Mesquite 4th Ward YM cooking for the Mesquite Days Mayor's breakfast at Herittage Park..

Cub Scout Day Camp was held for Tiger Cubs, Wolves, Bears and Webelos from 11 Units of cub scouts on Friday and Saturday. There were 127 cub scouts ages 7-10 who attend the camp sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The theme for the camp was “Top Secret Service Agent”. Each of the dens did activities to complete requirements for their awards. All of the cub scouts received T-shirts with the theme printed on the front. Cub scouts from the three dens were able to do archery and B-B shooting at the Heritage Park where targets were set up and supervised by leaders. The Tiger Cubs, age 7, visited the Virgin Valley Museum and had an art lesson at the Art Gallery. The Wolves, age 8, made paper airplanes and musical instruments with simple materials. “Running with the pack” included skate boards and other physical activity games. At the “howling at the moon” activity they practiced skits that they performed later in the day. The Bears, age 9, had a forensic class with the police and did their fingerprints. The police gave a demonstration of how the K-9 dog helps and they watched the police fly their drone. The scouts learned how to use tools including screw drivers and learned the safe use of pocket knives by carving soap. They learned to set up tents and to tie various knots. For “paws in action” they did a service project by cleaning all the toys in the church nursery. The Webelos (we be loyal scouts), age 10, went on a 4-mile hike on Friday afternoon to complete their requirements. They started out at the LDS church and hiked to Hafen Park and went north to Desert Rose Park on Old Mill and then they returned to the church where they fixed their own hoagie sandwiches with fruit and veggies. They were also able to make their own first aid kits. On Saturday, they went to a first- responder class and learned how to perform CPR and other first aid skills. For their “into the woods” activity, they learned about plants, trees and seed starting by planting some palm tree seeds. The Webelos completed their Sportsman requirement by playing dodge ball games in the gym. The scouts had to decipher the code book they were given to find their site for lunch. At the end of the camp, the scouts did skits and played the musical instruments they had made earlier in the day. Many thanks to Gina Zarate, Christine Sawyer and the committee that planned and supervised the activities of the cub scouts.

The Boy Scouts of the Mesquite Nevada Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held an environmental science merit badge class. There were 24 boys in attendance, and all of them completed the requirements to receive the merit badge. The class was held in Bunkerville at the park, which gave the young men a great opportunity to do (3) 20 minute observations of their surroundings, and the environment. The class was taught by Chris Allen, with Jaydel Wilson assisting him. Each month, the merit badge powwow committee will be hosting a different merit badge class. Chris Allen said “Our goal is to teach the scouts all of the required merit badges that are needed for the rank of Eagle Scout in an 18 month period. Traditionally we do a merit badge powwow at the beginning of each year. Our goal is to get the boys out into the environment in which they will be learning the different merit badges. This will hopefully give them more enthusiasm to learn, and eliminate the need for sitting in a classroom for 10 - 12 hours for two weekends in January. Putting the scouts in the environment of the class they were learning, helped educate them.” Next month’s class will be first aid, but parents can be assured that classes will not be held in the ER at Mesa View! Each month the counselor teaching the class will be given the opportunity to pick the class location. To reach the goal of Eagle Scout there are 13 required and 8 elective merit badges needed. If the scouts attend these required merit badge classes it gives them more versatility at summer camps to enjoy elective classes like archery, rifle shooting, and canoeing.

Saturday, April 15th Pres. Anderson hosted nearly thirty people at the Heritage Park Pavilion for a dessert social. Everyone enjoyed cheese cake and apple pie served by organizer Mark Barnum of the Mesquite Stake High Council while they visited and heard stories about the varied life experiences of members of the stake. Some attendees were there to bid farewell for the season as they are preparing to return to cooler locations for the summer.

ACTIVITY DAYS - My Body Is A Temple The Activity Day Girls, ages 8-11, from the 3rd & 7th Wards of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints recently held an activity titled My Body Is A Temple. Easter season and Christ's miraculous resurrection, reminds us that our body is truly a gift. Our body is a temple! It is a house for the Spirit of God. The girls were reminded how to keep it healthy! A healthy spirit requires that we remember who we are. We are special. We are children of God. A healthy mind requires us to keep our minds pure. We are more beautiful than we think. What we put in our mind effects us. Only watch, read and listen to things that are positive and uplifting. A healthy body requires us to stay healthy and safe. Leaders, Heather Blazzard and Wendy Rasmussen, discussed health, hygiene, nutrition and exercise. The girls identified healthy foods and unhealthy choices. Special guest speaker Dena Hoff was the concluding speaker and covered the topic of safety. Dena is a certified instructor of the radKids program each summer and highlighted a few important tips to keep safe. She read Sam's Secret to the girls. It is about a young boy becoming brave enough to tell his parents of the sexual misconduct to him by an older boy. Dena taught the girls some defensive moves and ways to draw attention to yourself in an abduction attempt. It gave the girls knowledge. The activity ended with the girls being told that knowledge was power. Everyone had a great time learning! Dena volunteers with the radKids program each summer and highlighted a few important tips to keep safe. She read Sam's Secret to the girls. It is about a young boy becoming brave enough to tell his parents of the sexual misconduct to him by an older boy. Dena taught the girls some defensive moves and ways to draw attention to yourself in an abduction attempt. It gave the girls knowledge.

Nearly 200 youth and their leaders from Virgin Valley recently attended an event at Dixie State University where they joined thousands of others to use technology to upload 18,564 records that they had discovered, uncovered and shared from their own family histories. These young people from the ages of 14 thru 18 came to learn, be entertained and eat great food. The event was open to teens of all faiths and was attended by youth from 29 stakes of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the region. The event, called KINnect YOU, was put on by youth and their leaders with community partners and national donors. To prepare, the kids had been using their cell phones to photograph documents and images that their families wanted to save. Using the Family Search Memories app, they were able upload these records to be gathered and shared. Also, importantly 12,112 images were identified and tagged, meaning names were put to faces. One local teen (Matt B.) said “What a great way to get Family History across to us young people—by letting us enjoy the day with friends, music, fun and food. I hope this will be a yearly event.” Another, (Margaret H.) especially liked the speaker Hank Smith because “he related family history to modern times and in a humorous way.” She also added “Can I say the food was 10 out of 10. It was great!” (All were served Chik-Fil-A.) Attendees could choose from 13 classes, they heard inspirational talks by popular speakers like Sam Payne and John Hilton III and a key note address by Elder Steven E. Snow. A favorite entertainer was James the Mormon, a young artist who is becoming increasing known for his clean Rap style music.

The new YW for 2017

Pres. Uchtdorf’s talk from April 2010, entitled “Your Happily Ever After,” was the inspiration behind the theme we chose for our New Beginnings. We called it our “Pageant of Values.” Transforming the Relief Society room into a beautiful showroom with lights on low, the staging area in the front of the room being lit with strings of patio lighting and chair backs adorned with value-colored tulle bows, a tea-light lit white carpet runway added to the setting as our Young Women (dressed up as Disney princesses) then made their entrance, being introduced one at a time as they walked up the runway and took their places at the front of the room. Our panel of judges, Bishop Kevin Jensen, Ron Crossman and Don Barnum, quizzed each princess about different aspects of the Young Women program. As part of the questioning, the princesses each shared a value experience/project she has done or is working on. Each princess was then awarded a “value” based on her answers and was presented with a sash by the YW president, Victoria Hafen. Our princesses were Cinderella (Sarah Barnum-Faith), Sleeping Beauty (Kaitlyn Reber-Divine Nature), Moana (Bella Sonnenberg-Individual Worth), Merida (Sarah Walters-Virtue), Belle (Mira Larsen-Knowledge), Elsa (Margaret Hafen-Choice & Accountability), Rapunzel (Abbie Barnum-Integrity), Snow White (Eris Lewis-Good Works). The 4 New Beehives that will be joining us this year were then spotlighted and presented with a “princess” sash and a tiara. The evening was concluded with remarks by the bishop, and paparazzi (Autumn LaForce, adviser) doing photo shoots. Disney-themed refreshments of value-colored frozen bananas and pineapple sherbet floats were served.

An overnight camp out was held at the Hafen Ranch for the 11-year old boy scouts from 9 troops in Virgin River Valley District with about 25 scouts camping for the night. These troops are sponsored by the Mesquite Nevada Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The scouts were working on the Tenderfoot rank on the Trail to Eagle by learning to set up tents and preparing supper on Friday night and breakfast on Sat. morning. Bishop Brian Wursten spoke at the campfire program explaining the steps on the trail to earning the rank of Eagle Scout. He explained that as they progressed they could attend week long summer camps and earn merit badges toward the 21 required to receive the rank of Eagle Scout. At the campfire program scouts from each unit entertained the others with skits. On Saturday morning they participated in a service project for the Hafen Ranch by picking up nails from the pallets.