Hank Smith, "Will you inspire us in person?"

Have you heard of Hank Smith?  A wonderful LDS speaker.  My girls (and I) adore him!

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We discovered Hank Smith when my mother-in-law gave one of the girls this CD:  "Be Who You Are".  We (not just the girls) have listened to the CD a number of times.  It still makes us laugh and still inspires us.

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My girls listened to another one of Hank Smith's Cd's the other night.  "Break Up With the World".  (One of my cute Mia Maids has been telling us about this CD for awhile now - and made sure we had our own CD to listen to.)  I could hear them laughing as I was making dinner.  My understanding is they had already listened to it separately.  But, they wanted to listen to it again - together.  :)  One of them even deactivated her FACEBOOK page after listening to this particular CD.  Quite an impact.*

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Here is one video of Hank at BYU Education Week:

The Power of One:  Becoming an Exceptional Teenager 

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These talk Cd's are available at Deseret Book for about $12.00 each.

We have 4 of the 6 Cd's.  You cannot go wrong with any of them.

Click individual images for info.

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OFFICIAL INVITATION FOR HANK SMITH

"We live in (or near) the area you served you mission (figured this out from your lion story).  Wouldn't it be wonderful to visit your old stomping grounds?  :)  Oh, and while you're in town there is a group of young men and young women who would love to laugh with you and be inspired by you.  (it could be a very large group)  We promise we will not serve Kentucky Fried Chicken.  :)

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ROAD TRIP IDEALast Christmas our YM/YW visited the Oakland Temple, which is about a three hour drive from where we live.  In preparing for this activity I made a CD for each vehicle.  The car is a great venue for learning.  :)  A captive audience for sure.

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The CD was a mixture of Holiday favorites, both fun (at the beginning of the CD) and music to invite the spirit (later part of the CD - to prepare us for our arrival at the temple).  In the middle of the CD the youth were introduced to Hank Smith ("Be Who You Are").  He reached a number of youth with his fun and witty ways.  It has been almost a year, and there are some who still make comments about "Hank from Utah!"  :)  (you'll just have to listen to the CD)

Beach Trip

Our youth celebrated the first week of school the end of summer, by taking a day trip to Avila Beach (we live about 3 hours away from the coast).  The young men planned the activity and did a wonderful job.

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BEACH OLYMPICS

After everyone had arrived, the youth were gathered together for a few activities on the beach.

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Pass the Ball
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Fill the Bucket:  Each team was given a small paper cup.  One by one, a team member ran to the ocean to fill their cup with water.  The cup was to be placed on top their heads, and held there as they returned back to their starting point and poured the water into the bucket, which was sitting in the sand.  First team to fill the bucket completely was the winner.

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Sand Castle Building Competition:  The youth were given 30 minutes to build a sand castle of their own design.  When time was up, everyone walked together from castle to castle.  Each was given recognition awards from our judges of the competition, our Bishopric.

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There was a Human Sand Castle, A Temple, a Mayan Temple and a some kind of Whale Inspired Castle.  Good times!

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LUNCH AND DEVOTIONAL

We gathered together for lunch and a wonderful devotional was given by one of our young women.  She did a amazing job using our surroundings to teach.  The photo below is an example of how she did this, asking all to gather a handful of sand.

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TIME TO RELAX, PLAY AND EXPLORE

After lunch, the youth were free to relax in the sun, jump in the waves, surf, walk the dock, explore the tide pools, play Frisbee, but most importantly - simply enjoy their time together.

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Shadow of the Giants

We, like many of you, are blessed to live an area rich in nature's wonders.  A day trip (on a Saturday) was planned for the youth to experience the wonder!

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We visited the "Shadow of the Giants" trail at Nelder Grove, in California.

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PURPOSE
Enjoy nature.  Build friendships.  Opportunity to teach.
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ACTIVITY
easy hike along forest trail
picnic (each youth brought their own)
lesson, using the surroundings
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LESSON

Our Bishop spent the day with the youth.  At one point he asked that everyone gather at the base of one of the great sequoia trees.  He then taught us all about the trees root system.  These are not his exact words, but close enough to get the point across, I hope.  :)

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By most standards of measurement, the largest (and oldest) trees in the world are the Giant Redwoods.  They can grow as tall as 275 feet. That is nearly the height of the Statue of Liberty.

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The roots of the Giant Redwood are not particularly deep. They reach down only about 3-5 feet. Most of the roots are quite thin, as well. That doesn't seem like a great formula for sustaining the largest living thing on the face of the earth, does it?
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Standing alone, these trees do not do well all by themselves.  The secret to the effectiveness of the Giant Redwood’s root system lies in a remarkable feature. Giant Redwoods come from the Sequoia family. Sequoias grow in groves, which we happen to be standing in the middle of.  These trees actually have a shared root system. The roots of Sequoias (Giant Redwoods included) are intertwined. One complex root system feeds and supports all of the trees in a given grove. They grow taller, straighter, stronger, and produce better lumber.  And that root system has proven to be wildly successful.
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We are not all that different from these Sequoia trees. Often, the successes that others can see really are sustained by those qualities that rest “below the surface”.  Our greatest strength comes as we root ourselves in the gospel, and hold fast to those things our Heavenly Father has blessed us with.  Family and good friends who support us - and we support them.  Together we can stand strong against the storms and winds of life.
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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
"Web of Friendship", Liahona, August 2003 
"Growing Strong Together", Liahona, December 1991 (reference to Relief Society)
Seminary Video
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On the way back, we stopped at Robert's Frosty in Corsegold, for one of the best soft served ice cream cones I've had in a long time.  Made me think of Timp Freeze in Midway, Utah (which to our dismay is now closed).

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We also took in a classic car show and a few local antique shops.  They happened to be right across the street from our ice cream stop.  Lucky!

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Snow Trip

If there is anything lovey,... we seek after these things.  I don't know if you'll agree with me, but SNOW is lovely.
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Jack Frost doesn't deliver snow to our front lawns here in California's Central Valley. But luckily, one of the great things about living here is having so many wonderful places to visit from the coast to the mountain tops.

The Young Men and Young Women spent time in the snow today.  This is only a guess here, but I think we were about 30 miles from home when we spotted our first sign of snow. 

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The Priests were in charge of planning the activity.  They did such a good job!  Plenty of tubes, saucers, and sleds.  Hot chocolate.  They even brought a BBQ.  They served hamburgers, polish dogs, and chicken.  It was topped off with bowls of hot chili, oranges, chips, and chocolate chip cookies.  These Young Men went all out!

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Brie brought her guitar and her friend Conner had his ukulele.  Love it!  I seriously felt at home.  Made me miss our boys jammin' in the backyard.

San Antonio Temple Trip

As a Young Women Presidency and Primary President ;) we went to the temple after an amazing auxilary training in San Antonio. It was such a special experience. We spent the night and went early the next morning. I am so blessed to serve with such amazing women and have such amazing friends in this amazing gospel. We tried getting the temple in the back ground, but we couldn't get it to work.

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