A win-win for princesses

A few weeks ago in our ladies class, we read in Titus about the responsibility of the older women to be teaching the younger women. As we began to talk about this, we discussed that "we" in the class ARE the older women and we have a responsibility to be helping and guiding the younger women and girls of the congregation. We discussed some of the ways in which we could do this but it kept coming back to the fact that we needed to be spending time with them. So I proposed that we host a special event just for the younger ladies of our congregation. The ladies loved the idea and we eventually decided we would focus on girls in grades 6 through age 21 and we divided up the responsibilities for the event and yesterday it took place.

The event was themed around the young girls being princesses because we are daughters of the "King of Kings." When the girls arrived, they each received a crown and had assistance putting it on. They were encouraged to wear nice clothing for the afternoon and some took advantage of this opportunity to wear clothing that they don't often have occasions to wear.

We played a game ("dynamica" is what it's referred to here) where the girls were divided into two teams. They were each given a few bed sheets (two white and one mauve) and there was a table piled with shared materials--ribbon, yarn, tape, paper, scissors, rubber bands, plastic flowers, etc. They were given 10 minutes to create a princess dress on one of their team members. Some of the ladies held up sheets so that the teams couldn't see each other. The girls seemed to love this activity. There was much giggling, laughing, and squeals that took place during it--always a sign of fun with young girls. Then the teams revealed their dresses to each other and the models showed off their dresses.

Ana led us in some songs and then I shared some devotional thoughts with the girls. Part of the ideas that I shared with the girls is that the "older ladies" of the congregation are here to help them if they need it. We discussed that referring to us as "older ladies" is probably not the best way to address us, but that we/they have experiences and advice that we can share on things going on in their lives. The girls got a good laugh out of us being called the "older ladies" ("ancianas" in Spanish) and we talked about how we may be older but we are also daughters of the King and fellow princesses with them. After this we had a prayer, led by Deyci, and we served cake and soda to the girls at a beautifully decorated table. The girls again shared many giggles during the time of refreshments and they each had a plastic cup and saucer with their names on them that they got to take home with them. We had 17 girls in attendance--a great turnout!

Erin walked home with one of the girls for a visit and said there were several girls and a couple of the ladies in the group as they walked and that they shared more laughs on the way home and that they talked about what a great experience it had been. One of the ladies told the girls that today was a day that they would always remember and there were more laughs shared about us being "ancianas."

It is my prayer that this event sets a precedent and builds a bridge for more such activities in the future. The ladies gain experience as leaders and hostesses and the girls enjoy a time of fun and learning and both groups get to know the other better. A win-win.