A truly amazing weekend

This Canada Day weekend was spent attending our Stake Youth Camp called Moroni's Quest.   In short,  it's a 4 day event that takes the youth through various events of the Book of Mormon.    There were about 230 kids in attendance, and close to 25 tribe leader couples.  John and I got to be Tribe Leaders and we were assigned a group of 9 magnificent youth that we had never met before.  Well, at least I had never met before.  

During the day, we spent our time as a tribe watching various re-enactments and then gathering together to discuss each enactment, always trying to find ways to apply it to the youth in a relatable way.     It began as we left the Mountain View Stake Center and followed Lehi and Sariah into the Wilderness, and it ended 4 days later as we sat on a hill and watched as Joseph Smith (the first prophet of this dispensatin) retrieved the Golden Plates from the Hill Cumorah.    Mingled in between those to scenes were re- enactments depicting Nephi and his family, Alma and the sons of Mosiah, the dramatic burning of Abinadi, King Benjamin's address to his people,  the 2000 stripling warriors and a beautiful visit from the Savior, just to name a few.

It all left me in complete awe of the beautiful gift that the Book of Mormon is to us, and it was amazing to see the hearts of these youth grab hold of it.   

Basically - I don't think I will EVER forget this weekend.

Some of the highlights for me:   

   For starters- this beautiful sight is something that took my breath away several times a day.

This photo was taken on the main flat.   It's a giant meadow where we would all join for various battle scenes.    On Sunday, we also took a small hike up to a beautiful grove with (if you can believe it) an even more spectacular view of Chief Mountain, where we had our Sacrament meeting service.   

Another special thing to me, was getting to experience this with Jewel.  Her and Kendall were also asked to be tribe leaders, and I'm so so glad for that.    We've gotten to attend lots of training meetings together over the past 9 months or so, and I LOVED being able to look around me this weekend and see Jewel off in the distance with her tribe doing the exact same thing.  

  Dang her though for tanning so well!

This was Home Sweet Home for us for those three nights.  I am happy to report that despite all my anxieties I actually did NOT die of hypothermia, nor did I get eaten by a bear.   

In fact- I don't want to brag or anything, but think I pretty much rocked this whole camping thing!

Each of the tribe leaders needed to come up with a Tribe Name as well as a trinket that would represent their tribe.     John and I ended up naming our tribe HAZAK, which is the Hebrew word for "Be Strong."  It doesn't mean Be Strong in a physical muscley kind of way- but rather speaks of the inner strength, a courageous type of strength, that we all need to have in today's world.   Our trinket wasn't the most original or cutest, especially when compared to other tribes, but our tribe members did like their name and never hesitated to shout HAZAK.    Over the course of those few days it became apparent to me that each member of our tribe was indeed, so so very STRONG.

This is our tribe.   It consists of kids that I had never known five days ago, but now LOVE.   I knew that this was going to be a special experience, but I was not prepared to care about these kids in the way that I did.    I admire each and every one of them deeply, and there are a few select ones that I truly wanted to just take home with me.       

It was so very hard to say goodbye to them at the end, knowing that they'd likely never understand how much they'd woven themselves into my heart.    I so badly wanted to convey that to them, but never found adequate words.  

More then that though, John and I wanted them to know and believe that their Heavenly Father cares about (and loves) them.   We wanted these kids to know that it is through our Saviour Jesus Christ that true strength can be found.    Again,  I'm not sure if we ever were able find the right words, but there were moments when one of these spectacular kids would astonish me and I'd feel a little stirring of joy that yes, they definitely do know it. 

I am so so grateful for the chance to be around these amazing people and just bask in their glow a little bit.    Truly Amazing!