New Beginnings 2017

After 4-1/2 years as Young Women's president of my ward, there have been a lot of things that have gotten a lot easier as time as gone on.   For instance, big events, like New Beginnings and Young Women in Excellence.   They used to stress our presidency out to no end, but now they seem to come together with a lot less stress.  

 I think this year's New Beginnings was the best yet.  It had a theme of Ask, Seek, Knock.  The decorations were simple, but cool enough to have "wow" factor.   The girls really came through and did their parts well and I loved that the theme really came together and we all left that night feeling inspired about how to seek answers our questions.  

Here are the wonderful Young Women I have the privilege of serving ... 

Ellie was thrilled to be one of the newbies (girls that turn 12 this year),  which meant that she got introduced to everyone and got lots of special attention!   She is sooooooo excited to be a part of YW!  

It was also so cool to see Nicole (who was just baptized in December) be introduced too.   Her and Maria even dressed in matching dresses and were cute as can be together! 

I am blessed to work with these wonderful women.  They've been in the long haul with me and I am grateful for their great ideas, willingness to work hard, and friendship!  

Here's the introduction that Emma read about Ellie:   

(Ellie opted to have her skip the part about her seizures)

When Ellie turns 12 in a couple of weeks, she will become the first new beehive in our ward in almost a year and a half. Energetic, cheerful, and creative, Ellie is the youngest of the five Goold kids and as such is an expert when it comes to dealing with annoying older siblings and delayed bedtimes. She loves all Broadway music, but especially Hamilton. When she’s not listening to Hamilton songs, that means she’s probably SINGING Hamilton songs, perhaps while cooking herself a quesadilla or playing with her Legos. Ellie is a world traveler who has been to 13 different countries and about 40 states, but she still hopes to get to Florida and Australia someday too. One thing Ellie would like everyone to know is that she has a form of epilepsy that causes her to have frequent seizures that cause her to pause in the middle of what she’s doing. They’re nothing to be nervous about, but if you happen to notice one, just be patient, and when her seizure is done you can remind her what she was saying, and Ellie will pick right back up where she left off. Ellie is very comfortable talking about them, so if you’re ever wondering something about them feel free to ask her questions. Just remember to be nice and be patient. And, on a more light-hearted note, I’ll finish up with a funny story about when Ellie was young. When she was a baby, she loved to suck her thumb. One time we were visiting one of our cousins who is only a couple weeks younger than Ellie and they were both lying on a blanket on the floor taking a nap. A little while later we checked in on them and found that Ellie was wide awake and had wiggled her way around and was happily lying there, not sucking on her own thumb, but happily sucking on her cousin’s big toe. All the while her cousin was still soundly sleeping. I promise, though, that she hasn’t sucked anyone’s toes in about 11-½ years or so! We are so happy that after years of tagging along with Mom and me to mutual, that Ellie will finally be an official young woman later this month. Welcome to Young Women’s, Ellie!

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