People, Not Programs
by Maryanne Snell / ga10052006
 

This is one of the things that stood out most to me in conference as well, because I remember a couple of leaders I had in Young Women who were very program oriented, and they left a different impression on me than those that I felt put me and the other girls before the program and used it to help us.

We're just this week starting a Young Women Mailbox- we decorated a wooden mailbox from Michael's all cute- and each week the leaders will write short little notes to the girls. The girls will also be able to write to each other, so we're using a file box with a folder for each girl's mail so they don't see how much any of the other girls are getting (the wooden one is for the girls to put their notes into for us to distribute into the folders).

We have a bunch of girls, so we split up the list between the presidency so that each week each member is writing to 4-6 girls. That way every girl gets at least one letter a week. If a girl gave a talk in Sacrament meeting, or did something else noteworthy, any of the other presidency members are also welcome to write to her too, even if it's not their week. If we notice that someone's mail is piling up, we'll put it in a big envelope and mail it to them, with an extra note inviting them to come soon. (Or maybe hand deliver it.) We're only writing to the less active girls once a month so they're not intimidated by a bunch of letters from people they don't know, and the same presidency member is writing to them each time (the Beehive advisor writes to the less active Beehives, for example) so that there's a connection there.

I wrote this to my presidency in a recent e-mail about the mailbox, and I really had a strong confirmation of it's truthfulness: "Thank you so much for being willing to do this, I know that it will make an enormous impact on the girls. It will let them know that we know them and love them individually, and that we are on their side and willing to fight for them in their wars against Satan. It will also give us an opportunity to share our testimonies with them, and let them know of our love of the Savior. Like I said before, they don't have to be super long or in depth, but I have absolute faith that as we approach this prayerfully the Lord will allow us to help Him work miracles. He loves these girls so much that it's really overwhelming."