we had the missionaries over the other day and were talking about object lessons. this one came up and i thought i would share.
the teacher comes in and sets down a box of ice cream and asks who wants some. (our missionary happened to volunteer and pointed out that his birthday had just past so he should get to help out with this lesson.) the teacher put some ice cream in a bowl and then asked what his volunteer's favorite sport was. basketball - ketchup on the ice cream. what's your favorite music? rock - mustard on the ice cream. hobbies, books, games, all resulted in things pepper, salt, pickles etc being put on the ice cream. the point being, the although all these things are good, and have a time and a place . . . they just don't belong on your sunday.
i love the play on words. i'm wondering if he would have gotten some chocolate for his book had he said the scriptures or something. obviously, our sunday is not the place for every other day things.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Sunday, June 9, 2013
a light in the dark
i heard an intersting comparative in church today. it was mentioned briefly to illistrate doc. & cov. 45:7
for verily I say unto you that I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the light and the life of the world - a light that shines forth in the darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not. I've been rolling this around in my head all day and it has gained more and more meaning. i have gained different points of perspective on it. it has been opening up new possibilities of object lessons all day.
i have expanded the brief idea and i'm including my few thoughts for object lessons. you could use a candle in a candle holder or a little Christmas house with a light in it.
think about a house in the middle of the darkest night. the house has lights on inside. if you open the door, the dark does not come in, instead, the light shines out. the dark can not come into the light. the light wins and penetrates the darkness every time. scientifically, darkness does not exist, it is only the absence of light.
now, compare this to God's light. satan cast himself out of the light, he is in the absence of God's light.
how about being in the world and not of it? we can shine into the light without stepping into it.
the Holy Ghost being in more than one place at a time. people in different places can see the lights in the house all at the same time, the house does not move, but the light radiates. the sun has been used to illustrate this as well. half the earth can see and feel the sun all at the same time, the sun sits still but still affects half the earth all at once. the Holy Ghost does not withdraw, we simply turn away from it.
don't think of yourself as being in the dark, but rather in an absence of light. you can change that! this is amazing missionary thought.
how about that same line of thinking just with positive thinking? there may be negative darkness all around you but you can shine positive light into it.
God's love is always extended to us. we may move away from the light, but the house and the light stay put, with an open door, waiting for us to come back inside, and into the light.
for verily I say unto you that I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the light and the life of the world - a light that shines forth in the darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not. I've been rolling this around in my head all day and it has gained more and more meaning. i have gained different points of perspective on it. it has been opening up new possibilities of object lessons all day.
i have expanded the brief idea and i'm including my few thoughts for object lessons. you could use a candle in a candle holder or a little Christmas house with a light in it.
think about a house in the middle of the darkest night. the house has lights on inside. if you open the door, the dark does not come in, instead, the light shines out. the dark can not come into the light. the light wins and penetrates the darkness every time. scientifically, darkness does not exist, it is only the absence of light.
now, compare this to God's light. satan cast himself out of the light, he is in the absence of God's light.
how about being in the world and not of it? we can shine into the light without stepping into it.
the Holy Ghost being in more than one place at a time. people in different places can see the lights in the house all at the same time, the house does not move, but the light radiates. the sun has been used to illustrate this as well. half the earth can see and feel the sun all at the same time, the sun sits still but still affects half the earth all at once. the Holy Ghost does not withdraw, we simply turn away from it.
don't think of yourself as being in the dark, but rather in an absence of light. you can change that! this is amazing missionary thought.
how about that same line of thinking just with positive thinking? there may be negative darkness all around you but you can shine positive light into it.
God's love is always extended to us. we may move away from the light, but the house and the light stay put, with an open door, waiting for us to come back inside, and into the light.
Monday, December 17, 2012
growing faith
we had a really wonderful lesson in church on sunday. i asked if i could take a picture before she took it down so i could use it for family home evening. she gave me the whole thing! score for mom's fhe lesson!
it's obviously in german so i'll translate as best as i can. i think you can figure out the gist of it with the pictures and scripture references too though. this is a great planting the garden lesson too.
our teacher started out with a quick skit where she asked a farmer what kind of crops he had. he told her a bout a wonderful crop that could be used for all sorts of things. making plastic, eating, yada, yada. . . the soy bean. Here are few references for soybean uses - north carolina soybean counsel, history and uses of the soybean, american soybean council.
obviously, the fruits of faith far exceed the uses of a soy bean but it's a great example. you could take the lesson that direction as well. what are the many "uses"or fruits of faith? peace, guidance, forgiveness, strength. lds.org faith scripture references
alma chapter 32
5 Schritte zu einem festen Glauben - 5 steps to a firm belief or faith
Maßnahme - actions, operations, things to do
27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than adesire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.
this is the flowr pot. give the gospel a place. how do you do that? by giving it time for prayer, scripture study, family home evening,
Christ's childhood
yesterday, i gave my first talk since moving to a new ward. i thought i was safe for a while more since we moved to germany and my german really stinks! not so! i was told that i was welcome to ask someone to translate for me. that was an odd experience in itself. i gave my talk one sentence at at time and then waited after each sentence for my friend to translate it. there were a few words she wasn't sure what to use but the people sitting on the stand behind us helped. anyway, i had help from friends but the thing that really inspired me was this friend magazine article from 1979.
http://www.lds.org/friend/1979/12/jesus-once-was-a-little-child?lang=eng
http://www.lds.org/friend/1979/12/jesus-once-was-a-little-child?lang=eng
When
I think of Christ and His life, I often find myself thinking about
His childhood. We don't know a lot about His childhood but it is a
special part of His story to me. It was His time to learn and
prepare. Just as our lives are our time to learn and prepare. We
are still children compared to Him. And we are His children.
In
Luke 2:40 and 52 it says “And
the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and
the grace of God was upon him.
” , “and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with
God and man.”. I would like to break this down and talk about
each part.
“And
the child grew” also from verse 52 “and Jesus increased in
stature”– as every one of us is born into mortal life, Jesus was
born to a mortal mother. He had birthdays, learned to walk and talk
and play. He ran and played and did chores. He learned from his
parents and the world around him. Being the son of a carpenter, he
learned hard work. He also learned of splinters and motes and
beams. He learned that you must be able to do something yourself
before you can teach it to someone else. He used these boyhood
lessons from Joseph’s workshop to teach the masses later in life.
He
“waxed strong in spirit” – Jesus was taught to pray and learned
the scripture stories. He also learned lessons of the spirit from
the everyday things around him. I'm sure Jesus learned from
watching his mother take care of the family and the house. He
learned the importance of leavening in the bread she made for their
family to eat. As His mother fed the family, Jesus also learned the
importance of feeding the spirit.
“and
Jesus increased in wisdom” and was “filled with wisdom” Of
course, Jesus was taught by His parents and teachers. One of the
things he must have been taught was about money. I think we all
teach our children about finances. While we may struggle to simply
balance our budgets, make good spending choices and learn the value
of working for a living, Jesus saw lessons about gifts of God or
talents, justice and mercy, and eternal perspective and rewards.
Jesus
continues to learn “and increase in wisdom” throughout His
childhood. He learned about obedience watching the sheep in the
fields. He learned about the love and care a person has for those
they serve and protect by watching the shepherds in those same
fields. He learned about stubbornness from watching the strong
willed goats that he later compares to the disobedient. I know this
analogy gained new meaning for me when we owned some goats who
refused to stay within the safety of their fences.
The
child Jesus saw spiritual meaning in the olive trees, the vineyards,
and the fishermen on the sea. He grew in wisdom because he looked
deeper than the surface of things and saw lessons in the entire world
around Him.
The
next piece of the scripture is “the grace of God was upon Him” -
the grace of God is defined as being divine help or strength in the
bible dictionary. We know that angels ministered to him in his
adulthood and protected him in his childhood. His divine grace is
available to each of us as well. God strengthened Jesus the boy, so
that He could accomplish the things He had to do as a man. Christ
now does the same for us. He strengthens us and helps us.
Sometimes we don’t recognize the help because it doesn't come in
the form of angels or thunderous miracles. We know that the Mary
and Joseph were selected especially for their mission of raising the
Son of God. So too, our families are a precious gift to us. Our
own families should be a help and strength to us. We must recognize
them as the gift from God, the support system that they are given to
us to be. We must be the great strength and support to our families
that we are meant to be. Jesus often spoke of and gave special
attention to families. He talked of the good gifts of a parent,
great joyful weddings, the receiving of the prodigal son, and
brothers working their father's fields. He raised the dead to show
mercy to grieving families. His own cousin paved the way for Him
and baptized Him. I think one of the most important things Jesus
learned as a child, was love in His family.
Lastly,
“Jesus grew in favor with God and with man” I see a boy who saw
the teachings of His Father He saw gospel principles in all the world
around Him. He was able to see how those things meant something to
the people around him as well. Thus he was able to relate to and
gain favor with God and man. Now we come to the question, “How
does this help me?”. Although I understand the sheep and goats,
and I see the value of work and money, I don't understand olive
trees, or vineyards or boats full of men throwing nets into the sea.
Jesus was kind enough to explain all of these things to us, and when
we pray, he will teach us in our understanding. But here is the
lesson that I have gained from Jesus' childhood - When we look for
the spiritual lessons in the world around us, we can learn, and
teach, and find ways to relate to God and the people around us the
way He did.
I'd
like to share a couple of examples from our family's proverbs. We
talk about faith and testimonies when we plant and care for our
garden. We talk about being prepared and following the prophets
when we preserve the food we harvest.
We
discussed the naughty goats and the safety of their fences and the
calm easily led sheep at our friend's house. When we built a small
garden wall, we talked about our family, naming things like kindness
and service, empathy and obedience with each stone we placed. We
decided that the concrete holding our family together was love.
We
talked about our cell phones and the gift of the Holy Ghost. I was
surprised at some of the wonderful comparisons our family came up
with during that lesson.
One
of the kids favorite parables involves cinnamon bites. They have
come up with several parables that go along with it's preparation and
baking in order to have them as the treat on family night. They
have become adept at finding a spiritual lesson to go along with any
treat or activity they want to do. While many of their stretching
observations have amused me, all have had merit and have been a good
spiritual lesson.
To
me, this ability to find God in all things, to be able to bring the
spirit into everything you do, to me, this is wisdom. This is what
I think of when I think of the boy Jesus playing with his friends and
siblings. Running and jumping and climbing trees. Watching sheep
and fishermen, helping his parents, and talking to his father in
Heaven. May we all see the lessons of the spirit in everything
around us. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
the broken egg
today in sunday school, we had a great object lesson, actually two about sin and atonement.
the first was the broken egg. our teacher showed us a figurine that had a broken arm. she just pulled the arm off, i would guess it had been broken before. she asked how would you fix it? of course, with glue. i think she had a glue dot on it or something sticking in it to hold it on. she then just stuck it back on and talked about how when we repent, we have to not just change our ways but do what we can to repair the damage. then she showed us and egg. she laid a towel out on the table and broke it into a bowl. now, she said, "how do we fix the egg?". uh. . . we don't. there are some things that we can't repair. she used a pregnancy as result of sin as an example. many things that violate not only God's laws but also laws of the land also have some non-repairable results. basically, there are things that have not just spiritual results but temporal as well. that means that you can't put the egg back together because you have now changed the container. the broken egg made me think, though, that it doesn't mean all is lost. i would use the egg to make cookies, for instance. a pregnancy may not be the desired result but it will be a blessing to someone. even if the baby is put up for adoption, it is a blessing to someone. some sin may lead to legal repercussions. obviously, jail time or legal fines etc were not in the game plan, but part of the repentance process and still able to take advantage of the atonement. there are a good many sins that have temporal as well as spiritual results. things are not as easy had you not sinned in the first place but it is workable. i think that is always the most important lesson. it is always workable. God can always heal the soul and you can return to His presents. nothing in the world you do can make Him love you less. nothing makes you unworthy of His love. you are God's child and He always loves you and wants you to come back to Him. ALWAYS! no matter how many eggs you've broken God provides us the other ingredients for the cookies.
this kind of brings us to the second object lesson. she held up a 20€ bill. (i'm in germany, so we have euros) she asked who wanted it. then she ripped it into 2 pieces. who wants it now? well, some people still wanted it because they know the value of it. they know that it can be turned in at the bank for a new one as long as you have both halves. (this is true in america as well.) when we sin, we tear ourselves. God knows that not only can we be repaired, but we can be made new. we can just tape ourselves together and try to carry on or we can do the work, the process of repentance. we can gather the pieces, go to the bank and have ourselves made new through the Atonement of Christ.
as an end note, i would like to stress to you how important it is focus on the Atonement. talking about avoiding sin is great and talking about the proper use of the Atonement is good as well. i just want to stress that when talking about sin, the sin part is not the point, the Atonement, being made whole through Christ, that is the important part. the Atonement is what should be stressed, God's love for us and willingness to make us whole should be stressed. never, ever, ever think that God's love is lessened, or that Christ's Atonement is too little to bring you back, or that you have lost worth in any way. God always loves you! always, forever, no matter what.
the first was the broken egg. our teacher showed us a figurine that had a broken arm. she just pulled the arm off, i would guess it had been broken before. she asked how would you fix it? of course, with glue. i think she had a glue dot on it or something sticking in it to hold it on. she then just stuck it back on and talked about how when we repent, we have to not just change our ways but do what we can to repair the damage. then she showed us and egg. she laid a towel out on the table and broke it into a bowl. now, she said, "how do we fix the egg?". uh. . . we don't. there are some things that we can't repair. she used a pregnancy as result of sin as an example. many things that violate not only God's laws but also laws of the land also have some non-repairable results. basically, there are things that have not just spiritual results but temporal as well. that means that you can't put the egg back together because you have now changed the container. the broken egg made me think, though, that it doesn't mean all is lost. i would use the egg to make cookies, for instance. a pregnancy may not be the desired result but it will be a blessing to someone. even if the baby is put up for adoption, it is a blessing to someone. some sin may lead to legal repercussions. obviously, jail time or legal fines etc were not in the game plan, but part of the repentance process and still able to take advantage of the atonement. there are a good many sins that have temporal as well as spiritual results. things are not as easy had you not sinned in the first place but it is workable. i think that is always the most important lesson. it is always workable. God can always heal the soul and you can return to His presents. nothing in the world you do can make Him love you less. nothing makes you unworthy of His love. you are God's child and He always loves you and wants you to come back to Him. ALWAYS! no matter how many eggs you've broken God provides us the other ingredients for the cookies.
this kind of brings us to the second object lesson. she held up a 20€ bill. (i'm in germany, so we have euros) she asked who wanted it. then she ripped it into 2 pieces. who wants it now? well, some people still wanted it because they know the value of it. they know that it can be turned in at the bank for a new one as long as you have both halves. (this is true in america as well.) when we sin, we tear ourselves. God knows that not only can we be repaired, but we can be made new. we can just tape ourselves together and try to carry on or we can do the work, the process of repentance. we can gather the pieces, go to the bank and have ourselves made new through the Atonement of Christ.
as an end note, i would like to stress to you how important it is focus on the Atonement. talking about avoiding sin is great and talking about the proper use of the Atonement is good as well. i just want to stress that when talking about sin, the sin part is not the point, the Atonement, being made whole through Christ, that is the important part. the Atonement is what should be stressed, God's love for us and willingness to make us whole should be stressed. never, ever, ever think that God's love is lessened, or that Christ's Atonement is too little to bring you back, or that you have lost worth in any way. God always loves you! always, forever, no matter what.
Monday, July 23, 2012
find your talent show
the words talent show always twisted my lip and snarled my nose. they always seemed like a celebration for performing arts and left everyone else out. i think people include visual arts more now, and our stake relief society had a talent showing of everything from quilts, to photography, baking, painting, beautiful children's clothing, singing, writing, basket of goods bought with coupons, anything anyone wanted to bring to show off. it was more welcoming to every sister and every talent. i don't know how i would show off my klutz talent that has blessed me with a great first-aid/emergency talent. how do you show off things like being a kind and listening person or instinctively knowing what someone needs when trouble hits? that is my sister's talent. she sees something going on and offers the right thing, things you didn't know you need but she can see it. she's amazing. how do you show that off?
i have a thought. it's rough, and needs some refining, but you can help me do that, right?
i'm writing for young women but you could do it for anyone. find your talent show. take some time and do activities with your group to help them find their talents. your also trying to find their "other" talents. i'm thinking the group could do a round of stations to learn things they don't usually do. it could be a night or a month long theme. leaders can be taking pictures. info can be gained from family . after the round robin of stations, or series of activities, the leaders put together a slide show of the girls working together. pictures of the great dancing, the encouraging, the bringing laughter, the kindness, the "other" talents that they didn't see as talents. leaders or parents can narrate the pictures and the hidden, non-artistic talents they saw during the activities or family sees at home. i think it would be a great boost for the girls and a learning experience for the leaders as well.
what do you think? i'd love to hear if you've done something similar and how it went. suggestions, advice, comments, yada, yada, yada. help a sister out
i have a thought. it's rough, and needs some refining, but you can help me do that, right?
i'm writing for young women but you could do it for anyone. find your talent show. take some time and do activities with your group to help them find their talents. your also trying to find their "other" talents. i'm thinking the group could do a round of stations to learn things they don't usually do. it could be a night or a month long theme. leaders can be taking pictures. info can be gained from family . after the round robin of stations, or series of activities, the leaders put together a slide show of the girls working together. pictures of the great dancing, the encouraging, the bringing laughter, the kindness, the "other" talents that they didn't see as talents. leaders or parents can narrate the pictures and the hidden, non-artistic talents they saw during the activities or family sees at home. i think it would be a great boost for the girls and a learning experience for the leaders as well.
what do you think? i'd love to hear if you've done something similar and how it went. suggestions, advice, comments, yada, yada, yada. help a sister out
Monday, June 4, 2012
missionary games
We have the missionaries over most every week. last
week, the kids decided they needed to come over for a game night for
family home evening. hmmm . . . games to play with the
missionaries.
here's what we came up with -
SCRIPTURE SCAVENGER HUNT
I came up with a couple versions of this game. You can make this fit any scriptures you are studying or subject you are talking about.
you could always use scriptures you're working with or the
Articles of Faith,
The Family: A Proclamation to the World,
The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles,
http://seminary.lds.org/mastery/?lang=eng
you can use 4 teams with each using the scripture mastery set from the 4 sets of works, old test., new test., book of mormon, doc. & cov. everyone can use the same set, mix it up however suits your purposes. use time limit or til each team is done or just go all together. we aren't competitive, so we don't keep score anyway. it would be a fun thing to take on a nature walk or on a car ride as well. basic scavenger hunt except you get to be creative with it.
take this scripture for example : john 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
you could find a sheep or something sheep related. - we got toy sheep taped together into one fold and we got a toy sheep with a farmer (shepard).
you could find something to represent fold, like folded clothing.
something for hearing or voice.
a shepherd or shepherds staff or a stick.
possibly a fence to keep the sheep together
the number 1.
you could get less symbolic and go with america or nephites/lamanites which is what this refers to. . . .
you get it.
it's fun to see what people come up with. if someone gets too far off, take a vote.
one of the other options is to use the scriptures as clues to where to find things/more clues.
genesis 8: 6 And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. That would lead to the window where another clue would be found.
Leviticus 25:22 22 And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store which would lead to your food storage etc.
if you've read book of mormon sleuth, it does this all the way through and has some really obscure references.
I found a quick list for a scavenger hunt if you are too lazy to look some up, (like i am) http://katscratchme2.blogspot.de/2009/04/scripture-scavenger-hunt.html
I used all but the last one and added john 10:6 from above. We got some really creative answers. It was fun to see what they came up with.
BALLOON BOUNCE
*spiritual thought - surround yourself with those who are uplifting and be uplifting to others*
we always have balloons, they are better for you than candy. everyone enjoyed batting them back and forth. there are rules, but no one really plays by them for more than a few minutes. and when you're playing with a rambunctious 2 year old, just keeping the balloon it the air is great
WHO'S THE ANIMAL?
*spiritual thought - listen closely to recognize who you're following*
To start the game, you need a person that is it. Everyone stands in the circle, except the person who is it, they stand in the middle. Put a blindfold on the person who is it. Have them say "Go" everyone runs around, not making any clue of where they are. When the person who is it says "Stop" all the people stop in the circle again. The person who is it points in a direction, saying an animal. Whoever he/she points to has to make the animal noise that they were told. Trying not to sound like themselves. The person tries to guess the person who made the noise. If he/she guesses right, the person who did the animal is it, if not you just pick someone else to be it. - Maren Jacobs from http://ldssplash.com/fhe/fhe_games/family_home_evening_games.htm
this was really fun. we got a bit off topic and started naming pokemon and other sci-fi creatures which was just more hilarious. one of the missionaries wasn't familiar with pokemon so he was totally lost but a good sport anyway.
FLOUR TOWER
*this is a great example of how satan and the world slowly cuts away at your will, truth, righteous choices etc. until your most valuable possession your eternal progression falls. through the Atonement, you can repent and rebuild your tower and again claim eternal glory*or show how the church was cut away until it fell and was taken from the earth by God. he used the same things (priesthood prophets etc = flour) to rebuild the church (tower)*
use a cup and form your flour like a sand castle. you'll have to pack it to get it to stay. . then put your plate on top of the cup and turn them over so the flour can come out on the plate. i used an old ice cream cup and put a hole in the bottom so it would release easier. clear is best so you can see if it is coming out, tapp it a bit with knife. place a penny on the top and take turns cutting chunks off of the tower with a butter or plastic knife. you have to cut from top to bottom, no chicken little chunks. the one who makes the penny fall loses. we played this a lot. the new rule we had to make is that the little blonde 2 year old curls gets to finish the tower after the penny falls and if you're holding the knife when he bumps the table making the penny fall, you lose.
SCREAMING TOES-
spiritual thought for this game – when faced with temptation, scream and run away
so much fun! Everyone gets in a circle. Look down, close your eyes, someone says, “1.2.3” and everyone opens their eyes to look at someone's toes. You look at the face of the owner of those toes and if that person is looking at you, you scream and get out of the circle. Sometimes we get an elder that is shy and doesn't really scream. We tell him he is going to outer darkness because he won't scream in the face of evil and then show him how to scream. They usually will get into it after they hear everyone else screaming like madmen. It's tons of fun! One of our elders made crazy noises while screaming. He unleashed his t-rex scream on my daughter. She laughed so hard that she just sat down to keep from falling over, (so did everyone else).
SIGNS A.K.A. NEPHITE IN THE MIDDLE
*spiritual thought - you could talk about gadianton robbers or recognizing evil, the murders around the judgment seat during pahoran's time is a great story for this game.
(one of the missionaries taught us this game and we have now passed it on to the next set of missionaries.) everyone has a sign. like a finger mustache, bunny ears, pulling your hair, scratching your chin, something with your hands. It should be something you can do quickly. one person in the middle closes their eyes and turns three times. the people around the outside start the game while "it" turns. That just gives everyone a chance to get going without “it” seeing. the first person makes their own sign and then another person's sign. that person makes their own sign to accept the turn. Then they make the sign of another person. the person in the center tries to catch the person who has the sign. so if the person has not accepted the sign yet, the person who sent it is still has it. another version is if you send "it"out of the room and everyone makes up their sign and the person in the middle tries to guess someones sign. the person whose sign they guess correctly is it. This gets crazy. You can sit or stand. It's better to stand, I think, so you can all move a little easier and see the other people.
STICK PULL
this is just a favorite game of joseph smith.
usually, two people sit opposite of each other, they grab a stick and try to pull the other person over. we didn't have stick so they just held hands. my younger two ganged up on the missionaries but it was lots of fun.
NINJA.
I failed to get spiritual thought for this one. I told the kids they could play it if they come up with something spiritual for it, didn’t but played it anyway because they all like it so much.
i don't get it cuz i'm old. but the missionaries had played before and all of my kids thought it was great. the little blonde curls didn't play by the rules, surprise surprise. bow to each other. pose like a ninja. step or attack each move. so the first steps or makes a new ninja pose that tries to hit the other person's hand. you can move your hand/arm or step back to avoid the attack. it's looks like robot ninjas and i love watching them. its hilarious!
we'll have to do this again when it's warmer and can play outside. one of the neighbors showed up and played with us. the missionaries gave a short lesson and we had treats, (of course). any other fun games? ldssplash had a lot of other fun games as well. they tried gospel says but it didn't go very far. i think the curly toddler had something to do with that.
Update-
We have now done another round of missionary monday. They did get to play the scavenger hunt outside. I gave them a positive propulsion book and a puzzle object lesson that we worked on and talked about during dinner. All worked out wonderfully again and was extremely fun! This last time we had four missionaries over instead of two. The increase in people was great.
update jan 2014
this time, we used the articles of faith for our scavenger hunt. i have to keep reminding them that they have a time limit and it is not a race. the scavenger hunt gives me time to get food started. i always have to remind them to really think out of the box and get more than one thing for each scripture. whatever is the same from the other team, doesn't count.
we learned a new game this time.
WASH THE DISHES
to play this game, you need a piece of paper and pencil. decide on an order, we just used how people were sitting around the table. the first person writes down a number and everyone in turn tries to guess it. they are told higher or lower as they go. the first person to guess the number is the washer. the next person in line writes down a number. the guessing continues until you find a new washer and the old washer becomes the drier. this rotation in and out continues with the drier going out or putting away until all the dishes are done. this was lots of fun but we had to keep everyone guessing. some of them decided they wouldn't guess very fast to keep their turn from coming up or they would just guess up and down one number at t time. stinkers. i had to implement some rules. the number had to be a whole number between 1 and 100. no fractions or decimals, no numbers like 827,340,827,350,928,309,470,374 and no negative numbers. if you have math geeks in the group, you may need to specify more rules.
http://ldssplash.com/fhe/fhe_games/family_home_evening_games.htm
here's what we came up with -
SCRIPTURE SCAVENGER HUNT
I came up with a couple versions of this game. You can make this fit any scriptures you are studying or subject you are talking about.
you could always use scriptures you're working with or the
Articles of Faith,
The Family: A Proclamation to the World,
The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles,
http://seminary.lds.org/mastery/?lang=eng
you can use 4 teams with each using the scripture mastery set from the 4 sets of works, old test., new test., book of mormon, doc. & cov. everyone can use the same set, mix it up however suits your purposes. use time limit or til each team is done or just go all together. we aren't competitive, so we don't keep score anyway. it would be a fun thing to take on a nature walk or on a car ride as well. basic scavenger hunt except you get to be creative with it.
take this scripture for example : john 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
you could find a sheep or something sheep related. - we got toy sheep taped together into one fold and we got a toy sheep with a farmer (shepard).
you could find something to represent fold, like folded clothing.
something for hearing or voice.
a shepherd or shepherds staff or a stick.
possibly a fence to keep the sheep together
the number 1.
you could get less symbolic and go with america or nephites/lamanites which is what this refers to. . . .
you get it.
it's fun to see what people come up with. if someone gets too far off, take a vote.
one of the other options is to use the scriptures as clues to where to find things/more clues.
genesis 8: 6 And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. That would lead to the window where another clue would be found.
Leviticus 25:22 22 And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store which would lead to your food storage etc.
if you've read book of mormon sleuth, it does this all the way through and has some really obscure references.
I found a quick list for a scavenger hunt if you are too lazy to look some up, (like i am) http://katscratchme2.blogspot.de/2009/04/scripture-scavenger-hunt.html
I used all but the last one and added john 10:6 from above. We got some really creative answers. It was fun to see what they came up with.
BALLOON BOUNCE
*spiritual thought - surround yourself with those who are uplifting and be uplifting to others*
we always have balloons, they are better for you than candy. everyone enjoyed batting them back and forth. there are rules, but no one really plays by them for more than a few minutes. and when you're playing with a rambunctious 2 year old, just keeping the balloon it the air is great
WHO'S THE ANIMAL?
*spiritual thought - listen closely to recognize who you're following*
To start the game, you need a person that is it. Everyone stands in the circle, except the person who is it, they stand in the middle. Put a blindfold on the person who is it. Have them say "Go" everyone runs around, not making any clue of where they are. When the person who is it says "Stop" all the people stop in the circle again. The person who is it points in a direction, saying an animal. Whoever he/she points to has to make the animal noise that they were told. Trying not to sound like themselves. The person tries to guess the person who made the noise. If he/she guesses right, the person who did the animal is it, if not you just pick someone else to be it. - Maren Jacobs from http://ldssplash.com/fhe/fhe_games/family_home_evening_games.htm
this was really fun. we got a bit off topic and started naming pokemon and other sci-fi creatures which was just more hilarious. one of the missionaries wasn't familiar with pokemon so he was totally lost but a good sport anyway.
FLOUR TOWER
*this is a great example of how satan and the world slowly cuts away at your will, truth, righteous choices etc. until your most valuable possession your eternal progression falls. through the Atonement, you can repent and rebuild your tower and again claim eternal glory*or show how the church was cut away until it fell and was taken from the earth by God. he used the same things (priesthood prophets etc = flour) to rebuild the church (tower)*
use a cup and form your flour like a sand castle. you'll have to pack it to get it to stay. . then put your plate on top of the cup and turn them over so the flour can come out on the plate. i used an old ice cream cup and put a hole in the bottom so it would release easier. clear is best so you can see if it is coming out, tapp it a bit with knife. place a penny on the top and take turns cutting chunks off of the tower with a butter or plastic knife. you have to cut from top to bottom, no chicken little chunks. the one who makes the penny fall loses. we played this a lot. the new rule we had to make is that the little blonde 2 year old curls gets to finish the tower after the penny falls and if you're holding the knife when he bumps the table making the penny fall, you lose.
SCREAMING TOES-
spiritual thought for this game – when faced with temptation, scream and run away
so much fun! Everyone gets in a circle. Look down, close your eyes, someone says, “1.2.3” and everyone opens their eyes to look at someone's toes. You look at the face of the owner of those toes and if that person is looking at you, you scream and get out of the circle. Sometimes we get an elder that is shy and doesn't really scream. We tell him he is going to outer darkness because he won't scream in the face of evil and then show him how to scream. They usually will get into it after they hear everyone else screaming like madmen. It's tons of fun! One of our elders made crazy noises while screaming. He unleashed his t-rex scream on my daughter. She laughed so hard that she just sat down to keep from falling over, (so did everyone else).
SIGNS A.K.A. NEPHITE IN THE MIDDLE
*spiritual thought - you could talk about gadianton robbers or recognizing evil, the murders around the judgment seat during pahoran's time is a great story for this game.
(one of the missionaries taught us this game and we have now passed it on to the next set of missionaries.) everyone has a sign. like a finger mustache, bunny ears, pulling your hair, scratching your chin, something with your hands. It should be something you can do quickly. one person in the middle closes their eyes and turns three times. the people around the outside start the game while "it" turns. That just gives everyone a chance to get going without “it” seeing. the first person makes their own sign and then another person's sign. that person makes their own sign to accept the turn. Then they make the sign of another person. the person in the center tries to catch the person who has the sign. so if the person has not accepted the sign yet, the person who sent it is still has it. another version is if you send "it"out of the room and everyone makes up their sign and the person in the middle tries to guess someones sign. the person whose sign they guess correctly is it. This gets crazy. You can sit or stand. It's better to stand, I think, so you can all move a little easier and see the other people.
STICK PULL
this is just a favorite game of joseph smith.
usually, two people sit opposite of each other, they grab a stick and try to pull the other person over. we didn't have stick so they just held hands. my younger two ganged up on the missionaries but it was lots of fun.
NINJA.
I failed to get spiritual thought for this one. I told the kids they could play it if they come up with something spiritual for it, didn’t but played it anyway because they all like it so much.
i don't get it cuz i'm old. but the missionaries had played before and all of my kids thought it was great. the little blonde curls didn't play by the rules, surprise surprise. bow to each other. pose like a ninja. step or attack each move. so the first steps or makes a new ninja pose that tries to hit the other person's hand. you can move your hand/arm or step back to avoid the attack. it's looks like robot ninjas and i love watching them. its hilarious!
we'll have to do this again when it's warmer and can play outside. one of the neighbors showed up and played with us. the missionaries gave a short lesson and we had treats, (of course). any other fun games? ldssplash had a lot of other fun games as well. they tried gospel says but it didn't go very far. i think the curly toddler had something to do with that.
Update-
We have now done another round of missionary monday. They did get to play the scavenger hunt outside. I gave them a positive propulsion book and a puzzle object lesson that we worked on and talked about during dinner. All worked out wonderfully again and was extremely fun! This last time we had four missionaries over instead of two. The increase in people was great.
update jan 2014
this time, we used the articles of faith for our scavenger hunt. i have to keep reminding them that they have a time limit and it is not a race. the scavenger hunt gives me time to get food started. i always have to remind them to really think out of the box and get more than one thing for each scripture. whatever is the same from the other team, doesn't count.
we learned a new game this time.
WASH THE DISHES
to play this game, you need a piece of paper and pencil. decide on an order, we just used how people were sitting around the table. the first person writes down a number and everyone in turn tries to guess it. they are told higher or lower as they go. the first person to guess the number is the washer. the next person in line writes down a number. the guessing continues until you find a new washer and the old washer becomes the drier. this rotation in and out continues with the drier going out or putting away until all the dishes are done. this was lots of fun but we had to keep everyone guessing. some of them decided they wouldn't guess very fast to keep their turn from coming up or they would just guess up and down one number at t time. stinkers. i had to implement some rules. the number had to be a whole number between 1 and 100. no fractions or decimals, no numbers like 827,340,827,350,928,309,470,374 and no negative numbers. if you have math geeks in the group, you may need to specify more rules.
http://ldssplash.com/fhe/fhe_games/family_home_evening_games.htm
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