Finley also finished her personal progress, so Julie abc I decided to take these these lovely, hardworking daughters out to celebrate them and recognize and honor what they learned and how they have progressed. (Delaney also competed hers awhile ago, and was being celebrated for a math award she received that morning! Way to go, D! You are a super amazing math smarty!) I know Finley also worked and worked the personal program and I am so happy to celebrate her progress and accomplishments.
And by celebrate, I of course mean a mother daughter tres leches and churros extravaganza! We talked about high school and friends and faith and futures and challenges.
Reese worked hard on the program. She set goals and went after them, taking on some big projects and spent 20-30 hours on many of them. She organized an underwear drive and then volunteered regularly sewing reusable and sustainable feminine hygiene products for our local Days for Girls Chapter.
She taught dozens of kids how to knit cotton yarn hats and organized a “caps for chemo” campaign to donate to our local oncology center. She read the entire Book of Mormon before her 13th birthday...a huge undertaking that really challenged what she understood about the capacity of her brain. Doing this opened her eyes to the gifts of Dyslexia and removed a lot of emotionally placed academic road blocks in the way she approached learning. Reese organized the collection of donations, assembly, and delivery of Christmas stockings and new year boxes for the NWA Women’s Shelter and Saving Grace. She worked with business owners and hosted a “give a dress, get a dress” event to bless the women’s shelter, and then got to present teen and young adult girls who are aging out of foster care and learning to thrive independently with a great gift of “shopping” for dresses. This particular activity was impactful as Reese began to understand that our individual worth is not something we “earn” and that our circumstances do not change the effectiveness of the Atonement. She was able to witness the way these wonderful, brave girls are facing extreme life challenges and create beautiful lives for themselves. Reese did several 2-4 week challenges that improved relationships with some of her siblings. She nurtured divine qualities and began to understand the errand of angels. She began doing family history work and devotes time every fast Sunday to indexing historical records. She explored her strengths and her weaknesses and Exercised faith in applying the Atonement of Jesus Christ to nurture them. Reese studied faith. She practiced being a better friend, learned to schedule and keep commitments, created lists and studied divine attributes she would like to develop. She learned how to recognize promptings from the Holy Ghost and follow divine counsel. She learned a few simplified hymns on the piano and played them in her seminary class. Reese did some difficult things and failed at some things and tried and tried again at some things. She did a lot of studying and journaling and offered compassionate service. She has progressed physically, spiritually, intellectually, and brought many together to make beautiful and inspiring contributions to our community. Her testimony has strengthened. She continues to progress and be teachable and shapeable.
We love you, and we are so happy for you, Reese!
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