty of the mountains around me. Hiking was something me and my friends would get together on a Saturday and do. Inside Zion’s National Park, there are a number of hikes that novice hikers could easily accomplish. The trails aren’t strenuous, the path was clearly marked and most of the hikes inside the park can be completed before lunch!
There are, however, many other hikes to be taken in the backcountry trails. These hikes are a little more advanced, the path isn’t always marked so clearly and takes from sunrise until sundown to complete. One of my favorites of these hikes is called The Subway.
This hike begins hiking over miles and miles of Sandstone, requires rappelling skills (or if you’re really dumb…jumping down into deep pothole waters) and hiking in water. This hike, as are the other backcountry hikes like it, are not marked at all. How did I know how to get where I was going?
I never went alone. I always had someone there who had hiked the trail before, many times over!
BEFORE we chose the path we want to take in this life, we need to look at where that path is taking us.
What are some of your goals in the next ten years?
Once we know where we want to go, we need to look at who is leading the hike! Preferably this would be someone who has been on the trail before…many times over! (or maybe once over, perfectly!)
Just as I would have never attempted a backcountry hike without a knowledgeable friend, I also would not chose a path in life without a Savior who knows the way.
My friends who hiked with me could always tell me approximately how much further we had to hike through the dull Sandstone, or when I would need to change shoes because we were coming up on some water and where the right pothole was that was deep enough to jump in and not break my leg!
Our Savior, too has provided some clearly marked paths to take. And we are reminded of how we are to stay on those paths each Sunday in Young Women’s as we repeat the Young Women’s Theme. And without going into detail about each of the Young Women values, there are two that I would like to talk a little about tonight. Our “bookend” values!
The first of these being….
Faith – Matthew 14: 22-31
Peter ‘tests’ Christ of who he really is.
Peter walks on water because of his faith that it is Christ who called to them.
Peter looses faith when he sees the wind and begins to sink.
Christ asks Peter, “wherefore didst thou doubt?”
Do we ‘test’ Christ? How?
When are times that we lose faith?
Faith in Jesus Christ is the first and largest step we take when following in Christ’s footsteps.
Just as I put my full trust in my hiking-savvy friends to get me home at the end of the day, we also need to put our full trust in our Savior. If we are to draw closer to Him, we need to begin to trust Him.
When we have faith in Christ and follow his example, pretty much everything else falls into place. The other Values are as follows:
Divine Nature = we are daughters of our Heavenly and have a divine inheritance
Individual Worth = we value that said inheritance and act as becoming daughters of our Heavenly Father
Knowledge = because of our divine heritage, we have so much to learn and seek for opportunities continually.
Choice and Accountability = we make choices every day and reap the consequences of those choices whether good or bad.
Good Works = we seek opportunities to serve others, knowing that by doing so, we are not only following the example of the Savior, but we are becoming like Him!
Integrity = we have the courage to stay on the path that the Savior has outlined for us.
And….Virtue. (Talk about the new value and bare testimony)
Here are some pictures from the night. The set-up and, of course some of our super cute girls!
2 comments:
It looked absolutely wonderful and you are so thoughtful in the things you say and prepare for these girls...I feel so sorry for these girls when they head to somewhere else and don't have you as their eternal YW's leader that they can just pack up in their suitcase!! ;)
Super cool, Jess. Awesome talk. Those girls are so lucky to have you as their leader!
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