Recently we held a Thanksgiving Workshop at Pasadena House here in Los Angeles. This workshop was for children in sixth to eighth grade. We had 55 participants attend from all over region 10, from Northern California, Southern California, Hawaii and Arizona. Also, our staff was from all over Region 10. We even had staff come in from Houston, Texas. Altogether we had over 70 people staying at Pasadena House. Although it was very crowded, the atmosphere was very warm and comfortable. All in all, this workshop was one of our most successful.

We had the opportunity to hear some internal guidance about tradition given by Sheri Rueter. When the reflections forms were filled out and returned, many participants had shared that they got a lot out of this because of five main points written on the board: 1) leave things better than before; 2) love the most difficult person; 3) do the hardest thing; 4) be on time; 5) no negativity. In my group, we tried to practice these five steps and it made a difference in attitude and atmosphere. We also heard a lecture on prayer given by Rick Joswick. Afterward we went out to the yard for prayer time. Through the reflections I could see what was learned, and the participants said that it was good we had prayer time after lecture because they could actually put into practice what was learned. Keith McCarthy gave a lecture emphasizing the importance of Second Generation. It was very good and could be understood well because of the diagrams he put so much effort into making. Thank you to all the lecturers. Rev. Lee also shared with us two videos about our church history and Father. It was very exciting.

Something else exciting was...bowling, fishing and a big game of yute. We bowled two games at Santa Anita Village Lanes after lunch Saturday. Teddy Hose had the winning team with a total of over 1,000 points for both games. Saturday night was a yute championship. Sarah Yasutake's team won first place prize, $200, and K-ha Kobayashi's team won second place prize, $100. The prizes made the games very exciting. After pledge Sunday we got an early start and went out to Long Beach; for a few hours we went ocean fishing. Altogether we caught more than 100 fish. We saw lots of animals, including about eight sea lions. One sea lion even snatched some of our fish. When we came back we were totally exhausted. But it was really worth it. We really got to experience Ocean Challenge and Father's vision.

Along with the participants I myself received a lot out of the workshop and was very inspired. Throughout the whole workshop I would look at the children and I could really see how pure they were-really at that stage where they notice everything their elders do. So I myself had to watch what I said and my actions.

Excerpt reprinted from The Unificationist, newsletter of the Southern California church.

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