“Balanced Young Women Program Strengthens Families,” Ensign, Apr. 1999, 72
Balanced Young Women Program Strengthens Families
Young Women leaders can strengthen youth in their family relationships by providing them with a balanced Young Women program.
Sunday lessons. The new Young Women Resource Guide will be produced annually and distributed through priesthood leaders. This guide contains resources for updating Sunday lessons in Young Women Manual 3, the lesson manual for 1999. The resources referenced in the guide come from recent Church publications that are generally available. The guide also recommends the sequence in which Sunday lessons are taught and provides examples of how to apply the references suggested.
Mutual. Varied and balanced activities can help young women become well rounded. Activities could include service, home arts, music, speech, drama, dance, literary arts, visual arts, camp, sports and physical fitness, and Personal Progress. These kinds of activities will help young women develop talents and skills and appreciate fine music, literature, and visual art. Young Women leaders may ask specialists to assist when necessary.
Personal Progress. The new handbook emphasizes the leaders’ role to assist parents as they help young women grow spiritually. Parents, who have the primary responsibility for their children, can use Personal Progress to encourage private religious behaviors such as personal prayer and scripture study. Such behavior strengthens young women against the adversary and builds stronger family relationships. Using Personal Progress, a father, a mother, or both could help a daughter set goals, work on those goals, and then report back on the experiences she is having.
Events. Through yearly events Young Women leaders help parents by teaching them how to strengthen their righteous leadership in the home. Parents help Young Women leaders by suggesting how Young Women activities can best support and supplement their family activities. Leaders should strive to schedule Young Women activities and events on only one night during the week to avoid overscheduling families.