So I sat down one day after having a great lesson in institute one day. I was trying to come up with a few ways to make thanksgiving more meaningful. After a little bit of thought and a lot of online research, this is what I came up with:
1. HAVE A GRATITUDE FAST: My institute teacher told me about this one. Every year him and his wife have a gratitude fast the Sunday before Thanksgiving. When they are done, they both kneel down and say everything that they are grateful for. He has said that this has brought some of the best and most cherished memories with his wife.
2. HAVE A GRATITUDE PRAYER: So this one is super similar to the first one. I once talked to a girl who had a seminary teacher challenge them to pray only gratitude for 12 minutes. I just did this one, and the first 5 minutes is pretty easy, but after that, you really got to think.
3. THANK ATTACK: Have you ever heard of a heart attack?(NO, NOT when a cardiac blood vessel becomes blocked and your heart cannot receive enough oxygen.) The one where you cut out a bunch of hearts and write comforting, or things you love about the person then you tape them to their door with a plate of cookies or something and doorbell ditch them. We did this a LOT in Young Womens and I loved it. A thank attack is identical except you write ways they have blessed you life or something.
4. SMALL ACTS OF KINDNESS: This one is super fun and easy. You basically go around doing small things anonymously for people. I looked on pinterest and there are about a hundred different links to TONS of things you can do for people.
5. PERSONAL THANK YOU NOTES: This one is pretty self explanatory, on Thanksgiving or whenever, write a simple note saying thank you and give them out. It makes it really touching and personal :)
6. HAVE A GRATITUDE JOURNAL: I just made me one of these and I love it! Every night, I look back on my day and write down one thing that I am grateful for the most. You can also write down why if you want to. I hope to keep this journal for years so while I am still writing, I can see the thing that I was grateful for the same day of the last year.
7. SHARE A STORY OF GRATITUDE: Hey, kids like stories right? Well, Thanksgiving is the perfect opportunity to do some family history and tell them a story of someone that did something significant that you are grateful for.
8. SECRET SERVICE: On Thanksgiving or the party assign everyone a Secret Service Pal. No one can know who has who. And do small acts of kindness for them throughout the day without getting noticed! Later on, reveal who everyone had!
9. LOOK UP SOME GRATITUDE SCRIPTURES: The scriptures are a fantastic way to see what God himself thinks of gratitude. They have the best examples and stories! Have fun! :)
10. SERVE: Okay, this I should do more often. Find something to donate to, give blood to a blood drive, do a walk for a charity etc. The other half of this holiday is thanksGIVING.
10. THANKFUL FOR YOU PAPERS: I didn't know what to call this one. Basically, you write down someone's name on one piece of paper, everyone has one. You then, pass around the papers and everyone writes on everyone else's paper of why they are grateful for them, or qualities that they have that they love. In the end, you get back your's and get to read about why people love you so much, it's fantastic!
11. LOVE BOX: I was also told this one from my institute teacher. Basically, you wrap a box to look like a present, then pick a family member, kneel in front of them and tell them something that you truly love about them. The only rule: it has to come from the heart, be meaningful. That person has to now pick someone else and do the same thing. WARNING: THIS WILL MOST LIKELY CAUSE TEARS :)
12. THANKFUL TREE: Cut out a tree, or go get some branches and make some leaves, have everyone fill out things that they are grateful for and watch as the tree comes to life.
13. OBJECT LESSONS: On mormonshare.com they list over 300 object lessons of different topics. These are so much fun to do for FHE or a class or just with the family!
