Dec - Sisterhood - Serving with Love, Loving to Serve

My name is LeAnn D.  I am from the Regal Country Ward.  I am married to Larry and we have 6 wonderful kids, 2 grand kids and a beautiful Brazilian daughter-in-law.  My calling is a Young Women leader at the Weber Valley Detention Center in Roy, where I have served for 4 1/2 years, and absolutely love it.  There are 16 leaders from 12 different stakes and we meet every Sunday at 10:30 with the youth for a church meeting where we teach lessons out of the primary manual, and again every Wednesday at 7:00 for an activity.  It is challenging because we are very limited to what we can take in, but so rewarding - in part because there are no cell phones or outside distractions and the youth are usually pretty humble at this point.  We see youth from all different backgrounds, religions, and race.  Many of them face challenges of gangs, and drugs, but there is nothing more rewarding than seeing a big, tough gang member with tears streaming down his face after receiving a priesthood blessing, or seeing a leader of a gang get up and sing "I Am A Child of God" in front of his peers.  Another rewarding time was hearing that one of our girls who got out, wanted to hear more about the church.  Her mom was not very supportive, so the girl would take her dog for a walk and go to church.  She was later baptized.  

One of our favorite activities is the "Pie and Tie” that we do each year the day before Thanksgiving.  Many of you are familiar with this, as you have donated fleece for the youth there to tie so that it can be given to an organization in need, such as Primary Children’s Hospital or a shelter.  Many of the youth there have spent most of their lives just trying to survive and haven't had the opportunity to do service. This year we received over 350 blankets that the youth will spend hours tying for those in need, and they always love doing it. 

If there's one thing I've learned, it is to never judge.  I absolutely love the youth there, and just want to take them all home and be their Mom and give them the love they need.  I know I can't do that, so I will just make the most of every minute I have with them and pray that I can somehow help make a difference in their lives.