We just did our mini classes on the FTSOY pamphlet and since some of you were interested, here's what we did. All of the class ideas originated from other people on this list. Thank you for submitting them!

We came up with a title for it, "Getting down to Monkey Business", and our classes all had titles to do with monkeys. Our refreshments--monkey bread, of course!

1. Dating--"Don't Monkey Around!"

We used the dating bag idea , handing one out to each girl and just talked about each item in the bag.

Stick of Gum: "Eternity is a long time to be married - Be chewsy"

Two dates wrapped in glad wrap: "Double date it's twice as fun"

Ruler or cut up measuring tape: How does he measure up? Choose now to only date young men who "Measure Up" to high standards

Tootsie Pop: Avoid all Immoral and Suggestive Materials and Entertainment - "Lick temptations! Don't participate in activities that aren't appropriate.

Hershey's Kiss(es): Save your hugs and kisses for your eternal companion.

Small Soap: Be Morally Clean - Keep yourself clean and pure.

Ring pops: Beware of Imitations - Date young men who are honest in thought, word, and action.

Candle: Let you "light" shine - be an example in your appearance, speech, and actions

Now & Later candy: What you do "now" will effect what happens "later" - make temple marriage your goal

Plastic frog or frog stickers: You have to date a lot of frogs before you find "Prince Charming"

An eraser - "Repentance is like an eraser - it rubs out wrongs"

War head candy - "Don't judge by outward appearances"

2. Media -- "See no Evil, Hear no Evil, Speak no Evil".

We combined several ideas from this list, starting with asking if anyone wanted a cupcake, then saying "wait a minute, I have some other stuff here I'm trying to get rid of" and dumping leftovers on top and then offering the cupcakes again. Of course no one wanted them after that, and the point was even though the good stuff is still there, the bad stuff has ruined it.

We also retold this story by Jack Christiansen: 'There was a rivalry between the cheerleaders and the football players, and during a pep rally the cheerleaders challenged them to a caramel apple eating contest. The rules were that the cheerleaders got a 10-second head start, so they began nibbling daintily at their apples. The football players decided that their strategy would be to chomp-swallow, chomp-swallow large hunks of the apple and finish first. About halfway through the contest, the football players realized that they were eating caramel onions, not apples! But they had already eaten so much of the onions by then, that they smelled like onions for a week.'

The analogies to music and media are great. Satan can take messages that you wouldn't normally invite into your soul, and wraps them in "caramel" - a great melody or beat, an interesting movie plot, an award-winning cast, a talented voice, etc. If you're not paying attention, you won't realize that you have ingested an "onion" until it has become a part of you, like those onions became part of those football players!

3. Language --"Chimp Chatter" or "Grunting With Grace".

We displayed a picture of a YW and as we talked about hurtful things we say or spiritually hurtful things we hear, we stuck push pins into the girl. Then we explained that it's not just ourselves that get hurt. We turned the picture over and showed a picture of Christ on the reverse side with pin holes through him.

The handout said, "Don't let (sour sour-warhead) words prick your spirit.  Sweeten (sweet tart) your language!" and had a warhead and a sweet tart attached in the appropriate spot.

4. Health -- "Go Bananas for Good Health"

Again, this was an idea gleaned from the YW list: "First of all, I used the post about D&C 89 being our bodies' "owner's manual". Two crystal glasses representing our bodies...we each start out clean. Then gathered different items that we can put in our bodies both good and bad.

Good Goblet: Sugar (very little is good...wet top edge of glass for sugar around rim), Fruits & Veggies (used raspberries), Meat (used frozen pink lemonade cube...pretend here! One Tablespoon), Good drinks (3 Tablespoons Water), Breads/Cereals (ice cube...it's the same shape as a loaf of bread, right?), and last Good Health Habits like sleep, shower, brushing teeth (stirring...to balance everything out). This ends up making pink raspberry lemonade.

Bad Goblet:  Cigarette butts, tea (you could use coffee, too), alcohol (water colored brownish-yellow), A LOT of sugar, and drugs (a few vitamins in wheat flour).  No stirring because no sleep or good health habits to balance everything.

The bad concoction looked HORRIBLE.  When you pour out the liquids, the bad goblet was coated on the sides w/ this disgusting yellow-brown guck w/ cigarette butts and tea leaves! Found that the lemonade left the glass fairly clean. Compared that to what it does to the insides of our bodies. Great visual.

For a hand out, I found plastic champagne glasses 6/$1 and gave each of them a glass of the raspberry lemonade (top ring dipped in sugar) w/ a note attached reading:

YOUR BODY:  You get out of it, what you put into it! D&C 89:18-21 The scripture reference is the promises we receive by keeping the Word of Wisdom. It's not as much work as it sounds. You can get coffee grounds and cigarettes from a used coffee filter and outside your local gas station!"

5. Dress -- "I Wanna Be Like You-oo-oo" Fashion Show

We expanded on the list idea of wearing funny things to represent immodest dress styles and wrote up a little script to go with it.

Boxer shorts (boxing gloves hung at waist) & Tank top (picture of tank):

"Our model is making a dangerous statement with her boxer shorts and tank top. While her aggressive posture may be all the "rage" in the jungle, we suggest something a little less provocative for around town."

Plunging neckline (plunger around neck): "This year some are sporting plunging necklines, but we think this look should be flushed from your closets!"

Spaghetti straps (spaghetti pinned to shoulders): "It's a 'lean and hungry look' when you wear spaghetti straps, but unless you want men to chew you up and spit you out, you'd best not try this at home!

Mini skirt (skirt with picture of Minnie Mouse on it): "Here's a cute skirt--a Minnie skirt. It's sure to elicit a squeak when you sit on that cold chair. But wait, who wants to be mousy? Perhaps this is one rodent we should exterminate.

Halter top (horse's halter hung around neck): Ah, the classic halter top, a style that says 'freedom' to many; but you're more likely to be led around by the nose when you put on one of these. And don't even think of jumping in it! All told, you're better off just saying 'neigh!' to this article of clothing."

See-through blouse (letter 'c' pinned to blouse): "Here comes our next model, wearing a 'c' through blouse. She seems to have forgotten the abc's of good taste, and her ' (seamy) attire should be edited, don't you think?  But all this talk of ace's is making me 'cassock. Let's move on."

Bare midriff (teddy bear tied around waist): "Perhaps you have tried the 'bear midriff' look before. It's sure to attract all sorts of wild life, like cat calls and wolf whistles. If you don't want to be pawed and clawed, you'd better stick with just 'bearing' your soul and not you body. I can't 'bear' to look at this anymore!

Hot pants (picture of a fire pinned to the behind): "Yikes! Our model is feeling the heat as she parades in her 'hot pants'. It's enough to make anyone's face red! Maybe next time she'll remember not to play with fire.

Well, that's it for our fashion show. Maybe next time you look at someone and think "I want be like you-too-too," you'll remember that "monkey see, monkey do" isn't always the best look for you!

The classes were short and punchy so no one felt preached to, and the girls thought our fashion show was hysterical (all except my counselor's daughter who was embarrassed for her mom)! And this activity was actually FUN for the LEADERS, too!

Cari's Report

I did the bulk of the work, but gave my counselors and secretary Sections 2,3, and 4 to present.  I used cute monkey graphics on my banner and signs I placed around the room.

For the "dating bags" I put the items under chairs with numbers on them, so the girls would know when to come up front, pull their item out of the bag, and read their little card with the message. (no peeking was allowed!  Ü)  After they read the card, they left their items displayed on the table, so the girls could still see them as I spoke to them.  Afterwards, they still could tell me what most of the "points" in the lesson had been---so it sunk in!

For the Fashion Show, I pre-selected various girls to excuse themselves to the room next door just before the "show" started.  It really was a HOOT!  I was overly dramatic as I read the outfit descriptions, and the girls really played it up, parading in like it was an upscale Paris fashion show.  It was a lot of fun, and got the point across without being serious.  We did discuss the seriousness of the dress code afterwards though.

It was our first big event as a presidency, and we all felt it was a success as well as fun to do.

Activities

Firesides