Dear Friends:
Several weeks ago, we held a special event at church. Each year, we gather the youth of our church together for a special "youth conference". It's taken a different shape each year. For 2017, we wanted to simplify things and try to improve the quality as a result.
Youth conference was held in Austin. It was a really great experience - not only for me, but for the youth. We started on a Friday night, with a series of fun games that would allow all the kids (from various local congregations) to get to know each other a little better. We divided the 180 youth into smaller groups, and had them compete in relays like passing a hula-hoop while holding hands:
Another game had the kids divided into two main groups, on either side of our gym. An announcer would describe an attribute or behavior, and all those that fit into that category would cross the gym to the other side. Again, another opportunity to get to know each other. In this video clip, we asked all those that liked dogs over cats to move:
Later that evening, we allowed the youth to gather in their smaller groups. Each group was overseen by young adults in their 20s, who led them on a visual scavenger hunt. It was so FUN to watch them all pull together scenes for a picture.
The next morning was the big day. We had the kids at our church for the entire day - but we kept them busy the entire time. We also gave them t-shirts with the theme of the conference on each one:
The day was broken up into various activities - we held a series of three workshops during the day. The topics were focused on helping the youth understand their connection to their Heavenly Father, and how to nurture their relationship with Jesus Christ. We focused on teaching them to "ask in faith". Our first speaker (Calee Reed) came all the way from Utah, as she's a recording artist for Deseret Book, and speaks to youth regularly. She's an amazing human being, who really touched the hearts of the kids with a combination of spoken word and song.
The kids loved being around her, and she was gracious enough to spend lunch with a large group of girls, who were able to ask her more questions about the material she presented that morning.
We then took a break from workshops and had the kids play "Speed Friendshipping". Essentially, it's like speed-dating, but the goal here was to quickly introduce yourself to a LOT of other kids, and quickly address a given question (projected on the wall so all could see). They had about 30-45 seconds to accomplish this, before the kids moved to the next chair. In all, they were able to meet dozens and dozens of new friends:
We had another round of games, with all the kids assembled in the gym - this picture gives you an idea of how many youth we had at the conference:
Lunch was all about pizza - almost a universal food for kids. This should give you an idea of how many pizzas I ordered from Costco:
In the afternoon, we rotated between two more workshops. We invited a speaker from Houston (Diana Hoelscher) who did a wonderful job of encouraging the youth to pray - in ways they hadn't considered before:
We also had a workshop on the Book of Mormon. It was taught by Randal Wright, who does such an amazing job with the youth. We packed the room with a ton of kids for each of his sessions. I was a little bummed, because there wasn't room for me in there!
In the late afternoon, we held a truly awesome activity - Bubble Soccer. Essentially, the kids were able to wear giant bubbles around them as they tried to play 5-on-5 soccer. As you might imagine, some of the kids just wanted to bump into each other. We allowed some of the older boys to play against each other ; )
Overall, this was a really fun activity to play - and watch. I have no idea how I'll top it in the future!!! After dinner, we set-up for a dance. It was 80s themed, and we gave all the kids glow sticks, which were illuminated with black lights.
As usual, I was the DJ - and decided to dress for the theme in some "Hammer Pants". Yup...I'll do pretty much anything for the kids ; )
Overall, another fantastic youth conference for our kids. I think it really had the right balance of fun and spiritual elements. We want the kids to enjoy themselves, but we also want to nourish them spiritually. I'm certainly lucky to have other adult leaders that made this whole thing a reality. Such a great experience!
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