So this year I got lucky enough that I get to go to 2 youth conferences. Last week I went with my dad's stake to their youth conference. I admit that it was probably the funnest youth conference I have been to. I really like my dad's stake and I think that's where most of my friends are (well that are my age anyways). So I had a grand ol time just hangin out with people.
We left on a Thursday and just went straight to Dixie State College to stay in the dorms there. I really didn't like how two different rooms connected and they had to share a bathroom. There were no locks on the doors so people could walk in on you while your showering. It was not the greatest ever. I shared a room with Kylie Owens and in the room that connected to ours were JoLynn Bunting and Kim. It was really fun! I think I was with the leaders more often than I was with friends and stuff. Crazy I know. There was just a lot of random drama and sneaking out involved with the other girls haha
All of us in the car going to St.George.
That night we had a BBQ after we took the tour of the campus. The girl that was giving us the tour was kinda annoying. She kept using the word "Phenomenal" and every spot on campus was her "favorite spot". Got really annoying after a while.
That night we went to Tuachan to see Footloose. It was so so so so good! I really want to see it again and I think it was one I would see over and over again. They had a mechanical bull there for the before show and during intermission that people would ride. We had a few people from our group try it out!
The 4th ward girls (and me who is not exactly in that ward haha)
On Friday we ate breakfast at the Red Rock Cafe. Their food was alright for lunch and dinner but their breakfast wasn't very good at all. The eggs tasted like cardboard and the french toast just didn't taste right at all. We went to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. The girls got to go first because we take longer to get ready. We did five baptisms and five confirmations each. I really love doing baptisms. They just make you feel so good inside. While we were in the chapel waiting to do them the lady in there told us about a picture that was in the font and said that they did George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Christopher Columbus's temple work. Then she said that by doing baptisms it's a great service and the people we are doing them for will be the first to greet us in Heaven and will rush up to give us a hug and thank us for what we did for them.
The boys waiting to leave for baptisms...
After we did baptisms we went over to the Visitor's Center to watch the Joseph Smith movie. I was probably crying before it even started. That movie still amazes me and I swear I learn something new every time I see it. He was just an amazing guy!
Later on that day we went over to Staheli Farms to do the ropes course that they planned for us. We got to tour the farm before we started and they had a petting zoo. There was a random swing that someone pulls the rope and it swings a bunch of people around. Well it was built for little kids but a few of us tried it. It was actually pretty fun!
The ropes course at the first I really liked. We went into the barn where they had set up mirrors and had a leader at each of the mirrors. They had some church music playing really loud. I think I was crying right when I walked in. They had us stand in front of the mirrors and look ourselves in the eye and say things like "I am a child of God", "I know my Heavenly Father loves me", and "I am and example of the believers." Then they took us upstairs where more music was playing and had us lay down. They put us into groups while we were laying there. After that things just got really weird. We all had to stand up and "connect" which pretty much meant hold hands. Then we had to shout out all the negative things we thought about ourselves and then same thing with all the positive things. The lady was so crazy. After all that we had the "code of silence" where we couldn't talk at all.
This one we all had to make it onto the crate and nobody could touch the ground. The poor crate ended up being demolished afterwards.
We all had to work together to bring the stick down to the ground. It was really hard not being able to talk to each other and took so much concentration. Everyone had to have two fingers touching or else you had to start all over...
I think this one was not my favorite at all. We all had to start on the crate and nobody could touch the ground at all. I was pretty all up close and personal with everyone. Delaney's face ended up in a boy's armpit and we were pretty close face-wise too. I almost got choked by peopl's arms everywhere and was being touched where no girls wants to get touched. I really learned the value of personal space. Anyways you had to swing on the rope to get to the tire and then jump from the tire onto another crate without touching the ground. Also the lady in the brown shirt was in charge and was just so annoying!
This is a different group but you can see all the different ideas you had to come up with to get to the other side....
Me and Delaney "supporting" that group.
Another actuivity we had to do was get over this wall. Once someone got up they could come down but could only help mentally. The last person had it the hardest. They had to get up there without any help at all. My group was pretty smart. They took the lightest person first which was Danny Schmutz in my group and went on to the heaviest. We got lucky and had a really strong guy go last and he could just hoist himself up there without any assistance. In this picture you see them lifting Delaney up.
The last one we had to do was try to get between those ropes without touching them. Your whole team has to get through onto the other side. The first four people if they touched the rope had to go back and keep trying. If you touched it then you had to go back. For girls this one was probalby the most awkward. They would make you lay in their arms on your stomach and push you through to the guys on the other side. So you were pretty much touched everywhere. It was no fun. Especially if you don't like people touching you.
This was everyone that was at youth conference...
Me, Delaney, Kim, and Kalin when it was all over.
Later that night we went to the St.George City Pool where they have the big tube slide thing and went swimming. I had a lot of fun! I hung out with my friends instead of the leaders. We went down the slide about 10 times and they had a diving board. It was fun!
On Saturday morning we ate breakfast and went to the business buliding there at Dixie College. We had workshops where we had people talk to us. My favorite was the seminary/institute teacher that spoke. He told us about the magical number "21". That means that you pray 14 times a week and ready your scriptures 7 nights a week. So 14+7=21. He was just a really good speaker. We had our testimony meeting also. It started out where nobody was getting up and then all of a sudden everyone started getting up. I felt the spirit a lot. At 2:00 we packed up and went home. It was a fun youth conference!
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