| Contributed
by: Patti Pawmo@aol.com (An idea that originated in the
Provo/Orem area that Patti shared with us) Imagine
that you have been taken hostage by the enemies of Zion's Armies and the ransom that they
demand is a candy bar with nuts, a lock of your hair and that you give up one of your
Young Women Values for the rest of your life.
Would you give up your Faith? Faith in His eternal plan would include giving up the right,
the privilege to repent. We would have to suffer for our own sins. Without faith in His
eternal plan, we would soon be discouraged with life. We would see no purpose beyond
physical pleasure and avoiding pain. When we felt despair we would have no hope for a
better life. We may wish to end our lives, thinking that would end our frustration and our
very existence. Of course by giving up faith, we could not be baptized and enjoy the
membership in His church. We would not be able to pray for help and comfort. We would not
be able to read the scriptures for answers to our problems.
Would you give up your Divine Nature? You could not believe that you lived before this
life - that you have a spirit body. You are only physical elements and electrical
impulses. Your genes and environment determine your personality. You are only an animal.
Appetites are to be satisfied and emotions expressed. You have no responsibility to your
Heavenly parents nor could they guide and comfort you.
Would you give up your Individual Worth? You will have limited worth with no divine
mission to perform. Your self-worth is determined by achievements, how well you compete
against others or by what position you were born into. Let others decide your worth by the
clothes you wear, the car you drive and the size of house you live in. If you don't have
talents that can be displayed or performed, then you are worthless. If your body is less
than perfect or your brain not as quick as another, your value as a person goes down. Life
is a constant competition, a pecking order, a glamour scope, judging and being judged.
Divine missions and spiritual experiences are not considered of worth.
Would you give up Knowledge? You could let these terrorists knock you over the head, and
you would become a vegetable and just survive the rest of your mortal life. But you would
still have the knowledge you had gained before that would go with you to the next life.
Would you give up Choice & Accountability? Many would love to give up accountability
and not accept responsibility for their choices. Could you give up your agency? No choices
on how you will spend your time and no choice on how you will feel about what has happened
to you. Would you give up every freedom and every choice that you have?
Would you give up Good Works? This seems to be one Value that you could choose to give up.
Service isn't necessary to survival like Knowledge or Choice and Accountability. You could
live without it, couldn't you? Of course it would mean giving up motherhood because so
much of mother is nurturing. You couldn't be a teacher, or a nurse or most any other
occupation that gives service. You couldn't hold any church calling or even make baptismal
covenants because they include bearing one another's burdens. You couldn't do anything for
anyone else so marriage would be out. You could not interact with other in case your smile
or your words were uplifting or encouraging to them.
Would you give up Integrity? No longer could your actions be consistent with your
knowledge of right and wrong. You would have to do the opposite of what you know to be
right in every circumstance. You could never be trusted by anyone again. Your mental
health would quickly show the stress of having beliefs and actions opposing each other.
You may say it is not within my power to give up divine nature or knowledge or any of the
seven Young Women Values. If you choose not to believe in it, then it is of no value to
you, even if it is a true and eternal principal.
Did you notice that when you give up one value, many of the others seem to go too?
Everyone has Values - attitudes and beliefs that determine what is important to them and
how they see the world. Whatever we value we give our time and effort to.
Contributed by:Penifea Norman pnorman@mediafastllc.com
Just a quick note....we did this at our camp last
year and didn't expect the reaction of some of the girls. We had different wards surround
our camp and bombard us with water guns and balloons, and others who tried to sneak and
break their hostage free by capturing us, the leaders. It was fun, but not quite the
outcome we wanted. So you might want to put "rules" into place where they must
follow the ransom note or risk losing their hostage or something......
Treasures
Camp
SAAW
Strengthening Testimonies
Personal Progress
Home |