Stand and Shine Magazine Winter 2014 | Page 13

This is Eliza! She is a Laurel who lives in Utah, who likes reading and debating. She also loves Personal Progress so much that she created a website called 12 Weeks of Progress to help Young Women in need of organizing or finishing up their Personal Progress. Here’s what Eliza has to say about it: How has Personal Progress blessed your life? I started Young Women’s about the same time that Virtue was added as a value. When I was still a Beehive, I was surrounded by all this excitement because the Personal Progress program was being revitalized. I started the program energized by this excitement, and I soon knew that it was worth being excited about. I was able to learn practical skills and make eternal commitments. I have developed daily habits that have blessed my life, and I’ve gained a lot more confidence in myself as a member of the Church, my family, and my community. The Spirit is very strong in this program, and I’ve been blessed to watch my younger sister complete it alongside me as well. The opportunities that Personal Progress provided for me as I started out middle school have benefitted me all throughout high school, and I am so grateful for it. What made you create “12 Weeks of Progress” and it’s website? I completed Personal Progress fairy early, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I really felt like I had learned and grown, and I loved it so much that I decided to do it all again. As I went through the second time, I noticed that I was working on the same habits a few times, or reading the same scripture twice. That isn’t to say that there were redundancies, just that there was repetition. I also looked around at the other girls in my ward and saw some of them struggling to finish on time. As I thought about it, I realized that I 13