Youth Conference - Kirtland and Palmyra

 Kelly and I had the unique opportunity to be group leaders for youth conference last week.  We led a group of 13 youth (as part of a group of 175) - ages 13 to 17 - on a 5 day tour through various places of historical significance to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  It was a huge undertaking and required an insane amount of coordination and planning, but it was so worth it.

Our three oldest kids came too, although they weren't in our group.  They each had their own group with awesome leaders and I'm so grateful for the work other leaders put into leading our kids.  We visited historical sights such as the Kirtland Temple, the Sacred Grove, the Hill Cumorah, the Grandin Building, and the Smith Farm, among many others.  We also taught classes on many different subjects, did ordinance work in the Palmyra temple, and had the pleasure of several devotionals led by the stake presidency members.

In addition to all the sights and lessons, we also got to have some fun at the camp we stayed at.  It is owned by the church and had amazing facilities - clean, well maintain bunk houses, a huge group gathering building with a full industrial kitchen, gorgeous waterfront area with boats, gaga ball, sand volleyball, zip lines over the river, rock climbing wall, obstacle course, amphitheater, and huge fields for gathering.  It was so much fun.

In the evenings we had dances, talent shows, and other organized events.  The stake presidency did an act in the talent show that had us all cracking up - they put on costumes as elephant riders and did stunts and silly tricks.  It was so awesome to see both sides of these men - their spiritual side as they taught and bore powerful testimonies of Jesus Christ - and their silly side as they joked around with everyone. It was so amazing to spend so much time with so many incredible people this week.

Teaching the classes was what had me the most stressed out before going.  We were going to have to teach for over 4 hours over the course of the trip and I really don't do well teaching teenagers.  Give me a group of 5 year olds and I'm set, but 15 year olds are a whole different story.  I find it hard to keep their attention and relate to them. 

I really should have had more faith.  Kelly and I spent a lot of time planning our lessons together and God did the rest.  We couldn't have taught that way on our own.  The spirit was abundant in our lessons and Kelly and I both felt guided in our preparation as well as our presentation. I know that God loves these youth and he wants them to come to know Him in a real, tangible way.  I'm grateful to have been able to play a small part in His work.

Kelly and I both noted that we felt overcome by the holy spirit again and again and again on this trip.  It was absolutely stunning how powerful it was throughout our time there, especially as we sang, as we taught, and as we visited the sites where such amazing things happened.  There were so many miracles on this trip, I can't count them all.  I know that God lives and that Jesus Christ is my savior.  I have seen His hand this past week in very powerful ways.  He's changing lives and guiding people to Him.

One small story - there were a group of boys on this trip that seemed determined to disrupt and cause trouble.  They interrupted lessons, disrupted activities, and generally caused chaos everywhere they went.  Every teacher and also many other youth were very bothered by them.  On the last day, during the last set of classes, there were three classes going on simultaneously and the youth were allowed to pick which of the three to attend.  I am friends with one of the teachers and I wasn't teaching that hour, so I went to her area to listen to her teach.  Strangely, not one single youth came to her location.  They all chose one of the other two classes.  She's a great teacher and it was very unusual for her to not draw a crowd.  We sat together, along with her husband and son who were also going to help teach, for several minutes until finally deciding to give up and go join another class.  Just when we stood up to go, those boys came out of their cabin.  It happened to be directly next to her class location.  They had not paid attention to the time and were late picking a class.  They walked into hers because they didn't have time to go anywhere else at this point.  Now they were the only students in what was supposed to be a much bigger class.  They couldn't disrupt anyone else and she could focus entirely on them.  It was an incredible opportunity.  She and her family were able to stand directly in front of them and speak directly to them and the holy spirit was felt by everyone.  They taught with power from God and the boys didn't disrupt once.  They listened, answered questions, and paid full attention the entire time.  It was truly a miracle.  God reached out to those boys individually and found a way to touch them when nothing else had.

Summer Family Time

 I love that the more relaxed pace of summer provides more time together.  Well, that has its pros and cons, but I'll focus on the positive.  We took a walk in the woods together the other day and it was really fun.  Peter kept wanting to take pictures and I'm so glad we did because there were some very cute ones.  No photo proof of  Bella (Benjamin didn't come), but I assure you, she was there.

We went to examine the destruction following the freak tornado that Livonia experienced the day prior.  It killed a little boy that we knew and caused a ton of destruction in the park.  We didn't see much evidence of anything in the woods, though. The major destruction occurred in the open areas of the park, the woods in the back were protected by the density of the trees.

Kelly and Peter were pretending he could walk on water.

Christian wanted to climb the big tree's root system that had fallen in a previous storm.

He Graduated!

Per long standing tradition, a few days before graduation, all the seniors go back to their elementary and middle schools and take a big group photo in their graduation gowns.  At the elementary level, they get to walk the halls of the school while all the little kids clap and then they all meet out on the playground for recess and a chance to play and talk to their former teachers.

Benjamin had such fond memories of playing with the high school seniors when he was little and was so excited to finally be that big guy that comes back.  He immediately got invited to play basketball, but with his broken wrist, that wasn't possible.  He got invited to play soccer, but he was in his church shoes.  Then a kid invited him to play football and he happily agreed.  He and another friend of his took the roles of QB on opposing teams and had a great time playing.  It was such a fun moment to see the whole thing come full circle.

The actual day of graduation was so amazing.  We had to get there soooo early so Peter was completely wiped out and done by the end (as evidenced by his posture in the family pic above) but despite the long wait and the tedious ceremony, he did great.  I was very happy to be able to focus on Benjamin and celebrate this special day with him.

Benjamin with the team of girls he eliminated in water wars. Proof there were no hard feelings.

Benjamin with one of the student council members.

Benjamin with his closest group of friends.

They didn't allow close-up stage photos because they had a private company taking those and charging $60 per photo, so I just got a few grainy ones.

So amazing that I have a high school graduate, soon to be missionary!  It's crazy.  Life moves so fast.  Truly, where did the last 14 years of school go??  I'm really proud of him and his hard work and achievements.  Summa Cum Laude with a straight-A senior year despite many AP classes.  He's a smart kid and we know he'll do great things.