Logan - Youth Conference

Early this morning, I found myself at the church helping Jeff direct our young men and women and their parents as they were dropped off at the West Mountain "MTC" (church) to begin their "missions" (youth conference). I have seen first hand how much time, prayer, and energy has gone into the planning of this conference...and I think it all paid off. Our youth received "mission calls" then spent the weekend learning how to prepare for missions, how to preach the gospel, and how to get over culture shock (fish heads were involved in that last workshop). Jeff was privileged to go with the youth and enjoyed every minute of it (despite the lack of sleep).

Amber being dropped off at the MTC.

West Mountain First Ward youth. From the "MTC", they stopped at the Brigham City Temple and Tabernacle.

Amber was called to the Micronesia, Guam mission while Laurin was called to the Winnipeg, Canada mission. Unfortunately, Laurin had to work that day so she missed being dropped off at the MTC and visiting the Brigham City Temple and Tabernacle, but that meant that I had the privilege of driving her up that evening and spending a night with the youth. However, that first meant that I had to spend the day cleaning (and getting the boys to clean...I'll let you decide which was harder) and getting them ready to spend the night with Jeff's parents before I handed them over to Grandma and Grandpa while at the boys' baseball games. When we showed up at the ball field, Danny had to take team pictures. As he was waiting for his team to show up, he suddenly disappeared. I know he never goes too far and I was right...all I had to do was look up and I saw both my little monkeys in the tree. Silly boys!

Laurin came home around 5:30 p.m. and we quickly got in the car to head for Logan. The drive was actually really nice. I enjoyed chatting with Laurin and being able to spend some time with her. I feel like I get such little time with both the girls that I cherish the moments I do have...before they are off on their own. Once we turned off the I-15, the scenery changed and we found ourselves in a beautiful canyon. I have been to Logan only once before. I was in high school at the time and honestly don't remember much more than visiting the temple. This time I was able to enjoy the mountain scenery and the quaint small Utah towns along the way. We bypassed USU (where we would be staying that evening) and headed straight into Logan Canyon where we met up with the rest of the group who were playing missionary tag and roasting S'mores while President (aka Bishop) York conducted a mini fireside (literally). I was happy to be there and to take a small part in the spirit that these youth brought to the conference. Planning and preparation can only go so far to make a conference successful; it really depends on the attitude of the youth and our ward has some of the best youth around!

Missionary Tag 

Along the boardwalk, Laurin pointed out that someone had painted "J+A= (heart)" on a board. We had to stop to take a quick pic.