Youth Conference: I Believe

I believe in Christ-- my Lord, my God!
My feet he plants on gospel sod.
I'll worship him with all my might;
He is the source of truth and light.

I believe in Christ; he ransoms me.
From Satan's grasp he sets me free,
And I shall live with joy and love
In his eternal courts above.

(I Believe In Christ, verses 3 and 4)

Our theme for youth conference was I Believe.  We talked about three aspects of this theme...I Believe in Christ (on Wednesday), I Believe in the Prophets (Thursday), and I Believe in Myself and We Believe in Each Other (Friday). 

We met on Wednesday and headed to Provo.  We stopped at the Provo City Center Temple and went into the pavilion to see the Christus statue and feel the spirit there and to introduce our theme "I Believe in Christ."

Then we went to Spanish Fork where we went on a "hike" which was really more of a nature walk, but it was by a river and it was pretty.  After walking a ways, we stopped and Michelle and Joyce recounted the story of the Savior feeding the 5,000 with 5 loaves and two fish.  Then we had a snack of fish and bread (goldfish and muffins).  Then we walked back and ate lunch at the park.

Finally we headed to Manti where we set up camp, had a bit of free time, prepared dinner (chili), and then watched two movies...Finding Faith in Christ (followed by singing I Believe in Christ) and then Mary Poppins Returns.   Such a wonderful day!   I hope that as the youth and Bishop Carlson and the movie bore testimony of Christ that their hearts were touched and they felt the truth of the things they were hearing.  I know I did.   And I am SO grateful that I do believe in Christ and know He lives.  I give thanks every day that I have the gospel and that the Savior atoned for my sins and suffered for my weaknesses and illnesses and shortcomings and afflictions.  I truly do need Him every hour!!

Day 2:  I Believe in the Prophets

Our morning began early with a walk to the Manti Temple.  The young men talked about the prophet Joseph Smith and what we can learn from him and his First Vision.  Then we spread out, found a quiet spot and read scriptures and pondered and prayed. 

Then we went back to camp and had breakfast (pancakes, eggs, bacon).  Then we did a Manti Map scavenger hunt.  The youth were split into groups and given a map that had codes on it.  There was a bit of Morse code as well as a bunch of scriptures (listed as numbers:  page number, line number, word)  that they had to look up and write down the word and then figure out what place in Manti it corresponded to.  Also, Ella had a little mishap and got her hair stuck in the zipper of the tent.  Fortunately, Brenda was able to free her (while her mom was busy snapping a picture). 

We had a nice discussion and then prepared lunch.  After lunch we created "Mormonads" based around 3 conference talks.  Then there was free time in which the youth wanted to go swim.  

Then after dinner (spaghetti) and a brief rainstorm, we headed over to the Manti pageant.  We played games and talked and laughed until it was time for the pageant to begin.   I am sure I have said it before, but I LOVE these youth so very much.  More than I can express.  It was such a great privilege to be able to spend these 3 days with them at youth conference.  They are remarkable and they bring such joy into my life.

Day 3:  I Believe in Myself, We Believe in Each Other

After breakfast, (oatmeal and yogurt), we did a devotional where we played Bingo.  The Mia Maids did this devotional and they talked about the importance of seeing yourself as a child of God, of recognizing your worth.  Then we packed up and cleaned.   Then we played some really funny team building games.  The first one they sat in 3 lines.  The last person in each line was given a simple drawing which they drew on the back of the person in front of them.  Then that person drew it on the person in front of them and so on.  Then the person in the front drew what they felt on an index card.  Then we compared the original drawing with what the person in front drew.  It was hysterical.

Then we got in a big circle and "juggled".  Each person tossed a bean bag or ball to another person in the circle.  They had to always toss it to the same person.  After they did this a couple of times to make sure that they had the order down, we added extra bean bags and balls.  Then after they got better at that, we made it more complicated.  If I shouted reverse, then they had to pass the ball in the exact reverse order (for example if Aubrey tossed to me and I tossed to Kate, then now Kate tossed to me and I tossed to Aubrey).   If I said "shuffle" then everyone had 5 seconds to move to a new place in the circle and then resume tossing the ball in the correct order.  It was pretty fun and funny.  Then they did a couple of clapping games.  Then we headed to Nephi.  We got pizza in Nephi and enjoyed lunch.  Then we did a "compliment circle".  We'd made cards for every young man, young woman and leader (those at youth conference and those that weren't).  Each person there wrote a note to every other youth and leader, telling them of some of their positive qualities.

Then we headed home.  As we were driving home, Ella got a phone call from Tia that maybe we'd left Michelle in Nephi.  A couple of people had switched cars and supposedly she had gone to the bathroom and been left there.  Ella called Liv (who was in Bishop's vehicle and where Michelle was supposed to be) and she said no Michelle wasn't there but she might be in Tia's car.  As Ella was trying to call Tia again, Michelle called in tears asking where we all were.  I pulled off at the next exit to see if Bishop Carlson had turned around to get her or if I should...and there was Bishop Carlson and Michelle was in the car.  Liv and Michelle are stinkers...and I will find a way to get them back. 

It was such a great youth conference.  My thoughts when I first got home:

"Count your many blessings. Name them one by one. Count your many blessings, see what God hath done."

My blessings are so numerous that I am quite certain that I have never successfully named them all. But every day as I try to express gratitude, having the privilege of serving as YW President with these remarkable youth...including my two oldest daughters...is one that I never fail to express. Youth Conference 2019 was a perfect beginning to my summer, because I DO believe in Christ, the prophets and myself...and I believe in these youth! They are funny, talented, smart, kind, creative, responsible, imperfect but WONDERFUL young men and young women. We saw the Manti pageant, did a scavenger hunt, created "Mormonads", played games, watched movies, swam, talked, laughed and bore testimony. They are the Lord's battalion and they are doing and will continue to do great things. And I hope/plan to be here cheering them on and praying for them and laughing with them (and just maybe pranking a couple of them...you know who you are!) and telling them what words mean and anything else I can do...for as long as I can. Oh how I love these youth! And their leaders."

And my words to them right after getting home:  "I believe in Christ. I believe in prophets. I believe in myself and we believe in each other.

And precious young women, your parents, leaders, prophets, Savior and Heavenly Father believe in YOU! You are doing and will continue to do great things! You ARE a light in this world. You are smart, funny, talented, and good.

There will be days when you feel lonely or unpopular or unnoticed. When that happens I hope you will pull out the compliment cards that your peers wrote today and remember that you DO have friends that love you, you do have tremendous talents and spiritual gifts. You have people who believe in you! You ARE a beloved daughter of God with infinite worth. Thoughts that tell you otherwise come from the adversary, the father of all lies. Thank you for letting me spend a couple of wonderful days with you! I love you! -Jenny"

Playdate

Summertime.  Oh how I love it!  Today we had these cute girls over to play for a couple of hours.  We built with K'Nex.  I learned a lot about Pokemon. They jumped on the trampoline and threw the balls for the dogs and picked cherries and played on the zipline.  Emily wants to go on the zipline 10,000 times when she comes over next.  They both said it was a great playdate...their first of the summer.

Manti

Last Wednesday, June 19, Gabby and I headed to Manti with Annette and her kids.  Annette and Dante did baptisms in the Manti Temple.  The rest of us played at a park while they were in the temple.  Then we had lunch at McDonalds.  While at McDonalds, two cute young girls came over and asked if I liked chocolate chip cookies. I said yes.  They said they'd just bought 15 cookies because they wanted to "offer them to people and make them smile."  Just their offer made me smile.

After McDonalds, we went to see a dugout that is made to remember what early settlers in Manti lived in until they could build real homes.  A kind of cool story we read was that the hills where they built the dugouts were full of snakes.  One time there were at least 300 rattlesnakes that came out and the men had to kill them.  Fortunately, no one was hurt.  Another story we read was about a young girl.  She had a new dress and it was the first dress she had ever had that had fabric purchased from a store.  She washed it and hung it on the line to dry.  Crickets came and because of the starch used on the dress, they devoured nearly the entire dress.  Poor girl!

We hung out at a park in the shade and played card games and talked.  Gabby was exhausted so she slept for a bit.  Then we got the turkey dinner and headed to the pageant to play more games while we waited for the pageant to begin.

This was the last year for the Manti pageant.  I've seen it about 5 or 6 times but my girls only got to see it this year.  It's well done and a neat experience and I'm sad to see it go.  I felt the spirit as we watched and felt such gratitude for the pioneers and all they did to settle Utah and to remain true to the faith.

Gabby eating the cookie the cute girls gave us at McDonalds.

Picture credit for the last 15 photos goes to Annette: