It started it on Wednesday, where we all met up at the church. We had another ward, but from the west side of Salt Lake come over. They all came from different situations and lifestyles than what we have been privileged to be raised with, (some had moved from places such as Sudan just a few years ago) so it was neat getting to know them and befriending them. A few were shy at first, but they eventually felt accepted and had a good time. They were all talented, whether it was at soccer at basketball or being able to make up a rap off the top of their heads. Most of the guys and girls had a great sense of humor so I enjoyed getting to know them.
We all then headed to Park City, where we rode the slide and two zip lines going down the mountain, one at which I felt as if I was flying down the steep slope. One of the girls from the other ward was with me on the zip line, and she was thrilled because a camera crew was in front of us in line filming for Park City tv, so lucky for us we were quickly on TV before before we were launched off. It was great! I believe the youth that we met must have gone through some difficult times in their lives, and they enjoyed themselves and I am glad they could have that experience.
Later that day we headed to the cabin we were staying at. We relaxed for a few hours, where we enjoyed a devotional about missionary work as we had a mini MTC clinic. We later ate from the endless cookie table and painted toy cars to be sent to Africa for kids to play with. I cannot believe how much junk food we ate that day! I felt disgusting by the end of the day, but it was just grand at the same time.
After heading home that night to register for my classes at BYU at midnight, I headed back to the cabin the next morning with a few other girls. We arrived just in time for another devotional, where we learned more about our youth conference theme on being forever strong. We learned more about the scripture Alma 26: 11-12, which are now two of my favorite verses. I do not aboast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God.
12Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things. I know that these two verses testify how nothing would be possible without our Lord and Savior; that through the atonement true repentence and forgiveness is available so we can return to him. We are nothing without him because of his miraculous miracle he gave to the world, and he is our anchor during the high tides in our lives and all we need to do sometimes is ask for strength and he will be there.
We also learned about the next biggest step in our lives, which before I thought was college, missions, and marriage, but thanks to our bishop's message we learned that it is to prepare to enter the temple. We must do all that we can as youth to enter into the house of the Lord, to recieve ordinances and make and keep sacred covenents.
After the devotional, we had played more games outside and bummed around even more. A few of us girls took the time to learn the haka to do with the guys later that night to suprise them, but let's be truthful we made ourselves look dumb because nobody could pull it off like they could. After a sweet testimony meeting with everyone inside the cabin once it started to rain, a few of us girls crammed all the bunk beds in one of the girls rooms together, and fit about 10 girls on one bunk and talked for hours. We joked around, with some guys being dumb while they were knocking on our window at 1:30 am. We put a note against the window saying "Go away! We have a leader in our room!" They ran away back to their room and about peed their pants, but they didn't know our leader was Madison who was technically a leader but only a year older than us :)
The next morning we just packed up our bags and cleaned up, headed to our leader's home, and had a BBQ and swim party. It was an incredible Youth Conference and I will not forget the great lessons and fun times we had :)
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about to go down the zip line!
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a balancing act |
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the haka |
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