I know I have mentioned it before but the Sinclair's are the Best Game Family EVER ~ bar none! I'm a little behind with my emails but soon you'll see how many fun, crazy, spectacular games and activities we have with them! Tonight they were in charge of the Branch Activity and we had it at the Villa.
We played SIGNS which is my all time favorite. It is really interesting to me that the younger you are the easier it is to understand. I think past age 60 people just have a harder time with the concept - go figure 🤔. It's just a good thing that I learned to play it the many years we were cast team leaders at Hill Cumorah or else I would have missed out on many big time, deep belly laughs!
To tell you the truth I don't particularly like being in the middle. I feel self conscious and sometimes frustrated BUT I've found a super secret power that has helped me get out of the middle fast. You'll have to invite me over sometime to figure it out 😜!
It is so wonderful playing games and seeing each other laughing, giggling, getting caught and/or playing innocent. I still love games and will forever and ever!
We had a little extra time so we played a version of MURXXDER that I had never played before. It's always fun to learn a new game, whatever it is!
The first picture is a picture at Chili’s where 2 other Senior Service Volunteers, our wonderful friends from Abu Dhabi the: Van Moorsels and Hatton's, came up for a fun visit. We had such a good time with them. We ate, laughed and talked forever. So happy we got to spend some time together.
Then we have Louie, who was at home and sent me a picture of his dinner of noodles and sardines. We've discussed how I don't really care for sardines so there was absolutely no danger that he would accidentally make enough for me. I appreciate that kind of consideration in a friendship.
Then comes the picture that best represents my current nutritional philosophy. My diet here consists primarily of pumpkin seeds, pralines-and-cream ice cream, Magma almond ice cream, black cherry yogurt, lemon-mint and kiwi-lime drinks and those little melon hard candies. I realize that list may raise some questions but I throw in as many protein drinks as needed to make it healthy! This is all it takes to convince myself that it qualifies as a balanced diet.
Next we have the picture of Pastor Samuel at the Pakistani restaurant we went to. Billy is trying to figure out how we can possibly get a meeting place for our members and there is an evangelist church that hosts 50 other churches. They do not want the "Mormons" because they don't believe we are Christian. I am sure that is one of the main reasons that President Nelson encouraged everyone to not refer to the members of the church as Mormons but rather use our full name, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Even though they can tell we are Christians I think as soon as people join the church from other religions the leaders of other Christian churches just don't want our presence around their congregation 😏! Anyhooo, if it were up to Samuel we would be welcomed anytime but unfortunately, he has no say whether we get included in their building or not.
And finally, we have Sunshine, who made us a famous Nigerian breakfast: pudding, eggs with spices and wonderfully soft, yummy bread. It was delicious and always fun to try food from other countries. That was so kind of Sunshine. Also, the other day Sunshine cleaned my kitchen floor ~ it has literally never looked so good, he scrubbed it and cleaned every nook and cranny. Much better than any woman has ever done it 😛!
I'll also include an incredible FHE (Family Home Evening) night we had at the Sinclair's home so you can see how much fun we are actually having over here. Sometimes our (Billy's) everyday schedule is so ridiculously crazy that we (Billy) get so caught up with the individual members' needs that it's hard to see that there is any light at the end of the tunnel. Then twice a month - (1) FHE and our (2) Branch Activity comes along and we usually don't have to plan or do anything but show up and have fun; these are the nights we (Jamie) look most forward to!
Little Lehi was having a great time being passed around for lots of love and cuddles. He, Alma and Elli love to be around our big gatherings as it feels like a family reunion each time.
We did five different activities with each group of about six people. For each one, we would do the activity first and then talk about what the purpose was and what we were supposed to learn from it. After that, one of the group members would go over the lesson and explain what the takeaway from the activity was. I really enjoyed how the activities made the lessons more interactive and gave us a chance to think about how they applied to our own lives.
Like I've mentioned before, the Sinclair's are great ~ they combined a wonderful spiritual activity with loads of fun, games and learning. Even with all the excitement, the spirit was there as the purpose and lesson were intertwined with the games! Sooooo awesome!
Spiritual Gifts
Finding Christ
Walk by Faith
Enduring Trials
Divine Guidance
A memorable, spiritual and epic evening that took Gayle, Seth, Adrena and Eli many hours of preparation on our behalf. It was fantastic and we appreciate them so much!
Psalm 133:1 — “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”
