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TURNING YOUR HEARTS -- TO EACH OTHER

We talked (in my lesson) about being friends. What does it mean to be a friend? What qualities does your best friend - or any friend, for that matter - have that attracts you to her? What do you like most about her? What makes her your best friend? How long has this friend been in your life? Would anyone like to share something about their friend or friends?

Unfortunately, I didn't get a lot of response - but did garner a lot of blank stares.... So, I came prepared. I set them up in groups of five around the room. You could even do it in groups of two in a Relief Society lesson, pairing a very young sister with a very old sister. I made sure each group contained at least one leader, Mia Maid, Beehive and Laurel, to get a good mix. YOU need to control the mix, and not put good friends together.

I put ten signs around the front of the room:
        WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FOOD?
        WHAT IS YOUR FULL NAME, AND WHO WERE YOU NAMED AFTER?
        WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR FAVORITE MUTUAL OR WARD ACTIVITY?
        WHAT DRIVES YOU CRAZY?
        WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE OR BOOK, AND WHY?
        WHAT IS THE KINDEST THING ANYONE EVER DID FOR YOU?
        WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR WORST COOKING DISASTER?
        WHAT IS THE THING THAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
        WHEN WERE YOU THE MOST PROUD OF YOURSELF?
        IF YOUR FRIEND WAS SAD, WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

Then I had them work within their groups to answer some or all of the questions together. I gave them only about 15 minutes, and they had a lot of fun. Then I handed out a small square of paper with the same 10 questions on it, and a blank line for their name and phone number. You could, instead, do 10 different questions. I asked each person in the group to fill out their name and phone number on it. I collected all of them, after they folded them in half.

I got the sisters back into one collective group, and asked them what new things they had learned about their fellow sisters today. They seemed to have a good time sharing.

We talked about the Savior's great example in being a friend. He felt compassion for all the poor, and anyone who suffered. How many of our sisters are suffering out there? It is time to serve each other.

Christ healed the sick, raised the dead, fed the hungry, and blessed the children. How can we be more like Christ? Can we heal the sick? Yes, we can heal the sick by tending to them, even if they are only sick in heart. Can we raise the dead? Some of our sisters have testimonies that are dead, and we can share ours, and lift their spirits. Can we feed the hungry? (A resounding "YES"!). Can we bless the children? Of course we can - in our families and in our church callings. We are all children of our Father in Heaven. Then, I bore my testimony.

The last thing I did was to put all those papers with their names and phone numbers in a basket, and ask the sisters to draw names out. If they got their friend, they needed to put it back. I asked the sisters to be like Christ, and call the sister whose name they drew this week - even today! And ask more questions, and get to know this sister better. I asked them to climb out of their comfort zone, and start getting to know the sisters in the ward that they didn't know well.