{ i wiLL suRviVe ! }

I had such a great time at youth conference. I went from being told that I wouldn't have to do anything, to having to do dinner, get sisters to do workshops, do a workshop, and stressing over having enough YW leaders there, and so on! Chris just laughed at me saying, "Did you expect anything less?"

They wanted to have youth conference at the Heber Valley Camp, where they have girl's camp all during the summer, so this was the soonest they could schedule it. Our girls got there and almost everyone of them said, "This is not camping." They go to Mia Shalom, which is nothing like this place. One girl said, "This is a resort."
Our basic agenda was this: dinner, bishopric trust & leadership building games, little free time, sleep, breakfast, challenge course, service project, lunch, workshops, home.
We had about half of our girls there. There were more young men there than young women. The downside to having youth conference when school is already started. There were so many sporting events that both the young men and women couldn't miss.

I am so thankful for this experience. If this is even a small portion of what it is like to go to girls camp as a leader, then I couldn't imagine why any leader wouldn't make every effort to go.

It was nice to get to know the young men in our ward also. I really didn't know but a handful of their names, so it was fun in Sacrament Meeting to be able to name all the young men that were passing the sacrament, since they had all gone to youth conference.

The bishopric games were fun. They had to learn to work together, to trust each other, and to step up and lead.

I guess when you go to these type things you don't plan on sleeping. I also learned that as a leader you should go to sleep after all the youth, that you should sleep with your clothes under your sleeping bag, that your shoes should not be left out in the open for any reason and to have a good sense of humor no matter how it all turns out! Now having said all that I will tell you that nothing happened to me or my stuff, but you might want to ask the young men leaders about theirs! If you go to up there I would definitely suggest that you pay the extra to do the challenge course. It was really a lot of fun, even though our guide/host was making it difficult. She was rushing us so much, and didn't want to let us figure anything out for ourselves.
Our service project was to bring falling/cut trees down the mountain. It poured on us, but everyone had such a great attitude and we by far exceeded their (camp hosts) expectation of what we could bring down.
I'm not sure how all the workshops went, since I had to teach one. Bro. Green and I did ours together. Mine was on relationships and his was on eternal marriage. We had the beehives and deacons first, which was our biggest group, so that was a little challenging. The next group was the mia maids and teachers. I am thankful for Bro. Maryott and his insights. The spirit was so strong, I was a mess. It really was a great workshop. The last group we had was the laurels and priests. I had changed some things, which I wished I hadn't, because of time. Oh well, you live and learn.

Even though I am still catching up on my sleep, I am so thankful for my calling and for being able to have the opportunity to participate in this great weekend. The girls in my ward are amazing!