Young Women In Excellence Nov. 30, 2011

Madison did so well on her display for her value project. She did a display about spending a week with her Aunt Linda and watching Grace and Megan while Linda was at work. The project took many hours for her - 36 hours long. She was concerned at the beginning that she wouldn't be able to finish. She wanted to come home and I missed her sooo much. By the end of the week she cried to be leaving Linda and the girls. To give her Aunt a break she also had dinner ready every night so they could all relax and eat when Linda got home. She has already committed to helping out this next summer. She is such a blessing to us all.

Bishop Decker spoke in closing about a single lady in our ward who has experienced almost every adversity that life could hand her. He talked about how Satan will kick us even when we are down. That while this sister sat in RS last week a lady came from the front of the room and spoke to the woman next to her and asked her "Why are you sitting all alone back here, come sit with us." This sister was then left all alone, it was devastating to her. Bishop Decker then spoke of another single sister he knows that is always bubbly and full of life. He spoke of how we live our lives and the attitude with which we live with. That even if your happily ever doesn't end the way we want we can still be happy. His story of the first single sister made a real impact on Paul, Madison, and I. Madison has been trying to reach out to a girl at school that she feels is discouraged and feels left out. She invites her to sit with her at lunch and texts her during breaks. Bishop Decker's talk inspired her to try even harder. It inspired me to look around as I enter Relief Society or any meeting and see if I can find someone that looks like they need a friend or someone to sit with. Today I had a very nice conversation with someone that has lost her husband recently and then lost custody of her son for awhile. The sister on her other side was very thoughtful and joined the conversation.