Fear Factor FHE Pictures/Videos

Click on the pictures to view them larger. Enjoy! FYI, not all the videos and pictures are here, but they will be in a slideshow I'm working on, I promise!

Catch Up

This past Sunday (October 21, 2012), we had an excellent ward prayer!  As I walked in, I noticed that it was unusually loud which is a great sign that people are socializing!  (I love it when that happens).  We were introduced first to the new co-chair of ward prayer and then edified by a wonderful spiritual thought.

We were asked first to close our eyes imagine ourselves in complete comfort.  I pictured myself on my couch at home with the fire on and surrounded by a fleece blanket.  Then we were to imagine a knock at the door.  Would we get up to get it or just say "come in!?"  Then we were asked to imagine the exact opposite.  We were going through a really hard trial or in a lot of pain when again that knock came to the door.  Would we go get it?  In both instances, we didn't know that the knob was broken on the other side.

I knew where he was going and was really struck by the image.  When are lives are perfectly blissful, do we ignore the knocks of our Savior?  Do make any effort to let Him into our lives?  When we are in pain, are we more concerned with comforting ourselves and not willing to get up and let the Savior take care of us?

I was very moved by this thought and became more determined to get off of that couch!  We all need the Savior in our lives and He is more than willing to be apart of them.  What can we do to let Him in?

Now for FHE!

I will admit, I was pretty concerned.  I am not one to jump on any opportunity of a Fear Factor. But!  It rocked!!

We split up into teams, chose team names, and then volunteered/nominated for different activities listed on the board.  These activities were quite mysterious so none of us really knew what we were in for.  I know we have some excellent pictures!  I hope they can tell the rest of the story :)  Needless to say, we had a blast watching our ward family members do some pretty crazy things!
 

Road Kill Dinner

Tonight the Relief Society sisters served dinner to the Elders Quorum because the elders won the Book of Mormon challenge. I'm not sure what that all entailed because it happened before I moved into the ward, but serving the dinner was still fun.

Brittney kindly presented the menu

The girls hitchhiked and scraped up the food

The boys ate it and didn't die... at least not all of them

 

Nancy explains how she made the dessert

Homemade and all natural goodness

And there were a few surprises...

Break the Fast 10/14/12

Every fast Sunday we have dinner together. There is always good food and good people there. I love it because it's been a really great way to get to know new people and have some "family time" with my ward family. Even though I've only been in this ward for a month, it already is feeling like family to me. Considering my family is in CA, that is saying something. This week we were small in numbers because of a leadership meeting, but most of the time there are a lot of people there and we have a great time.

FHE 10/15/2012

So!  FHE rocks.  There is a week set apart each month for our ward to split into groups for family home evening.  However, since I have moved in, the group nights have been combined :)  I love our ward!  We just can't be split apart!

We had a wonderful devotional with a spiritual thought on missionary work!  

After the spiritual thought we divided into groups and played all sorts of board games!  LIFE was an adventure :)    *What did you play?   

*Feel free to answer these questions in the comments!

(Pictures coming soon!)

FHE Game Night Pictures

Here are the pictures Kiana promised:

On the Mount

Conference Fall 2012

This last weekend was a great one!  We were able to hear the words of the Lord through His servants!
Some members of our ward thought it would be a great idea to share these ideas.

From FB:

'Hey everyone! I think it would be cool if everyone posted something that stood out to you in conference. This is what stood out to me: Walter F. Gonzalez talked about seeking to learn essential truth with our hearts. From his words I learned that satan is very skilled at making us afraid to feel. People sin and then he makes us ashamed and then he presents things to us that will make us numb. And then we get caught in that numbness until the very moment we repent. Satan wants us to be afraid to feel because we cannot learn truth with undoubted surety without feelings and emotions.'  -DB

'Elder Holland' -CW

'Holland "The crowning characteristic of love is loyarly."  If we truly love God, we'll prove our loyalty by keeping His commandments.  We can't quit.  We can't go back.' -DW


Also, for FHE last night the ward hiked to the Y on the mountain where we had a lovely devotional and everyone had an opportunity to share what they learned from conference.  It was a beautiful view and there was a great unity there!  Some of the topics brought up include:

-Serving others: this ward is a great place to serve others and to be served.
-Love God
-God has a plan for everyone, and each trial we go through helps us to accomplish all He has in store
-Prayer works!
-The Spirit can be felt in nature

Great night!

Logistics

Wards around the world are all organized the same, teach the same lessons, and have the same callings.  However, Young Single Adult wards are a little bit different.  As many people in the YSA ward are living on their own, this ward is made to be like a family.  Each Sunday we have ward prayer, each Monday we have family home evening, and on Fast Sundays we have a meal.

Ward Prayer
-This is another one of those activities that surprised me.  I have been in wards that have done "ward prayer" in the past, but they was nothing like this.  The 215th ward begins with a song then spotlights two members of the ward.  The rest of the ward asks these "spotlights" questions until they feel like they know them all sufficiently.  Then they end with a prayer in which we pray for specific members of the ward.  We feel of the love of our Heavenly Father for these individuals and are more aware of their needs.

Family Home Evening
-For some members this is the social event of the week!  An activity is planned by an awesome group of members, carried out, and usually closes with refreshments. These activities range from toilet paper dodge ball to bonfires and service projects to hiking.

Break the Fast
-Yummy food!  Also, more socializing.

This blog will mostly cover the ward's growth and influence through these three activities.

Coming Soon: SPIRITUAL PUSH-UPS

Intro

It was a miracle that we found the church house in the first place.  Nestled very nicely in the middle of a terribly designed neighborhood so that a road in may not be a road out, the chapel was appropriately dubbed "the Hidden Chapel."

My roommate and I walked in hesitantly because we were here for a singles ward and the parking lot was full of mini vans with car seats.  This was my first week in Provo and her first week at a singles ward ever!  I knew we were in for a treat :)

We sat down as the choir was finishing up a pre-performance practice and breathed sighs of relief, now sure that this was the right place.  I looked around obviously scoping as I have been well trained to do in a singles ward.  So far nothing was too different that my singles ward back home although I noted a lot of differences from my wards in Rexburg--this was the first student ward I had ever gone to that didn't require men to be clean shaven, and I will admit it took me by surprise more than I thought.
Anyway, normal people dressed in normal clothes, all seeming to be good friends, I knew this would be great.  And then the meeting started.

Brother P was conducting and I could not believe my ears, we were fifteen minutes into the meeting before we even sang the opening song!  He was cracking jokes and teaching us what an "audible" was.  He may just have been the most entertaining "ad libber" I had ever met :)

When the speakers finally began their talks I was struck with the Spirit.  They spoke directly too me.  The bishopric had asked them to speak on change and although that may seem like a topic that is covered often, I never needed it more.  I felt Heavenly Father reach down through me and tell me that this was going to be ok and that I was in the right place.  In fact, I believe both speakers mentioned "each of us has a reason to be in this ward."

That theme didn't end with the benediction.  As all new members are, AK and I were invited to a "New Member Meeting."  This is always held after sacrament meeting in the place of Sunday school.  I was very impressed and grateful for the interest that the bishopric seemed to have in meeting my friend and I and already I felt like an important person, not to be overlooked.  The meeting began with an introduction of the bishopric, current members of the ward, and then all the new people.  After introductions the bishop asked some of the current members of the ward to tell us about the ward.

"This ward changed my life."  "I have never been in a ward like this."  "I have never grown so much in a ward."  "When I first moved in, I didn't like it, and then I started to do what the bishop asked and it changed my life."

If you, reader, are at all confused you can imagine how I felt, skeptical in the first place having moved from my Utopia Rexburg to Provo.  Were they telling the truth?  Could this ward really be that good?  It didn't take long for me to find out at least part of the answer.

"We call them SPIRITUAL PUSH-UPS" someone said as we all received two papers.  On the front page there was a list of 7 tasks specifically assigned by our bishop, the spiritual push-ups, and on the back had a page from Preach My Gospel on which one could analyze his or her Christlike Attributes.  The last page, both sides, was a page for us to set and record the progress of specific goals we were to make.

There was no doubt about it, this bishop meant business.  If I moved to Provo for nothing else, I knew it was to be in this ward where progression was expected.  This ward was not okay with mediocrity but was motivated and busy trying to become better.  I felt the truth of his words when the bishop spoke "There is a specific reason that each of you is in this ward, at this time."