In our last Stake Conference, our Stake President challenged us to read the Book of Mormon through one time before our next Stake Conference.  So, for Family Home Evening I went out to the internet and found a few ways to track your progress while reading the Book of Mormon.  I came up with about 5 different ways and brought them before all of the family.  Each person chose their way of tracking their reading.  When we were done, I took mine and taped it up to the side of the fridge.  Immediately the other kids grabbed the tape and started taping their page as well.  Within minutes all of our papers were up for everyone to see.

Every day, I try and fill in the squares which indicates how many chapters I have read.  Since it is out where everyone can see, it motivates all of us to see how we are doing compared to the rest of us.  Below is a picture of the wall with our tracking pages.

In scouting, the highest rank you can achieve as a youth is the Eagle Scout Award. There are long hours of learning, camping, and working to get this award. Many do not receive this award until around 16 or 17 years of age. If a young man does receive this award by 14 or 15 it is usually a sign of dedication, and perserverance.

In the Young Women program of the LDS Church, there is an equally hard award to earn which is called Young Womanhood Medallion. The program is called “Personal Progress“. Many young women in the LDS Church are not able to earn this award at a young age but work over the 6 year in the program and receive it when they are 16 or 17.

HOWEVER, I am proud to announce that Savanna Carter, my daughter, has earned her Young Womanhood Medallion and was presented the medallion in church last Sunday by our new Bishop. I am very excited for her and proud of her accomplishment. What made these event even more sweet was that Deanna, her mother, my wife, also earned her medallion too since adults can earn this award as well. HOW COOL IS THAT!!!

Congratulations Savanna and Deanna on their hard work in the LDS Young Women’s program.

Below is a small video showing Savanna’s final project. She made a little stuffed caterpillar for all of the nursery kids to use when they go for a walk around the church. The leaders love it because it keeps all of the kids together. The children love it because it has a fun look and loops to hold on to.

In the spring, our LDS ward brought all of the youth for a joint activity. The Young Women and the Young Men planned an activity where they would go out and learn to shoot skeet. Of course, this activity was highly supervised by adult leaders. For some of the young men and some of the young women, this was the first time they would shoot a gun. The leaders threw the skeet with a hand held throwing devise and the youth tried their best to hold up a 20 gauge or a 12 gauge shotgun and shoot a flying target. Some of them picked up the skill quickly and other were not so sure they even wanted to try.

Below is a picture of my kids, and my wife, getting ready to shoot the target.