August 21, 2025
Scooping Up New Friends--Be the Reason It's Sweeter by Attending!
About a year ago, when I was serving in the Stake Relief Society, a president of one of the units passed on a packet of questions for a fun friendship speed dating activity they had with their sisters. I passed it on to Odessa 1st RS, but they did not end up using it. Fast forward to July 2025, when I received a new calling as a counselor in Odessa First Ward RS, I knew the perfect activity to help all of our sisters feel more connected: Friendship Speed dating.
I used Canva to design a cute invite and a sign-up sheet and Chat GPT to come up with a catchy title. Then, we began spreading the word. Luckily, several sisters chose to attend, and we had the best night of chatting and laughing together--plus ice cream!
Our RS activity committee is depleted right now, but our two remaining sisters were such a huge help. Vonda came early and helped set up and then manned the sign-in table. (The table had name tags and friendship bracelets.) She also gave a beautiful spiritual thought about how she prepares to bring the spirit into her classroom at the beginning of each school year, and how we can invite the spirit into the day-to-day activities of our lives. Olena came early to decorate and stayed until the bitter end to clean up, which was so appreciated. Of course, the new RS presidency was all hands on deck, and Melanie, the previous president, was AMAZING to come up with a really cute table display.
Teamwork=Dreamwork
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| Anna & Melanie |
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| Check out that cute ice cream cone tucked in the vase! |
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| Aurelia (from Odessa 3rd) and Vonda at the check-in table. (You can kind of see the cute friendship bracelets I ordered from Temu.) |
We had four long tables set up in a U-shape in the gym. We lined up four chairs on each side of the table directly across from each other. Those who sat on the outside of the tables never moved places, but the sisters on the inside moved one chair to the right when directed. We placed the questions on the tables and told the sisters they were welcome to use these prompts or come up with their own. They had a total of four minutes with each person. Due to the large turnout, the sisters didn't get to rotate through everyone.
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| We had 6 chairs at each table but had to add two more to some to accommodate the turnout. |
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| Sister Lake & Cindy getting to know each other. |
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| Here is a sample of a few of the questions that Andrews branch gave us. |
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| I added about twenty round cards from a game we have at home. |
I had a handbell and a timer set for two minutes. The sisters on the outside of the tables asked the questions for the first two minutes. Then I rang the bell, and the sisters on the opposite side of the table had a chance to ask questions. It was so fun to see everyone talking and laughing together. When I rang the bell to rotate, it was cute to see the sisters quickly trying to wrap up their conversation and move to the next table. I was teasing our president, Natalia, about holding up the flow. She was a lingerer!
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| Left: Mel, Amanda & Cindy Rt: Tylor, Janet & Penny |
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| Madeleine & Olena at the front of the table |
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| Blanca & Erin at the front of the table |
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| Debbie (our new 2nd counselor) & Elizabeth |
We stopped the rotations at 8:00 to enjoy loaded ice cream sundaes. Many of the sisters brought toppings to go along with our Blue Bell ice cream, and they did not disappoint: Heath Bar, Kit Kat, pecans, walnuts, slivered almonds, gummy bears, strawberries, bananas, whipped cream, caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, and more.
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