Youth Retreat 2014

Jared has served in Young Men's for about 13 years. He's been in every single position and he really enjoys the boys. It's hard of course, but he always says there is nowhere else he'd rather be.

I, on the other hand, served in Primary for almost 11 years. I like Primary. The kids are sweet, (usually), and funny. I can't tell you how many interesting stories I've heard from these adorable kids. And, at the time - since I was newly baptized, it was good for me because of the basic lessons. It was an environment where I could really learn and grow along with my kids.

The only complaint I had was that Jared would always come home and share these amazing experiences that he had with the youth. You know, with the Primary age kids you get special little moments that warm your heart and make you smile. But - nothing like the experiences that you get with older kids. 

On the other hand - I was scared of Young Women's. I never had a desire to serve there. I have always felt that I couldn't relate to teenage girls when I was one......what makes me think I could do it now? Well, almost four years ago I was called into Young Womens. At the time, my boys were still young and couldn't be left alone. Plus, Jared was Young Men's president so he had to attend all the activities. So I kinda eased in. But, I told myself that I wasn't going to like these girls.

Great attitude. I know.

But - I am starting my fourth year with the girls. And you know what?

Those dang girls made me love them.

I don't know when it happened. Maybe it was one young women who always comes up and hugs us and tells us she loves us. Maybe it is their sweet questions when they are struggling with something. Maybe it is their sillyness and love of life. Or when they bear the strongest testimony I've ever heard. Or when you see one of them reach out to someone who is maybe feeling alone. Or listening to them talk to each other on road trips.

There are obviously a lot of reasons why I love them.

On New Year's Day, we left Chandler and took our youth to Snowflake for a three day retreat. The theme of our retreat was "Becoming A True Believer of Christ." We left early on Wednesday and drove up north. We arrived and had an opening devotional and lunch. Then we left on some service projects. We chopped and delivered wood for some widows, we cleaned the house and yard of a elderly sister, and cleaned some historical markers around town.

My group was the wood chopping group. They had fun and worked hard. The boys make me laugh with how they were all trying to out "man" each other. 

It helps to have big muscles when chopping and stacking wood! ;)

After our service projects we had dinner, another devotional and then went to bed. 

We woke up early the next morning and took the youth to the Temple. We have a large youth group. We have 73 kids and it was so awesome that every single one of them was able to go to the temple. Because our group was so big we had to split into two separate groups. While the first group was at the temple, the other kids stayed behind and had a devotional. Then they switched. After the temple we came back and had lunch.

After lunch we set the kids on the town. We made up an "Amazing Race" challenge. The kids had to run all over town in their groups and complete challenges. 

My station was "Line upon Line" and they had to go into an old pioneer home and count certain things and then work out a math problem. If they got stuck they could recite a scripture mastery and earn a clue. It was funny to see how competetive they are!

Another challenge was "Health in the Navel." The kids had to eat some pretty gross stuff, like chicken livers, duck eggs, dehydrated shrimp (gag me), and some other disgusting stuff.

Plugging your nose helps it go down!

Dang Reychel. She got the chicken livers. She sniffed it and proclaimed....."Hey this smells like cat food. I've eaten cat food before. No problem." Hahahaha. Crazy crazy kids!

The race took them all the way to the temple. There were 13 stations in all and every one of them had some type of gospel principle that they learned. They also helped each other along the way and even carried some of their team members who couldn't walk anymore. I love to see their compassion for each other.

We ended on a hill looking at the temple. We had a bonfire and enjoyed another devotional. Then the laurels sang for us.

Then we returned home for dinner and some dancing!

Love Hayden's photo bomb.

On Friday, we woke up, had breakfast and then cleaned the homes that we stayed in. We said good-bye to our hosts and headed over to the church for a testimony meeting.

Holy cow. I did not have enough kleenex to get me through that meeting. These kids are amazing and the stuff they shared killed me. These kids have some tough things they are dealing with. But, they have faith and trust and love. 

They truly are amazing.

So - I'm happy that I didn't let my fears keep me from serving with the youth and getting to know them. They are great kids and they have taught me so much. I hope I have many more years with them.