I have to say that I walked around at this Youth Conference and just marveled at the amount of work that went in to it. Not only was there an army of adults volunteering for everything from first aid to shuttling kids back and forth. But there was also a small army of Young Adults from the singles ward in our stake who had given up four days out of their busy lives to come and be the counselors for our young people. It was an amazing process that I watched unfold over these four days. I myself had hit the wall....HARD....by day two. The days started at 7:30am and didn't end until well after 11pm at night. I had two kids participating, Amanda as a counselor and Mackay as a participant. I have to tell you I did not hear one whine, or one day of "I don't want to go", they both seemed to love it and it seemed to be that way through the whole conference for everyone. As I walked the halls and saw all the work and sweat from all of these volunteers, I often had a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. There was just an overwhelming feeling of goodness everywhere I looked.
I stole away on the 3rd day to go the movies with the kids. They had arranged for them to go to the Water Gardens Theater and see the movie Forever Strong. When I got there, I noticed there were very few adult leaders there but all of the kids had their counselors with them and they were all taking such good care of their groups. Finding places for them to sit together, making sure everyone was with them and getting them their popcorn and drinks. It was really fun to be there and mix and mingle with these kids!
I loved all the service projects they did, they made hats, put together hygiene kits and photographed graves for genealogy files. They had a lot of fun along the way too. I remember on friday night they were planning to do a dance out in the parking lot. It was super hot and the kids had already been outside the whole day because their activities were mostly in the park that day. They had come inside to eat dinner and listen to a speaker. I just remember walking around and seeing all those hot and sweaty faces and I thought WOW they can't make them go back outside in the hot and dance????? I even said it to some of the leaders I was so concerned. They said they had to have the dance outside so the DJ would be able to set up while the kids were inside listening to the speaker. I didn't pay to much attention after that and I was busy cleaning up in the kitchen. As I was walking out to my car I heard loud music and a great roar from the crowd. I rushed out back to see what was happening and I saw nearly every kid out on the dance floor doing the Boot Scoot Boogie and having a blast. I was just amazed how they were all loving it!
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| Working On Service Projects |
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| Some of those devoted counselors |
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| Look at those smiles! |
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| Loving It! |
I loved seeing the bonding that was happening among these kids. Kids that had known each other for a while but had never really gotten to know each other the way they did this week. It worked it's magic on the adults too and I think that we all felt really blessed to have had the opportunity to participate in such an event. The Grove Creek Stake Youth Conference from my point of view....granted it was from the kitchen......but to me it was a resounding, amazing success! I thank my lucky stars I was there!
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