The New Era on Facebook

The New Era magazine has a great facebook page.

Here are a few of my favorite recent posts:

 Girls and guys:

The New Era Magazine

Here are five things guys wish girls did more often. Can you think of some more?
• Show self-confidence.
• Show that they have high expectations for guys.
• Speak up against gossiping when other girls are doing it.
• Compliment guys on the good things they do, especially in the Church.
• Bake cookies and share them with guys.

The New Era Magazine

Here are five things girls wish guys did more often. Can you think of some more?
• Participate in church, especially singing and bearing testimony.
• Say kind things to girls when it’s not expected (and when it’s expected, too).
• Ask girls to dance at Church dances.
• Speak up against inappropriate jokes.
• Take more care with personal appearance (to avoid that, um, “lived-in” look).


Friendship scriptures:

The New Era Magazine

Here are five scriptures about friendship. Can you find some more?
• Proverbs 17:17
• 1 Samuel 18:1
• Alma 17:2
• John 15:12–15
• Exodus 33:11
 

Dating:

The New Era Magazine

“It is better, my friends, to date a variety of companions until you are ready to marry. Have a wonderful time, but stay away from familiarity. Keep your hands to yourself. It may not be easy, but it is possible.”
—President Gordon B. Hinckley
http://lds.org/new-era/2001/01/a-prophets-counsel-and-prayer-for-youth?lang=eng

A Prophet’s Counsel and Prayer for Youth - New Era Jan. 2001

lds.org

Text of a talk given to youth and young single adults on November 12, 2000, at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City and broadcast by satellite throughout the Church. I make you a promise that God will not forsake you if you walk in His paths with the guidance of His commandments.

He Showed Us the Way to Return Home - Elaine S Dalton

This quote was in the April 2011 Ensign:

“The Savior came to the earth to show us how to live the plan that was authored
in heaven—a plan that, if lived, will make us happy. His example showed us the way to return home to our Heavenly Father. No other who has ever lived has been so ‘steadfast and immovable’ (Mosiah 5:15). He was never distracted. He was focused on carrying out the will of the Father, and He
remained true to His divine mission. . . .

“You are a part of that wondrous plan that was presented in the premortal realms. Your coming to the earth now has been anticipated since the plan was accepted. Your position in time and place is no accident. Your ‘exceeding faith and good works’ (Alma 13:3) then has laid the foundation for what you may accomplish now if you are faithful and obedient. . . . You have a great work to do. In order to accomplish your divine mission and live the plan of happiness, you too
must be steadfast and immovable.”

He Showed Us the Way to Return Home


Originally from “At All Times, in All
Things, and in All Places,” Liahona and Ensign, May 2008, 116.

Young Women Leaders Website

The Young Women leaders website had been updated. This is the place to access the latest messages from leaders, get help and resources for your calling, and find out what's new.

You can get to the Young Women leaders website from the lds.org hompage menu - click "Serving in the Church" and then "Young Women." You can also type youngwomen.lds.org into your browser window.

There are three main sections in the site:

Getting Started



This where you can go for help in your calling or for training ideas. You will find important leadership principles with many links to the Handbook. In the right sidebar are links to an Initial Training and Orientation document and to a list of Young Women materials.

Messages From Leaders



This page is divided into three sections.

1. Words of the Prophets is where you will find Key messages from prophets, apostles and other priesthood leaders. 
2. Messages from General Young Women Leaders contains recent messages from Elaine Dalton, Mary Cook, and Ann Dibb. 
3. News and Announcements is an exciting addition. This is where you will find the latest news on what's happening in the Young Women organization. The latest messages right now are about the online Resource Guide and the new Youth App.

Leader Resources



This section is not quite finished (there are still links to the classic site). You will find links to:

• Welcoming New Young Women
• Standards
• Sunday Gospel Instruction
• Personal Progress
• Mutual and Other Activities
• Young Women Camp
• Teaching Leadership Skills and Qualities
• Young Women with Disabilities
• and more

A Prophet's Voice: Following the Lord's anointed

How can you bring the blessings of General Conference to the young women you serve?

There's an extremely important article in today's Church News by Sister Elaine Dalton on that topic: "A Prophet's Voice: Following the Lord's Anointed."

Here are a few quotes:

"I believe, in a world increasing in media messages each young woman must be riveted on their words and know how to apply them in their lives. Prophets speak for God. They are a voice of warning. They can guide, direct, admonish correct and teach. They can provide personal answers to life's questions and challenges. They can also prepare each of us for what is to come.


"In Young Women, the curriculum has been updated with current messages from the prophets, seers, revelators and other Church leaders. This is being done through the use of the online Resource Guide, which updates the lessons in the Young Women Lesson Manual 3. These inspired general conference addresses can now become part of our Sunday lessons, and could also become a part of family discussions, youth talks, seminary sharing, and family home evening lessons....


"The Resource Guide for Leaders will continually update the lessons with the current words of the prophets, visual resources and relevant questions. These teachings will bless and guide the young women and all of us as we focus not only on what they have said but what we will do to live the doctrine they have taught....


"I believe that in order for our precious young women to be able to navigate in the world in which they now live, they will need to be riveted on the words of the prophets, seers and revelators. They will need to hear them in general conference, in their homes and in their young women classes. They will need to not only know what was taught but how to accept and act on these prophetic words. They will need to be shown how to relate the doctrine to their everyday lives and the situations they face. They will need to be mentored on how it connects with Personal Progress. It is so important that what they learn on Sunday, translates into action on Monday.

YW Manual 3: Lessons 16-18 on the Temple

Young Women Manual 3: Lessons 16-18 on the temple should be coming up soon.

This is an extremely important topic. Note the vision statement at top of the Getting Started section of the Young Women website:



Take care to prepare spiritually as you plan these critical lessons.

This is from Handbook 2 section 3.2.1
Leaders prepare themselves spiritually as they keep the commandments, study the scriptures and the teachings of latter-day prophets, pray, fast, and humble themselves before the Lord. With this preparation, they are able to receive inspiration to guide them in their personal lives, their family responsibilities, and their callings.


Lesson Resources - from the manual

There are wonderfully current resources included in the online lessons. Here are links - look in the right sidebar for the Resource Guide plus additional current materials.

Lesson 16: Temple Endowment

Lesson 17: Preparing to attend the Temple

Lesson 18: Temple Marriage

Look how current some of the materials are - Elder Scott's April 2011 General Conference talk and Sister Dalton's March General Young Women Meeting "Guardians of Virtue" talk are included in Lesson 18.




Lesson 17 suggests these two very current videos - "Temple Blessings - Worth Every Sacrifice" is a video excerpt, created for youth, from President Monson's April 2011 Conference talk. The Kyiv Ukraine Temple video has been surprisingly popular. Youth from the Ukraine share their excitement for the blessings of the temple.




Remember - there are suggested discussion questions and ideas to help young women apply what they learn.

From lesson 17






Other Resources

This is a difficult section to create - because there are so many! Just about any talk by Sister Dalton focuses on the temple. I'll include a few things here, but please know, there are many many more. The key is to prepare spiritually, pray hard, seek inspiration and teach your young women what their Heavenly Father wants them to learn and become.

This would be a great month to learn and sing "Guardians of Virtue"! See my earlier post on how to download mp3 and sheet music,

"The Holy Temple - a Beacon to the World" - April 2011 General Conference talk by President Thomas S. Monson

"Look to the Temple" - 2009 BYU Woman's Conference address by Elaine S. Dalton

"Latter-day Saint Young Women: 'In the strength of the Lord, I can do hard things'" - Church News Article by Sister Dalton about a group of young women walk 22 miles from Draper temple to Salt Lake temple

Lds.org topic page on Temples

Temple Preparation Seminar lesson manual

The entire October 2010 Liahona and Ensign magazines are full of articles about the temple and gorgeous pictures.



There's a special article for youth: "Making the Temple a Part of Your Life"

Here are a few of the pictures:



San Antonio, Texas Celestial Room

Blog translation

Thanks to a suggestion in a comment, I have added translation functionality to this blog. Just use the Google Website Translation Gadget in the right sidebar to select a language. I'm sure the translation will not be perfect, but I hope this helps.

YW Manual 3: Lesson 15 - Blessings of the House of Israel

The online version of lesson 15 includes excellent current resources (see the right sidebar) including words of the prophets, additional scriptures, pictures and media.

Here are the suggested discussion questions from the resources:

• What does it mean to be a member of the house of Israel? How did you become a member of the house of Israel?
• What blessings of the house of Israel are given to those who go to the temple?

 And a suggested application:

• Read Abraham 1:2 and select one of the traits in Abraham’s life that qualified him for the blessings he received. How can you develop these characteristics?

Additional Resources

Here's a New Era article that might be helpful: "Articles of Faith: What Abraham's Covenant Means to You" bu Shanna Butler

And here are a few pictures and a wonderful genealogy chart from "Abraham: Father of the Faithful" in the Feb 2006 New Era:

The Abrahamic Covenant


Abraham and Isaac


Abraham and Isaac


The Family of Abraham