As I was planning for camp, I wanted to give each girl a personalized gift that was partly from their parents, but I decided to do something different than a "parent letter". I remember as a parent that letters were sometimes difficult to write (and as a leader difficult to collect). And hearing from other YW leaders - some parents would write really meaningful letters, and some parents ... well, not so much. Plus I was concerned I wouldn't get a letter back for each girl due to some families that were not as active.
So, as an alternative to a parent letter, I decided to ask each mom or dad for 4-5 positive adjectives to describe their daughter. I originally sent a link to a google form - but after only getting 1/3 back -- I just individually texted the rest. I loved how most parents responded quickly.
I then took those 4-5 adjectives and made custom & unique monogram bookmarks for each Young Woman going to camp. Every bookmark was different (intentionally). I printed them at home on my printer on cardstock, laminated them (rounded the corners) and hole punched the top. I used 3 strands of yarn and tied that through the hole to add a little extra to it.
Ironically, the message the stake leaders shared before we had ward time that night fit perfect into the short message I wanted to share - that each girl is unique and that God made us all that way - we all have our own strengths that are different from each other and that we should avoid comparing or being jealous of a talent or strength of another. And that God loves us for US.
:) Michelle Bell
Comments