Our YW are always saying they never get to go anywhere. So we decided to make it happen. My friends sister who owns a cabin in Mossyrock gave us a major deal that fit our budget! We decided to make the trip a fun retreat.
The first day we decided each taught a class the girls rotated through. The classes were things that the we had noticed that either girls were struggle with as a group or maybe just needed to be reminded of. My lesson was about reverence. I combined a bunch of ideas from sugardoodle. I am including my outline below but it isn't in a certain order. I usually feel out the group and then use the ideas that apply to them.
CHALKBOARD DISCUSSION:
Talk about what the meaning of reverence (a very predictable beginning with the very predictable answers) and listed what amounted to the definitions we learn in Primary.
QUOTE:
Read President Kimball’s definition of reverence: “We must remember that reverence is not a somber, temporary behavior that we adopt on Sunday. True reverence involves happiness, as well as love, respect, gratitude, and godly fear. It is a virtue that should be part of our way of life. In fact, Latter-day Saints should be the most reverent people in all the earth.” (We Should Be a Reverent People, [pamphlet, 1976], p. 4.)
CHALKBOARD DISCUSSION:
Reverent behavior vs. Irreverent behavior
Then we talked about why we should be reverent. I asked what it felt like. As they answered, I listed things like "peaceful" and "quiet" and then someone mentioned that the Holy Ghost is near when we are reverent so we listed "Holy Ghost" among other things. We also talked about irreverence and how people act when they aren't being reverent. We listed "loud" and "angry" and "scared" and "confused" among other things. This was a very short list. Our Reverent list started having things like "sacred" and "holy" and pretty soon we were talking about where we would rather be. We looked at the world and identified the non-reverent list with how the world is. We looked at the reverence list and decided that *this* is where we wanted to be. We wanted the companionship of the Holy Ghost. We wanted personal revelation. We wanted safety and peace. When we were finished, we realize that Reverence is a condition, a state of mind.
ACTIVITY
First I told the YW what reverence is and that we were going to do an exercise to help them experience it. I asked them to sit quietly and do everything I told them. (After you read through this, you might try the exercise yourself.) I asked them to close their eyes. Then I asked them to imagine themselves in the following scenario:
You are walking down a path in a meadow. The meadow is filled with beautiful flowers. Birds are singing. The sky is blue and the sun is warm. You feel quiet and happy. As you walk, you realize that someone is approaching you from far down the path. You walk toward each other for a while. Now you can see him clearly. You stop as you realize it is the Savior. He continues to walk steadily toward you. As he nears, you fall to your knees. He stops before you,
reaches down to take your hand, and lifts you to your feet. Then he embraces you. As his arms fold around you, you feel his spirit wash over your entire body. He steps back, and as you look into his eyes you see his gentle love and concern for you. You stay there for a moment just looking into his eyes. then, slowly, you turn and go back the way you have come. You walk back through the meadow and into your seats in this room. Now, open your eyes.
THOUGHT:
If we love the Lord, we will have reverence for him, we will have reverence for his house, we
will have reverence for the home, for ourselves, and for his priesthood.
(Marion G. Romney, “Reverence,” Ensign, Sept. 1982, 3)
THE MEANING OF REVERENCE…
Help them realize that it is more than being quiet.
It is a feeling of love and respect for Heavenly Father, Jesus, and their creations, as well as for sacred places.
It grows as we learn about Heavenly Father and Jesus and their love for us.
Have you ever thought what it means to be reverent? Reverence is a special feeling of Respect and Love. It is a feeling close to our Heavenly Father. It is caring about others, showing respect for them and being courteous to them. When we love our Heavenly Father, our families, friends, leaders, and teachers, we will respect them. We show our special feeling of love and respect for others by REVERENCE. When we listen to our parents, teachers, and leaders and do what they want us to do because we respect and love them, we are being reverent, as Heavenly Father expects us to be.
QUOTE:
"As leaders, we see some patterns related to reverence that, if not corrected, may open up chinks in your spiritual armor. For example, we have noticed a growing trend in the Church to arrive late at sacrament meeting, priesthood, and other meetings. Bishops and stake presidents report some members coming in as late as half an hour after the meeting has started. Occasionally there may be a legitimate excuse for not arriving on time (such as having an emergency appendectomy), but in most cases it is because you simply plan poorly or do not care enough. The ideal would be to arrive five or ten minutes early so you can sit in the chapel quietly listening to the prelude music and preparing yourselves to worship. Our sacrament meetings belong to the Savior. When you arrive late, it not only interrupts the reverence of others, but it is a sign of your own disrespect and apathy." -Elder Ballard in the July 2004 Ensign
As a reminder to be reverent I made the girls t-shirts.
I really can't sum up how much fun we had. I think the girls managed to stay up all night. For sure we made some fun memories :)
