My name is JanaLe Henderson and I'm fairly new to the Women's Services team as a photographer. I recently was able to travel around Europe visiting some of the wonders of the world. As I was out traveling I took our most famous BEAUTIFUL tees and had women young and old hold them up and talk to me about what they thought was the true definition of beauty. From the USA to South Africa, London, Serbia, etc... the word "Beautiful" was a word everyone understood.
To start, these two beautiful girl were 18 years old and from Serbia. In the very first settlement of Rome, I found that they were just like any other teenagers using their beloved iPhone's to capture their travels. When I asked what "Beautiful" meant to them they said a good outfit and feeling well about yourself. Their English wasn't great but they knew what beautiful was and what it meant to them.
Second: These two hilarious women happened to be next to their husbands as I asked if they would help me by holding up the shirts for a picture. Instead of asking these women what they thought of when they thought of the word beautiful, I asked their lovely husbands. With his South African accent the one took ahold of his wife and said, "This pretty lady right here." Too cute. The other said, "Well, if I say anything different I'm afraid she'd be mad. But she is the most beautiful." The women laughed and said as they grew older they viewed beautiful as many different things, their kids, grandkids, a good hair day, and family.
Next: These two shy ladies were from the U.K. just outside of London. I think they thought of me as crazy when I just randomly walked up to them handed them shirts, asked them questions, and took pictures. When I asked them what they thought of when they heard the word beautiful they looked at each other and laughed a little, then the one said to me, "I feel most beautiful when I am around people who love me." I couldn't agree more. Throughout this journey I realized that though we were from different sides of the planet, I related to all these women in one way or another.
Lastly: These two girls are from the USA. Feeling relieved that I could actually speak english and understand what they were saying back to me, it was easy to have a conversation. They are also the two girls I traveled with which helped so much when I needed models. ;) I informed them during our trip what the Beautiful campaign was all about and told them to really think about what was beautiful to them. As we traveled around Europe we all came to the conclusion that though these historical sites are incredible and definitely wonders of the world, there really is nothing like a beautiful temple. We had the opportunity to attend church and though we didn't have any luggage the feeling of peace we had while we were in that meeting of 20 was indeed beautiful.
No matter where you are, or where you come from, beautiful is a word everyone understands. For me it's a nice bowl of ice cream, a favorite outfit, a day with my mom, but most importantly it's knowing that I am a daughter of a Heavenly King who loves me and is always there for me. That is truly beautiful.
-JanaLe ADSENSE HERE