Individual Worth #1

"You are a daughter of Heavenly Father, who knows you and loves you. Read Psalm 8:4-6; Jeremiah 1:5; John 13:34; Doctrine and Covenants 18:10; Abraham 3:22-23; and Joseph Smith-History 1:1-20. Write in your journal how these scriptures teach you that Heavenly Father knows you, loves you, and is mindful of you."

I know that I am a daughter of God. I know that my Father in Heaven loves me. When I look around at the life I have and all the blessings I have within it, it becomes evidence to my eyes that I am loved. The scriptures assigned reinforced that.

When David saw a few of the grand things God made in just looking at the sky, he asks, Why art thou mindful of man? It is a good question to ask in faith. Why is God mindful of me when there are so many great things for Him to pay more attention to? It's because He loves me. He loves who I am. He knew me before I was born (Jeremiah 1:5; Abraham 3:22-23). He knows me now and knows my name, just as He knew Joseph Smith's (Joseph Smith-History 1:1-20). I mean a great deal to Him, as the worth of souls are great in the sight of God (D&C 18:10). He loves me, and everyone else, so much that He wants us to love each other too (John 13:34).

It is a great comfort to me that my Father in Heaven is aware of who I am, loves me, and is mindful of me. I am not ever alone. I will never be unloved. Neither will anyone else.

Individual Worth #3

"Read Doctrine and Covenants 18:10 and 121:45. Do all you can to build others and make them feel of worth. Every day for two weeks notice the worthwhile qualities and attributes of others. Acknowledge them verbally or in writing. In your journal write what you have learned about the worth of individuals and how your own confidence grows when you build others."

People really are children of God. That's the number one thing I learned from doing this. When a person begins to notice all the worthwhile qualities and attributes of another it's hard not to recognize the divine worth of each individual. Just like D&C 18:10, "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God," I feel like I got a glimpse of what God sees in others. I saw their personalities; I could appreciate their characteristics. I don't really know how to describe the wonder and awe I feel when I glimpse the divine nature of each individual. Every person is a son or daughter of God. That's what I saw and it's hard to describe.

I didn't only glimpse what God saw in others, but by that glimpse I saw a little more of what God sees in me. I didn't really expect that, but it happened. As I saw the divine nature in others and saw a bit of why God loves His children so much, I came to have a greater understanding of myself. I came to understand that I, too, am a child of God. I've known that my whole life. However, I came to a greater understanding of who I am. Knowing who I am and knowing that I am loved by God because I am His child, that gives me confidence. As I notice the positive characteristics in others, I am more aware of my own positive qualities. I think that sometimes we are really hard on ourselves, but as we notice the good in others, we notice the good in ourselves.

Personal Progress Project

I know I'm no longer in the Young Women's program for the girls 12-18 years old. In fact, I'm even married now! My married student ward doesn't even have young women; so I don't even have an opportunity to serve with them. While I was in Young Women's, I had completed Personal Progress and earned my medallion.

Here's a video that was even put together by my mother and shown at my YW's Recognition:

In the year before I graduated, the new Young Women's value "Virtue" was added and a little insert was given to include in the Personal Progress booklet. Eventually, they published a new Personal Progress booklet including the new value both in the YW theme and as another thing to complete. They even slightly changed some of the experiences to complete, included True to the Faith as a resource. Even the medallion looked new! They added a red gem to the necklace.

Ether 12

I think I understand Faith a little more than I did prior. I recalled that Ether 12 was very similar in structure and topic as Hebrews 11. I remember Hebrews to be a required reading for Faith Experience #1 in Personal Progress. I also remembered not really understanding it as a child.

I understood that "faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; . . . for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith" (6). I understood that to mean that you have faith when you have a sure belief in something real, but you can't experience it with the 5 senses of taste, touch, sight, sound, smell. I understood that as a young 12-year-old, but I didn't understand the summary of the ancient prophets in relation to faith. Yes, ok. They had to have faith in order to work miracles. That's all I really understood.