"The Savior taught His disciples, 'For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it' (Luke 9:24).
"I believe the Savior is telling us that unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives. Those who live only for themselves eventually shrivel up and figuratively lose their lives, while those who lose themselves in service to others grow and flourish—and in effect save their lives."
President Thomas S. Monson
So, we can't just talk the talk but we have to walk the walk and TEACH others to walk the walk while we're at it. That's why I'm begging for your help. We have got to figure out a way to get our Young Women excited about service. Do you have any ideas for Wednesday night activities that are centered around service? Do you have any brilliant advice on how to teach teenagers to focus on anyone but themselves?
Help me. Please.
Truthfully, learning to love service is taught at home. Mom would have us bake "thousands" of cookies on sunday and would have us give all of it away to our neighbors. We'd learn to communicate, serve and ask if that person needed anything. (clean the bathroom, watch the kids etc)At first it was a hard lesson- but then something to look forward to as we got older because we knew we were making someones day, or lightening their load. Mom would also have us go to the rest homes prepared to sing/perform for the elderly, take them flowers or just to visit. Taking us there- seeing others in need of love taught us to look beyond ourselves. Even when taggin along because it's an activity, later seeing the light in the persons eyes you just served, or even when they tell you how grtateful they are for you- makes that experience worthwhile.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like if it is something I enjoy doing it helps so that may help them-maybe manicures for elderly/rest homes. I know visiting rest homes and just talking with the residents helps me value everything more. Also anything at the homeless shelter or domestic violence shelter (even though they have privacy restrictions). But also the smaller activities are very helpful-cookies and visiting people in your ward. Maybe a "kick off" activity could be service journals they can keep to help them do things for others and also notice things others do for them. Good luck coming up with ideas.
ReplyDeleteI have a couple specific memories of "service scavenger hunts" (list of services to go and perform through the neighborhood) and similar activities that we did in YM/YW that really left an impression on me. They always seemed ho-hum at first, but ended up being some of the best activities. Serving old folks/special needs is the best :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck!