YOUTH CONFERENCE 2013 |
| Cheyene Wing was one of my young women when I served as YW's President. Our dance theme for the night was "Where's Waldo" in an effort to highlight the question: Where are you standing? and the statement: Finding yourself will help you stand! |
Youth Conference was held June 8, & 9, 2013. The theme was focused on the youth theme for the year, "Stand Ye in Holy Places". The decision to have a youth conference came after evaluating the church handbook, and our specific needs in this area. Here are reasons stated during our decision making period:
Reasons and objectives for having a Stake Youth Conference are stated in the handbook. It reads, “the purpose of youth conferences are to help youth build faith in Jesus Christ, strengthen their testimonies, develop talents, make new friends, and have fun with youth who share similar beliefs and standards. Youth can also learn leadership skills as they assist in planning youth conferences” (Handbook of Instruction, pg. 105).
*One objective which was mentioned in the above paragraph was to provide the youth an opportunity to build friendship bonds within our Stake—providing them support groups at school and in their daily social interactions. In the For Strength of Youth Pamphlet it states that friends will “influence how you think and act, and even help determine the person you will become. They will help you be a better person and will make it easier for you to live the gospel of Jesus Christ.” As we provide opportunities for the youth of our Stake to establish peer groups with youth who have similar values, we will be providing strength to our youth in choosing the right. The FSOY states that friends can “strengthen and encourage each other in living high standards” (FSOY, pg. 16).
Reasons and objectives for having a Stake Youth Conference are stated in the handbook. It reads, “the purpose of youth conferences are to help youth build faith in Jesus Christ, strengthen their testimonies, develop talents, make new friends, and have fun with youth who share similar beliefs and standards. Youth can also learn leadership skills as they assist in planning youth conferences” (Handbook of Instruction, pg. 105).
*One objective which was mentioned in the above paragraph was to provide the youth an opportunity to build friendship bonds within our Stake—providing them support groups at school and in their daily social interactions. In the For Strength of Youth Pamphlet it states that friends will “influence how you think and act, and even help determine the person you will become. They will help you be a better person and will make it easier for you to live the gospel of Jesus Christ.” As we provide opportunities for the youth of our Stake to establish peer groups with youth who have similar values, we will be providing strength to our youth in choosing the right. The FSOY states that friends can “strengthen and encourage each other in living high standards” (FSOY, pg. 16).
The actual day of the youth conference:
There were many reasons why I feel that our youth conference was a success. Probably the biggest reason for that is that I felt the Lord had a hand in every detail. The last week leading up to the conference there were many "details" that seemed to fall short from our original plan (two committee members were unable to come due to family situations, our nurse had to cancel due to work...). Even with all of the hiccups I felt calm. I felt reassured that this was going to work out for the best! I felt the peace of the Spirit. When the day arrived, I felt that we were organized in such a way that our day went off with very little problems. There was definitely a guiding force to the events, and most important--I felt that the Spirit was present throughout our activities and experiences. We started by Brother Tueller and myself giving welcoming thoughts, and introductions. We then moved on to the mini-classes. We had four mini-classes--standards role play, passion profile, family history, and likening the scriptures--all of these classes were successful. I felt that they were inspired classes for our youth. (We created a google.doc with information for each of these classes. We also created a card, which the youth were given that highlights the main points of youth conference with these classes being a big part of that card. I will share links and attach what I can to demonstrate.) The carnival was an inspiration to the youth as they were able to associate themselves with mentally handicapped youth. I think it opened their hearts to standing up for something. Our next portion of the day was called: Make a Stand. Here we separated into our groups and allowed the youth to create videos using talks from past conferences. These videos were meant to center on the theme of: standing. They worked on them, and loved the process of creating them. (I will share the link to these videos as well.) The cap to our evening was a dance. I think by this time we were all too tired to function, and perhaps we would have been better to call it a night after the video's. For the youth who remained--they had a good time.
Probably the ultimate example of the Lord being present was when we reconvened the following day for a fireside, and we realized the videos were not going to be completed in time to do as we had originally planned. It was our hope to split into groups, and have each group have their own testimony meeting; however, we didn't want to separate before they had watched the videos for fear that the Spirit of the evening would be lost in the transitions. With a quick change to our plans, we announced that we would meet together for a testimony meeting. The testimony meeting for youth conference was probably my favorite portion. The spirit was so strong. I was grateful for the mishaps, which guided our change in our schedule. I feel the Lord's hand was in the arranging of this portion of the conference--He knew we needed the strength from all the youth, and that youth needed to hear from each other. Not just the youth within their own groups, but from everyone. It was a great end to a great weekend.
I spoke during the conference, and here are my remarks:
Youth Conference has been in the works for several months. There have been meetings every month in which two youth from each of your wards have come to plan what is about to happen today. During one of those meetings, one of the youth expressed that you as youth knew what it meant to stand in holy places, but you needed to know “how” to stand. I have thought about this concept for quite some time. In a world where holiness is mocked—how do we stand in holy places? And as I have pondered, my thoughts keep returning to “obedience”. The “how” of standing happens when we choose to be obedient. When we choose to read our scriptures and apply them to our lives, when we choose to follow the FOR THE STRENGTH OF YOUTH…ultimately when we choose to keep the commandments despite the difficulties, and no matter the consequences. If I may I would like to illustrate with a personal experience from my own life. When I was in Junior High, I was asked to speak out against a young man who I had witnessed breaking the rules. I wasn't alone in my decision to take a stand. Five of my girlfriends joined me as we met with the principal, and conveyed the experience. To our surprise, our testimonies against this young man were the cause of his expulsion from school. In an effort to protect us from social ridicule, our principal gave us an alibi. He placed us all in detention, and we were told to say that we had been caught sloughing, so as to hide from our peers our reason for not being in class. I remember feeling that I had made the right choice to speak out; however, I didn't feel at peace with the alibi given to me by the principal. In fact, as I started relaying the alibi to my peers—no one believed me. I had never sloughed before, and because of the way I conducted myself on a regular basis—no one seemed to believe our story. That night, with a heavy heart, I explained my situation to my father, and he counseled me to do a hard thing. He told me that it was right to take a stand, but just because I had done one right—didn’t make it okay to cover it up with a wrong. Lying was still lying. He counseled me to pray about my decision, but he felt that I should be honest with my peers, and stand behind my original decision to take a stand. Coming out with the truth not only perjured myself, but all of the other girls who had also taken a stand—our alibi would no longer be an alibi. The next morning I apologized to each of them, and explained what I was about to do. Some of them begged me to change my mind, but I could not be swayed—I was resolute in my determination to do what was right. The months that followed were difficult ones for me. My family received phone calls in the middle of the night with threats, and profanity. I was talked about openly—even so I could hear the conversations in hallways and in the locker room. My peers would turn their back on me in the hall, and at times I felt as if I had some sort of disease. Ultimately, I felt very much alone. Even my best friend was angry with me. However, despite the challenges--the peace that I felt made it worth the trial. I knew that I had made the right choice, and I truly felt that Heavenly Father was with me. This experience solidified my heart and sealed my testimony of the power of obedience. I became something more. My classmates knew it—I knew it. After the anger and frustration had worn off, my peers treated me with a new level of respect. More important than their respect—however, was my new determination to be obedient—always—no matter the cost. Mosiah 2:41 states, “”When we choose to keep the commandments, when we choose to stand on the Lord’s side, when we choose to stand in Holy Places—we are blessed and we set ourselves on the pathway of becoming all that our Father intended of us. We are molding and shaping our lives. Sister Dalton said, "Take a few minutes to envision where you want to be in one year or two or five. Then take action to prepare yourselves. People don't just run a marathon when they decide to do it. They must train daily, slowly building stamina and endurance to run the 26.2-mile distance. So it is with life. It is daily diligence…that will help you reach your goals. Your daily decisions will influence generations." - Elaine S. Dalton, "Press Forward and Be Steadfast," Ensign (CR), May 2003, p.105
Dearest Youth, today you will be taken on a journey to discover more about the “how” of standing. It is our hope that you will be inspired—that your hearts will be touched, and you will decide now to stand—to keep the commandments, and remain standing strong on the Lord’s side.
"Your vision of your future will help you press forward. Take a few minutes to envision where you want to be in one year or two or five. Then take action to prepare yourselves. People don't just run a marathon when they decide to do it. They must train daily, slowly building stamina and endurance to run the 26.2-mile distance. So it is with life. It is daily diligence with prayer and scripture study that will help you reach your goals. Your daily decisions will influence generations." - Elaine S. Dalton, "Press Forward and Be Steadfast," Ensign (CR), May 2003, p.105
No comments:
Post a Comment