The Golden Brick Road

We just finished a fun and memorable New Beginnings for the Young Women in our ward. I was so busy that night I forgot to take pictures of the actual event but I did manage to snap a few photos of the invitations and handouts given to the girls. This year the theme is Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage be not afraid neither be thou dismayed for the Lord my God is with thou withersoever thou goest." We used this scripture to develop a fun night around the Wizard of Oz. We moved between four rooms following the golden brick road of virtue. Our theme for the activity was "Have the courage to follow the yellow brick road of virtue back to our Heavenly Home." In the first room we talked about all the details of the Young Women program and personal progress, and received our "brains" or a magnet of the tree of knowledge. The second room we discussed having the desire in our hearts to live righteously and complete our personal progress goals, receiving a heart magnet. The third room we talked about having the courage to overcome trials and temptation in our lives, receiving a magnet with Joshua 1:9 on it. The final room represented Heaven and we discussed the reason we choose to follow a life of virtue and how it will lead us back to our Heavenly Home because we know there is "no place like home". We also pointed out how there were pictures of Christ in each room and that he will always be with us. We had one of the Young Women sing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." And of course we topped it off with dessert, cheese cake with fresh fruit the color of all the values. Each girl received a necklace with Dorothy's shoes reminding them to stay on a virtuous path and that they were worth more than rubies. These necklaces were work to make but they turned out very cute. They sell for around $10-15 at boutiques and I was able to make them for about $1.50. Overall the night went very well and I am glad it is a project that is done, at least for one more year!