Human Scripture-Hungry Hippos

For the Youth Combined Activity this month, Sarah, in her capacity as Young Women's Secretary took charge and did a game.  Making its way around the internet are several videos of humans playing the game Hungry, Hungry Hippos.  Sarah, being the awesome woman that she is, found a way to play, that taught a spiritual message.  We cut up most of a scripture (Romans 1:16 to be exact) into individual words, and put each one in a set of colored balloons (we had enough for 4 teams if enough people showed).  Then, armed with a laundry basket, a skateboard, and a long rope, the kids became Human Scripture-Hungry Hippos.

 

Once the kids had all the balloons of their color, they had to arrange the words (sans scriptures, iPhones, and other aids) in the correct order.  Only once they had gotten the order perfect could they look up the reference.  Once they had that, they had to tell who was speaking and who (specifically) was being spoken to.

Once the teams had both gotten all of that completed, we sat them down in the middle of the gym and talked about the scripture, and what it means to "not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ".  We shared a quote from Elder Holland.

And therein lies a message for every young man and young woman in this Church. You may wonder if it is worth it to take a courageous moral stand in high school or to go on a mission only to have your most cherished beliefs reviled or to strive against much in society that sometimes ridicules a life of religious devotion. Yes, it is worth it, because the alternative is to have our “houses” left unto us “desolate”—desolate individuals, desolate families, desolate neighborhoods, and desolate nations.

So here we have the burden of those called to bear the messianic message. In addition to teaching, encouraging, and cheering people on (that is the pleasant part of discipleship), from time to time these same messengers are called upon to worry, to warn, and sometimes just to weep (that is the painful part of discipleship)

       - Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, The Cost and Blessings of Discipleship, General Conference, April 2014

It was a great activity and the kids all loved it.  I am excited to see what else is in store for our youth (and Sarah) as we move forward in this ward.

- Josh