So I recently got called to be a co-Relief Society Activity Coordinator with Jamie, one of my American friends from the branch and embassy. After a few weeks of planning the activity, I spoke with the new R.S. president and somehow she it came up in our conversation that Jamie and I were called to this calling because the Americans don't go to the activities. I laughed inside, and explained that we didn't attend them because we've never heard of any activities through text, email, phone calls, etc. We're all serving in Primary as teachers to our children in English or as the primary music leaders. Anyway, I was actually grateful for the calling so I will know about the activities and I can get to know the sisters better (even though we're down to 4 months left in Latvia now).
It was somewhat difficult trying to get inside the heads of the Latvian sisters and what they would like. At first we were thinking "minute to win it games" would be a fun way to start, but after talking to a few Latvian sisters that had never heard of the game, we decided to scrap it. Especially after we found out that usually about 7 sisters come to the activities.
For the activity, I collected (with Madara's help), favorite scriptures from branch members that were willing to participate, and Zane and Renate were good enough to translate the English ones to Latvian. Branch members shared why it was their favorite scripture, and I then prepared them by formatting, printing and cutting them out so the sisters could glue stick them into the margin of Book of Mormon. Savannah helped me prepare kits of glue sticks, Books of Mormon, the printed scriptures in order from 1 Nephi to Moroni, and then we included a chocolate bar and ribbon to attach to the book. Here I am trying out the sizes of the scripture cutouts to see if they were the right size. I was also trying out different colors to see if I liked them. :)
So after hours of prep, we finally had the activity on a Friday night. We were pleased with the turnout since we were told that they normally have 7 sisters attend. Jamie and I decided to start with an ice breaker activity of "what's in your purse/what's on your phone?" We used the heart shaped cups to award a few of the winners of the ice breaker, and of course the "loser." We also gave out prizes for a person wearing a scarf, the sister that had changed the most diapers that day, who had the birthday closest to the night of the activity, etc. We had little prizes in each of the cups and they had fun punching through the tissue paper to obtain their prize.
We then had a "Speed Friendshipping" activity. Jamie prepared questions for the sisters to ask each other to help get to know one another better. Kristine F. and her husband, our branch president, helped to translate them into Latvian, so we had questions in both Latvian and English. The sisters looked like they were enjoying the visiting, but as I've learned over the almost 2 years of being here in Latvia, the locals express their emotions very quietly and subtly compared to Americans. Smiles are not given out freely. They are very guarded with their emotions, so it's hard for me to read them and tell exactly how they're feeling.
The three sister missionaries in our branch attended with Liga, an investigator that got baptized a week or so after this activity (YAY!), along with Sister Bloomfield, our sweet senior missionary that is Savannah's Young Women's leader.
Liga, our R.S. president in the middle with Lydia, from China on the right.
Savannah and Jamie's daughter Kambell came and helped set up and participated in the activity. :)
After getting to know each other better, we had a Book of Mormon focused activity. I asked Madara if she would speak about the importance of friendshipping and sharing the gospel with love and letting people know we care about them. She served a mission in SLC on temple square, so she's fluent in English and of course could get the sisters excited about sharing the Book of Mormon. She's also a convert herself, so she shared her story of discovering the Book of Mormon. I also asked if she would show a video that the BYU advertising team made where they shared all 515 pages of the Book of Mormon with 515 different people (one page per person), and recorded their responses to the page. They were told to highlight all of the references to the Savior as well. Great video and a reminder that people are open to learning, especially when it comes to hearing about the Savior. Madara also served as our translator to help explain the different stages of our night and each part of our activity. We wouldn't have survived without her!!
After Madara spoke, I shared how my friend Shelly from Las Vegas and Utah, was the most active member missionary I knew. Even in Utah, Shelly would give a Book of Mormon away almost daily. When she was asked how she did it, she explained that she always attached a treat. That way, the Book of Mormon would never be rejected. :) She had wonderful conversion stories that came from her efforts, so I shared a few of them with the sisters so they too would be inspired to share this special book. Then we rearranged the tables in a way that the sisters could glue and work on their books while visiting and relaxing together to the Piano Guys. ;)
Madara, Liga.
Liga, our R.S. president in the middle with Lydia, from China on the right.
Savannah and Jamie's daughter Kambell came and helped set up and participated in the activity. :)
After getting to know each other better, we had a Book of Mormon focused activity. I asked Madara if she would speak about the importance of friendshipping and sharing the gospel with love and letting people know we care about them. She served a mission in SLC on temple square, so she's fluent in English and of course could get the sisters excited about sharing the Book of Mormon. She's also a convert herself, so she shared her story of discovering the Book of Mormon. I also asked if she would show a video that the BYU advertising team made where they shared all 515 pages of the Book of Mormon with 515 different people (one page per person), and recorded their responses to the page. They were told to highlight all of the references to the Savior as well. Great video and a reminder that people are open to learning, especially when it comes to hearing about the Savior. Madara also served as our translator to help explain the different stages of our night and each part of our activity. We wouldn't have survived without her!!
After Madara spoke, I shared how my friend Shelly from Las Vegas and Utah, was the most active member missionary I knew. Even in Utah, Shelly would give a Book of Mormon away almost daily. When she was asked how she did it, she explained that she always attached a treat. That way, the Book of Mormon would never be rejected. :) She had wonderful conversion stories that came from her efforts, so I shared a few of them with the sisters so they too would be inspired to share this special book. Then we rearranged the tables in a way that the sisters could glue and work on their books while visiting and relaxing together to the Piano Guys. ;)
Kristine
Antra
Sister Bruner and Liga
Velta and Irina
When they were close to finishing, the sisters enjoyed the refreshment table with cheesecakes and Latvian desserts. When I was at Rimi (our favorite grocery store) stressing over the kind of desserts I should buy, I finally recruited a Latvian lady from behind the dessert counter to help me. She didn't speak any English, so we used thumbs up and thumbs down for her to communicate which ones she liked and didn't like. The help was a success and much appreciated because all of the sisters commented on how delicious the desserts were and asked where I got them. Phew! There's a difference in the palate of a Latvian vs. an American, so I wanted to make sure I chose ones that they liked!
Savannah had fun hanging out with Kambell. Here they are finishing up, tying chocolate bars to their Books of Mormon.
And they were such good helpers setting up and cleaning up at the end! Savannah earned 10 hours toward one of her YW personal progress goals! It was a fun night. It was one of the only times I've been able to associate with any of the Latvian sisters outside of Sunday meetings, and most of the time that hardly happens. I'm grateful for this short-term calling. ;)
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