Personal Progress

 I'm a Mia Maid and I'm taking on a project to finish my personal progress with.  Another young woman and I decided to keep up with the YW bulletin board and we need ideas. We would like to keep it church centered but also exciting and fun. I need suggestions, can anyone help me?

Tanya                                                   e mail here                                                                                 8/3/04


The first YW meeting of each month we call "P-Day" - We meet as classes (Laurels, Mia Maids, Beehives) to to through the PP book - and to encourage
each other to chose one specific thing to work on in the month to come. We do NOT work on any requirement, that is for the girl to do by herself - just
keep the focus on what they COULD do & encourage, encourage, encourage.  To make it fun (I hope) we have to wear something that starts with the letter "P"
(pink, purple, plaid, polka dots, etc) and the refreshments have to start with the letter "P" also (popcorn, punch, pizza - which is on the girls' list but we have NOT had it as yet! - peanuts, popsicles, etc.) Then the next month we ask for a report on their "personal progress" in what they chose to do the previous month.



Hi , i am currently serving as 1st counselor at the Scunthorpe ward in England. My president and myself were wondering exactly how does this new personal progress actually work . Our YW are lost also as they do not know what happens to all their efforts in the old book. If anyone could with your ideas about how to run the PP correctly and spiritually. This would be greatly appreciated.  e mail here                                                                                 8/9/02
thank you very much.

     Sis C  A Fell - England



I am a Mia Maid Leader and have a girl who has a specific learning disability, especially when it comes to reading/comprehension.  I was wondering if there was anywhere documented of modifications that we can make to the personal progress program to help ease the pain of this overwhelming burden for her.  She can not make her way through this program and be successful.  Can anyone lead me in the direction or give me a reference as to where this is listed on the web.  I am also a Special Ed teacher and know what frustration her and her parents are going through.  E mail here                                                            7/24/02
Thank you.

Sis. D. -  Mesa, AZ



Like all of you we give out incentives for personl progress.  Always a challenge to come up with something new for each year, but we decided to do hearts this year.  They are made of wood and are about an inch in diameter and make of 3/4 inch pine.  The four on the bottom are upside down (with the value written so you can read it) and the 3 on the top are right side up.  We give them to the girls as they earn them.  They have liked them.


Try my new personal progress tracking form that might help some YW leaders in tracking each girl individually.  The document is in Microsoft Word format only.
    -- L Moore


This year for our gift to encourage personal progress we gave each of the girls a baby shoe(payless shoes) Each time they passed off a value they got the color of that value as a shoelace to tie on their shoes. For Faith we just used the shoelace and then tied a card with the theme on it.  They turned out so cute . With the theme being "Stand as a Witness" again this year you might want to try this.
     N.Bennett - South Jordan Utah


One of the Personal Progress goals for Mia Maid 1 in Divine Nature is to increase your appreciation for motherhood.  I had a mini lesson prepared on the joys of motherhood and than we had a Motherhood Obstacle Course.  All the girls were to wear a bathrobe and slippers.  The race started with putting a curler in their hair. The course was as follows: changing a baby doll in diapers, picking up trash on the floor, hanging clothes on a line, making "dinner", and setting a table.  The event was timed and the winner was crowned along with a sash and a bouquet of wooden spoons and paper flowers.  The girls loved it!


We visited a young woman in our ward who is inactive and brought along toppings for ice cream sundaes which really helped the girls to break the ice and get to know each other better.  One of the girls goals was to invite someone to church or church activity - what a great opportunity and they did it!


An activity that the girls loved for completing goals was the honey hunt.  It was a program, I got the idea twelve years ago when I was YW President.  It was a stake brainstorm.  Basically, the girls received a teddy bear and with each goal they were awarded something for the bear.  For completing all of the Good Works goals they recieved a backpack.  Knowledge they received glasses because they were "beary knowledgable'.  and so on...  It started with a story about a boy who went to the hospital and took an old worn teddy with him  the boy had surgery for his eyes and when the ordeal was over he could see and he left his teddy there with the doctors. The program is wonderful


To help the young women accomplish their goals we announce an incentive at the beginning of the year. Such as a temple bag, a Christus, a plaque, etc. These are given to the girls, who complete their goals, at the end of the year. We also spotlight a group goal each month. This is just one of the goals listed in the Personal Progress book. We work on it as a group so the girls can remind and encourage each other. The previous presidency started this in our ward and it has worked out great. If you have questions about this

We are a new presidency and we decided we wanted to make personal progress one of our priorities (one of many!) and so we devised a couple of things that we are going to use starting in January and I wanted to share them.  First we are having someone called especially for personal progress.  She will keep up with all the paperwork and reminding the girls, but we didn't want it to become nagging kind of thing.  She will keep a form (one for each girl).  On the left hand side of the form is listed the girls birthday and what year in YW she is in.  Along the top are slots for receiving her personal progress book, the values, laurel projects, interviews with the bishopric and bishop, camp certification, age-group recognition, and anything else you want to keep track of!  Then we are giving each girl a packet that we will ask them to keep with their personal progress book (it only has a few pages) it is broken into 6 with a space in each one to list the goal they are working on and how they are going to accomplish it, and the date it will be done.  Once every three months the personal progress counselor will meet with the girls (probably at her house) and see how it's going.  Once during that three month period she hands them a slip of paper (the color of the value they are working on) reminding them of the value they have chosen and the date it is to be finished and an offer to help if it is needed.  At the end of each three month period we will be giving out incentives during Young Women.  We have decided to make wooden hearts with a stem (like a flower) with the value written on it, this year.  When the YW is finished with the goal she will receive the heart in YW opening exercises.  She will have a bouquet by the end of the year!


In our ward, each Fast Sunday a member of the YW presidency gives the lesson to the combined group of Young Women.  Our president selects the lesson schedule and we teach the lesson for that week and it fits into our value area of focus for the month.  Sometime during the lesson, we hand out pencil and a 3x5 card and ask the girls to write down a goal that they can work on during the next month in that value.  Then we gather them up and put them in their file and when we interview them, we ask them about their goal cards.  We have the young women bring their personal progress books to church on that Sunday. Another thing I did just recently was go through my past calenders of ward and stake activities, firesides, etc., hand in hand with the personal progress book and was amazed at how many of our activities that the young women had planned fit right into many of the goals.  They had been working on personal progress all year long and didn't even realize it because they were already choosing to do good things.

J. Cheney  -  Boise, Idaho



I have only worked in Young Women's for five months.  My Mia Maid girls were really struggling with Personal Progress.  Our class president has assigned one of her counselors over Personal Progress.  This young women is in charge of making sure that we do one goal a month.  It is nice because then the girls can organize the activities and get their Personal Progress at the same time.
F.  Fallis - Lake Havasu City, AZ


I heard a great idea at our Stake meeting last night.  One presidency in our Stake has a personal progress moment each Sunday during opening exercises.  Each of the yw take turns telling about a goal they just passed off or one that they are working on.  Only one yw does it each week and they are reminded by their class president during the week when it is going to be their turn.  This keeps the girls working on their goals a little better because no one wants to get up and say, "I haven't done anything"
  .S. Glenn - American Canyon, CA


We just did a Personal Progress Pajama Party.  The girls arrived in their PJS (which stood for prayer, journals, and scriptures), ate pizza, potato salad, pies, peanut butter cookies and pretzels and potato chips.(Everything started with a P.)  Then we had a Pajama Parade, exchanged white elephants, had talks on prayer, journals and scriptures - these are three things you should never go to bed without.  Then we had workshops on photography, scrapbooking and scripture reading where we could pass off things in our personal progress books.  After that we had a "family prayer" and partied for the rest of the night.  The girls are still talking about it.
   J. Guymon


 Our ward chooses one activity night a quarter to spend on reviewing and checking off personal progress goals that the girls are working on or goals they have completed.  One leader from each group (Laurel, Mia Maid, Beehive) sits at a table.  The YW are divided into two groups, one group of  works on personal progress and visits with the appropriate leader.  The other group makes something in the kitchen or works on a craft to be delivered to someone in the ward that night after everyone has been through the "personal progress tables".  The girls don't seem to mind working on personal progress this way.


This activity fulfilled Divine Nature in family relationships. I separated the girls into groups (of two or four) and gave each group a grab bag filled with typical family belongings. After a few minutes of preparation, I had the girls act out a skit that showed how to improve family relationships. Then each group wrote down the greatest number of ways to improve their family relationships. Then individually, they wrote down five specific goals for improving their own family relationships. Then I had them choose the most important one to work on first. Then I gave each of the girls some stationery and had each of them write a letter to their mothers telling her the qualities she admires in her. In the letter, each girl asked her mother to help her develop one of these qualities. Then they each got an envelope to decorate (girls love to do that, you know) and then they delivered the letters when they went home. It helps fulfill Beehive 1, Divine Nature #6; Mia Maid 2, Divine Nature #1; See Beehive 2, DN #5, #6, #7, and #8; Mia Maid 1, DN #3 and #5; Mia Maid 2, DN #7 and #8.
    Darlene Agren - Gunnison, Utah 
Each month our Personal Progress leader encourages the girls to work on their goals each week. At the end of the month (the last Sunday) she rewards each girl that has accomplished her two goals for the month with a rose made of candy kisses (and also two wrapped in plastic). The rose is the color of the value focused on that month. The idea is for the girls to keep these at home and create a beautiful boquet. The girls really are excited about the roses each month.

    Dena Schmidt - Loomis, California 
We did a sleep over where we just worked on personal project goals!!  Our girls had a great time and each got at least 2 of their goals signed off that night.  Also we as a YW Presidency are working on getting our medallions! The girls love to work with us, and get a real boost when they see us achieve our medallions too!!

    Jeanie Morris - Baraboo, Wisconsin 
I was just released as the MiaMaid counselor and had lots of tears.  Fortunately, I was called to be over Personal Progress.  There are a mountain of ideas out there.  Like many of you, we introduce the value of the month on every fast Sunday.  I begin by telling a captivating story, relating it to the theme and then passing out a handout that goes along with it.  The handout is a message and a tangible item that will hopefully make them remember the story and then the value or both at once.  Pixie sticks represent Pungie sticks soaked in human urine, representing choices.  (You'd have to hear the story.)  Every girl was listening.  I like to stay away from food on fast Sunday, but I wanted them to make the connection this time.  I've also had fun dropping off treats and notes at their homes to be found when they get home from school.  A "Do"Nut can say whatever you want. Do Not Forgets are the best.  Try Gummie Bears with "We are 'beary' proud" of your goals achieved in Personal Progress.

    Donna McMurry - Allen, Texas 
Focus monthly class activities on accomplishing one goal. There will still be goals for the YW to make on an individula basis, but working with the class will motivate them to work alone, as well as encourage one another. 
To help our girls with their Personal Progress, we had a "Round Robin" night where we chose 3 different values that could be done in one night and gave each girl 20 mins in each value class. Some of them were able to sign off 3 that night. It was a real boost for them.

  Paula Hunt - Placentia, California 
Personal Progress Night: Have a "P" night. Make invitations in shape of a "P" -- in a color beginning with a p. Wear pajamas or something beginning with a P... and bring a pillow. All food is to begin with a P, etc. Use as many things as possible with "P" to work on PP (Personal Progress).

  Carol Hatch - Salt Lake City, Utah 
For Personal Progress we have Personal Progress Pigouts when ever there is a fifth activity night! You bring junk food and your Personal Progress Book--you pig out on food for both the body and the spirit!!

    Jeanette Tolman - Beavercreek, Ohio