Building a Better Brancher

One of the main goals of our cute little branch is to make sure that all of the young single adults in our stake end up going the right way on the right road. That "right road" being, of course, the strait and narrow path that leads to things like higher education, provident living, eternal covenants, a righteous posterity, and the abilities to trap shoot and bowl (not necessarily at the same time...although a bowling/trap shooting activity would probably help score us an attendance record. How could people resist the opportunity to fire a shot gun while wearing communal shoes? -- Note to self...bring this up at the next activities committee meeting) .
Our branch activities, everything from temple trips to family home evenings to ski trips, are designed to increase our testimonies, knowledge banks, skill reserves, and social circles.

Sometimes that works too well. For example, Elder's Quorum President Derek did some macho-man weight lifting as part of a FHE lesson visual aid...then went and joined the National Guard. Forget "Army Strong". The branch makes people "Army of Helaman" strong.

And a recent enrichment activity gave the sisters in the branch an opportunity to learn the important skill of "cutting guys' hair". Lacie enjoyed it so much she considered ditching her nursing degree and enrolling in cosmetology school. I didn't volunteer to practice on our live model because my scissor skills (or lack thereof) would have required both a cosmetology degree and an emergency medical technician certificate... and an oxygen mask because I tend to lose consciousness at the sight of blood.

This Saturday (after driving the right way on the right road to Twin) our branch activity gave us more self-improvement opportunities.

First, we gained a greater appreciation for dairy products and practiced our all-important ice cream ordering skills at Cold Stone.

Then we went to the local college campus to tour the museum and watch a show at the planetarium.
And besides all of the great sciencey stuff we learned there, we also picked up some life-skills type info...like to how self-tattoo...

...how to catch your coins after enjoying watching them spin around in the donation thingy so you can spin them again and again without actually donating them...

... and what mammoth poop looks like. That was probably the highlight.

And the quest to build a better brancher continued last night at FHE where the Woodhouses made a special post-release-guest-appearance to give us a refresher course on etiquette. The guys learned how to help a girl into a car and to order for their date at a restaurant. The girls learned how to sit and stand in the most lady-like way possible, and everyone learned how incredibly cute it is for missionary couples to wear matching outfits (yet another reason why we LOVE Elder and Sister Woodhouses) .

Then we put all of that good manners learnin' to good use by bellying up to the chow line for our monthly Feed the Flock dinner. It was delicious and I am proud to say that I managed to sit and stand in an impressively lady-like manner. And after so many activities with boundless opportunities to stretch our intellects and broaden our horizons, what was the most memorable moment? What did we future-world-and-Church-leaders remember the clearest? What choicest bit of information did we discuss over dinner the longest and in the greatest detail?
I'm thinking our activities schedule for the next few months should be lighter on the "sciencey stuff" and heavier on the etiquette.

Here's hoping the next generation of branchers, the PAB-ers version 2.0, can see past the fake mammoth poop and focus on what is really important in life....

...and then they can fill me in on what that might be, because all I can think about right now is, "How can I fit the picture of the fake mammoth poop into tomorrow's grammar lesson?" The 7th graders are going to Looooooooove it!