Youth Conference

This post has been long in coming. I was hoping to have some actual pictures of the events before posting (I knew some of you would not believe I participated in various activities without proof), but no such luck.

The first Friday and Saturday of August was our ward's youth conference. I was fortunate to be one of two in charge of this event and I can honestly say that I have never had such a hard time pulling together an activity. It seemed like there was a problem with every possible activity we came up with. Nothing seemed to work out. We were feeling frustrated and were running out of time!

Fortunately, I have great friends and family members who came to the rescue. My sister suggested we check out the CLAS ropes course in Provo where they had taken the youth in their ward. Taking her word, we scheduled the event.

We spent all day there on Friday and had such a great time. We rock climbed, canoed, and repelled (yes, I did all of those things), as well as participated in some fun team building activities, and we were launched through the air on this ridiculously high and fast swing (did that too, but hated it!!!). We finished the day tired, dirty and wet, but happy. Some of us did things we'd never done before, or ever thought we'd do and it felt good! (More on this later. I hope to have some pictures soon.)

Saturday was equally fantastic, thanks to a friend who volunteered his amazing dad. We met our guide in Sandy and began our journey. This kind man treated us like family as he took us on a tour of various historic sites in the Salt Lake Valley.

We started at the rock quarry up Little Cottonwood canyon. None of us had ever been there before. As we listened to stories and saw proof in the giant rocks of how the stone for the Salt Lake Temple was cut, I couldn't help but hope that those who worked so hard could now see how vastly important that edifice has become to people all over the world.

Our next adventure took us down Emigration Canyon. Looking at the trail they took, I wondered how the early saints did what they did. How did they make the journey leaving behind possessions and losing loved ones while enduring intense physical exertion and exhaustion? There's no question that they did what they did because of their deep conviction. I gained a new love and respect for them and wondered if I would have been so faithful.

We spent about an hour at Heritage park. I loved the statue of Brigham and Joseph and as we were told of experiences Brigham Young had, there was no doubt in my mind that he was doing exactly what Heavenly Father wanted him to do.

We were told great stories most of us had never heard. Again I felt an amazing sense of wonder at what the early members of the church did to settle the Salt Lake Valley.

We stopped briefly at the City building in downtown Salt Lake and then headed up to Ensign peak. It was the middle of the day and very hot! The view was spectacular. One of the young men leaders commented that when he looked out over the valley, he wished he could see what Brigham Young saw. He felt impressed that possibly he was seeing it.

We concluded our trip to Salt Lake by attending the Joseph Smith movie and then standing in front of the Salt Lake Temple while we were taught so many fascinating things. I will never look at that building the same again. We all walked away feeling deeply proud of our pioneer heritage and felt a renewed desire to be better.

We met back at the church for dinner and a fireside, which my family did. Josh, K'Lynn, and Andrea sang and did such a great job and then my dad concluded with some remarks. I love to listen to him speak. It's like participating in a conversation rather than a sermon and he always brings the right spirit. The Bishop ended the conference with his testimony and a great discussion with the youth about what they learned.

The experience taught me a lot. First and foremost is that Heavenly Father is in charge. Whether we do something grand like settling the Salt Lake Valley, or we're just working every day to be better, He knows and He cares.

I also learned that simple is sometimes better. We get so caught up trying to do big productions, and those things are fine. But this time a production was not appropriate.

Finally, a lot of us learned of the importance of devoting our lives to studying and living the gospel. We spent most of the day Saturday with one who had done just this. He made us want to be better and we are grateful.