I haven't seen any ideas for a 'standards' night so I
thought I'd share what we did last September. We chose to focus on
what it means to be a standard bearer. We decorated with flags and
talked about the duties, responsibilities and honors of a flag
(standard) bearer during war. I then shared the story of Captain
Moroni & the Title of Liberty by reading pertinent verses. I had
come to the meeting with one of my husband's old button-down shirts
on over my 'real' shirt. When we read about Moroni renting his coat
to make the title of Liberty, I rent my shirt. Buttons went flying
everywhere and it really caught everyone's attention. I hung the
shirt on a pole after writing on it. We also made little flags to
give to each girl. It had the verse D&C115:5--Arise and shine forth
that thy light may be a standard unto the nations-- printed on
it--we used iron on transfers.
Then we reviewed what the standards were from the
Strength of Youth (FTSOY) handbook. To do this I made a chalk
drawing of the temple from the cover of the handbook using a
transparency and overhead projector. This made a nice big temple
which was then cut into pieces. On the back of each piece was a
summary of one of the standards from FTSOY. Each girl was given a
piece of the temple (they didn't know what they were holding) and as
each one read their standard aloud, she taped it to the wall. They
didn't guess what the picture was until it was almost built. We
discussed how the temple was a 'standard' for our own spiritual
development and how we would get there by following the principles
in FTSOY. Our bishop then shared the things he felt were most
important for our youth to beware and focus on. This program turned
out really well. It helped make what can be a somewhat
uncomfortable evening into something memorable.
Activities