Sunday, July 13, 2008

Memphis Youth Conference


Yesterday we concluded our Bi-Stake Youth Conference which included the Memphis Tennessee North Stake and the Memphis Tennessee Stake. For most of the activities we had about 260 people including Youth and Adult Leaders.

The Conference began Thursday night with registration and mixer games, pizza, a keynote speaker (Chris Hunsicker from Utah) and a dance.

On Friday we had workshops and a service project in the morning. For our service project we made wooden pull toys for needy children in orphanages. In the afternoon we went to the Millington Naval Base for a pool party and then we went to a very large park for a barbecue dinner and informal games.

On Saturday, we concluded with a Testimony Meeting and lunch. Most of the activities were at the Memphis North Stake Center which is on the same property as the Memphis Temple. It was very nice to begin our final meeting on the Temple grounds and then go to the chapel for the rest of the meeting.

One thing we did differently this year was that Youth were assigned to stay in homes the two nights with Youth from other wards. I think most people really enjoyed the opportunity to get to know new people.

The feedback from the Youth has all been positive so I think they had a lot of fun and learned some important things. Next year we'll be doing a Pioneer Trek for Youth Conference. We did a Pioneer Trek in 2005 and it was well worth the work required.
My Youth Conference pictures are at my Picasa site.

11 Year Old Day Camp


On June 28, Marcia and I went to our Stake's 11 Year Old Day Camp. Marcia is over Scouting in the Stake Primary Presidency and was in charge of this activity. Our Stake hasn't done this kind of an activity since anyone could remember so it was a little bit of a challenge. We spent the day at a local Scout Camp (Camp Currier in Eudora, MS) Because of family vacations and other conflicts, we only had about 7 boys but the ones that went had a very fun day.
We did canoes, an obstacle course, map and compass, wood tools, native plants, lunch, and a "tent pitching contest". We had four boys from Tennessee and three boys from Mississippi so Marcia joined the Mississippi team to put up a tent and they won.
It was a very fun day and we hope to do it again next year but at a different time of year so we can get more boys involved.
You can see the rest of my pictures at my Picasa site.

High Adventure in Florida


It's been a fun and busy summer for me so far. Last month (June 10-14) I went with our Stake Young Men on a very enjoyable High Adventure trip to St. George Island, Florida.
There were 27 Young Men and 7 adult leaders. Because our group was so large, we had to divide into two different "camps". We did some activities separately and some activities together. The boys got to see new things and do things they have never done before. We got to sail, swim, jet ski, eat pizza, camp, fish, harvest oysters, explore a nature preserve island, and ride on a large yacht.
The Young Men got along very well and we had some very nice devotionals and a Testimony meeting. This will be a hard trip to top.
You can see more pictures at my Picasa site.