Introducing Delisa Hargrove!!

I love doing spotlights for other people, but don’t think I’ve ever written one for myself. So, I asked my husband Anthony for help. Anthony: “You have all kinds of interesting things to talk about.” Delisa: ‘Then, what should I talk about?” Anthony, “Me!”Probably the most unique thing about me (besides my name which is pronounced DAY-lisa) is that I’ve moved 55 times in my life—living in 5 states multiple times (Utah, Arizona, Oklahoma, Idaho, & Texas), 4 countries (Israel & Egypt in student study abroad programs, Scotland for my mission, Germany as an au pair to learn German for post graduate work). Before marriage at 26, I never had nice clothes or even a car; I started working when I was 12 & with my money, I traveled!! My love to see & experience the world!I graduated from BYU (single!) with a BA in International Relations emphasis on Middle East (I was fluent in Arabic, but also took Hebrew & Russian at BYU & became fluent in German). I intended to attend Thunderbird Intl and study International Law after my German internship, but met Anthony in Midland, Texas during the 6 weeks I spent at home prior to leaving for Germany. After returning from Germany, Anthony & I married in the Dallas Temple and he moved me to Lubbock. He was born & raised in Lubbock, and joined the Church while working for my Uncle in Midland. He was the most golden contact I’ve ever shared the Gospel with, and the most eternally rewarding. He was my 7th marriage proposal, and the Lord let me know Anthony was my “covenant” & “completeness”(=7)One of my most passionate life goals is to go to all of the Temples in the world. I’ve been to 75 Temples so far (76 in December). When I set this goal in 1992, there were only 44 temples in the world!

My 5 favorite places on earth (so far)

The Garden Tomb at sunrise

The Nile River at sunset

Isles of Lewis/Harris, Scotland

Any temple

Our Home.

My favorite scriptures

Old Testament: 2 Kings 6:13-17 / Isaiah 53

New Testament: John 17 / Revelation 7:13-17

Book of Mormon: Moroni 10:30-33

Doctrine & Covenants: 128:22-24 / 76:5-10, 116-118

Pearl of Great Price: Facsimile #2

My favorite past-times

Headstone hunting/Family history

Motorcycle riding

Beach or Boating

Time with family & friends

My favorite tunes

Sacred: “Come Thou Fount”, “In Humility”, “O Divine Redeemer”

Classical: “New World” Symphony, “Pachelbel’s Cannon”

Secular: “Where the Streets have No Name”, “Angels on the Moon”, “Collide”

My favorite food

Potatoes,

Chicken Fajitas,

Naan bread,

Lemon bars,

Water

Skills that surprised me

Gold leafing

Canning

Gardening

Favorite thing about my calling

I love the young women's accomplishments & amazing talents!!

I love hearing & seeing their testimonies grow!

December Presidency Message/Spotlight

I grew up on a farm in Washington state. I was the youngest of three children and loved helping my Dad on the farm. He had me driving a tractor by the time I was 6 years old. My Dad told the neighbors that I was the best hired man he ever had.

Even though I liked where I grew up, after high school I could not wait to get away from the farm. I attended college for 2 years. Then I decided to move to New York City to work. Living in New York was more of a challenge than I had expected. While I was there, it was difficult for me to attend church and make good friends. I realized that I needed a job and live in a place where I could attend church every week. I returned to Brigham Young University where I met my husband, Phyll. I was introduced to Phyll by his cousin who was in my ward. After a year of dating we were married in the Idaho Falls Temple. Phyll graduated from BYU and we moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma for Phyll to work on his Ph.D. in Agriculture. While we were in Stillwater, I was able to complete my degree.

Phyll's first job was in Lubbock, Texas. We really liked Lubbock and were sad when Phyll was transferred to Kansas. From Kansas we moved to Illinois and then to Nebraska. With each move we felt our Heavenly Father had a reason for us to be in a new place. We have three children, Ashley (25), Aaron (18), and Amanda (13). Ashley lives in Kalispell, Montana with her husband, Mark, and 2 year old son, Noah.

One year ago the company my husband worked for wanted us to move to Johannesburg, South Africa. We thought that this would be a great adventure for our family. As we prepared to go, we began to have some uneasy feelings about the move. Phyll decided that he needed to check into some other job opportunities. He finally decided to take a job in Ralls, Texas with Triumph Seed working on developing new varieties of corn. So in November 2009 we moved to Lubbock, Texas.

As we have moved from place to place, I have been involved with the youth program. I have served as Relief Society President in a singles ward, youth Sunday School teacher, Primary Counselor, Ward Young Women's President and Stake Young Women's President. I felt like I spend alot of time planning and hoping activities would run smoothly. Then a few years ago while we were planning a Stake Activity, the President stated that what made the youth want to attend these activities was the spirit they felt when they were there, not necessarily the activity we did. I began to think about this statement as I planned other activities and talked to the young women. The activities they seemed to enjoy the most were not the elaborate activities but the ones where they felt the Spirit the most. What the young women remembered was how they felt. They kept coming back because they knew their leaders loved them. All of us need to feel that we are accepted for who we are and loved for being the best that we can be at the time. I know that all of our activities will not happen as we have planned them. But I do know that if we do our best, and turn the rest over to the Lord, the activity will be a success. I love working with the youth. I look forward to getting to know the young women and, you, the leaders.

Kathy Cammack

4th Ward YWIE

Last Wednesday, the 4th Ward YW celebrated a wonderful night of excellence. Roxanne Shumway, one of our Laurels, helped plan and carryout the entire night as one of her 10 hour personal progress projects.

The theme for this year was 2 Nephi 4:15 “ For my soul delighteth in …Personal Progress…”. We did a play on the word ‘souls’, and took pictures of each young woman wearing the shoes that she wore while working on her personal progress project. Each young woman also made a 12x12 scrapbook page highlighting her individual achievements in personal progress this year. The scrapbook pages and the “soul” pictures were displayed during the evening.

Our key speaker was Carrie Sybrowsky, our Laurel advisor. She gave an incredible talk on the reason for personal progress. She began by showing her large key ring and talking about all the different doors that each key opens. Then she stated that she had one very special key, worth more than the rest, which can open the door to more than 100 buildings world-wide. This very special key, she stated, was her temple recommend. She then stressed the point that the whole purpose of the young women program is to prepare each of us to make and keep sacred covenants with the Lord in the Temple. She quoted Sister Julie Beck in saying, “The way to prepare to make temple covenants is to remember and keep the commitments you’ve already made. Personal Progress is a temple preparation course.” What a beautiful object lesson and talk! Sister Sybrowsky inspiring talk brought the Spirit into the meeting.

After this, our Laurel President, Jessica Reed, spoke about ways personal progress has blessed her life. She shared that personal progress has helped her become who she is today and ultimately, who she wants to be in the future. She shared this quote by President Gordon B. Hinckley, “When you save a girl, you save generations. She will grow in strength and righteousness. She will marry in the house of the Lord. She will teach her children the ways of truth. … I see this as the one bright shining hope in a world that is marching toward self-destruction”.

Following her talk, each young woman was given the opportunity to share a little about her project and how it helped strengthen her relationship with Heavenly Father. The projects ranged from sports to dance to cooking to scripture reading.
After this, Roxanne Shumway presented a slideshow that she had prepared, highlighting pictures of each young woman and her accomplishments throughout the year. It was well-done and inspiring.

At the conclusion of the slideshow, Bishop McCauley shared his thoughts on the evening. He began by thanking the parents for all that they do for their daughters and for the ward. Then he stated that when he looked around the room, he saw hope - hope for the future of the church and hope for the future of the world. He encouraged each woman to continue setting goals as they worked towards becoming the women they wanted to be.

Following Bishop McCauley’s remarks refreshments were served: bread slices and pizza dip and of course, shoe sugar cookies. Overall, it was a wonderful evening!

2nd Ward Coat Drive

The 2nd Ward Young Women is having a coat drive. Please contact Liz Smart (535-5311) or Stephanie Corbett (796-1413) if you would like to participate and make donations. We will be collecting thru the end of November.

Revised Young Women Personal Progress Materials

With the addition of the value of Virtue to the Young Women theme, a revision of the Young Women Personal Progress booklet and the Young Women theme poster were announced.

The revised booklet and poster will be available for purchase in English through Distribution Services on January 15, 2010 (United States and Canada).

Initial replacement books will be mailed to wards and branches at no charge beginning December 28, 2009 (English), with implementation instructions and ordering information for all associated Personal Progress items.

Secretarys and Presidents, please take note. We encourage you to get these new books for your girls AND for the girls' mothers. We would love to see our girls' mothers involved in this special personal progress program. We would love to gather some ideas on how you have been incorporating the mothers in this program so we can all benefit. Email your ideas to Cami.

1st Ward YW in Excellence

Click on the images to read Tara's beautiful write-up and to see the pictures more clearly.

Halloween Activity Idea

The Plainview Branch Young Women bought dresses from the Goodwill (except Ali's) and used candy to make themselves "Candy Princesses". The young women were in charge of the meal for their Halloween Social and sucessfully made and served 125 hot dogs, chips, and cookies to lots of happy trunk-or-treaters. Brittney was Pep-O-Mint princess, Ali was a NERDS princess, and Emilie Williams (Branch YW President) was a Peppermint princess. The activity was really fun for the girls and gave them an opportunity to serve and learn about food preparation and how to feed a crowd.

Introducing!!!

Marti Wallace

your Young Women Stake President

The Wallace family has been in Lubbock for a little over 7 years. Russ grew up in upstate NY (Ithaca) and I grew up in Southern California (Alta Loma). We found out after we were married that we were 5th cousins. So immediately, we decided to move south. Russ works “hard” for Texas A&M in vegetables and weed science. And I “hardly” work at home. All of you homemakers know that isn’t true.

We have 5 great kids. Our oldest son Tyson is married to Jennifer Sanchez and they live in Utah. They have the privilege of raising our remarkable first grandchild Ethan Russell Wallace. Karli is serving her second mission at the Family and Church History Mission in Salt Lake City. Cody is working in Las Vegas and is planning to take the SAT, sell his truck and move to NYC to attend college and get his degree in literature. Kyle is graduating in December (after Coronado HS football season) and will be heading onward to serve a mission in Milan, Italy. Katie is 13, loves volleyball, friends and taking baths. As stated in her own words, she will be the only and lonely come January.

I enjoy creating. I like to do many things although; I’m not great at any one thing. Learning is fun for me, but I usually can’t remember what I’ve learned.

My mind works constantly, yet in small and simple ways. Two favorite mottos: “Keep Calm and Carry On”, “Happy Families Eat Out” and “Pray, Read and Smile”, all work well for me. My favorite scripture right now is: 2 Nephi 31:20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

Written by Marti herself

FREE Books at Deseret Book

Emilie Williams of the Plainview Branch wanted to let us all in on Deseret Book's free book downloads. Yes, I said free!! They are only available for a short time, so take a took. Emilie has been reading, "Pass the Scriptures" and recommends it as a great resource for our youth. Here is the list of books available right now.

1. Please Pass the Scripture (John Hilton III ).
2. What I Wish I Would Have Known When I Was Single (by John Bytheway).
3. Women at the Well (by Richard and Jeni Holzapfel).
4. Digging Deeper (by Robert Eaton).
5. 10 Secrets Wise Parents Know (by Brent Top and Bruce Chadwick).
6. Growing Up: Gospel Answers About Maturation and Sex (by Brad Wilcox).
7. Saving Kristen (by Jack Weyland). (fiction)
8. The Hidden Path (by C.B. Andersen). (fiction)

http://deseretbook.com/free

Thanks Emilie!!

November Presidency Message

Hello you wonderful & faithful YW Leaders!!
I sit to write this after our amazing Stake Conference Feast!! I felt so inspired and challenged by the speakers to apply what I learned, or was reminded of, in my life.

I loved all of the speakers’ calls to action!
to have a Temple recommend and use it now;
to change our lives through ordinances;
to infuse Gospel happiness into our lives through the power of missionary work;
to pray for those we love, receiving an answer of whom to approach with the Gospel;
to feel love for others more deeply through Temple service;
to bring & fill large vessels from the Temple’s Living Waters;
to develop more faith in Priesthood blessings;
to dream of standing before God with the Savior’s image in our faces, & live so that it is;
to express the things we know to be true;
to be busy in service;
to live by the teachings of the Gospel so as to truly be free;
to fulfill our responsibility in God’s work;
to support and lift each other;
to start by redeeming self, then redeeming neighbors, and with them redeem the dead;
to hear the Savior comfort us-“It’s ok, try again”, and to keep trying again;
to remember that God cares about all of the big things in our lives as well as the small;
to read the Book of Mormon under the influence of the Holy Ghost, taking ‘time’ out of
the equation, so that we feel what the writers felt;
to determine necessary goals and commit to improve ourselves;
to become like Joseph Smith-powerful beyond measure-through two words ‘I obeyed’-
developing a stronger covenant relationship with Heavenly Father.

The talks reminded me of my favorite J Reuben Clark statement. “Thus God made clear that the gaining of knowledge is not to be like the commonplace work of earning a livelihood. He who invades the domain of knowledge must approach it as Moses came to the burning bush; he stands on holy ground; he would acquire things sacred; he seeks to make his own the attributes of Deity, the truth which Christ declared He was which shall make us free, free of the shackles of time and space, which shall be no more. We must come to this quest of truth-in all regions of human knowledge whatsoever, not only in reverence, but with a spirit of worship.” (Improvement Era, January 1946).

The Savior told Hyrum Smith “first seek to obtain my word, then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit & my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of [young women] J (D&C 11:21). I know that as I strive to apply the messages of Stake Conference, and obtain the word of the Lord for my life, that the Spirit will guide me in every endeavor. I loved President Shumway’s statement, “I am not perfect, but I am worthy!” Each of us can have the confidence to know that because of our willingness & worthiness, we can call on the powers of Heaven in behalf of our precious young women!!

We believe in you and pray for you in your crusade for the salvation of souls!!
~Delisa

2nd Ward YW in Excellence

The second ward’s young women have had an amazing year, and the Evening of Excellence was a great way to show off their achievements. The theme for this year’s program was “iPod…Incredible Potential of Daughters of God.” This was the perfect theme for our girls. With so many technological distractions that are out there today, our young women have not forgotten who they are!

The evening began with a talk by guest speaker Lindsey Servino. She shared a slide show of some of the world’s greatest masterpieces from artists, musicians, and other gifted creators. She then reminded us that we, as daughters of God, are His greatest masterpiece. Her talk was truly inspiring. The second ward young women admire Lindsey and always enjoy her presence!
Each of our young women was given the opportunity to present one of the personal progress values she had worked on during the year. For some, choosing just one was difficult, as everyone worked consistently on personal progress throughout the year.

Each young woman presented her value in the “iPod” format, reminding them that with each experience, they are building upon that incredible potential. Although there were some young women that were not able to attend the program, each girl was recognized for her achievement.

• Taylor Brodrick-iCrochet and iPaint


• Stephanie Corbett-iHomemaker


• McKenzie Pearce-iKnit


• Kathy Malinowski-iDesign


• Amy Aldana-iBless and iSing


• Zoey Hackett-iTeach


• Lindsey Wilson-iSport


• Holly Alberts-iWrite


• Jessica Crawford-iBabysit


• Kadee Boyce-iBand


• Laney Hackett-iSmile


• Maddy Kimball-iFlute and iPiano


• Hailey Hackett-iShare


• Avi Evans-iTravel


• Afton Wells-iServe


• Zoey Evans-iTravel


• Naomi Sweet-iSing, iPiano, and iGarden


• Jennifer Alberts-iSing

We were entertained by Jessica’s candid description of her volunteer babysitting experience, inspired by Afton’s service to the Challenger team, and impressed with McKenzie’s knitting abilities. We enjoyed the musical pieces by Amy, Naomi, Jennifer, and Maddy. We were encouraged by the successes of Lindsey in sporting and Naomi in gardening. We were deeply touched by Amy’s poem and personal expression of love for her mother. Finally, we were all amazed with Stephanie’s creative baking skills as she arrived with a cake in the form of an iPod!
Following the presentations was a musical number by the young women, “Where You Stand.” Anyone that attended girls’ camp remembers what a powerful song this is! It was a joy to hear. The evening was closed with some inspiring words from Bishop Kimball. No evening would be completed without refreshments, and the assortment of sugar cookies in each of the value colors was perfect!

The Evening of Excellence was a wonderful opportunity for our young women to recognize their incredible potential. We are looking forward to another great year of character-building and testimony strengthening experiences in Personal Progress!

Taylor Brodrick

Afton Wells

Lindsey Wilson

Stephanie Corbett

McKenzie Pearce
Jessica Crawford

Maddy Kimball

Written by Stephany Crawford--2nd Ward Secretary

October Presidency Message

Dear Sisters,

We are so excited about our new Lubbock Stake Young Women Leader’s Blog! We are really working hard to make communication accessible and easy for all of us. This will help us to all be on the “same page”. First and foremost I want to throw all kudos and praise going Cami Clifton’s way. She is the one who has masterminded and put this whole thing together. We are so blessed to have her!

It was so uplifting for me to meet with you at our Stake Auxiliary training in October. It was humbling to be amidst the best the Lord has to offer our youth. I felt of your strength, support and your deep desires to serve faithfully. I can hardly wait for March 6th when all leaders and advisors will meet for our next Auxiliary Training.

President Uchtdof reminds us, “Individual recognition is rarely an indication of the value of our service. We do not know the names, for example, of any of the 2,000 sons of Helaman. As Individuals, they are unnamed. As a group, however, their name will always be remembered for honesty, courage, and the willingness to serve. They accomplished together what none of them could have accomplished alone.

I know this to be true. I testify that it does “take a village to raise a child”. I depend on you, your bishop depends on you, the sisters you serve within your presidency depend on you, the parents of our beautiful young women depend on you, and particularly our young women depend on you. I know this is not an easy task. I know it takes many hours of your time, thoughts and possibly precious sleep. I do know that together with the Lord we can do it.

Simply, I send you my love and appreciation,

Marti

Elder Bednar Speaks on Technology

The General Young Women Presidency has given us this counsel:

As a presidency (General YW), we recommend that all Young Women leaders either watch or read the recent CES fireside address by Elder David A. Bednar. As leaders, we can assist youth in learning to use technology with wisdom and balance. “Be careful of becoming so immersed and engrossed in pixels, texting, ear buds, twittering, online social networking and potentially addictive uses of media and the Internet that you... miss the richness of person-to-person communication.”

General Young Women Presidency Message

On the Church's Young Women's website we were invited to read Sister's Dalton's talk:

We invite you to review Sister Elaine S. Dalton's address to young adults from the recent CES fireside, "Zion Is the Pure in Heart". She invites all to be virtuous and worthy to attend the temple. "Be there! Don’t get distracted now! Don’t forget who you are! And don’t allow anything to disqualify you for the blessings that await you in the Lord’s holy temple." Study her message or view a video archive of the broadcast.

Announcement

Dear Sisters,

In an effort to better serve you and to be more united in purpose as each of you strive to serve the young women in the wards and branches where you serve, we have decided to create a blog!! This blog will be private, open only to young women leaders and will hopefully be a continuing resource for ideas and inspiration.

This is our vision for the blog:

1. Each month a member of the Stake Young Women Presidency will share a message that we feel pertains to the needs of our stake.

2. We will have a calendar with upcoming events that will be continually updated

3. Each month we will also choose one of you to spotlight in an effort to get to know one another better and create unity within our stake.

4. We also want this blog to be a resource for ideas.

a. If you had a really successful activity,
b. or have a brilliant idea for Personal progress,
c. or a really cool and helpful website
d. or came up with a really neat handout or object lesson for a particular lesson
e. or, any other idea pertaining to serving in the young women’s
f. WE WANT TO KNOW ABOUT IT 
i. Email Cami at cami.clifton@gmail.com with your ideas and she will post them on the blog so we can all benefit from them. Pictures would be awesome too
ii. We hope this will also encourage you to keep up a history of what you have accomplished throughout the year and hopefully it will also lighten the burden of getting your ward or branch’s young women history report to the ward clerk at the end of year.

5. Tell us about your Young Women in Excellence nights and New Beginnings
a. As a Stake Presidency we will try to make it to these special events
b. Secretarys, would you please write a little blurb about the event, the girls who were acknowledged and what they had accomplished. Email them to Cami and she will post it on the blog.

6. We also want this blog to be a place where your concerns can be addressed
a. If you have a question and/or concern email a member of the stake presidency and we can address that issue anonymously on the blog, but only with your permission. We then would ask for your suggestions and ideas by commenting on the blog.
b. Some examples could be, “What do we do about cell phones?” or “What are some suggestions on how to address the issue of modesty?” or “What can we do to help our young women take on leadership roles?”

We hope this blog will be a blessing to each of you as you strive to magnify and serve in your callings. We ask for your suggestions and input as we strive to get this started.

Love,

The Young Women’s Stake Presidency