Dear Friends:
This last weekend, I had a most unique and spiritually nourishing set of experiences. To start, it was my birthday. Normally, you want to spend that surrounded by your family and/or closest friends. This year, I didn’t do that. Why? I had a chance to do something that doesn’t come along that often. Fortunately, my wife and kids were very supportive…and I truly appreciate that.
Over the weekend, the Utah National Parks Council (Boy Scouts) were holding an event called Little Philmont. Let me explain. First, Philmont is a legendary Scout high adventure base, in New Mexico. It’s an amazing place…and if you look back through this blog, you’ll find at least two trips there. Each year, the LDS Church holds a Priesthood Leadership Conference. For a week, they bring several hundred local Church leaders together to train them about how Scouting should work within the Church. When my family and I attended a couple of years ago, it was a transformative experience…for not just me, but the entire family. While the formal Philmont training can only accommodate a few hundred, the Church encourages leaders to take that training and share it with others in their local area. The information is so needed - so some hold what’s called “Little Philmont” to do just that.
The Utah council did something special with their event. The were able to bring in several General Authorities to teach the gathered leaders. The audience was made up of about 120 Bishops and Stake Presidents. I found out about the event and decided to travel all the way to Utah, to learn…and to see how it was done. My desire is to hold one of these in Texas - but we’ll see.
I set out for Mt. Pleasant, Utah - about an hour south of Provo. When I left Austin, it was about 95 degrees. When I arrived in Salt Lake City, it was about 45 degrees. I was freezing! I had to stop at a local store to buy a shirt to wear underneath my uniform!
As I drove south, I made my way up into the foothills of the Wasatch Mountains. I’ve written about how much I love these mountains. As I climbed higher in elevation, the fall colors started to surround me. I was just amazed at how beautiful it looked:
I stopped the car several times to get pictures…thank goodness there wasn’t anyone behind me.
The event was taking place overnight, to maximize the time that we had together. This meant camping in tents. I brought all my camping gear on the plane, and started setting-up my tent. I really didn’t think it was going to be this cold, as I had checked the weather reports before I left. I also couldn’t bring an all-weather tent, as everything had to fit in my bag. The folks that checked me into Camp Tifie, where the Little Philmont was being held, took pity on the poor guy from Texas. They allowed me to stay in this tiny cabin:
No electricity and no frills, but at least the wind and rain would be minimized. Let’s just say that I was grateful. This meant that my tent wouldn’t remain wet…and then turn mildewy when I packed everything up to fly home.
All 120 of us met in the Camp Lodge - and it was a little humbling to see so many local Church leaders in attendance. They came from all over Utah. Anyone I talked to was surprised that I had traveled all the way from Texas. I think that many take these type of events for granted ; )
This is the view of my “station” for most of the event. I started out taking notes the old fashioned way…and through the sessions on that Friday night, I wrote dozens of pages of notes. The training was so spiritually nourishing. I tried so hard to capture all of it, so I could share it with others.
After dinner, and a few hours of training, we enjoyed ice cream for dessert. This Cougar fan was happy to see that the ice cream came from the BYU Creamery. Good stuff!
I went to sleep and froze ; ) I don’t want to complain too much, but it wasn’t the most restful night of sleep. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to stay awake the next day. But, I guess the adrenaline kicked-in, and I remained alert for the duration of the training.
When I awoke, it had snowed the night before. The hills above the camp were dusted with snow:
In the back of the lodge, I had a wonderful view of the valley floor below. More wonderful fall colors could be seen in every direction:
We rotated through different workshops and training, with a great lunch of warm soup and sandwiches….sorely needed. Again, the training was just fantastic. I saw how Scouting works together with the Priesthood, in a way that I wasn’t able to articulate before. I felt inspired to try and share this with the leaders in my Stake…and do what I can to help fix some of the perceptions of Scouting within the Church.
At several points, we all sang hymns. It was fun to hear an entire room of male voices. The guy next to me was holding down the bass line pretty well:
It came time to say goodbye, and we all drove back down the mountain. As I drove on the dirt road, I took one last picture of a colorful display of oranges, reds, greens and yellows in front of me. The Aspen trees were breath-taking.
I drove back up to Provo/Orem and was lucky enough to stay with my wife’s parents. They were kind enough to treat me to a birthday dinner. The entire afternoon, I was staring at Mt. Timpanogos, part of the Wasatch Front. With all the snow from the night before, Timp looked majestic with a snow “crown” on top:
I flew home and was so happy to see my family. It was a unique, but wonderful birthday weekend. I’m so lucky to be able to have these kinds of spiritual experiences. I’m grateful that my wife helps enable my aspirations. What a great birthday!!
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