Youth Conference, "Moroni's Quest"

Me and B got called to help out with youth conference again this year and we looked forward to it for months and months! We felt so lucky to be a "Ma and Pa" for trek a few years ago, so when we found out about this new adventure we couldn't wait. "Moroni's Quest" has been done by several other stakes over the past few years, but still a pretty new idea. We stayed up by Kamas at Camp Airie and it was beautiful. So green and lush everywhere you looked. The conference consisted mostly of the kids putting on re-inactments of scenes from the Book of Mormon. There was lighting, props, music, sound - the whole nine yards. The actors in the different scenes have been practicing for months and did an amazing job. I've been worrying for months about watching a bunch of teenagers lash together some enormous logs to build King Benjamins tower, and then watch as two unsuspecting teenagers acted out their scene from the top of a thirty foot tower......but they did it and they lived. Oh - I still get butterflies thinking about it! All of the kids acted out a few of the scenes, including two battle scenes. In one of them they split the kids in two groups then told one group in secret that they would be portraying the anti-nephi-lehi's who vowed to lay down their weapons and not fight the Lamanites. The Lamanites weren't told this though, so as those 125 kids came tearing down the mountain yelling war cries, the rest of the kids knelt down in front of them with their weapons on the ground. Some of them could care less and still went to town, wailing on all the poor kids laying on the ground - but most of the kids figured it out pretty quickly. For the next war scene we hiked up the mountain to this huge meadow where the kids went to town on each other again - they had swim noodles cut in half with pvc pipes stuck inside and big wooden shields. They were having a great time until the "Strippling Warriors" showed up. They were invincible and took everybody else out (including one girl who had her tooth knocked out:( Luckily we had 3 dentists on the scene). We had an awesome group of kids -- so so funny and just all around good kids. We worked with another couple, Meg and Jon Freebairn - they were so lovely and fun - we totally lucked out. Oh it was fun - a lot of work and a lot of walking up and down hills with a super tight pregnant belly, but it was so worth it. Oh we are lucky. We found out the night we got home that 7 of the kids up at the conference had gotten in a horrible car accident. Things are still pretty serious for two of them, and one of the boys in the accident died. Just hours before the accident he and his brother both bore their testimonies at the closing fireside and told each other how, even though they never tell each, how much they love each other. It breaks my heart to think about it, but how lucky were those two brothers to have that experience with each other so shortly before one of them would be leaving this earth. Youth are kind of like sponges it seems - they soak things up so quickly and it's amazing how three days of feeling the spirit can have such a huge impact on them. So so lucky to have had such an amazing experience. No pictures, we forgot the camera - but I'll post this one of Gray and Clara on the tramp that I just downloaded and it made me smile:) And another one from Grady and B at the water hole by our house a few days ago. The water was freezing, but Gray and Clara had no fear and jumped right in. I, obviously, would have been doing some pretty awesome tricks off the rope swing but decided to sit this trip out, being 7 months pregnant and all:) I actually did go off a rope swing once - not sure I'll ever forget that face plant! B was however showing up all the teenagers that showed up with his daredevil tactics. That man is crazy!