I wanted to take advantage of the weather before it turns cold and decided we should do some sort of GPS/Geocaching activity. Turns out that' geocaching is A LOT harder to plan than I thought, so after spending a very long time at the temple grounds trying to figure things out, Caitlin and I figured we'd use the compass readings instead of GPS. SO MUCH EASIER. Apparently, I am HORRIBLE with directions and either had wrong readings or wrote things down wrong as I messed up a few of the instructions hahah. OOPS!
Despite my poor directions, this activity was so much fun and the girls had a blast. We divided the girls into 3 groups (a group for each leader) and then gave them the instructions and starting point. They then had to follow directions around the temple taking different pictures at certain spots, writing the compass direction at others, and counting things like how many spiky plants or how many small squares there are, etc, for others. If my directions had been better this would have been MUCH easier, but thankfully I was able to run to the other groups and fix my mistakes, for the most part ;)
After all the instructions were accomplished we went back to the church and talked about the "compasses" we have in life that will lead and guide us in the right direction. The girls were wonderful and were able to come up with the answers - the Holy Ghost, the scriptures, prayer, our church leaders, our parents, etc. We talked about how even though we have the directions and the Holy Ghost to guide us the path isn't always easy, but we can make it in the end if we follow the path the Savior led.
We finished the night with hot chocolate and catching up on birthdays we missed over the summer. I think it was a fun and successful first night! And I love that the only cost was a few treats at the end. If I were to do it again I would have the girls bring a compass/phone with compass with them AND I would do a run through BEFORE meeting with the girls to make sure everything was right. Overall it turned out great!!
