The Week in Review

We begin with Aiden, Student of the Month. We attended an awards assembly in his honor, where he was presented with his certificate and a medal, which he could wear on "Heavy Metal Friday." Good ol' Aiden.

Next we celebrate Dylan, who did an outstanding job on his Chemistry project, organizing a timeline of significant scientists and their discoveries.

On Thursday, I turned in my application at Pasadena City College for the Registered Nursing program. It won't be until late May that I will find out whether or not I am accepted, but man, did it feel good to complete this step!

Our Stake hosted the Los Angeles Area Young Women's Conference. We were so privileged to have Sister Elaine Dalton, the General YW President, come and share the weekend with the girls. On Friday after school, the girls in our stake had a "Run For Virtue" with Sister Dalton around the Rose Bowl. These are the girls in our ward with Sister Dalton.

Here are all the girls in our Stake that ran. What a sight, this bright pink mob! Someone stopped one of our leaders and wanted to know if they were some kind of club or something. The leader said, "We're a church group, and we're running for virtue!" The lady responded, "What's virtue?" Isn't that a sad commentary on the society in which we live? Virtue is sexual purity, fidelity, and chastity, and virtuous women are beautiful!

On Saturday morning we attended the Conference, and there was no way I was going to miss it. I love, love, love the YW program, and even though I'm no longer part of the presidency in our ward, I still sneak my way into most activities because that's where my heart is. Lyndsay was singing in the YW choir that performed, so we had to get there an hour early. This was perfect because I got a seat right up front.

We had a great speaker, Diana Holscher, who travels around speaking to youth. She was great. Then we had a break, and there were hushed voices saying that there was a surprise coming up that nobody knew about. We knew there would be something, but didn't know what. As we got back into our seats to begin the second half of the conference, a young man walked in just to my left and sat down across the aisle from me. My friend whispered, "Is that David Archuleta?" Holy cow, it was! Our Stake YW President, who had orchestrated this event, got up to introduce him, and when she said his name, you should have heard the 800 girls start screaming---in the chapel! It was crazy! I was so happy to be seated right in front. I realize he's only 20 years old, but he is such a cutie! And what a voice! He sang "I am a Child of God," "I'm Trying to be Like Jesus," and "Be Still My Soul." Incredible. He spoke for about an hour too. Such a treat!

And then Sister Dalton spoke, giving a powerful message to the girls to remember who they are and to not settle for less than they deserve, living virtuous lives, attracting the boys who will respect them and be honorable priesthood holders, and using these years to prepare themselves for what God has in store for them. She is such a beautiful, elegant woman, and she has a love that radiates out from her. All of the girls wanted more.

As a treat for our girls in our Stake, our leaders organized an opportunity for each ward to spend half of an hour with Sister Dalton in the Stake YW President's home, where she was staying. No leaders were allowed in with the girls. They just sat in the living room with her and got to talk with her. She asked them questions about what it's like to be a young woman right now and what's hard, what's easy. I am incredibly grateful that my Lyndsay (and also Caitlin, later on with her ward) to have had this opportunity, one so rare, and one that will stay with them forever. I know it had an impact on Lyns, and I'm grateful for every experience that strengthens her and increases her vision of who she is and what she can become.

It's been a good week!