The Great Experiment

Well, last night was our big Enrichment (the first I was in charge of) and we had a great turnout! We had 50 out of our 95 ladies attend and, unfortunately as many other Enrichment counselors know, that is pretty good.
"The Great Experiment" is a month-long "spiritual strength-training" program that my Enrichment Leader experienced in another ward and we implemented in our ward. We split our ward up into 7 groups with one leader per group. Each leader was responsible for making a weekly contact with each person in the group as motivation to continue in the program.
The program had four parts: personal prayer, daily scripture study, journal writing, and following the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Each of the seven leaders hand delivered a packet to the ladies in her group. The packet had a welcome/introduction letter and a great talk by Bonnie D. Parkin on "Personal Ministry." http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=11599 The talk was to motivate the sisters to listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. We also included a "bling bling" bookmark (that could not be overlooked) for a reminder to read the scriptures and a small journal (my Enrichment Leader handmade them) that would fit in a scripture case. The last thing we included was a sample-size mascara tube from Mary Kay. This was used as a reminder that before you put on your "temporal eyes" (mascara) we should have personal prayer with the Lord and use our spiritual eyes.
During the month we also delivered another talk, this one by Sheri L. Dew entitled, "Awake, Arise, and Come Unto Christ". She gave this talk at this year's Women's Conference and of course it was powerful and exactly what we needed to hear. http://ce.byu.edu/cw/womensconference/archive/transcripts.cfm
Last night we met as individual groups at our Leader's house for a light dinner and talked about how our month had gone. We finished the night by meeting at the Church for dessert and our Relief Society President bore her testimony.
I was so excited by what I witnessed. Women from all different walks of life were able to experience small but noticeable changes in their lives. Some said they were better wives and mothers this month. Others said they noticed more trials but were also better prepared to deal with those trials. Most said they didn't have any grand experience, but small, daily opportunities to bless someone else's life. I realized as I listened to these very different women that I had seen very similar things. This past month, although very difficult as we lost Willy and I have been trying to do what I could for Peggy, has been exactly what I needed. I have been a better mother and been very blessed with patience as Scott has been working late, long hours. I have been able to help Peggy in small ways, which is a great blessing to me, too. I have done things I didn't know I could do and I am so grateful for this timing of this "Great Experiment". We were also so happy to have General Conference come right as our month-long program was ending. I loved Conference and was so excited to hear the messages of unity and harmony in our homes and wards. I recommend this worthwhile program to all the women of the Church.