Does anyone know what the YW medallion is made of? Gold plated? Etc. Do you know if the YW has to pay for it or does the ward cover the cost?

I have the old one with the woman on it instead of the temple, I earned it as an adult leader. There is a 100M imprinted on the back, whatever that means. I did not pay for mine and when I was YW pres. the cost for all the YW jewelry came out of our budget, the girl did not pay for it. I don't know what the newer medallion is made of, but the cost should still come out of the ward budget.

They're cheap. Gold plated. I just looked at the church's online store, and interestingly, it didn't have any Personal Progress medallions in the YW section. It had the manuals and bookmarks and necklace chains, but no medallions.

It did, however, have the YW logo pendant which every girl is supposed to get when she enters the program. To the best of my recollection, it's about the same quality as the PP medallions, and it's listed at only $3 retail. I don't know if ward leaders get a discount at the distribution center or not.

This is from the list of YW materials.

*Young Womanhood Recognition Medallion Awarded when a young woman completes Personal Progress. - Gold-Tone Medallion (with chain), item 08602 ($10.00 each) - Silver-Tone Medallion (with chain), item 08603 ($10.00 each)

Mine looked golden and had a woman on it. The young women's president gave it to me we didn't have to pay for it. Looking back I think the Young Women's President paid for it herself because we were a tiny branch with many people on government welfare.

I came across mine recently buried in a box of old stuff. I almost threw it away. I probably should have. Back when I earned mine I had the feeling I was going to have to pay for it, but I said something to someone and the ward ended up footing the bill. I was the only one in my Laurel class to earn one. I may have been the first in the ward to earn one. My super spiritual friend didn't get hers. I think that's pretty funny. She was always much more TBM than I was and she couldn't do it. It wasn't hard to complete the requirements. The program was new, and I believe we only had to do one or two years of it.

Me, the only one of several girls in my class with the drive to complete the thing and I'm the one that figured out the cult later on. I would have made a much better President in Beehives, Miamaids, or Laurels, but they always passed me over for the "spiritual giants". My Bishop basically apologized to me about that. Said I should have been the president at least once. I'm not bragging. The spiritual giant was terrible about gettign anything done. I'm a procrastinator but she was ten times worse! :-)

Didn't mean to go off like that..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/30/2013 01:49AM by formermollymormon.

Actually, I always thought the program's emphasis on setting goals in different areas started a good habit (and was much better than the constant harping on temple marriage). I was given mine free after completing the first 6 years of the program. It's the one thing in TSCC I wanted to share with my daughters - but we decided after the temple discussions started at age 12 that we couldn't take going. Makes sense they switched the design to a temple (gagging sounds).

The woman who designed a lot of the program and that early medallion (with a young woman on it)was in my ward. She died just a few weeks ago. I have some bitter unresolved feelings about the LDS church but was sad to hear of her passing. She was very sweet.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/30/2013 03:27AM by vh65.

The thing about starting the habit of setting and reaching goals, the Girl Scouts does that too, only better. Because the goals are actually meaningful, teach an important lesson, and the girls grow up to find those skills they learned useful. Unlike the YW program, where I can't think of a single craft or activity that we did that I find useful in my adult life. Most of it was mindless busywork.

vh65 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Actually, I always thought the program's emphasis
> on setting goals in different areas started a good
> habit...

Yes, because we all know that the *only* way to teach girls (or anyone else) that setting and working to achieve goals is useful is to wrap that one little nugget of "wisdom" in a huge pile of dishonest, proven-false superstitious nonsense...

Oh, wait, no it's not. You can just teach your kids the value of setting and working towards goals. And be a good example.
How about that :)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/22/2014 04:19PM by ificouldhietokolob.

vh65 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Actually, I always thought the program's emphasis
> on setting goals in different areas started a good
> habit (and was much better than the constant
> harping on temple marriage). I was given mine
> free after completing the first 6 years of the
> program. It's the one thing in TSCC I wanted to
> share with my daughters - but we decided after the
> temple discussions started at age 12 that we
> couldn't take going. Makes sense they switched the
> design to a temple (gagging sounds).
>
> The woman who designed a lot of the program and
> that early medallion (with a young woman on it)was
> in my ward. She died just a few weeks ago. I have
> some bitter unresolved feelings about the LDS
> church but was sad to hear of her passing. She
> was very sweet.

Are you in Bountiful?

At 12, I was called to the pulpit to receive the torch necklace. It was somewhat like the profile of a woman's face composed from the flames of the torch.

I liked that necklace. It was one of the first pieces of jewelry I received and it felt good to be recognized for coming of age.

Fast forward to when I was 17, had completed each years value focused goals, and earned the YW medallion. Mine was goldish and had the young woman in a flowing dress image (I think).

I had brothers in Scouts who had earned their Eagles at the Court of Honor. I never liked the YW medallion because all the hype and the big recognition evening felt like a shallow copy of what my brothers achieved.

I never wore that necklace after the first Sunday. I really hope my leaders didn't have to pay for it out of their own pockets.

I earned mine and cherished it for a few years. Then I lost it and was really disappointed. I found a project online where this woman collects them and sends them to you for free. You only have to pay for shipping and let her know which one you want and in what color. So I "ordered" a new one through her.

Fast forward to earlier this year. I found my original medallion but I threw it and the new one in the trash (I knew they weren't worth anything) along with a bunch of other Mormon things. I know it could be considered a waste, but for me, it was good therapy.

Mine looked like cheap trash. I threw it away. What a worthless bit of rubbish to give to a girl who spent all those years earning it. It's an insult.

I didn't like to wear it at church because it looked rubbish, and because I thought you weren't supposed to brag about your achievements. There's no way I would have worn it outside - I got laughed at when I was little for wearing a cheap CTR ring.

I earned the medallion with the girl in the flowing dress when I was a leader. They changed the medallion to the SLC temple spires and my youngest daughter liked the one with the girl on it much better. I told her she could have mine if she earned her medallion. Most of the girls I worked with were not happy with the new medallion, they liked the young girl in the flowing dress much better.

Does anybody know about the old ones with the flowing-dress girl? Were those also cheap gold-plated crap?

I got mine in the 80s and it was stolen in a house robbery a few years later. Burglar dumped out my jewelry box and took only my class ring and the stupid YW medallion. Neither, to my knowledge, was worth much, if anything at all.

This is the mormon church we're talking about here. Of course they're all cheap crap.

When I was in YW it was the girl in the flowing dress. Years of setting goals like reading scriptures or making a quilt for some ugly necklace? No thanks. I never bothered even trying.

I think the idea of goal setting is a good one, but the goals are stupid (read chapters XXX in BOM and write down your testimony in your journal).

Haha...went and looked in an old jewelry box and not only do I still have the "gold" girl in the flowing dress medallion, I have a YW-MIA Camp medallion, a couple of cheap adjustable CTR rings (one still in its original plastic packaging...my youngest refused to open it and wear it when he was given it at his baptism, lol),several Nauvoo horseshoe nail rings (one for every member of the family!), and hubby's "LDS" tie tack from his mission.

I'd be happy to take the medallion off your hands.

We are going to find out how much the YW medallions from the late 70s are worth. My wife has a couple of gold rings she doesn't want any more so we are going to sell the rings and throw in the medallion. It really means a lot to her now - NOT

I was raised in a Protestant home and wanted to be very TBM.
When my daughter was 14, I bought the flowing dress medallion, so it must have been inexpensive.
I gave it to her then and told her be inspired and work towards her Young Womens goals.

I think the ward gave her one when she completed the program at 17, but she was very happy over the one I gave her at 14. I doubt if she still has either one.

It never occurred to me how it was 'costume' jewelry and not of good quality.

My DeMolay Pin I received from the DeMolays had real pearls and rubies, but they were the size of (*)! Very tiny. It's a real pin with an attempt of something precious in it!

This is a shot in the dark. Looking for a multi color young women torch pendant and a medallion with the girl in the dress. I need one of each and I don't want to pay the highway robbery they are asking on ebay when I know they don't cost what is being asked. Let me know if anyone is wanting to get rid of theirs. Thanks.

I was so burnt out on church at the ripe old age of 17 that my leaders filled out my personal progress book, signed off on it and bought my medallion. I didn't earn it or want it, but it sits in my drawer and I'll be damned if someone who thinks it means something "special" will EVER get ahold of it.

in the 1960s. I also have my seminary graduation pin and the camp medallion. They are in my, believe it or not, cedar chest. Don't hear about those much anymore.

I was a leader in YW in the late 1980s when they started the "new" program. They didn't even have the manuals or goal books yet. What I found stupid is most of the goals they could set, most of the 23 Beehives I was over did these things every day. Then I was supposed to set these goals with them. I would just go through the questions and ask if they ever babysat their younger siblings and then I'd sign it off, or if they fixed dinner for the family ever, etc. I thought the goals were more like chores. It thought they could have done a much better job of coming up with things for these girls to strive for.

it's interesting that they changed the design to a temple, yesterday at work someone was mentioning, "those Mormons that worship those temple buildings"

wearing jewelry and posting pics of the temple all over the place certainly seems like worshipping the building doesnt it??

I refused mine and said I didn't need a necklace to remind myself to be a good person.

Kimball wrote the forward in the manual. Our choices were:
Marry in the temple (housewife, mother)
Last and only choice: teach and help raise the children of others.

No, and No.

The absurd notion that it is equal to eagle scout... No news photo of YW crappy necklace/awards? Just like "motherhood is equal to the priesthood." Oh, they have fatherhood also?

They put a temple on it? Ugh.

I didn't officially go through the program to earn the YW medallion. I was so busy with extra curricular activities I hardly had time for any thing else. I was lucky to even make it to YW activities. I felt a twinge of regret when my friends received their medallions. I don't think any of them actually wore it, though. I guess I really didn't miss out on anything.

After I got mine, the only time I ever wore it was to church on Sunday and even then not every Sunday.

I would appreciate as complete a list as possible of all the recognition and awards a girl might get as she grows up and moves into RS, starting with Primary. Suppose a girl was very hard-working and conscientious and got everything possible in her Ward, starting with Primary. Can anybody provide me with such a list?

Thanks.

From what I remember, girls receive their "Faith in God" award when they graduate from Primary at 12. They are supposed to complete all of the goals in the "Faith in God" book from ages 8-12. I believe it's just a certificate.

There's a certificate when a girl advances from Beehives, Mia Maids and Laurels. I think there used to be a little charm when girls advanced from class to class too, but I can't remember exactly and I'm not sure they do that anymore.

The big award for girls is the "Young Woman Recognition" award that a girl can complete while in the YW program from age 12-18. She gets a necklace for completing all the personal progress goals. There are also small awards (like a bookmark?) when a girl completes all the goals in a certain value in the personal progress book.

There's also an "Honor Bee" award that a girl can receive after she's completed personal progress and chooses to complete extra goals.

It seems like the church is always changing its programs. So, my information might not be totally accurate. I remember when I was a Merry Miss in Primary and there was a bracelet that you earned for memorizing scriptures or something like that. You got a little pretend stone to put in the bracelet for each scripture you memorized. They discontinued the program while I was two stones shy of a completing the bracelet. I always hated that partially finished bracelet.

This link might give better info:

https://www.lds.org/young-women/personal-progress/overview-for-parents-and-leaders?lang=eng



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/2015 10:49PM by want2bx.

Thanks. That, and the link, is a big help.

I never wore any of my medallions. I hated them. IMHO, I barely earned them anyway, aside from my Beehive Medallion. The Mutual president at the time wouldn't let me have it, even though I had earned it because I was going to an important family function, & decided to skip out on their medallion ceremony. I was 13 1/2 at the time, & this was under the new program. After that incident, I didn't work towards on any of the medallions or anything in the work book for over 4 years, even though I was still going to Mutual. (Anything to get out of the house for a few hours.) Then when I was a senior in high school, & transitioning out of Laurels, my aunt was the Mutual president, & she had me hurry up & "earn" everything I hadn't yet.

I still have a lot of anger & resentment over the way I was treated by Mutual leaders during that time.

(For those that don't know, I'm a closeted gay & asexual transman.)