~by Brenda**
What do Mormons do for fun? Well, we do basically the same things as anyone else! Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are encouraged to seek out wholesome recreation to rejuvenate our bodies and minds. We are also admonished to avoid any activity/media that is degrading to the human body and spirit like drugs, alcohol, or pornography.
In the thirteenth article of our faith there is a line patterned after a Bible scripture that I use as my guide to fun.
“If there is anything virtuous, lovely, of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.”
Within those parameters, here are some things I do for fun:
-I like to read. I am a member of two book groups. Right now we are reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and The Ranger’s Apprentice by John Flanagan. Here is a picture of the books on my nightstand.
-I like to listen to music and dance while cleaning my house or driving in my car. I’m a huge seat dancer and can frequently be seen with the windows down and the volume up singing to my favorite tunes at stop lights. My favorite band is Earth Wind and Fire.
-I love to camp with my family. Here is a picture of my family hiking in the redwoods. I love the filtered light in a redwood grove, the smell of the damp earth and searching for banana slugs on the trail.
-We like to boat. I can’t water-ski, but for me, boating is about the warm air on my skin, being in the beauty of nature and having fun with my kids.
-I like to restore and re-use. My husband and I just restored a home that was in near shambles due to termite damage. Instead of being a fixer-upper, it was more like a do-er-over-er. We used reclaimed doors from the salvage yard, nearly all of our furniture was purchased used, and we did all of the work ourselves. Some of our furniture we even found at the dump! Here are some before and after shots.
Kitchen before:
Dining Room Before:
Family Room Before:
Here is what our entire house looked like during the restoration.
And here are some after pictures. Using pre-owned items in my home makes me happy because I can look around at each item in my home and there is a a story associated with it.
-I also like to host parties. I’ve already written here about my Disco roller skating birthday party (yes, Mormons do celebrate birthdays!), but I also like to have people over for karaoke nights, game nights and dinner parties. I love throwing kid parties where my children’s friends come over and play hide and seek, dance, or carve pumpkins for Halloween.
-Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints love to have fun, especially with our families. Having fun enriches my life and gives me an opportunity to develop my talents, make connections with loved ones and rest my mind and body from the struggles of life.
What do you like to do for fun?
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**Please note: The answers in “Ask a Mormon Woman” and (other content on this site) reflect the thoughts and perspectives of individual LDS women and administrators at Mormon Women: Who We Are. Although we strive to have our content consistent with the doctrine and teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we do not speak officially for the Church. You can read official information about Mormon beliefs at mormon.org’s What We Believe or at www.lds.org.
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I loved the peek into your life, Janelle. I, too, am a Mormon woman who loves to have fun with my family…and on my own!
One thing my college-aged sons have mentioned to me on numerous occasions is that they love how social gatherings with their LDS friends can be hilarious, active, memorable and zany without involving alcohol or drugs. In fact, they have such a wide variety of “good times” that they can’t see the point in adding chemicals.
In addition to some of the things you’ve mentioned, our family likes to play board games (and eat snacks!). A few of our favourites are The Settlers of Catan, Monopoly, Cashflow, chess, and word games like Apples to Apples and Scrabble.
We also love to attend live theatre, particularly musicals. Our Christmas tradition is to attend a wonderful production of A Christmas Carol in the large city 3 hours from our home. Often, we pair this with a special dinner out (Vietnamese food, ideally) and an overnight stay at a hotel with a pool.
In the summers, we picnic and hike in a nearby national park, ride our Tennessee Walking horses, grow beautiful food, and play in the creeks and rivers near our home.
On occasion, we travel, too. Most of our destinations involve visiting family, but we try to include stops at sites of historic and cultural significance and forays into restaurants, museums, and Nature reserves.
Regardless of what we’re doing, it’s always a laboratory for how to be a group of diverse individuals united in a common cause of becoming a unified, loving family. It’s the spice of life!
Sigh . . .it all looks so lovely! I also have a lot of fun decorating my house. It feels good to be surrounded by beauty. It also feels good when that beauty is obtained at a reasonable price (free is my favorite!)
We’re known for big families; what do you think we do for fun?!?! LOL!
Like your family we like to go camping. We also play a lot of board/card games. We like to roast marshmallows in the backyard fire-pit, go on family bike rides, go bowling, go hiking and we love to watch movies.