Saturday May 28, 2016

Friday night the 27th the YSA had a ball at the Sunset Stake Center.  We arrived at 8:00 p.m. and they had it decorated very nicely.  They had a live band that was very good.  There were not a lot of people there when we arrived because the YSA never come when activities are supposed to begin.  They usually start showing up about an hour later.  Reed and I did some dancing, talked to the bishopric members from both of the YSA wards that were in attendance.  About 9:00 p.m. more of our YSA started arriving.  We greeted them and visited for a while and then we left just after 10:00 p.m. because we had to get up early to go to the Temple.  When we left, the cultural hall was pretty full and more were coming.  We forgot our camera so we have no pictures.

Saturday morning we left the house at 6:00 a.m. to get to the 8:30 temple session with Damarus who has been in our Temple Preparation class for the past six weeks.  The weather was terrible all the way to Hamilton.  It rained so hard for a lot of the way we were worried we would have to pull over.  The rain finally cleared and it ended up being a nice afternoon,.  The session was very nice and it is always a pleasure to be there with our YSA.  We then stayed and did some sealings.  Nada had a family name on her Dad's side and there were a couple of other people with just a few names each.  It was very nice to seal these couples and families together. 

Saturday evening we had a regional YSA activity at the Ferguson road stake center.  The workshops started about 6:340 p.m.  They had six different workshops you could attend and then they had food and a dance that started at 9:00 p.m.

One of the first workshops we attended was working with the YSA on dancing dos and don'ts.  They talked to them about looking at each other when you dance.  How to ask someone to dance and to walk them out on the dance floor.



They had all the girls form a circle on the inside and the boys on the outside.  They walked the opposite direction and then when the music stopped they had to dance with the person across from them.  They were supposed to look at each other and talk to each other.  They did pretty well.

They had the hall decorated and the kids were pretty good sports.  More girls than boys.

This one the girls put their shoes in the middle of the floor and the boys had to find the girl that went with that shoe and then ask them to dance.  They had a lot of fun.

Another workshop was trivia played like Jeopardy.  This couple really spent a lot of time organizing this.  The questions were great, the challenges were a lot of fun and the kids really had a great time while learning something.

This workshop had puzzles that you had to use your brain to work out.  It was very creative and fun. 

Nada and Reed and these two young YSA girls were a team.  We figured all the puzzles out.

Nada was on this team for Jeopardy.  Our team actually won. 

Everyone having a great time trying to figure out the answers in case the other team couldn't answer it.

Doing a challenge of sucking the jelly beans on the end of the straw and transferring them to the other bowl.



They had a workshop on dating dos and don'ts!



 

We had a really fun time and got to know a lot of the other YSA throughout the region.  We did not stay for the dance.  We were tired and got home a little after 10:00 p.m.

 

Sunday, May 29, 2016 we got up at 4:30 a.m. and headed to the airport to pick up a new couple that are going to serve in Kiribati doing a humanitarian mission, Elder and Sister Reese.  They were very nice and will be a great couple.

 

We did a fifth Sunday lesson in Dallas Olsen's ward on education, then headed to our YSA ward where Reed spoke in Sacrament on education.  We taught a make-up class for our Temple Preparation class for three girls who missed lesson five.  After church we headed to a ward in the Otara stake to attend a devotional about why and how to set up a Mum's Pre-school.  We finally got home a little after 8:00 p.m. 

 

We had a very busy but great weekend.  We love the work and are busy trying to do what we should.  We hope you enjoyed reading about some of the things we get to do here in New Zealand to keep the good work moving forward.

 

Until next time, Love Elder and Sister Spencer (aka Reed and Nada)