Youth Conference

So I was really nervous and not excited to go to youth conference. Some things had happened in with some of the people in the ward and I just was really apprehensive to go. But through much convincing from Aubrey and my gramma I decided to go. I had asked one of my leaders to fix it so Micki and I could be in the same room since we both were going through some of the same issues. So after packing as much as humanly possible and then talking myself out of going at least three times I finally decided to just accept it and hope for the best. When I got to the church I was nervous to who I was going to be riding with because the cars were assigned. It turned out I had a pretty fantastic group to ride with. They were all so fun to talk to and be around. I felt comfortable and like I was among friends which is something that hadn't really happened before with that particular group of people. As we headed to Manti we had a lot of fun, there definitely was not a dull moment. I was also super lucky to get Sister Callahan as the driver for our car. She is literally one of my favorite people. I look up to her so much and the mom she is to her family. When we go to Manti I realized I didn't know it would be so beautiful. It was so green and pretty much picturesque, not to mention the temple which was absolutely stunning. The first day we got there we went to a park and played games. My favorite was Red Rover which I hadn't played since elementary school. Then we had dinner prepared by Brother Callahan and his brother. They were so cute. They are probably in their 50's but they did everything together. They look a lot a like so it was really just like two little kids hanging out. We had dinner and then it was time for a devotional. Brother Young gave it and introduced our theme: Be Strong and Of a Good Courage. He then went on to tell us the story of David and Goliath. He even had a picture that the bishopric had drawn of Goliath to scale. He then went on to explain that there are Goliaths in our lives today and we need to be aware of them and ready to overcome them with faith. About this time the mosquitoes decided to feast on all of us. We went back to our dorms at Snow College and then the fun really began. I think there was a poker game downstairs and upstairs a few of us decided to have a toga/dance party. Thanks to my ingenious idea of bringing a cd player. After that everybody was pretty worn out so we decided to go to bed. Meagan suggested that we have prayer as a dorm. She has such good ideas and I am so jealous of her all the time. The next day we had an early hike and a devotional by bishop. He talked about how we need to experience the refiner's fire. Then we were on to our service project at the Manti temple grounds. We were weeding and helping to move some trees that had been cut down. That night we went to the pageant. It was well done and everything but there were some parts that were just downright funny. Plus I was sitting next to Sage so I could not get a grip. The next morning as we got ready to go and have testimony meeting I realized that I was so grateful that I had come. There was a lot of bonding between the kids in the ward and the leaders and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. I am grateful to live in a place where I can have opportunities to learn and feel of Heavenly Father's love. On the way back from Manti my car had some pretty deep conversations. We talked about our futures and what we wanted to do with our lives. It's pretty cool to be around such amazing people who are going to do so much for the world. To sum everything up, I am glad I went.