Youth Conference 2012

 This weekend the youth of the Bellevue 7th Ward went up to Snow Lake for their ward youth conference. The theme of Youth Conference was "The Climb," using the scripture D&C 100:12
We started off the weekend by singing at an assisted living home. Our youth are so talented! They played the guitar, drums, saxophone and bass all while singing with beautiful voices. The old folks loved them and asked for an encore when they were done. One old lady got up and led everyone in "It's a Grand Ol' Flag."

After that we grabbed all of our stuff at the Blakely's home and headed up to Alpental, a beautiful ski resort up in the Cascades about 45 minutes away. Some gracious friends of the Blakelys allowed us to use their cabin, which fit all 15 of us comfortably. That night we played some fun games and had an evening devotional. We each shared our favorite scriptures about Christ. On a small poster with a picture of Christ we each wrote a few words that we felt described our Savior.

The next morning we were awakened to the song, "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus and a big yummy breakfast prepared by the Blakelys. We had fruit, yogurt, sausages, eggs and big Costco muffins. Yum yum!! Bishop Hansen from the Issaquah 2nd ward joined us and after breakfast gave us a fascinating presentation about mountain climbing. He tied in his experiences as a mountaineer to the experiences and challenges we face in life. He explained that not only do we need to be prepared, but we need to practice what we've learned, so when obstacles arise in life we will be ready and know how to go forward.

Then began our hike! We loaded up and drove over to the trailhead, which was only a minute away. The hike itself proved fairly challenging at points but also provided beautiful vistas of the surrounding mountains and forests.

 

 



We stopped twice along the way. I gave a spiritual thought at our first resting point, using excerpts from President Monson's talk, Finding Joy in the Journey. He explains that rahter than always just looking forward to tomorrow, we should give thanks for our blessings today and allow those blessings to give us joy now. Brother Daniels gave a spiritual thought at the second resting point. He spoke about greatness and how it isn't through wishful thinking that we can become great at something. Great athletes, musicians, writers and artists generally put in an average of 10,000 hours of work and practice into their skill. The same applies to the gospel. If we want a strong testimony, we need to work at it. Using a story of a wounded marathon runner who finished his race at the 1968 Olympics, Brother Daniels explained that we are here to "finish the race," not just begin it.

Finally we reached the summit of our climb and from it had a spectacular view of Snow Lake. Here Bishop Rice spoke to us about vantage points and what things in life will help give us a better perspective on life. Some of the answers the youth gave were teachings of the gospel, parents, good friends and seminary. He shared a personal story about how, as a young pilot, the control tower gave him directions and, although he couldn't see a problem, had he not followed their orders he may have crashed into another plane. The youth were then handed letters that their parents had written them and they took a few minutes to read the words of encouragement, advice and love from them.

Our AWESOME young women! I LOVE these girls!

Then we hiked the half mile down to Snow Lake! Snow Lake is a pristine pool surrounded by tall trees and jagged mountains still covered in patches of snow. The view was breathtaking! We spent some time down there and a few of us brave souls even dared to put our feet in the glacial water. A few young men even jumped in! What a bunch of crazies!!!

Finally, we hiked back up to the summit and then began the 3mile trek back down the side of the mountain, which proved to be more painful than coming up! But we finally reached the bottom and, although tired, sore, and extremely dirty, we were happy and proud to have hiked such a beautiful trail. The Blakely's fed us a great lunch and gave each of the kids a picture frame with a picture of Christ and a reminder of the goal to reach the "summit" as they contined they climb through life.

 

The boys taking a much needed rest after the hike

 

Proof of how dirty we got! That is NOT a tan line!

 

The girls were pooped by the end :)