French Polynesian Teenager Celebrates 150th Anniversary of Church’s Young Women Organisation 

This year marks 150 years of the Young Women organisation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

The worldwide youth organisation’s purpose is to “help young women build their faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, understand their identities as daughters of God, obey God’s commandments and feel and recognize His guidance in their lives.” 

To mark the sesquicentennial, leaders encouraged young women around the world this year to think of an activity they could do related to the number “150.”

Jenny Lilloux, of French Polynesia, set her sights high and came up with several. 

She set a goal of reading the Doctrine and Covenants again, and to “really search the scriptures.”   

She wanted to extract one truth, one doctrine, and one commitment from each verse. So far, Jenny has studied 170 verses in this way.   

For example, for the verse in Doctrine and Covenants 9: 8–9: 

“The doctrine that I took from it is about the Holy Ghost and its influence. The truth that struck my mind is that if I want to receive a revelation from the Lord, I must be one with Him. And finally, the commitment that I set for myself is to be consistent in my efforts to keep the commandments of the Lord, and to strive to always be in unison with him.” 

Jenny’s second goal is to play the violin as well as she plays the piano. 

She started playing the piano at age four, and now at only 17, she is serving as a pianist in her ward (congregation) and in the choir of her stake.   

Playing the piano is her passion. “I am shy, and music is my way to express my love to Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ,” she says.  

During the lockdown, she played the piano on Sundays with family and friends singing along. She shared videos of her music on Facebook, praying that her melodies would inspire people in need of solace, uplift them spirituality, and unite families.   

“At the piano, is my best place to Hear Him,” Jenny says. 

Three years ago, she began learning the violin.    

Now Since 5 April 2020, she has set the goal to practice every day for one hour to improve her playing, and to be able to accompany the choir on the violin during sacrament meetings, concerts, and firesides. 

“I recently had the opportunity to play the violin during a Church concert, and as of 15 September 2020, I have a total of 147 hours of rehearsing.” 

Jenny’s third goal is indexing 100 names per week on the FamilySearch.org website. This involves viewing an image of a genealogical record (e.g. birth, death or marriage certificate) and transcribing the information into a format so it can be shared more easily with people around the world.   

“I must do it every day no matter how long it takes, to reach 100 names at the end of the week. I chose indexing as one of my #My150 projects, because reconnecting with my ancestors is paramount to me.” 

“I testify that God blesses each of us if we trust Him and pay the price. God has given me talents so that I can be of service to my Church. The scriptures allow me to know His will and increase in faith, knowledge and wisdom. I have a testimony of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I love my Heavenly Father; I love his Son Jesus Christ. Without Them I would not be here today.” 

Young Women around the world are invited to join the Young Women General Presidency at a worldwide Face to Face event on November 15, 2020. 

Young Women General President, Bonnie H. Cordon, said, “I hope you will join us as we celebrate 150 years of Young Women, as we add our names to the long and glorious list of young women committed to follow our Savior, Jesus Christ.”