Come Follow Me: The Importance of Gratitude

Here are just a few more handouts to add to October's Come Follow Me outlines!

The overall focus of the month is "Becoming more like the Savior".

For this particular lesson outline...

"WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO BE GRATEFUL?"

...I decided to create a couple of different options for possible handouts.

One thing that my husband and I did last year was started something called our "Gratitude Journals"

(YOU CAN READ MORE ABOUT IT HERE)

Honestly, I have seen so many blessings in my life as I have taken a moment to recognize all that I have. 

You start to see how significant the Lord's hand is in your life and how blessed you truly are.

Pretty awesome.

If you have some extra time on your hands (ha yeah right, right?)

you could possibly make a gratitude journal for each young woman as a handout.

I have created a simple cover logo, a bookmark, and some simple monthly tabs that you could print out and put together for each girl!

(If you are lacking on time, you could also just print off the bookmark!)

If you don't have time to make these gratitude journals now, 

I would still suggest doing it in the future!

Like I said, it is amazing the things you will begin to notice in your life as blessings!

A great idea for an YW, Relief Society, or FHE activity! 

You can download a PDF copy of the images by clicking on the links below.

Keep in mind that  if you attempt to change the sizing, you may run the risk of slightly blurring the image!

GRATITUDE JOURNAL COVER LOGO DOWNLOAD

For a PDF download of the handout (two on one sheet) CLICK HERE

GRATITUDE JOURNAL BOOKMARK DOWNLOADS

For a PDF download of the handout (four on one sheet) CLICK HERE

GRATITUDE JOURNAL TABS DOWNLOAD

For a PDF download of the handout (one set on one sheet) CLICK HERE

A day of thanks.

Today I am one Thankful Turkey

I just love this time of year.

This morning, as I woke up, I decided to lay in bed for a good 20 minutes

 just to think about all the things I am grateful for in my life. 

I'll tell you what--- I am one blessed girl.

There is oh-so much in my life that I have to be grateful for. 

The Gospel.

My marriage.

My parents.

Carley.

Caitlyn.

Cade.

Trials.

Smiles.

Modern Medicine.

My missionary memories.

My calling.

Friends.

My wonderful job. 

The prophet. 

Nieces & Nephews.

Lady.

Brett's sweet family. 

The Book of Mormon.

My health.

The temple.

...and the list exceeds just those few things.

To be honest, it's pretty overwhelming to think about all the blessings in my life. 

Recently, at work, we had a discussion and training on gratitude.

Side note: Have I ever mentioned how awesome my job is?

I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to be able to work 

at such an awesome organization that is invested in developing servant leadership.

I feel like I have grown so much in the past two years and I attribute

a lot of that growth to Vivint and the people I have had the opportunity to work with.

Anyways, so we had a training about 2 weeks ago on the power of gratitude.

We discussed and learned how as we recognize and show gratitude in our lives it changes us.

It strengthens our character.

It makes us feel more joy and happiness in our lives.

I must admit, I love the recent trend on facebook, blogs, and twitter 

where people post what they are grateful for each day of the month of November. 

It's really neat to be able to read all the things people come up with. 

As I have read the different posts (and listened to my training class)

it made me realize that in my busy life, 

I often don't slow down to take the time to think about all the things that I have.

I truly do have so many blessings in my life 

and I want to do a better job of recognizing them on a regular basis.

I was challenged to start keeping a gratitude journal.

Something to write in on a weekly basis and list out the things I am grateful for.

Brett and I decided that we wanted to start this tradition on a family.

Each Sunday night, we plan on sitting down as a family to write in our "Gratitudes".

We decided to make these journals really special.

I went out and purchased these matching journals.

I found this awesome quote about gratitude from Elder Wirthlin 

that I re-created and stuck down in the front of each of our journals.

Sitting down and writing in our "gratitudes" has really been a treat.

It's been fun to talk about and discuss the things we see in our lives as blessings.

I can honestly say that as we have documented our personal blessings,

we have found more happiness. 

Our testimonies have grown.

We have found more humility and gratitude.

Today and everyday I have so much to be grateful for. 

I am glad for this season to be able to re-focus myself and remember it.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Love, the Aitkens

YW Gratitude Goodies

I just love everything about the Thanksgiving season. 

The food. The changing colors. The food. The crisp air. Did I mention food?

Okay, okay--- while the food the food is a close second, 

I think my most favorite thing about the Thanksgiving season is the focus of gratitude.

As I started to think about this holiday season some of the things that I have been the most grateful for,

I couldn't help but think how grateful I am for the opportunities

 I have had in my life to interact with young women.

Sure sometimes it can be a little stressful,

but I would not trade my memories or experiences for anything in the world.

I was recently challenged to show my gratitude more openly towards 

the people who have had a large impact on my life. 

I decided to make these little popcorn goody bags for each of the young women with a little heart-felt note.

I think they turned out pretty cute, so feel free to use and share!

I decided to fill the bags with caramel popcorn.

I used my mom's famous recipe. Seriously--- it's to die for.

1 can sweet and condensed milk

2 cups brown sugar

1 cup butter

1 cup corn syrup

fresh popped popcorn

--------

Cook until soft stage.

Drizzle over popcorn

I found these cute little bags with a little window in them at Pebbles in my Pocket. 

I filled the bags with the caramel popcorn, added some pattern paper, twine and ribbon, 

and topped them off with a little tag I made.