Imperfection

 I've tried watching videos of a speaker/author but I didn't like her mannerisms so I dismissed her message.  I recently got a book by them and it is so nice.  I'm not distracted by her accent or hand movements.

We started doing Sign Language Book or Mormon today.  I love helping the kids build fluency.  

We also talked about taking responsibility for our emotions and using "When you ______ I feel ______." statements.  lP has a friend who was harassed for a year about something by a boy who liked her.  lP teases this friend about the same thing but they take that interaction as a sign of friendship.   So we went around the room getting hypothetical peanut butter sandwiches thrown at us and describing our feelings.

Swimming Hole

 We had a nice adventure on Saturday swimming in a local creek.  I love learning of new adventures right here in this town.

As Bread is Broken

 Our family sang one of the new hymns in church today as a special musical number.  "As Bread is Broken" is a new sacrament hymn.  It has grown on me and I really love it.  

M and lP went to FSY in Kentucky this past week.  I love that the church has made that available to everyone.  I'm grateful for programs that help children and youth feel loved and feel the spirit regardless of income.  

I went to a painting meet up yesterday with sister from the ward.  It was so lovely.  We followed a youtube tutorial with palettes prepared by the host.  There was a lot of self deprication but I really appreciated the chance to paint in a social situation. I haven't painted in a long time and don't usually finish something.  This guided painting was very nice.  I'd like to do this with the children.

Girls camp

  This year I was serving as a YCL specialist.  I met with 15 girls (never all at once) to plan Wednesday of girls camp.  This stake is serious about youth leadership.  They had 3 meetings with everyone who could come and encouraged us to have 2 meetings with just our day group.  The girls decided what, when, how long, and who of their day.  

Wednesday did 4 short lessons in rotation so 8 girls were involved in that planning and teaching.  Later in the day they did 3 activities in rotation, another 6 girls, with some overlap.  They planned and administered a Q&A session with 4 YCLs and 1 adult.  They had a songfest, faith walk, and testimony meeting.  All of this was planned and carried out by the girls.  They asked adults they wanted to be involved.  They decided what songs to sing.  A young woman started and ended testimony meeting.  The adults did get the blindfolds and set up the tree for testimony meeting.  But there was incredibly minimal adults talking, all day, all camp.  I'm so grateful I got to support them and that my girls got to be a part of it.