Our summer started in the final days of May (Thursday, 29 - Saturday, 31) with a pretty ambitious ward youth conference. Jeff, Jonas, and I all attended (Jeff and I because of our responsibilities with the youth...and Jonas because he's always up for an adventure!). If I'm being honest, this was not an activity I was looking forward to. I love hanging out with the youth; however, I didn't want to hike up and over West Mountain and then row across Utah Lake to Mosida...but that is exactly what we did! It was the most logistical youth conference we have ever undertaken. There were a lot of moving pieces, but our church community stepped up and showed up in force so that us leaders could simply be there with the youth. Our journey started in the morning on Thursday, May 29th. Our goal - make it to the top...with everyone alive and uninjured. This hike was HARD! I enjoy hiking. I'm even ok with tougher trails, but this hike was literally all UP (and the next day...all DOWN). There were no marked trails. A path had been decided by one of the young men's leaders, Jake, and we all trusted him (he's a good person to trust so I wasn't too worried). At one point, the trail ascended 1,100 feet in just a half mile. That is STEEP!! I was humble enough to accept help from Jeff and Jake as I traversed this tricky incline. Several people, adults and youth, assisted each other and cheered each other on. We were all invested in making it to the top...together! That is what life is! We are all on a journey together. We are here to help each other and cheer each other on. Along the way, we had planned stops in which different youth leaders would share a spiritual thought. Our last stop was at the top! We could see our campsite, but we stopped a little ways off to take some time to simply sit in silence. We could see our finish line. Some of the youth just wanted to get there, but there was value in taking inventory of the journey...not just reaching the end. There is value in appreciating the hard and the messy moments in life. We need to embrace it all...not just be so focused on the finish that we can't appreciate the lessons we've learned in the race. From that vantage point, we could see all of our little town and many cities beyond. We had made it to the top. We had done it together! As I looked over the valley, I felt a flood of gratitude overwhelm me. I was grateful that I made it! I was glad that I had the health and the strength to do it. I was grateful that I was able to do it with the incredible youth, and especially Jonas. I was so proud of him! He never complained; he just kept reaching new heights...literally. I was grateful for the sense of pride I felt for the accomplishment. And I was grateful for the silence. I was grateful for a moment to simply be present with myself, with God, and no doubt with the angels who were pushing me up that mountain. Once we finally made it to camp, we were welcomed by other leaders who had popsicles and water. For the next hour, we just all sat there! We did not want to move. An hour had passed and the kids were finally ready to set up camp and play some games. Thankfully, we had someone bring us dinner that night! These church members were mortal angels! It was so nice to not have to worry about making something when we were all so exhausted. The day ended with everyone gathered in a circle to talk about what they learned from the hike. I love that Jonas was able to understand the value of having a positive attitude. He talked about how he just kept telling himself that he could do it and to just take one more step.
The next morning, we got up with the sun, packed up our camp, grabbed a little breakfast, and headed down the backside of the mountain. Like I said before, the hike up was ALL UP and the hike down was ALL DOWN! Our legs felt rubbery by the end, but it was a much quicker descent. There were no planned stops; we just kept moving...except for when we heard a rattlesnake. One of the younger boys, Tace, actually saw it. He jumped away and kind of lost control as he picked up speed down the mountain. Thankfully, our YW president (his mom), was able to catch him. Scary! I'm grateful that I didn't see the snake (although we saw a couple of blow snakes), but I did hear his rattle. Needless to say, Jonas and I cautiously took a different path through that area. At the bottom, we were met with a paddle and a canoe. Yup...our journey wasn't over. We then had to row across the lake to Mosida. I was actually looking forward to this part. I don't mind being on the water and I knew it was only 3-4 miles across. Everyone easily accomplished this in an hour (although one canoe capsized...thankfully, Dallin was in our boat and was able to help them get the canoe right-side up and back in the water). On the other side, we were again met by church members who helped us wade through the thick mud on the shore and get our canoes cleaned up and back in their trailers. Other church members had prepared lunch for us too. We couldn't have done this without everyone's help. It was finally time to go home, clean up, and enjoy our own beds before meeting up the next morning.
Saturday (May 31st) was the reward for the past two hard days. We took the youth to Deer Creek where we participated in several zip line and ropes courses. It was so much fun! The best part was that the leaders didn't have to be in charge. We literally showed up and enjoyed the activity with the youth. Jonas loved this part too. He even did several technical obstacles on the ropes course. It is easy to be proud of such a great kid! And with that...we were done! Youth conference was officially checked off my list!
