Helaman gave his young warriors spiritual exercises to strengthen their testimonies and build their faith, preparing them for when God needed them. Personal Progress similarly strengthens young women spiritually through scripture study, prayer, and living the gospel, preparing them to stand as witnesses of God in the world. As young women complete the Personal Progress program and live its principles, they collectively contribute millions of hours of service, making the world a better place.

2. “….. Helaman gave his young
warriors drills that honed and
sharpened the strippling warrior’s
fighting skills. But I believe they had
spiritual workouts, too. I believe they
had activities and exercises that built
their spiritual muscles so that they
were ready when God needed them
most.”
John Bytheway, author of
Righteous Warriors

3. is
The Battle Plan
Against Satan
for
Stripling Warriorettes;

4. Why Personal Progress?
Because It Can Change the World!
President Gordon B. Hinckley once described the young women of the Church
as his best hope for the world:
!
“When you save a girl, you save generations.”
She will:- grow in strength and righteousness.
She will:- marry in the house of the Lord.
She will:- teach her children the ways of truth. …
I see this as the one bright shining hope in a world that
is marching toward self-destruction”
(“Standing Strong and Immovable,” Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting, Jan. 2004, 20).

5. Personal Progress will help
Young Women to:-
Stand in Holy Places and Be Not Moved
until the day of the Lord come:
for behold, it cometh quickly, saith the Lord. Amen
Doctrine & Covenants 87:8

6. The Young Women Values and Projects
are armour against Satan
Faith - Shield of Faith
Divine Nature - Backplate of Courage
Individual Worth - Helmet of Salvation
Knowledge - Belt of Truth
Choice & Accountability - Arms – The Word of God
Good Works - Feet, shod with the Gospel of Pe
Integrity - Breastplate of Righteousness
Virtue - Sword of the Spirit
Each personal scripture study session, each prayer, each meeting
attended, and each good decision made are all small and simple things
that add up to the whole of their testimony, their armour of God – their
journey to Salvation!

7. When You Do Personal Progress…
…you are part of an invincible witness
of God, standing for the world to see. It
will make a difference because you are
a part of something larger than
yourself.
• It takes 70 hours to complete the YW Value projects
• In 2004 there were 435,000 Young Women worldwide
• If everyone completed the program = 30 million hours
• That equals 1.25 million days
• Which equals 3,400 years.
How could this army of young women serving and doing
good not make the world a much brighter, better place? And
how much poorer would the world be without them?

8. Why the Urgency?
• In a statement issued late Monday (22/10/12)
church spokesman Michael Purdy said that while about
700 new missionary applications are typically started
each week, during the last two weeks "that number has
increased to approximately 4,000 per week.“
• …… "slightly more than half of the applicants are
women." Prior to the announcement, women made up 14
percent of full-time LDS missionaries.
• Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve
said prospective missionaries should not begin their
service before they are ready spiritually and temporally.

9. It is time to "awake, and arise from the dust" as Moroni exhorts
in his famous last words (Moroni 10:31).
“It is time for the youth of the Church to lead the world in living and
sharing the standards, completing Personal Progress will strengthen
individuals, families and, in turn, strengthen society.”
…..Elaine Dolton
The door has opened….

10. Some Personal
Progress How To’s
• Parental involvement is probably the single most important factor in getting a Latter-
day Saint young woman to work on her personal progress. Aside from introducing a
girl and her mother to personal progress when she joins the Young Women
organization, leaders can:
• Send quarterly personal progress tracking sheets to parents so they know how their
daughter is doing. Include a suggestion on what steps they might want to take next.
• Challenge parents and young women to dedicate 30 minutes each Sunday to
personal progress; this is a great way for mothers and daughters to spend time
together and keep the Sabbath holy.
• Hold one or two mother-daughter mutuals a year, where daughters and moms can
work on an experience together. Many value experiences require young women to
talk to a parent.
• Create a monthly newsletter that suggests a value experience to work on or contains
a personal progress message from the presidency.
• Post a monthly personal progress challenge on the bulletin board; everyone who
completes it by the end of the month gets a small prize.
• Create worksheets on specific value experiences to guide young women through the
necessary steps.
• Show parents how to access the personal progress booklet online through the LDS
website.
• Invite parents to attend monthly personal progress interviews with their daughters.

11. As with any progress or goal oriented
program, tracking or reporting is one of the major
keys to success!
(Just look at Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers)
• Who can help “track”
• Young Women Presidency
• Secretary
• Advisors
• Parents
• Young Women Honor Bee graduate?
• Class Presidency?
• Personal Progress Assignment?

12. How to keep track of Personal Progress

13. How to keep track of Personal Progress – paper trail

14. Tracking Personal Progress – On Line
You must have your Ward Membership Number obtained from
the Ward Clerk to Login to the Site……….

15. As a Young Women leader you are called to assist
parents and priesthood leaders in guiding a young
woman on the path to the temple.
In order to help the young women grow, you must be
on the path-converted and growing spiritually
yourself. As you do, you will be able to
teach, influence, and lead young women to the
temple by your righteous example.
As a Young Women leader, you will need to:
Prepare Spiritually
Study the scriptures with young women in mind.
Pray, ponder, be worthy, attend the temple, and listen
for revelation.
Be strictly obedient to the commandments and
exemplify the standards in
behavior, language, dress, and so on.
Rejoice in the privilege to
serve.

16. Minister to Each Young Woman
3 Nephi 17:21: “And he took their little
children, one by one, and blessed them, and
prayed unto the Father for them.”
Just as the Savior ministered one
by one to His children, your
leadership should be focused on
helping each young woman
progress from wherever she is on
the path.

17. not just a Progam
It is a battle plan
against Satan…
and you are
The Captains of the Army!