Hot Rod Paint Fight

A Saturday afternoon, a group of Mormon college students, and a soundtrack. What could happen?

What are Mormons near you doing for fun?
Find out by chatting with a Mormon: mormon.org/chat.

29 date ideas from 6 Mormons

Some friends put our heads together and came up with a list of our favorite date ideas. Enjoy! And happy dating! :)

From Olivia Mayer

-Attend a local high school sports game

-Choose a new recipe from your country of choice and make it together

-Make a camp dinner on a fire or a picnic and eat it in a tent 

-Take dance/workout class together; sometimes for your first time there they're free!!

-Attend an open house showing of a house that's for sale in your area together 

-Adopt a grandparent aka visit the elderly in a retirement home

-Have a game night with friends 

-People watch over smoothies at the mall

-Take a homeless person to dinner with you and your date then get to know them

From Evelyn Kamurasi

-A game of sardines at IKEA or any large store!

-Go opera singing at an underground parking lot then get milkshakes at the local creamery!

From Dave Gray:

-Dumpster diving for pizza and doughnuts in the winter... Not when it's warm out!!! (Looking in dumpsters behind pizza places and bakeries for their leftovers.) "The most pizza I've gotten in one night was like 20 hot and readys and 5 papa johns pizzas."

-Putting coins on a railroad track, going to ice cream and a dollar movie, then going back to collect the flattened coins afterwards.

-Going on a fun run, walk, or hike to a cool place together.

-Nerf gun fight in a public place 

-Prepare tin foil dinners then go make a campfire to cook them and enjoy the outdoors.

-Volunteering to help out at a race or somewhere else.

From Alex Fajardo:

-Rope swinging!

-paint rocks with glow-in-the-dark paint and go rock skipping at night. Throw glow sticks in the water to light it up and jump in to get them afterwards!

From Mark Mellville:

-Carving watermelons like pumpkins

-Seeing a cheap star show and looking through professional telescopes.

-Going to free concerts of local artists 

-Making homemade rafts (like out of popsicle sticks) and floating them down a stream.

-Free museums at colleges or other places. 

-After dinner, sharing a few of your favorite YouTube videos to each other.

-Go to a thrift store and buy each other ten dollar outfits that you have to wear to a movie or another public activity. 

From Jordan Alexander

-Make cake balls (or another dessert) together then deliver them to people by doorbell ditching them. Hide behind the bushes to see their reactions.

-Go to a youth sports game where you don't know anybody and try to beat out the parents with your cheering. (Making a sign is recommended).

-Ask get-to-know-you questions and answer them by drawing pictures with sidewalk chalk. Then enjoy your masterpieces over some ice cream.

 There are much more dating ideas and fun stuff Mormons do coming up on this blog! Stay tuned :)

Why don't Mormons drink alcohol?

Chat with one of us:

http://www.mormon.org/chat

(We don't own this photo)

Auto Hobby

Everyone should have a hobby. It’s too easy to be busy. It can be hard sometimes to just make time for something that you enjoy doing. But I think it’s important for people to spend some time doing something that lifts them up and motivates them to keep trudging through the rest of it.

My personal hobby happens to be a little more expensive than normal. I don’t play sports very often. I’m not a great artist. I haven’t bought a new video game in close to a decade. But I love cars. Back home in Michigan, everyone I knew seemed to work for the auto-industry, including my dad. Cars were the center of everyone’s conversation. Auto-shows were more exciting than movie theaters.

I’m not a mechanic, by any means, but bit by bit I’m trying to learn about how cars work so I can try my hand at restoring a classic someday. Hopefully that day will come sooner, rather than later. But for now my project is a ’94 Mazda Miata I bought in March. It’s a salvage title. It had faded, uneven paint, made funny noises, leaked fluids, had holes in the top and generally didn’t inspire much confidence. After lots of time and investment, it’s looking and sounding great. I’m spending the rest of the summer enjoying the results.

Whatever it is you enjoy, find time for it. Life is too short not to enjoy it while we’re here.

What's one of your hobbies? How has it helped you to be a happier person? Please share by commenting below. This post was written by Chase C., a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

"Swing your partner round and round!"

Sometimes when people hear the phrase “country swing dancing” they might associate it with a square dance or some other hokey dance.

Thankfully, for all those who love a good partner dance, it’s not just a square dance. I was first introduced to country swing dancing through the BYU Club, which holds free events each Tuesday night on campus. The club is beginner friendly, and also provides  instruction for any dancers looking to add to their repertoire. The instruction is followed by just one jam-packed hour of music and dancing.

What is it about the feel of a stranger’s sweaty palms spinning you around and around until you almost feel faint that makes it so addicting? I’ve yet to find that out. But for now, I have grown to love being flipped, dipped and twirled around by a variety of dancing partners as I’ve begun to explore the world of country swing dancing. It’s wholesome, invigorating and oh so country! What’s not to love?

Sarah Jayne