Ma's and Pa's

Please use this checklist to help youth prepare for trek. They will report points earned to their ma's and pa's to be redeemed at the Glenmoor trading post for some fun prizes on trek. Click here for a printable list.

2018 - Trek Dates to Remember

Riverton Family History Center - Youth Visits

3740 West Market Center Drive (13175 South), Riverton, Utah 84065-8026

Here is a link to the form given at the family history center to help youth find pioneer ancestors. Click here.

Each participant on trek will be 

trekking “for someone”!

Who from your family history inspires you?

Is it a great grandparent or someone living now?

Search your family history for someone who

was a pioneer or who is a “modern day” pioneer!

Learn everything you can about that person and find a photo if you can.

Come to trek prepared to share their story!

March 21st (Wed)   6:00 pm - 3^rd,  5^th, 10^th Wards  

                                    7:15 pm - 2^nd, 7^th, 8^th Wards  

March 22nd (Thu)   7:15 pm – 4^th, 6^th Wards

NOTE TO LEADERS: We can't emphasize this enough, the youth will not be able to get an account without parental permission. If they don't have an account before coming, we will try to help them get one but it takes a long time and is not always successful without the parent being present. They will end up being disappointed and having a bad experience. We want everyone to have a good experience when they come here so that they will develop a desire to work on their family history.

Also, for any leaders (Ma's and Pa's) and/or youth that cannot attend with their designated ward date/time, please attend with one of the other available time slots.

April 28, (Saturday) 8:00 am – 2:00 pm Mosida visit with Ma’s and Pa’s. Meet at the stake center to carpool.

May 2 (Wednesday) – Meet Trek Family--square dance 6:30 pm

June 10, (Sunday) – Trek Stake Kick-off Fireside

June 11-13 (Mon-Wed) – Stake Trek at Mosida

https://www.lds.org/callings/teachers?lang=eng   Teaching in the Saviors way

https://www.lds.org/manual/teaching-in-the-saviors-way?lang=eng&CID=TSWM1-TSW   Manual – Teaching in the Savior’s way

To help prepare to answer questions the youth may ask, here are a few additional resources: 

     https://mormonessays.com/

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Congratulations on your call to teach the youth of our stake!                                               

The Roles of our Ma’s and Pa’s

LOVE: LOVE YOUR YOUTH, love each family member uniformly.  Look for positive attributes in each member and seek opportunities to reinforce them.  Each youth is unique and needs to feel of your love and support. Nurture them as your own children.

TEACH: You will always be teaching at Trek, whether by example or verbally.  Be aware of teaching moments and make the most of them. Allow the youth to share and teach each other.  Listen to and follow the promptings of the spirit in your teaching. Teaching is most effective when there are strong genuine relationships built on trust and true listening. Make sure you teach sound doctrinal principles when you teach.

BE AN EXAMPLE: Your first responsibility is to set an example to all of those at trek, especially those who are in your family.  Model happy loving marriages and nurturing family units.  This may be the only opportunity youth have to live with “parents” who have been sealed in the temple.

WATCH AND LISTEN: By watching and listening you will know what each member of your family needs to strengthen themselves spiritually.  You will know when it is time to offer a helping hand or to let him/her struggle.  Listen to what the youth are saying with body language, interactions with others and other things that might tell you really what is going on in their mind and heart. And when they talk to you, stop and listen!

GUIDE: You will guide by giving responsibility to the youth and supporting them in those responsibilities.  For example: family prayer, scripture study, group discussions, meals and activities.

HAVE FUN: Be positive and enthusiastic, smile and encourage your family members to enjoy the trek experience. Living the Gospel is fun, let them see that!

FEEL THE SPIRIT: The two main objectives of the stake presidency at trek is to 1 – allow the youth to have a spiritual experience and 2 -to have fun.  Because of your spiritual preparation and your sensitivity to the spirit, you can help each youth be receptive to and recognize the spirit working in their trek experiences. Talk about it when it happens, have them write in their journals about their spiritual experiences!

USE MUSIC: Music can invite the spirit so well. Sing inspiring songs, pioneer song and activity songs frequently. This will draw your family closer together!

CREATE UNITY: Family unity is a major goal of the trek experience. When looking back on trek, your family members should remember the family unity rather than remembering just ma and pa.  Establish and maintain love and unity among your family, your fellow mas and pas, trail bosses and company captains.

ALLOW CREATIVITY: Allow the youth to show their creative skills. They may find a better method for accomplishing a goal.  Allow them the opportunity to grow and discover.  Allow the youth to accept responsibility and develop their potential. Do not tell them how to do everything.

BE A RESOURCE: You are a resource to your family, not a servant.  Your job is to help the youth help themselves.  They should load the handcart, set up camp etc.  You should never work alone, work together and allow them to have the responsibility.

USE GAP FILLERS: There will be gaps in the schedule. Bring gap filler questions /songs/games to keep things interesting.  Bring pioneer stories or experiences from your own to share with your family or ask your family members to share something with the family.

ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION: It is important for participants to be engaged in trek activities. You must not force them to do anything, encourage participate and do not let them disrupt the experience of others.

USE JOURNALS: Encourage your youth to record their feeling and experiences in their journals. Let them draw a picture if they don’t want to write.  Their journal will be a keepsake for them for many years.

CONSIDER FAMILY DYNAMICS: All families do not need to be the same.  Each family will have its own personality and will develop at its own pace.  You will need to guide your family development according to the personalities of each family member and with the guidance of the spirit.

CONFLICT RESTOLUTION: When challenges arise in your family, it will be your responsibility to resolve them with the Spirit in a positive way.           You could sing a hymn, say a prayer and discuss what is happening and ask them how to resolve the issue.  Treat it openly and you can have a wonderful teaching opportunity.  Every incident and challenge can be turned into something positive and meaningful.

RESPECT CONFIDENCIALITY: You will have access to personal information about family members which should remain confidential.  Also if a youth confides in you a personal matter, do not share that with other family members, and notify the company captain (the Bishop) if it is something he needs to know.

                                                                     ____ ____

Ice Breakers

Never Have I Ever  *Also on the blog under Games and Activities
Give each of teen in a circle 10 beans or pennies. In turn, each teen tells something they have never done. Anyone who has done it gives the speaker one of his or her pennies. After going around the circle twice, the person with the most beans or pennies wins. For example: I have never traveled outside to Europe. I have never eaten Thai food. I have never played the piano. Variation - Could hold up 5-10 fingers instead of pennies and then put them down when they have done something. 

Two Truths and a Lie*

Have each participant write three unique statements about him/herself – two of which are true, and one, which is false. Each participant reads his/her statements, and the other members try to guess which one is false.

Who Said That?

This is great for a large group of people who are all different ages. Prior to sitting around the campfire, have everyone write down (in their trickiest handwriting) one fact about themselves i.e. I once ate a piece of dog food by mistake (I know that’s gross but someone actually said this when we played it once). Fold up the slip of paper and put it in a hat. When sitting around the campfire, give one person a flashlight to start. This person picks out one slip of paper and has to guess who wrote the fact. If they get it correct, pass the flashlight to the person who wrote it and that person picks a slip of paper. If they get it wrong after three guesses the person owns up to who wrote it and they still go next. Continue until all of the slips of paper have been read.

Line Up

Ask the youth group to line up. Works best with 8-10 in a line. If you’ve got a bigger group, split them up and challenge each line to complete the task first. Ask the group to form a new line in order of….

Height, from smallest to tallest.

Birthdays, from January through to December.

Shoe size, from smallest to largest.

Alphabetical first names (A-Z).

Alphabetical mothers first names.

Alphabetical grandmother's first names!

Anything else you think up.

Note:  You can have the first person in the line, think of the next line up item if you want.

Do You Love Your Neighbor

Players stand in a circle formation with one person in the middle.  The middle person is IT.  IT asks one of the people in the circle, “Do you love your neighbor?”  If the player answers, “YES,” the players on each side of him must switch places before IT can take their place.  If the player answers, “NO,” he must then say whom he does love.  He will say something like, “No, but I love everyone wearing red,” then everyone wearing red must switch places before IT can take one of their places.  The person left without a place is IT.

Circle Games

Challenge your teen's memories with a personality-revealing game of story evolution by having the teens describe themselves instead of a story. Have your teen start the game by coming up with a self-descriptive adjective, followed by her first name (shy Isabella, sporty Luca, fashionable Natalia or silly Victoria). Next she tosses or bounces a basketball across the circle to another teen in the group who must recite your teen's descriptive name and come up with one of his own before tossing the ball across the circle again. Keep going until everyone's name has been added to the list, and see how many times the teens can list the names in the correct order for fun.  

Variations: 1) To make this more difficult, after you have gotten the order down with one ball, you can try it with 3 balls and NO talking.  2) You can use a beach ball to help the kids learn about each other. Inflate the ball and write questions all over it with permanent marker. Inflate the ball and have the teens toss it around, answering the question located under their right thumb when they catch the ball.

The Chair Game
The Chair Game is a hilarious, more grown up version of musical chairs. It's another of my favorites because it gets tweens and teens moving, talking, and laughing together. It also is helpful for working off some of the rowdiness before sitting them down for calmer activities or discussions.

Set up the chairs (use one less chair than the number of players) to form a large circle and have all the preteens and teens sit in a chair, except for one person. The one teen without a chair stands in the center of the circle. He or she then makes one statement, such as "Anyone who did their homework today." Then everyone who did their homework that day must get up and find a new seat, not directly beside where they already are. The person in the middle must try to sit in a seat before someone else does. The kid left standing without a seat must then stand in the middle and call the next statement.

M&Ms

Everyone loves M&Ms, so when the group is meeting for the first time, bring in a large bag of M&Ms to introduce the group to each other. Have the group sit in a circle. Pass the bag around and ask people to help themselves to the M&Ms, but not to eat them yet. When the bag has been around the full circle, each person must tell one thing about themselves for every M&M they took. A variation is to assign a number of things a person must tell about themselves to every color. Of course, don’t tell people about this aspect of the game until they have already grabbed a handful.

Webs

A ball of string or yarn is needed. The group is to sit in one large circle, preferably on the floor. The facilitator holds a large ball of string and tells the group that they are now going to discuss a particular topic such as why they chose to become a member of the learning community, their greatest personal experiences, etc. The first person to begin tosses the ball of twine to another member of the group seated across the circle. That person then shares his/her experience holds onto a piece of the string and tosses the string to another participant. This process continues until each member of the team has his/her time to share. By tossing the string around the group, participants weave a web, which connects all the members of the team in the same manner. The group facilitator then asks two or three members to “drop” their string. The web begins to sag and appears to be very weak and vulnerable. The facilitator can then discuss how important each participant is to the team and the effect that low levels of involvement and commitment has on the entire team. If time allows, the team can unravel the string and talk about another topic or issue while rewinding the twine. Group members can also cut a piece of the string from the web to keep as a reminder of the exercise and the thoughts the group shared.

Name that Person

Divide into two teams. Give each person a blank piece of card. Ask them to write five little known facts about themselves on their card. Include all leaders in this game too. For example, I have a pet iguana, I was born in Iceland, my favorite food is spinach, my grandmother is called Doris and my favorite color is vermillion. Collect the cards into two team piles. Draw one card from the opposing team pile. Each team tries to name the person in as few clues as possible. Five points if they get it on the first clue, then 4, 3, 2, 1, 0. The team with the most points wins. (Note: if you select the most obscure facts first, it will increase the level of competition and general head scratching!)  Adaptations for smaller groups:  read the card, one item at a time, and the first person to guess correctly, gets the card.  The person with the most cards wins.

Similarity Games

Your teens will already have something to talk about when you help them find the things they have in common with other members of the group. Have the group go on a human scavenger hunt, searching for others with similar hobbies. Start by having each guest write a list of 10 facts about themselves, such as their hobbies, favorite animals, the places they've traveled and their best class in school. When everyone is ready, have them mingle and write down the names of other teens who share the same interests. Alternatively, you can make up bingo cards for each teen, each with a different characteristic, hobby or interest in each space. Have the teens find others with those interests and fill in the spaces with their names.

Human Knot*

Participants should stand shoulder to shoulder in a circle. Each person should put his/her right hand into the middle of the circle and join hands with someone across the circle (and not directly to his/her right or left). Each person then places their left hand into the circle and joins hands with a different person, and not the person directly to their left or right.

Would you rather…?

Gross and funny questions of would you rather are great party starters.  Have one side of the room be one answer and the other side be the other answer and have them switch sides depending on their choice and then they can easily see who would rather eat their own puke or eat a dead bug.

Great Ice Breaker Websites

http://www.thecoloursofmalta.com/material/BOOK%2340%20Icebreakers%20for%20Small%20Groups.pdf

http://lc.wayne.edu/pdf/icebreakers_teambuilders.pdf

Activities for the Trail

Here are some “mind games” that you can play while you are trekking.  Some will need adapted for a trek setting/theme.

Name that Tune

Depending upon the ages playing, we usually start humming a few bars and whoever guesses it first goes next.  Sometimes we do themes - nursery rhyme songs, 80's tunes, etc.

Pass the Ghost Story

Player one starts the story with one sentence.  Player two adds the next sentence.  Continue around the campfire with each person adding one sentence.  Try to make it around the circle twice and then finish the story.

Famous People

Tape names of famous people on the teens’ backs. They have to ask each other yes or no questions until they can guess who they are.  For example: Am I a man? Am I a singer? The trick is the can only ask one question to each person.

Who Am I?

This icebreaker activity works well to get kids to mingle and chat with each other.

Write a different name of someone famous on each index card. The names you choose may depend on the location or purpose for the gathering. For instance, I've used Bible characters for a church youth activity, cartoon characters for kids' birthday party, and names of American presidents for a classroom environment.

Tape one to the back of each preteen and teenager, making sure they don't see the cards. The players must walk around the room asking questions that only require a yes or no reply to the other players to figure out who they are. Typical starting questions might be along the lines of "Am I a girl?" or "Is my hair black?"

Would You Rather?

Would You Rather?

Give your group cards that contain questions like “Would you rather eat flies or eat caterpillars?” All of the questions should be tough choices.

 Five Facts 

Go around the circle and each person says five facts about themselves. ( I like swimming; I am an only child, etc.)  When each person has said five facts start at the beginning of the circle and try to remember them all.  Player one says one statement that was not his/her own.  Player two says a different statement.  See how many you can remember.  It is harder than you think.  

Twenty Questions

20 questions is an old party game which encourages deductive reasoning and creativity. One player is selected to think of an item. The rest of the group tries to guess the item by asking a question which can only be answered with a simple "Yes" or "No." Truthful answers only please, as anything else will ruin the game.

                                                                   ____ ____

GAMES AND GAP FILLERS

Mouse, Elephant, Cat

Stand everyone in a circle with the person who is “it” in the middle.  The person who is “it” wants to catch someone else to be in the circle by pointing at them and requiring them to act as threesomes in forming the animals.  The person who is pointed at plays the middle role, but the person on either side of him or her must also participate in making the animal.  Anyone who does not get in the proper position by the time the person in the middle counts to ten is next in the circle.

Hog Call

Break the group into pairs.  Each pair must choose two things; a machine and an animal.  They then have to decide who is which.  The pairs then divide up on opposite sides of the room.  Everyone must close their eyes (if they are comfortable to do so), and by making only the no9ise that their character would make, they must find their partner.  When they find their partner, they then open their eyes and wait until everyone else is done.

States, Fruits, Famous People, etc.

Sit players in a circle and have everyone choose a state (or a fruit or a famous person, etc).  Go around the circle twice, having each person name their state so that the players can memorize them.  IT stands in the middle with a hat or bandana, and approaches a player who must name another state (belonging to another player) before IT hits them on the head with the bandana or hat.  It must hurry to the person whose state was named, and try to hit them before they can come up with another state.  Whoever is hit on the head before naming another’s state is IT.  If a player says their own state or a state not included in the game, they become IT. 

Tangle (Human Knot)

Stand in a tight circle.  Have everyone put their right hands in the middle and instruct them to join their left hands with someone else’s right hand.  No one should join two hands with the same person.  Now, without letting go, the group must become “untangled.”

Mingle

Have the group wander around in a close area while you yell, “Mingle, Mingle.”  At a good point, yell out a number under 10.  The youth must then get in groups that size.  Anyone not in a group of that size is out, and must wait until the game is over to participate again.  Continue mingling and yelling out numbers until only two remain.

Champion the Cause

In a circle, one person shares a peak experience that they have had – one that has meant a great deal to them for some reason.  When they have completed sharing their experience, the other members of the group share their observations about that person’s outstanding characteristics.  This continues until everyone has had a chance to be “championed.”

I Am Going On Trek

A circle game with the beginning player saying, “I am going on trek.  I am going to take a ______.”  The next player repeats the statement and adds something he is going to take.  Each person then repeats each item plus adds his own.  When a player forgets one, he is out.  Game continues until only one is left.

Do You Love Your Neighbor

Players stand in a circle formation with one person in the middle.  The middle person is IT.  IT asks one of the people in the circle, “Do you love your neighbor?”  If the player answers, “YES,” the players on each side of him must switch places before IT can take their place.  If the player answers, “NO,” he must then say whom he does love.  He will say something like, “No, but I love everyone wearing red,” then everyone wearing red must switch places before IT can take one of their places.  The person left without a place is IT.

Elbow Tag

Everyone picks a partner and stands in a circle side by side with both hands on their hips and one set of elbows linked.  One pair is chosen to begin.  Person A is IT and person B is to run like crazy and not be caught.  When person B wants to stop running, he hooks up with the free elbow of someone else … person C.  The partner of person C (who is linked up to person C’s other elbow) is now the person being chased and has to run around and link up somewhere else before being caught by person A or be IT.

Bandana Snatch

One person loosely holds a folded bandana in his hands.  The second person tries to snatch the bandana before the first person has a chance to close his hands.

Zoom, Urk

This is a game of speed and skill.  Sitting in a circle, the initiator turns to one of the people on either side of him and says, “Zoom.”  That person then turns to the next person and says, “Zoom.”  This continues until you’ve gotten back to where you started.  Now the leader says that you’re going to make it a little more difficult.  This time someone can say, “Urk!” at which time the direction is reversed.  In this game you must be facing the person you are talking to and you must have your response ready quickly.  This game is meant to be played fast and will not work if slowed.  People are eliminated as they mess up, until only two are left.

Human Chair

Everyone stands in a circle facing the center and then makes a quarter turn to the left (everyone is now looking at the person’s back in front of him.  Take a big step to the middle of the circle.  Now everyone sits down on the lap of the person behind them.

Poor Doggie

IT is the doggie who must try to make someone laugh.  The players sit in a circle and Doggie goes to each player and barks, whines, and imitates a dog.  The layers have to pet doggie and say, “Poor doggie, poor doggie, poor doggie!”  The player must not smile while saying this or he/she will become the next Doggie.

Broad Jump

Someone runs and jumps as far as they can.  Mark where they land and others try to beat it.

Strengths and Fears

Each person in a circle shares one of their greatest fears.  When everyone has shared a fear, go around and ask everyone to share one of his greatest strengths.  This is an activity that can be “processed.”

Two Truths and a Lie

Everyone comes up with two truths about themselves and one lie. The others have to guess what the lie is.  Example: The three things I could say about myself are, "I have been to Africa. I am allergic to horses. And I am one of 11 children." The people guess which of the three is not true. Then, when everyone has made their choice the person reveals the lie, "The lie is I am allergic to horses."

Button, Button, Who’s Got the Button

Get a button.  Leader walks around the circle with a button in folded hands pretending to drop the button in each layer’s folded hands.  Another player has been asked to watch this procedure.  When the leader has gone to each person, he then asks, “Button, button, who’s got the button?”  the player guessing has 3 chances to guess who has the button.  If he does not guess, then he stays where he is and has to guess again the next round.  If he guesses correctly, the person who has the button then takes his place and has to find the button the next round.

Drop the Handkerchief

All of the players but one stand in a circle. The odd player runs around on the outside of the circle carrying a handkerchief which he drops behind one of the circle players. The main idea of the game is to take the circle players unaware with this. Those who form the ring must look toward the center and are not allowed to turn their heads as the runner passes them. The one who runs around with the handkerchief will resort to various devices for misleading the others as to where he drops it. For instance he may sometimes quicken his pace suddenly after dropping the handkerchief or at other times maintain a steady pace which gives no clue.

As soon as a player in the circle discovers that the handkerchief has been dropped behind him he must pick it up and as rapidly as possible chase the one who dropped it who may run around the outside of the circle or at any point through or across the circle his object being to reach the vacant place left by the one who is chasing him. The circle players should lift their hands to allow both runners to pass freely through the circle. Whichever player reaches the vacant place first stands there the one left out taking the handkerchief for the next game.

Finish the Story

One person starts off with a sentence such as "I was running when..." then the next person will continue it like "when... a boy came zooming by on a bike" or something like that then the next person would add to that and so on.  Or you can start with the classic line, “Once upon a time there was …”

Foxes and Rabbits

Get everyone into a circle, with players about an arm's length away from one another. Because this game relies on one player hearing another's movements, it is best played on grass, and everyone should keep very quiet during each round. Pick one player to be the fox and another to be the rabbit. Bring them both to the center of the circle and blindfold them. If you do not want to blindfold everyone, you can just close their eyes.

Explain that the fox is hunting at night and is listening for his prey, the rabbit. The rabbit, naturally, is trying to avoid the fox. The other players are trees that will guide the rabbit or fox gently back into the circle when either wanders off the playing area. Turn the rabbit and fox around several times to slightly disorient them, then let the hunt begin.

                                                                  ____ ____

Family time discussion questions

As you study the spiritual topics and accompanying articles for trek, here are some questions to consider.  Use any of them or make up some of your own to help you facilitate a discussion with your trek family.

Pioneer Stories:

1.    Why did you choose this person to trek for?

2.    What challenges did this person experience that is similar to what you experience today?

3.    What did this person do that demonstrated his/her faith in the Savior?

4.    What attributes does this person have that you would like to have in your life?

5.    Do you think that this person’s life was harder than yours?  Why or why not?

6.    If you were to meet this person, what questions would you ask them?

Scripture Study:

1.    Do you have a favorite scripture that you would like to share?

2.    Why do you think that this passage of scripture was included in the standard works?

3.    Have you ever had a scripture that helped you when you were struggling?

4.    How do you feel when you read the scriptures?

5.    Who is your person in the scriptures, why?

Priesthood/Womanhood:

1.    Have you ever had a Priesthood Blessing?  When and why? What did you feel?

2.    What are some of the other blessings of the Priesthood?

3.    Why does a young man have to be worthy to bless the sacrament?

4.    How can a young woman who does not have a Priesthood holder in her home get a blessing?

5.    Are Priesthood and Womanhood equal?

6.    How are they the same?  How are they different? Write about this in your journal.

7.    Describe how a worthy Priesthood holder lives his life, what are some of the things he does, some of the things he does not do, what are some of his attributes?

8.    What does the world say is important for a woman to do, or to be? How is that different from what the Lord says. Have you had an experience where you were forced to make a decision about this? Would you like to share?

9.    What would you say to someone if someone told you that they have heard that the Mormon Church treats women and men unequally?

10. What can a young woman do to help support the Priesthood holders who are her friends or family members?

11. How can a young man help support and show respect for the women in his family or who are his friends?

Family:

1.    Why is the family so important to Heavenly Father?

2.    Why is temple marriage important?

3.    What have you learned during trek about families?

4.    How do the roles of men and women complement each other?

5.    Describe what you want your future family to look like

6.    How can you strengthen your family?

7.    What can you do now to help prepare you for your future family?

8.    Why is chastity important?

9.    Write about this in your journal.

Family History / Temple:

1.    How is the temple different from our chapels?

2.     What happens inside the temple?

3.    Have any of you had an experience taking a family name to the temple to do the ordinances for them?

4.    How have you felt studying about one of your ancestors?

5.    Why do you think that the Lord has promised those youth who do family history that they will be protected from the power of the adversary?

6.    How can you make time to do family history?

7.    Write about this in your journal.

Looking Up:

1.    What are some of the influences of Satan that are all around us?

2.    Why does Satan want us to fail?

3.    What are ways that we can focus on the Savior every day/

4.    How can we become less focused on ourselves and more on others?

5.    Have you had an experience with prayer that you would like to share?

6.    Write about this in your journal.

Conversion:

1.    Can you have a testimony of the Gospel and not be converted?

2.    What does a person do that is truly converted?

3.    If you are converted now, does it mean you will always be converted?

4.    What do you and I need to do to be truly converted/

5.    What is one thing that you think you could do now to help you stay strong?

6.    Write about this in your journal.

                                                                  ____ ____

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Thanks Sister Childers for sharing this pattern: