Halloween Carnival!

 This past weekend we had a congregation Halloween celebration. Lady Hiva and her presidency were in charge of the event so we have all been preparing for the last few weeks. That included painting some murals. She painted some and I painted some. We used these as backdrops for the event. 

The final effect was AMAZING! 

We had plenty of people willing to pitch in and show their talents. We had good food and amazing activities. After everyone ate, each group had a game for the children to play (sadly, I was so busy I did not get photos of all those rooms. There was a Harry Potter room where they played a version of plinko/pong, used chopsticks to pick up "dragon eggs" (skittles), and had to keep a balloon afloat with a wand. Other rooms included nerf gun shooting ghost balloons like Ghostbusters, walking the plank of sharks, cornhole and many others. 

After the games, we went outside in the parking lot for a trunk-or-treat. 

It was a great day! Everyone left full...and the kids were all hopped up on candy! LOTS and LOTS of candy. I am glad we had the experience! Lady Hiva may make me a fan of Halloween yet! 

A Youth Fireside Beside The Fire's Side

 

I was invited to be a guest speaker at a youth fireside for a Stake (a large collection of church congregations) in Newcastle, UT. I love to be with the youth and to share stories, so of course I agreed to do it. 

The topic they were focusing on was Personal Revelation. I was gearing up for the event, I was excited to find out that we were going to be out in the mountains! That means I could wear jeans instead of a suit. 

Lady Hiva could not make it all the way down so I was able to talk Ginger into joining me. We had fun driving down to Newcastle, then making our way into the "hills" to the chosen camp site. We saw country that neither one of us had seen before. 

As with all small towns it did not take long before Ginger was able to find connections to people that she knew. One of her best friends' grandsons...a fellow farmer...you can name it, she was connected in some way to so many. 

It was fun to have a fireside chat (a term coined by President Roosevelt during the war now used as a way to refer to a time to gather and hear a speaker) by an actual fire. This is a tradition that this area had done for 52 years! I was shocked at how many people came to join us. 

As always, I hope that the stories that I shared helped someone. The food was delicious, the people were even more amazing. 

It was a special day. I felt honored to be invited. The Young Leaders of the world have so much potential! Makes me happy about all they can offer the world.