Happy Birthday! That was the theme for our monthly branch activity in Э
нгельс (Engels). The last Friday of every month was dedicated to those who had a birthday in that month.
(Left - this scenario (read more below to understand what I'm talking about here) was a man takes a woman to a movie but he falls asleep during the movie. Usually it is better to have only one person involved in the scenario. It makes it easier to carry on acting. In this case Ольга (Olga) and Павел (Pavel) were the original ones to act it out. The other team didn't usually have a second person with them) It was a night filled with music, chocolate, and games. Usually the night began with a spiritual thought. Ольга (Olga), who was kind of in charge of branch activities, would lead the activity and we would begin with a song and a prayer. Then, a spiritual thought, probably about 5-7 minutes, would be given.
Next she would lead a поздравление (pozdravleniye - like congratulations) of the birthday holders.
(Right - this was one of the later showings. Игор (Igor) was on one team, but Ольга was on the other. He picked her up in the middle of it and that is the only reason there are two in this instance) Then, she would sing, along with several of the members, a song that she had written for the birthday men and women. Next, they would pass out a chocolate bar for each person who had had a birthday.
After all that was accomplished, we would begin having games. This particular time, the missionaries were in charge of the games. First, we played a fun game called Крокодил (Krokodil or Crocodile). Don't ask me why it is called that. Basically the game is played with two
groups. One group leaves the room. The other group remains and discusses what they would like to act out. It can be a scenario, a word, or phrase. Then, the group chooses one person who will act it out for the other team.
(Above - Elder Page acted out the next scenario. This was getting on a Russian bus) This game ends up being kind of like telephone, but you see it instead of hearing it.
The next team comes in, one person at a time. The person chosen by the other team acts out the scenario for the first person to come into the room. That person must then act it out for the next teammate to come in who in turn acts it out for the next and so on until the last person has entered the room. The last person doesn't have to act it out but must guess what the other team had acted out. If he or she chooses correctly,
their team gets a point. If not, the other team gets a point. Then, no matter what, the original person to act out the scenario, acts it out for all to see how it began.
(Left - Аня was one of the first ones to act out this scenario. It got to be really funny) It is a really fun game. We didn't play for points or prizes, but you could have best out of three if you want to have prizes. But, be warned, it does take a while. We usually just played for fun and because it is funny. The more people, the longer it takes, but the weirder the scenario becomes.
(The following film was the original of the bus scenario, recorded by Elder Ray. It was really confusing by the time you get to the end. The trick with these scenarios is to not have any actions that are easy to pick out that are telltale. For example, licking an ice cream cone and having it fall on the ground, but picking it up and continuing on. That is very easy to remember, even though it is funny to watch. It doesn't change much. You need to have movements that can be interpreted in different ways)The next game we played doesn't have a name that I know of. It is really fun, and tasty, too. This c
an be played with a smaller number of people and still be fun. In fact, if you get too many people, you will need to break up into smaller groups. You sit in a circle.
(Left - here I am explaining how to play the game. Below - Сергей (Sergei), he used to be the branch president) You can sit around a table if you want, that makes it a little easier, but if there are too many people to fit around a table, that's ok, too. In this case, we just set chairs in a circle.
If you are going to play this game, it takes a little advance preparation. You need to have at least one chocolate bar (one of the larger sizes) for
each group. Then, you need to gather some strange clothing. Preferably hats, gloves, maybe scarves. It can really be anything, but it works the best if you have 3-4 different items, with a pair of gloves or mittens being one of them.
We used a hat, sunglasses, and mittens for one group, a hat, scarf, and gloves for the other. I would have thrown a scarf into the first group as well, but we wanted to keep the number of items even for each group.
Once you have all that ready, you are almost ready to play.
(left - Аня, eating a piece of chocolate. She might kill me if she knew I put this picture up here, but I think it is rather flattering! Plus, I put one of me up here, so I think it is fair. Below - Here some of the kids are getting into the game)You just need to have a single die, a plate, and a spoon for each person (not a fork - we used a fork, but it works better if you use a spoon because you can't stab the chocolate, you have to scoop it up without touching it, we just didn't have enough spoons for everyone) handy
for each group as well.
The object of the game is to eat as much chocolate as you can (ok, maybe that is a weird object, but if the chocolate is good, that's a great prize). You can have a prize if there is one
person who obviously was able to eat chocolate more than anyone else.
(Left - Светлана (Svetlana) the branch president's wife. This was the other circle, so the clothing is a little different) Anyway, you then begin rolling the die. You can pick any number, but we chose 6. If you roll a six, you must first clothe yourself in the provided items and then begin to eat the chocolate. You can only use the spoon to eat the chocolate, first opening it (so don't open the chocolate before you begin the game).
Each person passes the die to the person on their right when they
have had their turn. The key is to pass the die and roll as quickly as possible to keep the others from eating all of the chocolate.
(Right - Ольга eating her chocolate. See, the nice thing about mittens is that it makes it a little more difficult to grasp the spoon) As soon as another person rolls the chosen number, the current chocolate eater must stop eating the chocolate, take of the provided articles of clothing, and give them to the person who rolled the correct number. It is very fun (maybe more so than it sounds) and can get entertaining when one person cannot even finish clothing before the next person rolls the chosen number. The game is over when the chocolate has been completely eaten.
The nice thing about this game is that it is good for adults and children a like. Of course, we would often go slower when a child was eating the chocolate, so at least he or she could get one piece in their mouth.
We ended the night with another song and prayer.
Relief Society in our branch in Engels
My district – Elder Page, Elder Ray, me, Sister Silva, at the piano Elder Wade, in front Elder Cummings
Sisters! Sister Kuligowski, Sister Hill (those two are now serving together in Samara), Sister Wheeler, my new companion Sister Delgertsetseg, and me – in the office in Samara.
And then hands them a card. That’s ok because I don’t mind talking to people. Its just good to get her to talk. She is also opening up to me and talking more. She’s so quiet and shy that she often grabs my arm when we are walking. I don’t mind that either, it makes me feel like a mother (that’s what we usually call our trainer when we are sisters, I’m her mother and she is my daughter).
before we began our usual routine of contacting, and so on.
President Hinckley spoke. That's all well and good, but probably the coolest thing is that the temple in Finland is going to be dedicated soon. We get to watch it! I'm really excited to be able to see that. Having a temple in Finland cuts the time and cost way down. It is great for the members. There will be an English broadcast and we get to see that. (picture above is from our last district meeting with Sister Silva. We decided to have lunch to commemorate the occasion. Elders Ray, Cummings, Wade; Sister Silva, and Elder Page. We had really good chicken, salad, and chocolate revel bars made by yours truly and Sister Silva).
but I've had to go along. I've mainly been cleaning our apartment so I won't have to be embarrassed when the new sister gets here).
нгельс (Engels). The last Friday of every month was dedicated to those who had a birthday in that month. (Left - this scenario (read more below to understand what I'm talking about here) was a man takes a woman to a movie but he falls asleep during the movie. Usually it is better to have only one person involved in the scenario. It makes it easier to carry on acting. In this case Ольга (Olga) and Павел (Pavel) were the original ones to act it out. The other team didn't usually have a second person with them) It was a night filled with music, chocolate, and games. Usually the night began with a spiritual thought. Ольга (Olga), who was kind of in charge of branch activities, would lead the activity and we would begin with a song and a prayer. Then, a spiritual thought, probably about 5-7 minutes, would be given.
groups. One group leaves the room. The other group remains and discusses what they would like to act out. It can be a scenario, a word, or phrase. Then, the group chooses one person who will act it out for the other team.
their team gets a point. If not, the other team gets a point. Then, no matter what, the original person to act out the scenario, acts it out for all to see how it began.
an be played with a smaller number of people and still be fun. In fact, if you get too many people, you will need to break up into smaller groups. You sit in a circle. (Left - here I am explaining how to play the game. Below - Сергей (Sergei), he used to be the branch president) You can sit around a table if you want, that makes it a little easier, but if there are too many people to fit around a table, that's ok, too. In this case, we just set chairs in a circle.
each group. Then, you need to gather some strange clothing. Preferably hats, gloves, maybe scarves. It can really be anything, but it works the best if you have 3-4 different items, with a pair of gloves or mittens being one of them. We used a hat, sunglasses, and mittens for one group, a hat, scarf, and gloves for the other. I would have thrown a scarf into the first group as well, but we wanted to keep the number of items even for each group.
Once you have all that ready, you are almost ready to play.
for each group as well.
person who obviously was able to eat chocolate more than anyone else. (Left - Светлана (Svetlana) the branch president's wife. This was the other circle, so the clothing is a little different) Anyway, you then begin rolling the die. You can pick any number, but we chose 6. If you roll a six, you must first clothe yourself in the provided items and then begin to eat the chocolate. You can only use the spoon to eat the chocolate, first opening it (so don't open the chocolate before you begin the game).
have had their turn. The key is to pass the die and roll as quickly as possible to keep the others from eating all of the chocolate. (Right - Ольга eating her chocolate. See, the nice thing about mittens is that it makes it a little more difficult to grasp the spoon) As soon as another person rolls the chosen number, the current chocolate eater must stop eating the chocolate, take of the provided articles of clothing, and give them to the person who rolled the correct number. It is very fun (maybe more so than it sounds) and can get entertaining when one person cannot even finish clothing before the next person rolls the chosen number. The game is over when the chocolate has been completely eaten.
