Successful Activities

I was a Family Home Evening group leader this semester for church, which meant I was responsible for organizing some sort of spiritual enlightenment and activity once a week for a group of people I go to church with.

There were a couple of things we did that went well, so I'm going to share them.

Creating

I think one of the biggest worries of people my age is what to do with your life. So, one week, we started by reading a few quotes from this amazing talk about finding your life's calling.

Then we watched a video that my sister Emmy posted on her blog awhile back. A "Mormon Message" about creating. Because that's what we're doing. Even homework is creating, and creating is divine.

Then, for the activity, we sculpted ice cream. (Do you see a theme?) For the treat, we ate ice cream, but not the same ice cream that was sculpted.

We bought ice cream in cartons, so you can just peel away the carton, and then bring out the figure within it (with spoons, knives, and other kitchen implements). The theme was Disney characters.

This is Lumière (Beauty and the Beast)

This was supposed to be Simba, but the way it turned out, we decided it could be a character from Brother Bear.
Mater, from Cars. (Sideways--sorry about that.)

Bridge

I learned a few things during this past General Conference. One of them was that we just need to keep being consistent and doing the little things. Another was a story told in Neil L. Andersen's talk. He talked about how we need to not get offended about little things. He told a story about how Parley P. Pratt had been offended when he was doing what was right but was "judged unfairly." When it happened, Joseph Smith told him, "Parley...walk such things under your feet...[and] God Almighty shall be with you."

That phrase stuck with me: Walk such things under your feet.

So, for a family home evening lesson, I passed out a little piece of scrap paper to each person, and a sticky note to each person. I found the whole Parley P. Pratt story in his autobiography posted online, and read bits of it.

Then, I asked each person to write a challenge to faith. I told them it could be a personal challenge, an offense, a commandment, whatever had challenged their faith. And that no one was going to read these.

I then asked them to take the sticky note and write on it one thing they learned in General Conference that we should do. This might be following the prophet, praying, reading the scriptures, etc. (And that we would be reading these)

I had set two chairs facing each other, and told them that this was our "bridge of faith." I asked them to crumple their scrap paper and throw it under the "bridge," and then stick their sticky note on the bridge. We talked about how doing things to develop faith--the things they had learned to do at General Conference--can help you overcome the things that challenge your faith. To "walk them under your feet."

And then I asked if anyone wanted to cross the bridge. A few of the guys did it.

"Um, excuse me..."

So I biked to school this morning. I always bike to school, on the eBike that I got from my cousin (thanks to my parents). I had just got onto lower campus and was going up a hill to get to my class.

I was also running late, and was trying to go quickly. Another bike came up beside me, and the girl riding said something to me. I was listening to my iPod, so I couldn't quite here her. (I assumed it was a comment about my bike, since a surprising number of strangers ask me about it. In fact, that's the only thing people talk to me about while I'm riding a bike.)

I took out an earphone, and what she was saying was, "Did you know there's a bra hanging off your backpack?" The answer to this question was obviously no (in fact, I just about ran into her at this point). I stopped, took off my backpack, and--sure enough--there it was, hanging from a bottle of water I had in one of the water bottle holders.

Yep.

I tried to replay in my mind the people I had gone past. I couldn't remember passing anyone I recognized--besides the nice Jehovah's Witness man who stands at the entrance to campus and passes out copies of The Watchtower most mornings. I tried to think of where it all broke down. What was the fatal decisive moment? Was it buying a bottle of water the other day (I had felt guilty for that, plastic bottles ruining the earth and all). Was it not putting all of my laundry away last night? Was it getting up to late to not be in a hurry this morning? The implications of what would have happened--possibilities of riding through campus with a bra hanging off my backpack, of walking into class with it--also went through my mind.

And so I want to emphasize my gratitude to that girl on the bike, who saved a bit of my dignity. She instilled in me a resolve to tell people the things they don't realize, whether they have food in their teeth or toilet paper stuck to their shoe. I, in turn, urge you to do the same.

The awkward people of the world will thank you.