Youth Conference

I was able to attend the Little Valley Stake Youth Conference on July 9-11, 2009. My role was a driver for the Mtn. Ranier group of youth. I also helped out with the activities a member of the Stake Young Women Presidency. We met early Thursday morning and drove up to Parowan where we participated in clean up service projects. My group helped clean up the cemetary. It is a beautiful cemetary and really didn't need much work. We then went to the city square and help lay sod in an old baseball diamond.

We ate sack lunches there and then played games in the park by the church in the center of town. It was a lot of fun but I got a little sunburned. About 4:00 pm we headed up the mountain to Brianhead and to our assigned cabins. My group of girls and I stayed at the Twiggs cabin. There were about 70 of us there. It is a very large cabin.

We went to dinner as a huge group and then enjoyed our own private Sam Payne concert. It was very enjoyable but a little cold.

The next day we hiked to the top of Brianhead Peak where we had a delicious breakfast. It was too cold for our talk by Pres. Topham so we postponed it.

Theme: Conference took place July 9-11 at Brian Head and at the Parowan Stake Center. The theme was “Firm as the mountains”. 210 youth attended. Here are a number of highlights:Mountain Groups: Everybody belonged to one of 16 mountain groups (Kilimanjaro, El Capitan, Mt. Whitney, Mt. McKinley, Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Brian Head Peak, the Matterhorn, Mt. of Olives, Hill Cumorah, Mt. Sinai, K2, Mt. Everest, the Karakorum Range, Mt. Fuji and Pikes Peak). Each youth group had its own fabric strip [a head or wrist band] to distinguish themselves. Two “sherpas” and extra drivers were assigned to each group also.Service Projects: Almost 10,000 square feet of sod at the old baseball diamond at the Parowan Stake Center. Also: painting at the library, cleaning up the cemetery, ball diamonds, city streets and so forth.Games and Recreation: 800 ice cream lids were gathered as teams into buckets! Then reverse the process to keep lids out of the areas. Relay games, face painting and ball-throwing into buckets. Hundreds of cool whip packages and creamed fights, followed by the Parowan fire department to hose down the kids with a big pumper truck. Lodging: The 11 cool lodges - turned into dorms were donated by members. Folk music concert by Sam Payne, son of the actor Marvin Payne. He reached us with stories and music. Cedar Breaks Lodge was cold when the sun went down, but the event was enjoyed by all.Brian Head Peak Hike: High winds on the Friday morning hike to the top of Brian Head Peak - we postponed the individual group pictures and President Topham’s talk, but Jim Abel, a civil air patrol pilot, flew overhead and took a group picture. The hike was OK and the mountain top breakfast was good!Spiritual Workshops: Friday we had three great workshops; namely, Lyndsi Housekeeper, Gary Nelson, and Dennis Leavitt. We used the Giant Steps lodge, the Town Hall, and the Cedar Breaks lodge conference rooms. Youth were encouraged to live a pure life, to keep the commandments, and remember the power of “One”.Meals, Meals, Meals: At the Brian Head Pavilion, the youth found an old tetherball pole and played pickup games of tetherball – it was a gathering spot. All the youth groups were photographed by the banner at the pavilion. Our food committee was the best ever!Dance your way through the floor: After dinner Friday, everyone got together at the Brian Head Giant Steps lodge, where we had a high-energy dance. We hired a disc jockey (or DJ) with speakers, lights, bubble machines and other gadgets, and he played music from 7:30 until almost 10. The jumping shook the floors until leaders thought the building was going to give way.Floor shows: Great floor show at the dance, with each of the 16 groups performing a rap or cheer. A special dance number was put on by the stake young women, young men presidencies and by the stake presidency. The Stake Presidency members were wonderful with the youth, participating in dazzling costumes. Bishops time: Each Bishop then took his own ward members for half an hour. Lights were off around 10:45 and all returned to their cabins.Testimony meeting: Saturday morning we had a testimony meeting in the Parowan Stake Center chapel. Pres. Topham spoke on climbing the mountain of exaltation. The stake youth choir performed “High on the mountain top” and later “In this very room”. 85 youth shared heartfelt testimonies. The choir concluded with a rousing arrangement of our theme song, “Carry on”. Pizza Party and photo gallery: We went outside for Pizza, and then the conference photographer, Lea Ann Braithwaite, showed her 600-700 pictures of youth conference at 2-3 second intervals.

Sweet memories for all are as “Firm as the mountains.”