Young Woman's Message

For those of you who don't know, I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormon church), and I have a calling in the Young Woman's program (teenage girls ages 12-18). I'm the adviser to the 12 and 13 year old girls. I teach them on Sunday's, I try to get them involved in our Wednesday night activities, and i love them. Well, this coming Sunday, I'm teaching a lesson on Overcoming Opposition. It's an awesome lesson, I love it! I went online to try to find some extra material i can use in my lesson. I recently came across a conference talk by President Deiter F. Uchtdorf. His message was geared towards the Young Women in the church. The talk was titled "Your Happily Ever After."

“Once upon a time” promises something: a story of adventure and romance, a story of princesses and princes. It may include tales of courage, hope, and everlasting love. In many of these stories, nice overcomes mean and good overcomes evil. But perhaps most of all, I love it when we turn to the last page and our eyes reach the final lines and we see the enchanting words “And they lived happily ever after.”

On the first page of your Young Women Personal Progress book, you will find these words: “You are a beloved daughter of Heavenly Father, prepared to come to the earth at this particular time for a sacred and glorious purpose.” ¹

Sisters, those words are true! They are not made up in a fairy tale! Isn’t it remarkable to know that our eternal Heavenly Father knows you, hears you, watches over you, and loves you with an infinite love? In fact, His love for you is so great that He has granted you this earthly life as a precious gift of “once upon a time,” complete with your own true story of adventure, trial, and opportunities for greatness, nobility, courage, and love. And, most glorious of all, He offers you a gift beyond price and comprehension. Heavenly Father offers to you the greatest gift of all—eternal life—and the opportunity and infinite blessing of your own “happily ever after.”

I love this message. It's very uplifting and encouraging. I came across this talk, I think, last week or the week before. It had touched me, and inspired me to make a painting. More specifically this quote from his talk, “Happily ever after” is not something found only in fairy tales. You can have it! It is available for you! But you must follow your Heavenly Father’s map.

This is an acrylic painting of The Tree of Life from Lehi's vision. I painted the tree, the straight and narrow path, the iron rod (it's kind of hard to see, it's on the bottom though), and a young woman standing next to the tree touching it with her hand. It isn't the best painting I've made, but it was fun. :)