Good Morning,
I wanted to share my experience from youth conference 3 weeks ago.
This year we went up to the mountains and stayed in cabins in the snow. We left Friday afternoon and once we were settled, we met for dinner and Brother Nordfelt fave a devotional on our new theme this year. Which is from Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not to thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." We discussed what this scripture meant and how we have to have faith and know that Heavenly Father has a plan for us even if it is not the path or plan we envisioned. We talked about how we can't just sit back and be lazy and expect the Lord to do everything for us. We are expected to get up and do the work to accomplish our best selves. We just have to lean unto him for guidance and help and know that he will lead us down the path that is best for us.
Then next day we went sledding and it was so much fun! There were 4 or 5 big sledding hills, some steeper than others. We would all hold on to each others inner tubes and go down as a large group which made it faster and really fun. We also found local spots in the snow where we had snowball fights. Brother Jones and Brother Orgill made paths and jumps for everyone to sled off, and some people built snowmen.
Brother Orgill told us a story from his mission and how the people there had very little, but were so happy because they chose to be happy. He talked about how we should treat ourselves like our bodies are temples and how we should take care of ourselves and how we present ourselves.
On Sunday we we're able to visit the local ward. It is always fun to visit new wards while out of town. After church my mom gave a lesson on kindness. My mom has a few sayings she always tells us at home. One is how there are two kinds of people, one who brings the room up and one who brings the room down. This applies to when you walk into a room, or a dance or a party or church, or anything, and the one who brings the room up, is one who is positive, happy, says nice things and then there is someone who brings the room down, with complaints, gossiping, and a bad attitude, negative comments etc. We have to decide which one we want to be. Because its our choice if we want to be one who lifts others up or brings them down. Everyone one is going through something that we know nothing about and being kind is the only way we can change the world for the better. Another thing my mom said was how a lot of times we wait until someones funeral to tell them how great they are and to express all their accomplishments etc. And how we need to be better at sharing these things with them while they are here. I really liked that thought, we need to share these with them on their birthday so those we love know how much we love them.
We then did an activity where were wrote our name on a piece of paper, and then passed it around and each person wrote one nice thing about you. This was my favorite part of Youth Conference. I have read and re-read the kindest comments from my. friends in the ward. Sometimes we get lost and forget how great we are and even though we don't have to have anyone else's opinion or approval of us, its always nice to hear when people see good in you.
We went on a hike and then visited Camp Hinkley which was really fun. That had a huge dining hall that we went in and played games and hung out for a couple hours. We ate lots of good food, treats, sang Karaoke and us girls went back to our cabin and had a spa night where we did facial treatments, nails, loud music, more Karaoke and played games.
Im so grateful for our leaders, Bishop Nordfelt, Brother Jones, Brother Vanboerum, Brother Orgill, Sister Wells and my mom for the time and effort they put in to planning this for us, cooking us meals, and just being fun up there with us. It was the most fun youth conference. Im so grateful to be in this ward with the youth that we have. I love all the young women and young me. They make our activities fun and Im so grateful they are my friends.
Having these experiences in church help me to know the Lord has a plan for me. I trust him to lead and guide my life and I know this because of the happy feeling I get when I am here. I know this church is true and I know we have a living prophet who leads and guides us. I know that even if we have questions and don't understand, we should have faith in knowing that our prophet will guide us exactly on the path that Heavenly Father would want us to be on and we should trust in that.
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.