Our school district recently finished their Spring Break, and I was determined to complete a whole value during it.
I've just recently started redoing my Personal Progress at age twenty-nine. Even though I completed my Personal Progress as a teen, I had never been given my Young Women Medallion. Now it will cost me $50 or more online to find the medallion I should've received in my youth. I'm determined to get this current medallion and wear it since I never had the chance as a youth.
"Give me a young woman...who has earned her Young Women Recognition award and wears it with pride...and I will give you a young woman who will perform miracles for the Lord now and throughout eternity." -Ezra Taft Benson.
I also would like the one they had when I was a Beehive. I love the image of the angelic Young Women, but that's another story.
Since I gave myself only nine days to complete a whole value, I looked for a specific kind. Several Value Experiences require you take two to three weeks to complete, requiring you to have repetition to create a good habit,
but Knowledge is one that does not.
I chose Knowledge.
I read the scriptures, wrote in my journal, and talked with my husband about each Value Experience. Since I am married, I discuss everything with my husband and have him sign off on the experiences for me; he is also a priesthood holder.
It was Friday morning, the last day of school for Evelyn before Spring Break, and I decided I would complete a value, a whole value, before Spring Break would be over, Sunday night the following week. I got straight to it!
I reviewed my required Knowledge Value Experiences and decided to start with #2. I read Matthew 25:14-30 and, in my journal, listed my talents, then made a second list of talents I wish to gain. Most of them were things I wanted to stop doing. I wrote a journal entry about one off the list of talents I wish to gain, why I picked that one, and my plan to reach that goal.
Next, I did Knowledge Value Experience #1. I read the scriptures, wrote my thoughts in my journal, and talked with Tom about it all. My favorite part? "And with all thy getting get understanding." Proverbs 4:7. To me it just sounds like, Don't only gain knowledge, but gain also the way it is applied, how it affects others, how it affects you, and how it changes you and others.
Next was Knowledge Value Experience #3 and by this time, Evelyn would be getting out of school in an hour. By guesses, #1 and #2 took about two and a half hours to complete. I know Young Women have so much of their time taken by school and extra curriculars, but when you have a long holiday, like Spring Break, you can get so much done! If you are taking a trip, you can do your reading and journal writing in the car or on the plane.
Knowledge Value Experience #3 requires you go to a museum, exhibit, or performance that involves dance, music, speech, or drama, and use the Thirteenth Article of Faith to observe. If you learned the Articles of Faith by song, I suggest that is the way to recite it. I sung it to Tom. He chortled when I finished.
We have a university in town where I went to, but I couldn't find a clear schedule of art exhibits online, so I went to see if they had a schedule of senior exhibits coming up in the Art Department. The office was closed, but then I saw the gallery open. Both doors were open on each end, and at the opposite door from me was a podium with a guest book. I signed in and decided to look around.
Having had a minor in art when I attended this university, this room was very familiar to me, as well as the whole building. The professor in the painting class across the way was one I had myself.
I studied the art; minimalistic paintings of acrylic on canvas.
When it came to writing my observation, I decided to use the computer to type it out. When I type, I am able to get out my thoughts much faster. I talked about the art I saw and about the last time I was at an exhibit in the same gallery. I bought a piece of work then and I still have it. Art is important to expression. You can convey so much by colors and painted eyes, all you have to do is take a moment to be still and look at those praiseworthy things.
If you have a community college or university near by, this value experience can be simple; you need to know when and where to show up. Take your journal with you for you to freshly make your observations.
Next would be Knowledge Additional Value Experience #5. My interest is writing, more specifically, becoming respectively published. I have attended events and talked with my cousin's wife, whom has been published, so I typed out my thoughts and my notes from lectures on how to be published. It was fastest to type and paste into my journal.
Knowledge Additional Value Experience #4, I had recently done when I spoke in Sacrament meeting with Tom. We were the only speakers, so easily my talk was over five minutes.
For my final value experience to complete, I chose Knowledge Additional Value Experience #7. I have done several years of Young Women Camp, and last year I did a Girl Scout Camp Leader Training, so I know lots of camping things. I discussed with Tom how I wanted to print out a list of what food we have in our 72 hour kits and update our Family Emergency Binder. After doing so, my final Knowledge Value Experience was complete! This one took a bit of time to go through everyones' folders and important documents in our Family Emergency Binder. If your family doesn't have one, this would be the perfect opportunity to put one together. Get a 1.5 inch binder, pictures of each family member, pocket folders without brads for each member of the family, and dividers. List important dates like birthdays and anniversaries, make a list of family goals for the year, add a section where notes from family councils can be kept, and in each family member folder, have a picture, copy of birth certificate, certified ID, copy of social security card, list of medical conditions and medications, and shot records. Family Emergency Binders can also include budget plans, funeral arrangements, and chore lists for each member of the family. It's a binder you would want to do with your parents as a youth, and a binder you would want to do with your spouse if you have one.
It was evening when I completed all of my Knowledge Value Experiences.
It can be done! Take time to read your scriptures and sing the Thirteenth Article of Faith, and you can get your Knowledge Value Experiences done in a couple of days. Your journal entries don't have to be long or amazing epiphanies you have, they just need to be honest and based on your experiences. You may have to wait for an event to come up for Value Experience #3, but if you make the effort to find something, I'm sure you will succeed.
For my Knowledge Value Project, I based it on Knowledge Additional Value Experience #5; "Learn about an area of work or service that interests you."
Going back to my journal entry on Experience #5, I decided if I were ever to finish my manuscript, I would need to write every day for a set amount of time without interruption. Goodness! No interruptions and two children under eight?! How could I possible do so? That is where the support of my husband and family members came into play. When doing value experiences and projects, don't hesitate in asking for help from your family, both at home and in your ward/branch. Part of learning how to do all these experiences is learning how to work with others and ask for their help.
I made a chart to keep myself on schedule, as well as keep track of time.
As you may notice, on Sundays, I did not schedule myself to write my manuscript but only do value experiences. This was in an effort to keep the Sabbath holy.
Sunday does not mean no work, but holy work.
The value experiences I chose here did not require a certain time to complete, so I would be able do several during a Sunday. Reading was not included in my time, only my journal writing. Writing is writing, no matter which way it is.
If you also notice, I did not include writing on my blog. As I just said, writing is writing, but for the purpose of my Knowledge Value Project, I did not count blog writing as an advancement in being published. Though, in the future, that may not be the case; we have all seen bloggers get published, but as for my Knowledge Value Project, I had decided not to have it included. Now that I have completed my Knowledge Value, I will include blog writing in my endeavors of pursuing my great interest.
You can see how I put down my time. When I sat down to write, I used the stopwatch on my phone, then added the time together at the end of the day. There was only one day I needed to do that, though.
I hadn't mentioned before, but on the days I only wrote my manuscript, it was to be consecutive time. It was a little difficult, especially since I did my work while still at home. It always happened at night, when we were all going to bed. I stayed up, much as I do to write anything, and completed my hour and fifteen minutes.
I had reached my 10 hours for my project a couple of days before I had scheduled myself to finish, and sure, I could have said I reached my hours and stopped, but then it wouldn't have been a truly completed project. I set myself to work on my writing until Sunday, March 18th, and that is just what I did. The project isn't about reaching ten hours of work but about reaching a better you.
There was a night I almost didn't write at all, but I still did it. You can see there was a night I wrote for only fifteen minutes. That was the night I feel asleep four times as I tried to write; note, that was waking up four times in fifteen minutes to try to write again.
Sometimes, you need to change things to fit the situation, but don't stray from the point of your project. The point of this project, for me, was to become better at always working on my manuscript to get it completed. I may write often, but if that effort isn't going in to completing my work, then it is a waste of energy on my part.
Even though I had trouble at times, getting my story going, I was relieved after every allotted time. I even had to stop myself from continuing much of the time; lost track of time. It is a love of mine after all.
I hope I've been helpful to those trying to do Personal Progress.
How have y'all been doing your Personal Progress?
Have tips for a veteran like me?
Let me know in the comments!
