Activity Lessons
Well, here we are at the end or beginning of another week. My week has been filled with fun and adventure. I spent a great deal of time on an airplane, but that time was well spent. I was able to ponder many thoughts and feelings from events and training that I received. Oh, we also completed an election season. It seems to be a touchy subject for some, but I as I pondered my week, the scriptures, conference talks, and the world series, I am OK with it all. It would be nice if some things could be different, but that probably won't happen until the millennium, so I will just have to wait.
Any who, here we go with some of the many thoughts I have had.
Part of my week was spent in corporate training. It actually very well done. Not only did I enjoy it, but I feel that I am able to apply it to other aspects of my life. I would like to talk about the first activity.
The conference room was set up with 5 tables (a flag at each end), 6 people to a table, and 2 wooden boxes. There was assigned seating. We had to find our name tent and introduce ourselves to those seated with us. It was pleasant. Then we were told that the black electrical tape down the middle of our table was there for a purpose. It was to define our countries border. As we entered the room, we had been assigned as newly elected delegates for the country represented by flag at our end of the table. (Guts, Glory, and Good Looks was the motto for the country I represented, just sayin')
Okay, back to the activity. As delegates we were tasked with becoming a United League of Nations. We were coming together because each of our nations struggled in some form or another and felt that together we would be able to accomplish our goals. We would be given 5 years to meet our needs. (Each year was reduced to 12 minutes)
In our boxes, we would find a brief history of our country, resources (food sacks, stones, and coins representing food, environment, and wealth), and small fuzzy balls (representing destructive scandals that could be used against other countries in time of extreme need). There was also a list of resource needs our country needed to have at the end of each year. If we did not meet those needs, we would have to seek the needed resource by force, a scandal war.
Oh, of the 10 countries represented, there was a list of countries we could talk to in good faith, some that we could kind of speak with, and those countries that we could not speak to at all. (We learned that even though we could talk to some, they could not talk to us)
Go!
It was very interesting to see that way we all thought. Things went well in the first year, but at the end of year 2 we had our first scandal battle. One country needed food. They called my country to war for food. We ran out of scandals and asked for help. In the end, two countries came to our support and one to theirs, but they had more scandals between them, so they took all of our food. (all meaning all the food from the three countries they battled). Then it got nasty. Some of us here hurting pretty bad. There was another scandal war in year 3, but this time the offending country lost and gained nothing. The defensive country exercised mercy and did not retaliate.
In year 4 something changed. We realized that our goal was to be a United League that was supposed to meet all our needs. We started looking for ways to share resources. The challenge became that those who needed could not talk to those who had. We had to figure out a channel of countries who could become middle men of sorts to pass resources up and down. By the end of year 5, we were all set, but it was close.
In hindsight, from the start, there were more than enough resources between all nations. There would have been times that some of us might have had to sacrifice some resources each year, but nothing beyond our needs to help others meet their needs. Really it would have been a different activity if we had been worried about how to help each other rather than how to accumulate resources and hoard them for time of need. We learned that hoarding only caused others to suffer. We also learned that trying to get more than we needed for selfish reasons only caused others to suffer. But we were more worried about who had scandals, how many they had, and what would happen if they came after us.
How does this apply to anything? I am sure you are all thinking about many things it applies to in today's world. However, here is my thought.
There was a time when we all sat in a league of nations of sorts. We were going to be sent to a large world where there were plenty of resources. Unfortunately, they were not all divided equally. There would be some with abundance and some in need. One of our purposes was to figure out how we could all meet those needs. A Plan was discussed and agreed upon by most. The test was whether or not we could put it into action. So here we are. How many of us remember the Plan? How many of us remember how to succeed in this Plan? How many of us have strayed from this Plan?
My mind was taken to Luke 15. Three parables of lost resources. Some were lost by wandering, some by neglect, and some by purposeful rebellion. Yet the message is the same. Find them! Remind them!
What have I been reviewing the past few weeks? Yep, 2 Nephi 2. This week I was pondering verses 8-9. "...how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth..." Keep reading. Now do. Some of you are there now, seeking to find those who are lost and may or may not know it. You are on the Shepherds errand. In fact, we all are. I encourage you to seek ways to find the lost and remind them of what they have forgotten, rejoice with them when they are found or find themselves, and more importantly, help them meet their needs.
Great thoughts for me, hope it gets your wheels turning.
Our week has been all over the place.
I was traveling. I came home in time to spend the evening at the FroYo cleaning, painting, gluing, nailing, and spiffing up the joint.
The Queen worked, trained, and crafted projects in her head. We had a wonderful visit on Thursday evening with friends and neighbors.
The Professor tried to see how much she could do this week. Let's see - Parent - Teacher meetings, Powerpoint slide shows, attended wedding receptions, and pulled off a Super Saturday that was share between three wards. It was a bunch.
Tall Man and Ehl-Bo continued to build for the next show, audition for another, and deal with illness in the home. They seem to be succeeding.
Songbird has a job. She is trying to figure out the best way to juggle school, work, and social. It sounds like the new job is physically demanding, but not impossible. We look forward to hearing more.
That is it from our neck of the woods, what about yours?
Any who, here we go with some of the many thoughts I have had.
Part of my week was spent in corporate training. It actually very well done. Not only did I enjoy it, but I feel that I am able to apply it to other aspects of my life. I would like to talk about the first activity.
The conference room was set up with 5 tables (a flag at each end), 6 people to a table, and 2 wooden boxes. There was assigned seating. We had to find our name tent and introduce ourselves to those seated with us. It was pleasant. Then we were told that the black electrical tape down the middle of our table was there for a purpose. It was to define our countries border. As we entered the room, we had been assigned as newly elected delegates for the country represented by flag at our end of the table. (Guts, Glory, and Good Looks was the motto for the country I represented, just sayin')
Okay, back to the activity. As delegates we were tasked with becoming a United League of Nations. We were coming together because each of our nations struggled in some form or another and felt that together we would be able to accomplish our goals. We would be given 5 years to meet our needs. (Each year was reduced to 12 minutes)
In our boxes, we would find a brief history of our country, resources (food sacks, stones, and coins representing food, environment, and wealth), and small fuzzy balls (representing destructive scandals that could be used against other countries in time of extreme need). There was also a list of resource needs our country needed to have at the end of each year. If we did not meet those needs, we would have to seek the needed resource by force, a scandal war.
Oh, of the 10 countries represented, there was a list of countries we could talk to in good faith, some that we could kind of speak with, and those countries that we could not speak to at all. (We learned that even though we could talk to some, they could not talk to us)
Go!
It was very interesting to see that way we all thought. Things went well in the first year, but at the end of year 2 we had our first scandal battle. One country needed food. They called my country to war for food. We ran out of scandals and asked for help. In the end, two countries came to our support and one to theirs, but they had more scandals between them, so they took all of our food. (all meaning all the food from the three countries they battled). Then it got nasty. Some of us here hurting pretty bad. There was another scandal war in year 3, but this time the offending country lost and gained nothing. The defensive country exercised mercy and did not retaliate.
In year 4 something changed. We realized that our goal was to be a United League that was supposed to meet all our needs. We started looking for ways to share resources. The challenge became that those who needed could not talk to those who had. We had to figure out a channel of countries who could become middle men of sorts to pass resources up and down. By the end of year 5, we were all set, but it was close.
In hindsight, from the start, there were more than enough resources between all nations. There would have been times that some of us might have had to sacrifice some resources each year, but nothing beyond our needs to help others meet their needs. Really it would have been a different activity if we had been worried about how to help each other rather than how to accumulate resources and hoard them for time of need. We learned that hoarding only caused others to suffer. We also learned that trying to get more than we needed for selfish reasons only caused others to suffer. But we were more worried about who had scandals, how many they had, and what would happen if they came after us.
How does this apply to anything? I am sure you are all thinking about many things it applies to in today's world. However, here is my thought.
There was a time when we all sat in a league of nations of sorts. We were going to be sent to a large world where there were plenty of resources. Unfortunately, they were not all divided equally. There would be some with abundance and some in need. One of our purposes was to figure out how we could all meet those needs. A Plan was discussed and agreed upon by most. The test was whether or not we could put it into action. So here we are. How many of us remember the Plan? How many of us remember how to succeed in this Plan? How many of us have strayed from this Plan?
My mind was taken to Luke 15. Three parables of lost resources. Some were lost by wandering, some by neglect, and some by purposeful rebellion. Yet the message is the same. Find them! Remind them!
What have I been reviewing the past few weeks? Yep, 2 Nephi 2. This week I was pondering verses 8-9. "...how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth..." Keep reading. Now do. Some of you are there now, seeking to find those who are lost and may or may not know it. You are on the Shepherds errand. In fact, we all are. I encourage you to seek ways to find the lost and remind them of what they have forgotten, rejoice with them when they are found or find themselves, and more importantly, help them meet their needs.
Great thoughts for me, hope it gets your wheels turning.
Our week has been all over the place.
I was traveling. I came home in time to spend the evening at the FroYo cleaning, painting, gluing, nailing, and spiffing up the joint.
The Queen worked, trained, and crafted projects in her head. We had a wonderful visit on Thursday evening with friends and neighbors.
The Professor tried to see how much she could do this week. Let's see - Parent - Teacher meetings, Powerpoint slide shows, attended wedding receptions, and pulled off a Super Saturday that was share between three wards. It was a bunch.
Tall Man and Ehl-Bo continued to build for the next show, audition for another, and deal with illness in the home. They seem to be succeeding.
Songbird has a job. She is trying to figure out the best way to juggle school, work, and social. It sounds like the new job is physically demanding, but not impossible. We look forward to hearing more.
That is it from our neck of the woods, what about yours?
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