Summer 2009--"Summer of Virtue"

YOUNG WOMEN: "SUMMER OF VIRTUE"

What a great summer with the Young Women. We decided to focus on the new YW value, "Virtue," and things seemed to just fall into place all summer long. Our theme for camp was "Virtue Island" and we planned a tropical theme complete with a luau, a hula lesson, a Gilligan's Island skit, and lots of Hawaiian food--haystacks, coconut syrup, fresh pineapple, shish kabobs, coconut marshmallows and lots of other yummy stuff. We wore leis, took canoes to the lake, and the leaders shared their "virtuous" courtship stories. Some of the highlights were the Bishopric's Hakka, virtue flags, and a great testimony meeting.

"Virtue Island" Spa

After camp we attended the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house and had dinner at Rumbi's Island Grill. So good, so fun, so spiritual, and such a great reminder of the blessings of living a virtuous life.

Our Youth Conference theme was "Zion's Camp" and we planned our activities around training the future leaders of the church--an important part of which is living a virtuous life. We spent more time at the temple, doing service at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple, and had a fun 3 days at Camp Williams.

The "Summer of Virtue" could not have ended any better if we had planned it...but we didn't! The youth went to the Salt Lake Temple to do baptisms for the dead, and when we came out of the temple, Elaine Dalton, the General YW President was right there. She originated the idea of the "virtue" value with a General Conference talk entitled, "A Return to Virtue." Sis. Dalton was wearing her gold "virtue" jacket and was very gracious, talking with the youth about the importance of virtue and sharing her love with us. What a great ending to our "Summer of Virtue."