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.