The Purse Parable Activity

We themed our activity on Elder Cook's "Purse Parable".

"When I was recently assigned to a conference in the Mission Viejo California Stake, I was touched by an account of their four-stake New Year’s Eve youth dance. Following the dance a purse was found with no outside identification. I share with you part of what Sister Monica Sedgwick, the Young Women president in the Laguna Niguel Stake, recorded:

“We didn’t want to pry; this was someone’s personal stuff! So we gingerly opened it and grabbed the first thing that was on top—hopefully, it would identify her. It did . . . but in another way—it was a For the Strength of Youthpamphlet. . . . Wow! This told us something about her. Then, we reached in for the next item, a little notebook. . . . Surely this would give us answers. But not the kind we were expecting. The first page . . . was a list of favorite scriptures. . . . There were five more pages of carefully written scriptures and personal notes.”

The sisters immediately wanted to meet this stalwart young woman. They returned to that purse to identify its owner. They pulled out some breath mints, soap, lotion, and a brush. I loved their comments: “Oh, good things come out of her mouth; she has clean and soft hands; and she takes care of herself.”

They eagerly awaited the next treasure. Out came a clever little homemade coin purse made from a cardboard juice carton, and there was some money in a zippered pocket. They exclaimed, “Ahh, she’s creative and prepared!” They felt like little children on Christmas morning. What they pulled out next surprised them even more—a recipe for Black Forest chocolate cake, and a note to make the cake for a friend’s birthday. They almost screamed, “She’s a homemaker! Thoughtful and service-minded.” Then, yes, finally, some identification. The youth leaders said they felt greatly blessed “to observe the quiet example of a young lady living the gospel.”

This account illustrates the commitment of our young women to Church standards. It is also an example of caring, interested, dedicated Young Women leaders all over the world." April 2011 General Conference

2:41The Lost Purse

1. We started the evening watching the video made of The Purse Parable and the had a short spiritual thought on letting our light shine so others can see our love for the Savior.

2. We gave everyone 30 minutes to participate, at their leisure, in 4 different stations that went with the parable. The idea was for time to talk and do the activity/activities that they wanted.

    Station 1- "She's stalwart" this table had a patriarchal blessing worksheet. Most took this to do at home.
    Station 2- "good things come out of her mouth; she has clean and soft hands; and she takes care of herself" was a mini spa. We had lip scrub, hand scrub and lotions, nail remover and polish and file. (The women who did this made a trip to the bathroom together. I could hear them talking and laughing through the door)
    Station 3- "She creative and Prepared" was 2 crafts to choose from. We provided pebble art supplies and a Mothers Day nugget sleeve. I had a jar on the table that said $1 per craft and the sisters stuck in a dollar if they wanted to do the craft.
    Station 4- "She's thoughtful and service minded" was a service project.

3. We gathered back together and played a few purse themed games and had prizes (purse themed). There are lots of ideas on Pinterest.

4. For refreshment, we had Blackforest Cake like Elder Cook mentions in the talk.

Flyers: We made purses from a template on Pinterest and put the information about the activity inside.
Decor: Lots of fun purses.

I forgot to take photos that night.

I printed the station themes 8x11 and placed them on frames on the tables with the activity.

Flyer and purse template.

Pebble art. I provided a foam back and a mat ($1) and went beachcombing for pebbles and sticks. 

I brought a pebble art I had done and also printed examples from the internet for more ideas.

I bought the wrappers on Etsy and printed them off at home. I bought the pretzel bags and Hersery nuggets ($1). This was the more popular craft.

It was an enjoyable activity. I did it for Relief Society but it could totally be adapted for Young Women or Activity Day.

Candyland Relief Society Activity

Strengthening Families & Friendships by expressing love

-Candyland Theme

Lessons and Activities

Plan 15 minutes for each section.

1. Queen Frostine loves cold desserts and ice skating on Snowflake Lake. Although she loves frosty treats her heart is warm and kind. She represents that “What Matters Most” in life is not being made of ice but telling people that you care.

*Watch "What Matters Most" Mormon Message from Pres. Monson

*Make a small gift to give to someone to show love.

(plastic shovels and candy in a clear bag with an "I dig You" tag (like the one from Visit thingshomespun.blogspot.comthingshomespun.blogspot.com)
*Thought 

2. Jolly is the official greeter of the Gumdrop Mountains. It's his job to both greet visitors to the mountains and mine gumdrops from the mountains. Mining and climbing mountains is hard work. Gumdrop Mountain represent that relationships are not easy, we must work on them if we expect them to thrive and survive.

*Thought from a woman who hikes. Comparing the work of hiking to relationships.

*Demo on communication using building blocks

3. Lord Licorice is the main antagonist. He tries to turn everything in Candy Land into licorice. He represents not being the villain in a relationship- but being kind and forgiving.

*Seven minute thought including Pollyanna's movie quote "If you look for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will". Pres Uchtdorf's talk "Stop It".

*Game- 2 teams. Each have pens and different color post it notes. One women stands at the front. The teams have to focus on her good qualities, write one down on a post it, run and post it on the woman somewhere. They cannot repeat words and you can run post it notes to stick on the sister only one per person at a time. The team with the most post it notes stuck on the women at the end of 1.5 minutes wins.

When we focus on the good in others it covers up everything else.

4.Things can get a little nutty around Candy Land, and nowhere better than at Peanut Acres. Here lives Gramma Nutt. She represents the importance of being a little nutty and having fun together.

*Play a group game. Our sister in charge chose candy themed BINGO since we have lots of elderly. Then they didn't have to move.

5. Gloppy is The friendly monster who you meet in the chocolate swamp. He is one huge blob of chocolate. 

Enjoy visiting him after the prayer. (Chocolate dessert)

We put our chocolate desserts in the "swamp"

The Family Proclamation~ Activity Day

We focused on the family for this activity. The requirement is to make a list of ways you can strengthen and bring happiness to your family. Of course we need to do more then make list!

This is the girls worksheet to fulfill the requirement.

Unity game one:

The girls were given some paper plates, piece of wood and some foam squares. (I wish I had cool stuff like step stools and stumps but I don't) They had to start at one end of the gym and make their way to the other side with out touching the gym floor. If they touched the floor they had to start over. On the way across they had to pick up papers with words from the proclamation: work, fun, respect, compassion, etc. They can't do this on their own, they have to work together. They did great. 

After they made it we talked about how the activity related to families and the words they picked up. They talked about helping each other, being kind when we make mistakes, etc. The girls were very insightful. 

Unity game 2 focused on the marriage relationship. I wanted the girls to think about being equal partners, how being kind to each other made it more fun and easier to accomplish the task. Here's what they did:
1. 2 girls shared one shirt and had one arm each to use.
2. They had to wrap a gift together. I gave them paper, tape, scissors and a book to wrap.

We talked about how they related the game to marriage and family.
This activity opened there eyes to how much work is required to make a marriage or any relationship work. 

My 18 year old helped out as my 2nd adult and helped out with this activity since I had an odd number of girls.

Last, we made a cookie mix in a jar and talked about what they can do to "CHIP" in and help their families be successful. I found the cute tag and proclamation on pinterest at etsy and Visit alexamariezurcher.comalexamariezurcher.com.

I didn't take a photo of the flyer but I gave them a chocolate chip cookie with a tag that read, "Families are Forever- Do your part and "chip" in" with the date and time.

Turkey Craft

I always plan a little craft Thanksgiving for all my little family. This year I am having them make a name card to hold their spot at the dinner table. Instead of "gobble" they'll write their name. Just paper cut outs for the base and feathers. I used sticker foam paper for the nose. The legs are pipe cleaner. The body is a Ferrero Rocher candy. Delicious and practical!

candy bar poster for coach

A card to go with the coaches gift.

Hey Coach!
We want to take 5 seconds for the coaches quote of the day. A great coach will have a good and plenty amount of advice from digs are lifesavers, don't let balls slip though your butterfingers, to don't fall to pieces when we have a sour patch. We have had mounds of fun when the serving is hot and the spikes are extra awesome.

Service Manger

I don't know who first came up with this idea but I love it! Grab some old wood and make a little baby Jesus manger to help your family focus on Christ at Christmas. I have a little bag of raffia and overtime the kids serve others they get to add a straw to baby Jesus bed. The goal is to make it comfy in time for His birth Christmas day.

Fun gift for friends and cute craft for youth groups.

Scripture Hero- Learn & Live the Gospel

When it was time to start I gave the girls a pillowcase of sheets and clips and told them to use anything in the room and make a tent in the wilderness that they could all fit in. They had 8 minutes to do it. One side had to be open so they could see me and the other leader though. Then we had song and prayer.

The girls took turns talking about their favorite scripture hero and how they can follow their examples and have faith in Jesus Christ.

I gave the girls the scripture hero page to fill out as the flyer. The girls filled out the page and came prepared to share.

After sharing it was time for some games. Before games I would have the girls share their thoughts.

Example: Our next activity involves armor. Tell me thoughts or events in the scriptures involving armor. How can we use this knowledge to help us now?

The girls were always insightful and I loved hearing their testimonies.

Activity 1- Use the 2 rolls of foil (dollar store) and make armor.

Activity 2- We then taught about how the examples of hero in the scriptures can be a blessing. I divided the girls in 2 groups and gave them envelopes with the pictures (I cut off the words on the pictures describing the events) and captions. The girls raced to match the correct picture and caption.

 Activity 3- We talked about boats in the scriptures and then raced our paper boats using only a straw to blow through.