Rappelling at Dixon Lake

For the March campout the young men went to Dixon Lake and had the opportunity to learn to rappel. Some were a little more scared than others but everyone had a fun time and everyone made it back alive. Many thanks to Bro. Kawick for teaching everyone what to do and helping us stay safe.

Piñata Party

For combined ym/yw in February everyone had the opportunity to decorate their piñatas in their groups and then break them apart. Some lasted longer than others, some broke apart after a couple of hits.

Youth Temple Trip

The Youth went to the Temple and were able to do Temple work for names that several ward members had done their genealogy for.  Afterwards we went to In-N-Out (of course).

Mud Caves

This weekend (January 18-19) the young men took a trip to the Mud Caves in the Anza Borrego Desert.  These are unique formations created by erosion from heavy rains.

We camped at Agua Caliente campground.  We cooked dinner (chili dogs) over the fire.  Afterwards, some of us went on a longer-than-expected night hike.  The stars were beautiful and there was an eerie curved light in the sky that turned to be a laser from the nearby store (it only looked curved).

The next morning we had oatmeal and cereal, packed up camp and left for the caves: about 4 miles south on S2, 4-6 miles of dirt roads we headed up Arroyo Tapiado.  We explored Bat Canyon, a slot canyon that turned into tunnels at spots.  Some of us squeezed up Cool Cave.  Then we went up to Start Canyon, a much wider canyon.  Carey's Big Mud Cave was our final stop.  A long, dark cave that you can walk upright through most of the way.  With our lights off, we couldn't see our hands in front of our faces.  There were several areas that the caves opened up very high above our heads.

Afterwards, we went back to camp, showered and soaked in the "hot springs" (indoor swimming pool with 98 degree water).

Some quotes during the trip:
Steven: "This is the best campout ever"
Roman: "This is the best campout ever"
Quincy: "This is the best campout ever"

Escondido 2nd Stake

Tonight we took the first steps to participate in the Escondido 2nd Stake project.  The idea of the project is for everyone to do their genealogy and find ancestors who haven't had their Temple work done for them.  The goal is to do the work for enough people to create another stake on the other side of the veil.  Our Ward needs to create a Santa Fe Hills 2nd Ward (400-500 people).

Since much of the work involves computers and since the youth are typically technically savvy, we decided to get them involved.  Tonight, 15 young men created accounts on lds.org and logged into new.familysearch.org.  Most of them were able to connect immediately to their genealogical lines.  Some even put in new information.  Good job Young Men!!!

 

Speed Social Activity

For this month's combined activity, we had a Speed Social (patterned after "Speed Dating", but we changed "Dating" to "Social" since some of the youth shouldn't be dating yet - wink, wink).

We started off with an ice-breaker game: Predators and Protectors.  Everyone gets inside of a space (about 20 feet square) and picks someone to be their predator and protector (nobody tells anyone who they picked).  When the game starts, you have move to keep your protector between you and your predator.  Everyone ends up running all over the place.  It became obvious that the boys picked just boys and the girls picked just girls.  We then played a variant called Predator/Protectee.  This time, each person picks two people, but they have to move to stay between the two people.  We told them to pick a boy and girl.  Try it sometime: there is interesting and different emergent behavior for the two games.

Then we had tables with two chairs facing each other.  The girls stayed seated as the boys moved from girl to girl.  They had 3-4 minutes to socialize.  We rang a bell when it was time to rotate.

It was a competition with prizes (In'N'Out and Menchies Frozen Yogurt gift cards and candy) to help everyone be more motivated.  Each was given a score sheet with a list of names and columns for scoring: making eye contact, smiling, listening, showing interest, and "I enjoyed talking to them".  The back had a list of sample questions (see below).  Scores were 1-5 points.  At the end, each person picked their top 3 giving them 3, 2 or 1 point.  Scores were tallied and winners got their prizes.  We reminded them it wasn't a popularity contest, but on who showed the best social skills.

Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and lots of smiles were seen (except maybe when brothers and sisters had to socialize).  All the boys know all the girls now and all the girls know all the boys.

The Basics

• What are your favorite hobbies/interests?
• Do you have any pets? Siblings? Roommates?
• What do you like to do in your spare time?

For a Little More Insight

• Are you an indoor person or an outdoor person? (Or a city person or a country person?)
• What would your dream vacation be?
• What's your favorite travel destination?
• What would your dream job be?
• What did you do last weekend?
• Are you a night owl or an early riser?
• What was the last book you read?
• What's your favorite Web site to waste time on?

Creative Approaches

• If they made a movie about your life, would it be a drama or a comedy?
• Who was your favorite superhero when you were little?
• Who is your favorite comedian?
• What is your favorite guilty-pleasure food (or music, or movie, or TV show)?
• What's the perfect midnight snack?
• Star Wars or Star Trek? The original Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, or the Johnny Depp remake? Sudoku or Words with Friends? Pirates or ninjas (and why)? Should brownies be made with nuts or without?
• Are you a dog or cat person?

Halloween Carnival

The Young Men and Young Women hosted a Halloween Carnival with spook alley, booths (fishing, face painting, donut on a string, fish bowl ping pong toss, bean bag toss, tombstone crafts and basketball shooting), cake walk (thanks to the Primary), chili cook-off (thanks to the High Priests) and  photo booth (thanks Dave Hernandez).  We had a good turnout and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.  Thanks to everyone that pitched in and helped!