Over the past couple of weeks, I have written about: water, being nice to your mom and dad, conquering challenges, Stranger Things and Harry Potter. And it has all been in the name of the #lighttheworld's initiative to encourage people to serve others.

Today I get to write about one of my favorite topics ever...

Parties!!!!!!

Wait. Isn't this supposed to be some super religious initiative? What's the catch?

That is the beauty of the #lighttheworld initiative. There is no catch. It really is that simple to serve others.

That is the reason I have been so drawn to this initiative. No one is cramming doctrine down my throat. No one is telling me what I should and shouldn't believe. This initiative simply says, "Do nice things". Even more incredible is that the "nice things" it asks people to do are so accessible that anyone can do them.

Don't believe me? Then let's look at today's theme:

"Ye shall meet together oft."

Yep. Today's theme asks you to get together with people you love.

Some may do this at church. Other's may do this at a community events. Others may just invite friends and family over to hang out.

Can you do that? Can you spend time with people you love?

Since the birth of my children, it has become more difficult to hang out with my friends. We are all so busy. But are we too busy? We shouldn't be.

It seems that it is nearly impossible for me to get together with my friends unless we put it on the calendar far in advance. So maybe today isn't as easy as I made it seem. Maybe it will take a little effort to get the people I care about to carve out a bit of time on their calendar for each other.

But do you know what helps?

An excuse.

The excuse might be a birthday, holiday or big sporting event.

Today, maybe that excuse can simply be the #lighttheworld initiative. My friends already think I'm a loon so there is no harm in me texting all of them a message saying "Hey everybody, I'm trying to carry out all 25 days of the #lighttheworld initiative. Please come over to my house on Thursday night."

Most will text back, "Whatever dude... what should we bring?"

I may just text back "coconuts".

Why?

Because who cares what they bring as long as we spend some time together.

Although if someone brought this coconut it would be awesome! Do you think @gringalicious will accept an invite?

If a coconut party isn't your thing, the official site recommends the following ways you can spend meaningful time with others:

• When was the last time you attended a church service?
  Come worship with us (visit mormon.org/worship for locations).

• Has it been awhile since you’ve been together as a family?
  Schedule a time this week to spend real quality time together (without electronic devices).

• What can you do to bring your neighborhood together?
  Organize a social gathering to bring everyone a little closer this holiday season.

For more information on #lighttheworld, please visit https://www.mormon.org/christmas/25-ways-25-days/day-17

Several community members have already followed @gavvet's lead and have created #lighttheworld posts of their own. (Thank you all for participating!)

Now we need someone from the community to inspire others on day 18. Tomorrow's theme is: "Forgive men their trespasses." You can find more information here.

If you decide to participate by creating your own post for day 18, please make sure to use the #lighttheworld tag and include the day's video, theme and link, as we have done.

If you'd like to see a great example, please check out @methusalem's inspirational Day 3 post https://steemit.com/lighttheworld/@methusalem/freely-ye-have-received-freely-give.

or

@sonofthunder's wonderful Day 6 post https://steemit.com/lighttheworld/@sonofthunder/lighttheworld-day-6

or

@frieda's beautiful Day 9 post https://steemit.com/lighttheworld/@frieda/i-was-sick-and-you-visited-me

or

@bigbear's emotional Day 12 post https://steemit.com/lighttheworld/@bigbear/blessed-are-they-that-mourn-matthew-5-4

or

@cindycam's heartfelt Day 15 post https://steemit.com/lighttheworld/@cindycam/blessed-are-the-merciful-matthew-5-7

Although we will be on the lookout for great #lighttheworld posts every day, we will definitely need contributions on days 18, 21, and 24.

Images 1, 2, 3