This is the fourth - and last - post on my week at the 2013 Boy Scout National Jamboree. If you want to see my previous post, just click here.
I want to spend this last post talking about some of the spiritual experiences I had at the Jamboree, and the presence of the LDS Church at the event.
Within the activity areas at the Jamboree, there was space dedicated to "Faith and Beliefs". Here, most all of the major religions had tents to share the tenets of their belief. The Sikhs had a demonstration area to help Scouts tie turbans on their heads. The Muslims had an inflatable mosque to talk about daily prayers. Catholics, Methodists and Protestants all had separate areas. The most impressive by far was the area for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
Inside, the LDS-BSA (Boy Scouts of America) Association had worked with the YM General Presidency to create displays on this year's Mutual theme, temples, and our focus on Christ. It was a-m-a-z-i-n-g...just like an awesome temple visitor's center:
But it didn't stop there. The Church volunteered to staff two merit badge tents in the same area: Genealogy and Family Life. Both have special meaning to our faith and the quality of the experience was awesome. For the Genealogy badge, they brought in volunteers from FamilySearch.org to teach basic principles and had several computers wired to the internet to conduct family history searches:
2013 marks the 100th anniversary of the relationship between Boy Scouts of America and the LDS Church. The LDS Church was the very first organization to charter Boy Scout troops, back in 1913. To commemorate the occasion, the Church had a special Scouting patch created, that you could only obtain at the Jamboree. You had to visit the LDS tent, Genealogy tent and Family Life tent to get it. This was a brilliant move, to motivate Scouts and adults to find out more about our beliefs:
But they went even further. The LDS-BSA team created a brand new achievement called the Thomas S. Monson Award. As you may know, President Monson has served on the BSA Executive Council for over 50 years. He's an avid believer in the positive impact Scouting can have on a young man's life. Both Scouts and leaders can earn the award. You needed to complete two requirements from both the Genealogy and Family Life merit badges, read an article about the history of the Church and Scouting, and discuss a talk given by President Monson from 1982 about Scouting. Upon completion, you received this beautiful medallion:
To be honest, this was one of the high points in the week for me. I gave up a lunch hour to complete it and felt the Spirit strongly when talking about what I had read and learned. I'm really proud of it. All week, I could spot Scouts wearing their awards, as well:
On Sunday, all of the Christian faiths had the opportunity to conduct services. Since we had the largest contingency at the Jamboree, we were able to use the stadium. We began at 8am, and I was blown away to see almost 4,000 people at this Sacrament Meeting. It's an experience I won't ever, ever, ever forget. To give you an idea of the size, here's a snapshot of ONE of the two Sacrament tables used to administer the Sacrament:
Before the meeting started, I tried to take footage to show how many people were there...
The rows were marked with duct tape, to try and help the army of Deacons pass the Sacrament quickly....
The crew that normally handled operations at the stadium were on-duty...so we had two giant TV screens showing parts of the meeting. It was a little disconcerting to watch the cameras follow Deacons during the Sacrament, but the camera people had no idea what was going on ; )
In addition, the Jamboree staff sent photographers down to record all of the religious services. While unusual, it was really humbling to see these pictures taken during the actual administration of the Sacrament:
I'll be honest and tell you that I wept during the Sacrament...just watching all of these young men honoring their Priesthood and serving the assembled crowd. The Spirit was so strong. It certainly didn't hurt that a member of the Quorum of the Twelve was in attendance, in addition to the YM General Presidency. Elder Anderson presided over the service and brought his sweet wife with him:
His talk was beautiful, and it echoed some of the themes he spoke of during the last General Conference. After the service was over, he was literally mobbed by so many young men:
I'm happy to report that I had an opportunity to shake his hand, as well ; ) Sometimes, being tall helps...
Later that week, we started winding down the various activities in preparation for all of the Scouts' departures. We packed-up all the game materials and made sure to think about how we would do things better...next time ; )
That night, the Jamboree had a fireworks show. It was gorgeous, as the fireworks exploded high in the air, above the tree line. You could see them from every part of the Jamboree.
The next day I packed everything in my tent and helped to break-down the bunk beds. I took one last picture from Camp Echo, on my way to the shuttle bus:
While new to the whole "patch" experience, I did pretty well on the trip. I was awarded quite a few patches by helping to introduce a new merit badge. People were kind and wanted to share with me, as a "newbie":
Overall, I had a truly memorable experience. I worked harder - physically - than I think I have in a long, long time. I made some new friends, helped inspire some young men and gave a little back to Scouting for all of the good that it's given me in my youth. I'm not quite ready to head back to the Jamboree any time soon...but the World Jamboree will take place in Japan in 2015, and I'm certainly thinking about it ; )
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