Mission Week

Last week in seminary was Mission Week. When the kids walked in first thing Monday morning I handed them each an envelope - delivery straight from Salt Lake, I told them - addressed to "Elder..." or "Sister..." and their last name.

Office of the First Presidency

October 11, 2010

Dear Elder ----

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Indonesia Jakarta Mission. It is anticipated that you will serve for a period of two years.

You should report to the Missionary Training Center in Indio, California on October 11, 2010, where you will learn the qualities that you need to qualify for the work.

You have been recommended as one worthy to represent the Lord as a minister of the restored gospel. You will be the official representative of the Church. As such, you will be expected to maintain the highest standards of conduct and appearance by keeping the commandments, living mission rules, and following the council of your mission president.

You will also be expected to devote all your time and attention to serving the Lord, leaving behind all other personal affairs. As you do these things, the Lord will bless you and you will become an effective advocate and messenger of the truth. We place in you our confidence and pray that the Lord will help you meet your responsibilities.

The Lord will reward the goodness in your life. Greater blessings and more happiness than you have yet experienced await you as you humbly and prayerfully serve the Lord in this labor of love among his children.

We have included your boarding pass for your flight to the MTC via Zion Airways. We ask that you pack lightly – bring only your scriptures, your basket, and your desire to serve the Lord.

Sincerely,

Then I signed it "Thomas S. Monson." Yes, I forged the prophet's signature. Is that wrong?

I had a large map of the world and everyone came up and tried to find their mission on the map. I picked missions from all over the world and every continent: Tahiti, Jamaica, Japan, Ghana, Sweden, Brazil... They were pretty excited about their mission calls.

Included with their mission calls were boarding passes for the airplane flight to the MTC. We all went to the classroom next door which had been transformed into the cabin of a jetliner, complete with oval windows, crowded leg room, reading materials (Ensigns & New Eras), and barf bags. It was a really small room, so they were packed in there real tight - just like a real airplane.

I took their tickets as they boarded then introduced myself as the flight attendant, and introduced the pilot as the Lord Jesus Christ and the navigator as the Holy Ghost. I warned them that there would be turbulence along the way, but to remember the extraordinary safety record of the pilot, and that there would be no need to worry.

Then I went over the "flight safty information" with them - Section 4 of the D&C, until it was time for arrival at MTC airport.

When we disembarked and went back to our classroom, it was now the MTC. They were each given a name tag that they had to wear all week during our class, and were each given a companion that they had to sit with all week.

I also gave them each a list of Mission Week activities - missionary type things that they could do all week to earn points:

1 You must stay at least arm’s length from anyone of the opposite sex for the entire week. – 500 pts.

2. Study the scriptures at least 10 minutes a day. – 100pts/day

3. Dress as a missionary. – 100pts./day

4. Cook a meal for your family at least once this week. - 175 pts.

5. Memorize at least 3 scripture mastery scriptures. - 300pts. Each

6. Every day but “P” day (Monday) carry your scriptures with you to school. - 100pts/day

7. Get up by 5:30 and to bed by 10:30 every day. - 50pts./day

8. Write to a missionary - 50pts/letter

9. Send a missionary a care package - 200pts/package

10. Start your mission fund by putting $20 into an account. - 150 pts.

11. No movies or TV all week - 100pts./day

12. Do your own laundry - 100pts

13. Learn to sew a button – 100pts.

14. Do some research on the country and mission you have been called to. – 200pts.

15. Learn to say “Hello” in the language of your mission. - 100 pts.

16. Learn to say “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” in the language of your mission. 300pts

17. Bring up some part of the gospel with a non-member in conversation - 300pts

18. Bear your testimony. - 300pts

19. Invite a non-member or less active member to a church, seminary, or a youth activity. - 1000pts.

20. Memorize D&C Section 4 – 1500 pts.

21. Give a Book of Mormon to a non-member - 1500pts.

They really had fun with this, and almost everyone participated in earning points. Keeping arm's distance from the opposite sex proved to be a real stress factor for some, but they sure tried. Many of them took it very seriously. Especially Alex. That kid is extremely goal motivated. He did everything, even gave a Book of Mormon away to a neighbor. He memorized scriptures, learned to sew on a button, did laundry, and made meals. I was very, very impressed at how hard he worked to be like a missionary! I'm so glad I have my own kid in my class.

In a week Alex earned over 11,000 points! I thought for sure he had it made to easily win the contest. But surprisingly I was wrong. Another student, Ramiro, had 74,000 points!!! Our entire class goal was 50,000 all together! He single handedly met our goal. I brought him in front of the class to ask how he had done it. His answer: he had gone tracting all day with the missionaries! Awesome. I asked him how he felt after all the missionary work. he said, "tired." Yea, I bet.

What a great experience it was for him and for all the kids who tried to be missionaries for a week.

Of course besides their working on their Missionary points at home, we also made it a special week in class as well. On Tuesday we had a guest speaker - Bryce McRae who had just returned home from his mission to Uganda and Ethiopia. His presentation was really wonderful and the kids were really interested in everything he had to say and asked some great questions.

We also had our local missionaries come in and talk about their experiences and gave the kids ideas on the best way to start preparing for their missions now.

We also studied several sections of the D&C that were mission calls for various people.

On Friday, we concluded the week with a really fun activity. I told them that as missionaries, it is very important to learn to work with your companion, so we played a game where they had to do various things a missionary has to do to get ready each morning: button a button, tie a shoe, tie a tie, put on a bike helmet, and make a PB sandwich and put it into a zipper bag. The catch was that the companions had to work together - one could only use their left hand, and the other one could only use the right hand.

Two companionships raced at a time and were timed.

It was frankly hilarious! Trying to put a sandwich in a baggie with two single hands is very hard, tying a shoe is suddenly not second nature, and tying a tie? Forget about it.

It was really fun to watch and everyone had a great time. I realized that their times got faster and faster as the class went on because the kids were watching and learning what worked best.

There was a LOT of laughing going on, as well as some pretty amazing teamwork.

Mission week was a great success! I really got kids thinking about serving missions and really stressed the importance of starting their preparations now. I think I will have to have do this every year.

Now we have to plan a party for the class, since we exceeded our point goal, and give special awards to our high point earners.

I love teaching seminary!

Guess What I'm Up To Now?

So, I have finally done it. I'm goin' pro!

Yep. I have decided to start a small photography biz - Attic Window Photography. Lots of people have asked, and I have realized that the only way I can support my rather pricy photography hobby (cha-ching) and justify all the hours I spend taking and editing photos, is to start charging. I'm trying to keep the price pretty affordable. There is just no other way I can keep pursuing my passion.

Come take a peek at my NEW BLOG http://atticwindowphotography.blogspot.com/. It is still a work in progress, but I just couldn't keep it under wraps any longer. Just click on my albums on the right hand side to see all my pics.

Let me know if you need family photos for Christmas cards, senior photos, baby photos, engagement photos, even photos of you business or products.

And please pass my name along to your friends.

I'm excited! Hope you are too.

An Invitation from the Witch Herself!

I have just posted my Halloween decorations - the Witch's Lair - on my creative blog, Out of the Attic. They are better than ever. Come take a peak,

if you dare!!!

http://atticgals.blogspot.com/2010/10/witchs-lair-dead-ahead.html

Buried Treasure!

Last week in seminary we were learning about how Joseph Smith received the golden plates. I wanted to do something memorable that would catch their attention. So at the beginning of class I told them that we were going to have a "visualization" exercise. I told them to close their eyes and imagine that they were Joseph Smith, they were 17 years old, and have been dealing with persecution for three whole years now. I turned of the lights (but only after they promised that they would not fall asleep) and the did the visualization exercise. But while their eyes were closed, Bro. Jones, dressed all in white, slipped in the back door of the room and stood on a chair in front of them. I shined a bright light on him as he called Joseph by name and said he was the Angel Moroni. He quoted some of what Moroni said on that first visit to Joseph, and the told them that the ancient record was buried, not in the Hill Cumorah, but near the East entrance of this building, under a stone near a tree. Then he disappeared out the back door again.

It worked! I really got their attention. It was so great!

They all wanted to go find the plates that the angel had told them about so we all headed out into the beautiful early morning. It was just daybreak and the sky was ablaze! (Oh the things you miss when you are in a classroom every morning!)

Following the directions the angel gave, they found the plates. I had come very early with a shovel and large piece of flagstone and dug a hole, wrapped the plates in fabric, put them in the hole, and covered it with the stone.

My freshmen class!

My parents had made the plates years ago when Mom was a seminary teacher. They worked out great.

It was definitely a memorable was to teach about this very exciting part of church history. The kids all told me that I should do this kind of stuff every day. That would be nice, but this took a lot of planning, and when you have to teach every day that is hard to do. But once in a while it is fun a do something special like this. (Next week I have something pretty cool planned! Can't wait. Hope it is just as successful.)

Thanks to Bro. Jones for doing this for me!

Teaching seminary is a whole lot of work, but oh so rewarding! I LOVE it.

Happy 100th BSA!

Boy Scouts of America was founded in 1910, and this year they are celebrating 100 years. To celebrate, our BSA council here is SoCal had a huge celebration, a camp out and party for the whole family. It was held at the Glen Helen regional Park in San Bernardino, and there was an estimated 5000 scouts and their families there! What I liked is that we camped on the grass (no dirt!) and that the boys bathrooms were terribly crowded but there was no waiting in the girls' bathroom. When does that ever happen? The boys actually went with their troop, so it was fun for me to tag along and see what exactly they do on a scout camp out. OK, so I was the only female in our group, but that is the story of my life, isn't it?

The next morning we started our day at the opening ceremonies. There were a LOT of people there!
For part of the ceremony they had 100 cub and boys scouts march in with 100 flags in honor of the 100 years of scouting. It was pretty cool.

The first order of business for the day was the marbles tournament. Now, this was not just any old marbles tournament, this was a world record marbles tournament. They were attempting to break the Guinness world record for the most number of contestants in a marbles tournament. The previous record was 600+ people, but today their goal was 900 players! OF course the kids were all excited to be a part of setting world record!

In fact that morning, Derek announced that if he ended up winning the tournament, we would HAVE TO buy the Guinness World Record book. I told him that if he actually won and his mane was in the book, then of course I would get it for him, but I also told him not to get his hopes up with 900 contestants his chances of winning were slim. Good old Derek. Always dreaming.

So they all participated; 300 kids at a time, for to a "table."

By 10am it was already pretty warm, but that was easily fixed for Dennis, Luke and I with snow cones while the guys sweated over their marble matches. Hey, not all of us can break world records.
Caleb and Derek had to wait a few rounds before they had to play again, so we decided to check out some of the fun going on, like this traveling wild animal exhibit. The kids thought it was cool to get up close and personal to some real (albeit dead and stuffed) animals.

There was also a petting zoo with some live, however, not wild, animals.

There was also a traveling Boy Scout museum which had some really cool stuff from scouting around the world.

They let the kids touch the stuff, which surprised me, but that also made it much more fun.

There were also several race cars and vintage cars on display.

Finally it was time for the next round of marbles. Caleb got out, but Derek hung in there and won!

Then they were down to only 20 players. Again, Derek won the round, putting him in the top 5! This is where things got serious. They needed eight people to play in the quarter finals, so they picked up 3 more from those who lost the last round, then we all headed over to a special gaming area set up for the championships on real tables.

At this level of competition, the games are played one on one on special game tables. Derek easily beat his competition in the quarterfinal round, but then in the semi-finals, after a very close game (they were both down to their last marble, Derek lost.) So close! So Derek ended up coming in 3rd place out of over 800 participants. Of course, the part he liked best was that they gave him some marble game stuff as a prize.

And, of course, I promised him that we would buy him the Guinness book anyway.

I was completely shocked that Derek did so well. I didn't even know that he even knew how to play marbles! When I told him how surprised I was he said, "Mom, I did get the marbles belt loop, you know." Yeah, but so did probably half the kids there.

Derek is just one great kid.

Because Derek took so long with the marbles tournament, he missed our time slot at the water park there, so while all the boys were swimming, Derek and I did a bunch of other activities and games that were there. He learned about nature, played games like team maze, and built structures with mini marshmallows an uncooked spaghetti.

There were so many activities to do there that I would not be surprised if they had 100 activities to celebrate 100 years. There was canoeing, swimming, shooting, archery, rock climbing, obstacle courses, and every kind of game you can think of! The National Guard was there with their vehicles and such. You name it, and you could do it here. The best part about it was that everything was open to everybody, scouts, parents, siblings. They had a special, limited edition leather patch that you could get if you participated in several different activities. Caleb was so excited because he earned 3 different patches that day, and he isn't even a scout yet.

Th
There was even a recruiting tent for the Continental Army. A few of my boys signed over two years of their life to Washington's Army, in return for a twenty dollar note signed by George Washington himself. We wish them well.

A favorite activity for the whole troop was the trebuchet range. A trebuchet is kinda like a catapult. The boys were taught how to use it, and were told that if they could knock over a water bottle set about 30 feet away, then they would be in a drawing to keep one of those trebuchets. They all worked together for a long time trying to get it. They never did. I think they needed Derek's luck.

Derek finally made it over, but he only got to try a few times before it was closing time. I'm sure with a bit more time he would have done it. Oh well.

We all had a great time. I'm glad I got to come and spend a bit of time with my boys and share a bit in some of the great stuff they get to do in scouts, stuff that they might never otherwise get to try.

Happy 100th BSA!

A Fair Affair

On Labor Day we decided to take a trip to the LA County Fair in Pomona. We had heard that admission was only $1 each that day. We had heard that it is quite an affair, so we had to check it out for ourselves! Let me just say, it was awesome! It blew our own Date Festival, and even the Del Mar Fair, which we both really enjoy, out of the water!

It is huge and there is so much to do! It seemed more like a state than a county fair.

The first thing that we saw there was quite unexpected. We saw the "Our Body" exhibit which featured real human bodies. At first it is pretty creepy, but after you get past that thought, it is absolutely fascinating! What amazing creations our bodies are!

Of course, there were less morbid things to do there as well.

We made a visit to the junior arts building. It was a medieval theme and there was a ton of stuff for the kids to do there.

Like dress up like knights.

There was a pretend farm where the kids could pick some veggies...

And a medieval kitchen where they could cook their meals.

And the ones who didn't eat their veggies got sent to the stocks.

They also got to climb Repunzel's hair.

Actually, the "tower" was horizontal for picture taking. Pretty funny.

Nate had only one thing he wanted from a day a the fair - a turkey leg! So we gave him his wish. Everybody crowded around to tear it apart like a flock of buzzards. Not me. It reminded me too much of the body exhibit we had just seen. No thanks.

The fair has all kinds of fun areas. One of my favorite was the Heritage Village where the kids got to step back in time and do and see many traditional trades and crafts, like panning for gold, watching a blacksmith work,

and carding, spinning, and weaving wool.

One lady handmade these little animals from her sheep's wool. I thought they were so cute, and couldn't leave without buying that sweet little lamb with the purple bow who was just begging me to take him home to put in my Easter sheep collection.

There was also a little house set up for the kids to try their hand a quilting on a real vintage quilt. They loved this and I had to drag them away!

Another shop made homemade soaps, and at another you could watch broom maker make brooms. Dennis was so impressed that he bought this little whisk broom.

The boys helped make a really fun rad rug. I wanted to take that home!

There was also a tiny little school house.

We watched a traveling medicine man show. He was filthy and gross, and when he asked Luke to come up and help, I cringed. I had to remind myself that it was only a costume. He was a little too convincing.

He claimed he was a rain maker, and he needed Luke to help him make rain by wearing this feather-covered jacket and top hat while banging an Indian drum and doing a rain dance. He was pretty darn cute up there! But a few times when he was doing his dance with his face covered, he almost shuffled off the front of the stage. The folks on the front row almost had a heart attack when they jumped up to stop him from falling off.

He was so cute!

It couldn't be a fair without cinnamon rolls! These had blueberry topping.

One of the coolest exhibits was a huge building full of life-size animated dinosaurs. It was really cool!

They moved and roared, and the kids loved it!

They even made it look like a dinosaur had broken through a window and escaped with broken glass, rubble, and yellow caution tape. You could see the dinosaurs just outside. Pretty funny.

At the end of the exhibit we saw a real paleontologist do an educational show about dinosaurs. it was actually very interesting. I learned a lot.

Another area that really captured the boys' attention was the Pirate area. We saw some pirate acrobats do some incredible things high up in the air. They got to play with cannons and lock themselves in a pirate jail.

Nathan even found himself a nice wench.

A beautiful day!

Derek about died when we walked into one of the commercial buildings and there were about 30 smashed penny machines! Derek has been collecting smashed pennies for a quite a while now and has quite a collection already. But this was like hitting pay dirt! Thirty retired machines from all over the West. He was literally jumping up and down and giggling he was so giddy!
We all got busy pressing pennies for Derek until we got them all!

Pennies from heaven!!!

There circus area was also fun.

Photo ops galore!

Then came the Gypsy Camp

where was was a very interesting and informational reptile show. I learned a lot and the kids got to touch a bunch of snakes and an alligator, which of course, the boys thought was great!

Dylan got it into his head that he wanted to ride a bull. He actually did a pretty great job. He kept holding on, so the guy kept making the bull go faster. He gathered quite a crowd of onlookers.

Buy the time we were done, we were so tired of walking. I felt like my legs were going to fall off at the hip! Caleb had been bagging all day to use one of these foot massagers, and finally we let him have his chance. I was so jealous!

What a great fair! We had done so much and there was still a bunch of stuff we never got to. We are definitely going to have to do this fair again!