Graham Cracker Temples

Back on July 31st I received a new church calling.  I'm now serving as the second counselor in the Young Women presidency.  Young Men/Young Women is the organization that serves the youth of our church, ages 12 to 18.  As members of the YW presidency, the president, first counselor, secretary, and I plan for all the young ladies of that age group, but as second counselor my specific responsibility is for the Beehive class, made up of the 12- and 13-year-old girls.

28 Sept 2011: Members of our Beehive class.

Together with my two advisors, we teach the girls gospel lessons on Sunday and on Wednesday evening we help our Beehives plan and carry out activities that are spiritual, service-oriented, or sometimes just plain fun.  In the two months I've been serving in this calling, I've had a great time!  The girls are so much fun to be with.

28 Sept 2011: More of our Beehive girls.

Last night we had fun making little temples out of graham crackers, vanilla frosting, a variety of sprinkles, and some gummy worms one of the girls happened to have with her.  As you'll see from the following pictures, they were very creative.  (Although I must apologize for the fuzzy photos.  The battery on my camera was too low, so I had to use the camera in my phone instead.)

After their little temples were constructed, we played some LDS trivia Jeopardy, which is what those colorful, egg-shaped buzzers on the table were for.  The girls pressed their "egg" when they thought they knew the answer, and the same colored egg as the first to buzz in would light up on my table.  The game was a blast.  Those girls are very competitive!

The Beehive who made this temple (above) asked me to be sure and note that

she was trying to recreate the Switzerland Temple, but ended up with a "tent" by accident!

I think it's beautiful, so white and pure and glittery.  I love sparkles!

I've longed to be involved with the Young Women program for decades, literally.  In my teenage years I was a part of that program myself, back when it was called MIA (Mutual Improvement Association).  As a young adult in the mid-1970s, I helped out in the church library on MIA night, assisted with youth activities like girls' camp, occasionally substituted as a teacher, and even served briefly as the secretary.  However, that was more than 30 years ago, so this calling was long past due.  I'm so happy that it finally came around again!