Monday, May 11, 2009

Return To Virtue

Our Stake Young Womens Presidency invited all women young and old to hike up "our" mountain (our houses are just at the base of this mountain, so it's ours, right?) early Saturday morning and participate in something I will never forget.
Recently the General Young Women's presidency announced that Virtue would be added to the other 7 Young Women's Values. After being in Young Women's for the past 3 years and just recently being released I was so happy to hear this. All of the values are important in their own way and I have grown to live by them. I think Virtue is a perfect addition. When the General YW Presidency was first called they hiked up to Ensign Peak in SLC, they waved a yellow scarf which they tied to a stick and made a commitment to help the YW of the church return to virtue.
Saturday morning, Craig had taken the older boys camping and I had Liberty and Brit at home with me...this didn't stop me, we woke up early, put a few snacks and a bottle in a baby backpack and I strapped Brit on my back and with Liberty by my side we took off heading right up our street to the mouth of the canyon. (about a 1/2 a mile). I must have looked a bit crazy with a baby strapped to my back and a young girl with me, but this was something I didnt' want to miss. We started up the trail and I will admit this out of shape body was encountering major difficulties. I wondered if I should turn around and just forget about it. The hike was steep and rocky and harder than I had expected. But I decided to push along and make it, Liberty was a trooper, Brit just sort of bounced around in the back pack taking little cat naps along the way. Kindly enough a few friends from the ward offered to take a load off my back (literally!) they offered to carry Brit for a while. What a help that was. I really appreciated it.


Here we are...Lib, Brit and I on "our" mountain.

We made it to a spot on our mountain that we could overlook the valley and see our homes, schools, & churches. It was a great site. Once everyone made it up we all gathered together and our wonderful Stake President asked all of us to sit, he talked about a committment we need to make today to be virtuous. We were going to make a promise or a covenant today, which would make this spot of the mountain hollowed ground. He asked us to remove our shoes, kneel down and pray that we would be virtuous. He gave a beautiful prayer asking for help and strength for those who were there making this covenant to remain virtuous always. He told us that every time we look up to this mountain (which for most would be everyday) it should be a reminder of our covenant we had made with the Lord. After the prayer we put our shoes back on and moved down to the edge of a cliff and waved our gold flags, fabric, ribbons, and other bright yellow or gold things while yelling "return to virtue" and cheering after. I got emotional. I have such a special place in my heart for the young women in our ward...I was surrounded by not only them but with Liberty right at my side, all I could think about was them. I am so glad that Lib was with me. I hope this is something that she will always remember and that she will always be a virtuous lady.

Our Stake President talking to the girls. He is a very powerful speaker, I think the girls really felt what he was trying to say to them. I know I did.


A photographer was down the mountain at a home in our ward watching for us to wave our flags and yell, and he took photos of us up the mountain. A friend of mine was with him and she said that it was an awesome sight. She could hear us and see our faces (through the zoom lens). I can't wait to see those photos.

It is a day I will never forget! I took some photos, and I plan on putting one in Liberty's room so she won't forget. I am so glad that I was able to be a part of this being surrounded by so many women young and old that I have grown to love so much. Seriously this is one of those moments I hope to never forget.

Here we are on the edge of a cliff waving our gold and yellow flags

Liberty getting ready to yell and wave


Here she is waving...having a great time.


Brit taking one of his many cat naps along the way.

2 comments:

Cari said...

What an awesome experience! I'm glad Liberty could go too. You have such a great stake!

Merfy said...

It was a wonderful experience. I wish I had all my daughters there with me.