While serving as a Primary activity leader in her ward in Arizona, Kimber Cutler organized a youth event that has captured a lot of attention on social media.
On a Wednesday night, kids and youth gathered to hear the experiences of returned missionaries in their ward. Not only did this activity fulfill the spiritual goals quadrant of the Children and Youth program, but it also helped the youth bond with adult members of their congregation.
“The kids are going to keep seeing these people on Sundays and will know some of their backgrounds,” Kimber says. “I think stories really connect people.”
As of late February, the Instagram reel she posted about the activity has gained 500k views, 30k likes, and 400 comments. We spoke with Kimber to learn more about the activity and why it’s resonating with Latter-day Saints near and far.
Showcasing Missions from Around the World
Kimber says she passed around a sign-up sheet at church a couple of weeks before the activity, asking adults who had served missions to participate. She told them that they could decorate their own booth with photos, food, souvenirs, memorabilia, flags—anything that encapsulated their missionary experience.
Sixteen adults signed up, including both former sister missionaries and former elders. They covered a variety of ages and had served in stateside, international, and service missions. On the night of the event, each returned missionary uniquely decorated a table for their mission in the meetinghouse’s cultural hall.
“Some people went all out and brought tons of food,” Kimber says. “Other people brought just a few pictures because that’s all they could find. I let the adult behind each booth do as they pleased.”
The Primary children came to see the booths for an hour from 6–7 p.m. The young men and young women then followed from 7–8 p.m.
“I gave all the kids a piece of paper, and we made it into a tic-tac-toe board to give them a purpose when they were at each booth,” Kimber explains.
As they made their way around the cultural hall, the youth filled out each box on their paper with the name of the person at the booth, where they had served, and an interesting fact about their mission.
The enthusiasm from everyone involved was palpable.
“There were smiles. There was bubbly excitement all around. You could just tell the room had an energy in it,” Kimber says.
Giving Returned Missionaries the Opportunity to Share
Throughout the night, it was clear that the adults were savoring this opportunity to talk about their missions.
“People get made fun of a little bit in church when they share mission stories,” Kimber says. “But let’s create an opportunity for sharing! I love that it kind of removes the glossy, boring stereotype of having served a mission and makes it seem like a more real, impactful experience.”
And regardless of the country, state, or province where they served, the adults were proud to share their experiences. They willingly recalled memories that were fun or spiritual, and others that were hard. Kimber says,
“It was cool for the kids to see the adults love their mission, no matter where they served. They didn’t feel more or less worthy for going to a foreign or stateside or service mission. … They were just so happy in their hearts to be asked to be there that night and to be heard and listened to.”
Inspiring the Next Generation to Serve
Not only were the adults excited to share their experiences, but the kids were also eager to learn and talk about the missions. Kimber recalls that each youth had a different interest at the tables and a unique takeaway by the end of the night:
“One kid always wanted to learn about the food from each mission. Another wanted to know what time the missionaries woke up and how that changed in each mission. And it sparked memories in the adults of different stories to share.”
The post about the activity has received hundreds of positive comments, with other members drawing inspiration from the idea and some sharing similar event details from their own wards.
One commenter shared an idea to keep children engaged during the activity, writing, “We did this one year and gave the kids passports and they could get them stamped.”
Another wrote, “My ward did this when I was little! It was so impactful for me. To this day, one of the foods I tried during this is still my favorite food.”
“By encouraging families to focus [on] raising their children around these experiences, they grow up having a desire to have it for themselves,” another Instagram user noted. “It’s great for former missionaries to reminisce [about] those wonderful years of service.”
Watch the reel from the viral post about the activity below.
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