Personal Progress Bingo

In my church, we have an organization for young women ages 12-18. In this organization, we have a program called Personal Progress to help these young women develop character and life skills. This program is also intended to set a pattern of goal-setting and -achieving in young women's lives.

To help the young woman (yes, there's only one) in my congregation, we are introducing Personal Progress Bingo!

I originally got the idea from this blog. I tweaked it a little to fit the needs of the young woman in my ward. We (myself and the other leaders) chose value experiences that we thought would be helpful to this young woman. Most of these value experiences require 2-3 weeks to complete. Since school's out, this seems like a perfect opportunity to work on these experiences. Here's what we came up with:

Click here to access a pdf for download

The directions read

1. Select a square above.
2. Read the Value Experience requirements in your Personal Progress book* & complete the worksheet.
3. Show worksheet to your YW leaders and have them sign your Personal Progress book.
4. Get a sticker for each completed Value Experience worksheet.
5. For each BINGO (four squares in a row), you will earn a reward!
 *Refer to worksheet for the Faith #8 requirements

The worksheets came from this website. I took screen shots of the value experiences I needed and printed one per page. I put everything in a folder and gave it to our young woman as a packet. (Your YW might not require worksheets, but our young woman isn't very motivated without specific instructions).

The value experience for Faith #8 is an optional write-in. We (the leaders) came up with a value experience that we thought would benefit the young woman we mentor. This is what we gave her:

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Faith #8

We are all children of God. He loves us and knows our needs, and He wants us to communicate with Him through prayer. Make an effort to pray correctly: beginning "Father in Heaven" or "Heavenly Father," expressing gratitude to Him (“I thank thee…”), asking Him for things you need, and closing in the sacred name of His Son, Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus Christ commanded, “Ye must always pray unto the Father in my name” (3 Nephi 18:19). Our Heavenly Father is always ready to hear and answer our prayers. Make your prayers meaningful. The prophet Mormon warned that if anyone “shall pray and not with real intent of heart … it profiteth him nothing, for God receiveth none such” (Moroni 7:9). To make our prayers meaningful, we must pray with sincerity and “with all the energy of heart” (Moroni 7:48). We must be careful to avoid “vain repetitions” when we pray (see Matthew 6:7).

Practice praying clearly, respectfully, and with sincerity for 2 weeks. Use language that shows love, respect, reverence, and closeness. Always give thanks to Heavenly Father. Remember the needs of others as you pray. Pray in your YW meetings to help you with this goal. (When praying for a group, say “We thank thee,” “We ask thee,” “We say these things in the name of…,” etc.). Write in your journal the change you feel and share with your parent or leader your feelings.

Check the boxes as you complete the following requirements: 
☐ Carefully read the paragraphs above.
☐ Pray in the correct manner. 
☐ Practice praying clearly, respectfully, and with sincerity for 2 weeks.
 Start date: ________________________ End date: ________________________
☐ Say prayers in YW meetings to help you meet this goal.
☐ Write in your journal the change you feel.
☐ Share with your parent or leader your feelings as a result of this experience.
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This might not fit the needs of your young women, so you might tailor your own value experience. You could also make your own bingo grid and fill it in with the value experiences that best suit your young women.

We spoke with our young woman at our activity today, and these are some of the rewards that she would like to earn:
   • roller skating
   • ice cream party
   • chocolate fondue party

We'll come up with more ideas as she achieves more bingos. You could also do candy bars, pens, small notebooks, nail polish, or any number of items for rewards. The young woman in my ward responds better to events as incentives, so we will oblige her.

I hope you and your young women get excited about Personal Progress this summer!

Book Club catch-up

I have been a terrible blogger as of late. Life has been busy (out-of-town trips, new jobs, various projects, etc.). I'm trying to catch up, however. Starting with book club.

I never officially selected a book for April because I was finishing up a few series I started a while back (Blackmoore, Allegiant, Extras). I hope you had a chance to read something worthwhile, too. I retroactively declare April "Pick Your Own" month. A cop-out, I know, but that's how the cookie crumbles.

Now that May is well under way, my choice for the month is

Tess of the d'Urbervilles
by Thomas Hardy

From Goodreads: "The chance discovery by a young peasant woman that she is a descendant of the noble family of d'Urbervilles is to change the course of her life. Tess Durbeyfield leaves home on the first of her fateful journeys, and meets the ruthless Alec d'Urberville. Thomas Hardy's impassioned story tells of hope and disappointment, rejection and enduring love."

From Barnes & Noble: "A ne'er-do-well exploits his gentle daughter's beauty for social advancement in this masterpiece of tragic fiction. Hardy's 1891 novel defied convention to focus on the rural lower class for a frank treatment of sexuality and religion. Then and now, his sympathetic portrait of a victim of Victorian hypocrisy offers compelling reading."

This book is available from Project Gutenberg! In case you didn't know, that means you can read Tess of the d'Urbervilles for free! You can download an ebook (.epub or .mobi), or you can read it online. Neat, huh? You can also get the Kindle edition free from Amazon. Or, you know, you can borrow a hard copy from the library (which is what I usually do). So many options.

This book gets an average rating of 3.70 stars on Goodreads, 4.1 stars on Amazon, and 4 stars on Barnes & Noble. I hope I enjoy it as much (and you, too).

I'll see you next month! I promise to come back this time ;-)