"Purse"nal Progress!

So I have to share with you my latest Personal Progress lesson that I had to give on Sunday. I really want to share this one because I had a lot of fun with it, and the girls actually responded when I gave them their hand outs...I felt really special afterwards!
The whole inspiration came from this:

I found a tutorial on how to make these purses and just had to use them for a handout in some way. And that is when it hit me, "Purse"nal Progress! I decided to base my thought around D&C 27:15-18 which talks about putting on the whole Armor of God and adding to the ensemble a purse. The girls loved it (they are all pretty girlie and I love feeding off of that)! I told them the purpose of the Personal Progress program was to develop and strengthen the talents and abilities that they, individually, are blessed with from their Heavenly Father. I talked about how if you look in someones purse, they have tools in there that help them to survive the day. I than pulled out a purse of my own and said that this purse was my most favorite purse because inside of it are tools that I gained from doing my Personal Progress when I was a teenager that help me to choose the right and be a good disciple of Christ. Here are some of the things I had in my purse:

1.Faith: my old scriptures that I used all through high school, college and my mission. They are falling apart now and are held together by a hair band but I could never get rid of these scriptures, I cherish every word printed and hand written inside!

2.Divine Nature: A Temple Bunny that my Mom made for my sisters and I for Christmas one year. It was to always remind us to have a desire to enter the temple and to always be worthy to enter the temple!

3.Individual Worth: I brought in an apron that I made and showed the girls that through Personal Progress and YW activities, I learned the basics of sewing and it was because of those basics that I am able to sew other things today...like aprons! Whether they thought my apron was cool or not, I love that I can make aprons and love wearing my aprons!

4.Knowledge: I showed them my diplomas from high school and from ASU. The Personal Progress program encourages learning and getting an education and because of that (and because of my family) I felt the need and had a desire to get and finish my education.

5.Choice and Accountability: I showed them my check book. I explained that there is an experience that they can do for this value where they have to budget their money and learn the importance of managing their finances. I explained that I chose not to ever learn this at a younger age and now, I am being held accountable for it because I am the worst when it comes to budgeting and finances. If I would have taken the three weeks time that was required of me for P.P., I probably wouldn't be learning the hard way now.

6.Good Works: My purse was actually my object for this value. This bag I bought while I was in China and it reminds me of all the experiences and memories I have! Because of P.P., the church and my parents, I was taught to look for opportunities to serve and I took one such opportunity by going to China and will cherish that experience forever!

7. Integrity: I showed a picture of my family. It is because of my family, and especially my parents, that I know what I need to do to make good choices and to honest in all that I do. That doesn't mean that I have always done that, but I at least know how and it is because of them!

I then let the girls know that NOW is the time to get their "Purse"nal Progress done so that they can have a purse of their own to add to their Armor so that they can become the person their Heavenly Father wants them to be and return to live with their Heavenly Father again some day.
Than I have each of them a little paper purse that had a little piece of chocolate (I couldn't think of anything else to put inside) with a little note attached that said, "Are you doing your "Purse"nal Progress?"
So in case any of you are struggling with ideas on how to motivate you girls to do their P.P., use this! I don't konw if it motivated them, but it would have helped me at their age!