Youth Conference

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to chaperone our YW to Youth Conference in Nauvoo.  Let me just say, it was amazing!  I love the youth of the church, and especially our Young Women!  And, of course, I had a blast with the other two chaperones, Cammie and Angeline! 

The stake kicked of the weekend with a dance Thursday night.  Then us leaders and our YW stayed the night at a wonderful families house in St. Louis.  Then, bright and early Friday morning we loaded 3 charter buses and headed out!  We stopped at Carthage first, which was amazing, and then on to Nauvoo.  That afternoon the stake split up into teams and did an “Amazing Race” throughout historic Nauvoo.  This was fun, but it was long!  I do have to say, though, we had AMAZING weather!  It had rained the few days before we got to Nauvoo, and it even rained during the night while we were there, but during the 2 days we were there it was gorgeous!

This brings me to the highlight of the weekend…the 3 mile handcart trek.  Because of all the rain it was muddy!  Actually, I think muddy is an understatement!  The trek was supposed to take 3 hours, our group-with 3 handcarts, took close to 4 1/2 hours!  But, like I said, it was the highlight of the weekend for all of us!  We were teamed up with another group of YW and 2 other groups of YM.  I can’t even tell you how impressed I was with all of these youth!  They took the challenge head on and kicked butt!  I mean we were slipping and falling and getting stuck and practically swimming through mud, and no one ever gave up!  And they all helped each other out in every way possible!  After about 10 minutes, more than half of our group decided to go barefoot (talk about doing it the true Pioneer way!).  I’m telling you, it was nothing short of amazing to be a part of.  I think we all came away from the experience truly appreciating what the pioneers went through and sacrificed, and we only experienced 3 miles worth! 

After cleaning up from the trek, we got to see the Joseph Smith movie in the Visitor’s Center.  All I can say is that if you haven’t ever seen this movie…you must.  It was the first time I’d seen it and it was amazing!  I wonder if our YW got as much out of this youth conference as I did! 

After a wonderful testimony meeting and pizza dinner, we loaded the busses back up and headed back home.  What an experience that I will never forget!  And thanks to my amazing husband for holding down the fort at home!  He’s so good!

Now, on to the pictures…I took almost 200 pictures over 2 days!  I can only post the ones with no youth in them though, but you’ll get the idea!

The chaperones!  Ang, Cammie, and me!
Can you see the temple poking through the trees…talk about gorgeous right?!
This was the first stop on our Amazing Race adventure.  Our challenge was to count all the window panes and report the total to the leader waiting for us.  We must have counted 100 times and never actually got the answer she had!  Of course we found out later that every team got a different number!  Apparently, the “correct answer” was counted wrong!
Another stop on the Amazing Race
The theme was “Be Strong: You’ll Never Walk Alone”.  So, our group had to “not walk alone” and all hold on to a rope while we did the amazing race.  The funny part was how short of a rope we had!  So, someone decided it would be better for everyone if they unraveled it, making it three times longer!
Nauvoo is beautiful!
Ang and me on the trek…the eye with no mud under it was my camera eye!  I was the one with the backpack full of stuff that couldn’t get muddy (especially my camera), so I managed to stay the least muddy!  But, I still trashed my shoes at the end!  Cammie was asked to be a stop along the way and give a little 3 minute devotional, so she didn’t get to walk the trail.
This was at the beginning, and one of the easier spots.  The further we got, the steeper and muddier and slipperier the hills got!  I kept my camera in the backpack for most of the last part of the trek!
I know it looks like she’s trying to push her face in the mud, but she really is trying to help her!  Look at all that mud!
The handcarts came in handy for carrying the shoes!
Seriously…the mud!  This part was almost knee deep!

For real, best youth conference I’ve ever been to!