Jello and Flour

Yesterday we had the greatest ward party ever. We were a little nervous people weren't going to show up or that they weren't going to like the games that we had planned but it definitely turned out better than we were expecting. We knew that people were going to show up late (it always happen here) so we planned a game we could do while people were stilling arriving. Everyone got a piece of paper that had a list of things they needed to make out of newspaper and a number which corresponded to someone else playing the game to whom they need to give whatever they made. So for example, my paper said I needed to make a hat for number 18 and then make a shoe for number 7 and give him a hug. So everyone was frantically trying to make all of these ridiculous things out of newspaper and some tape. It was fantastic. I got a pretty sweet hat belt and watch. Other people had newspaper ties or bowties, masks, swords you name it. I can definitely say it was the most fun I've had with newspaper. It sounds pretty simple but it fantastically to break the ice and get everyone comfortable.

Then we moved on to the group games. Everyone sat down and pulled out a little piece of paper that had an animal on it that was taped to the bottom of their chair. They had to find their group by making the sound of their animal so all at once the whole cultural hall was filled with mooing and quacking etc. It was hilarious. There were 5 groups the corresponded to 5 different games. One game consisted of picking up an M&M by sucking through a straw and putting it into a bowl 10 feet away. In another people rolled marbles from one end of a table to the other trying to get it stuck on certain strips of double sided tape. We had the classic game where you have a bunch of candies inside a bowl of flour and the group members have to get it out without using their hands (aka search for it with their nose and dig it out trying to get as little flour as possible inside your mouth). Even though it's a classic watching people like the bishop and his wife doing it was just way too funny.

However, my personal favorite consisted of all of the group members laying down face up, covering their top half with a towel and opening their mouths as wide as possible as one group member went from one to the other trying to drop jello in their mouths from a standing position. We had so much fun with that one. At the very end we still had parts of two bowls of jelly left so I got down to volunteer and ended up pretty much just getting heaps of jello poured on my face. I think after the first spoonful they stopped trying to get it in my mouth and starting aiming for my face. haha. But it was so great.

Other than that this week has been pretty calm. We've just been finishing up the last things in the offices I feel like I absolutely need to do/teach before I leave (I should be emailing you from a different place next week) but I'm starting to feel pretty ready to leave. It's going to be a strange experience because I feel like the last time I had a normal missionary schedule I didn't really understand much of how to teach or deal with the people and I kinda just followed my companion around. Now at that I'm going to go back to that normal missionary schedule I feel like I understand wayyyy more of how to be a missionary so it's going to be great seeing that difference.

Welp, hope you all have a fantastic week!!

With all the love of a jello-and-flour-filled nose,

Elder Lounsbury