Stand Ye In Holy Places and Be Not Moved

The event we have been working on since last November has finally arrived, and what an awesome experience to be a part of.  This Youth Conference was to be unlike any other.  It was going to be done from a strickly spiritual venue. With that in mind, we had to be a lot of PR, and the people assigned to the task did an outstanding job.  We had 170 young single adults from ages 18-30 and 65 youth ages 14-18.

We started with a train ride of approximately 23 hours.  For some it was longer and for some it was shorter.

              Train Station

Toilets on the train.  They look better in the pictures:)  Especially after 23 hours!

We arrived at Camp Tavatuy in the early evening.  Checked in, had dinner, then the Young Adults met their counselors, which were all young married couples, had a devotional and then in bed by 11:00 p.m.






The next day we started early with breakfast at 7:15 a.m. then a welcome Fireside given by President Drachyov who talked about Stand Ye In Holy Places and Be Not Moved.

We then played some fun get to know you games

 

Find out which scriptural person you are

Get to know you Bingo

Find a shoe and find out about that person

President Galbraith, president of the Kiev Temple, came and spoke to the Young Adults about a Heart at War and a Heart at Peace.  How to handle problems in a Telestial, Terrestrial and a Celestial way.  The way to have a heart at peace is by willing to make sacrifices.

 We also had a fun Western Dance.

We ended the dance at about 9:15 then went into the main hall where Brian and I gave a Family Home Evening on "How to get the most out of this conference".  We reminded them that what they put into the conference is what they would get out of the conference.

Each day was started and ended with Scripture Study and Devotionals.  From the feed back we have received, the Young Adults really liked starting and ending their day on a Spiritual theme.  They are amazing young people.  They travel great distances just to be with the other youth and to be spiritual fed.

On Day 2 President Drachyov and his wife gave a Fireside on Stand Ye in Holy Places when you are alone, reminding them that you can make anywhere a holy place when you remember who you are and where you can and cannot go. 

They also attended two institute classes taught by CES teachers on paying more attention to what is happening on the inside of you because you have little control with what happens on the outside.  Also, one on how miracles often come after trials.

After lunch they did a service project.  They wrote encouraging notes to all those who are serving in the armed services (every young man is required to serve one year in the armed services), to missionaries and to widows.

We also set up scriptural games (guess they thought we were the game czars) it was interesting to see how many chose to come and play the games.

Soap Box Scriptures

Concentration

Scripture Shuffle Board

Of course, Frisbee

We had dinner and then they all got dressed up for a more formal dance.  They were taught dance etiquette and also how to do the waltz.  Again they commented on how much they enjoyed learning new dances.

President Drachyov and his wife once again started us off with a Fireside on Stand Ye In Holy Places by Choosing Good Friends.  Remember true friends help us live the standards of Jesus Christ.

They also attended two more institute classes.  They were taught that just as a gate leads to much more, life can lead us to something more.  A king doesn't live right at the gate, you need to go further than the gate to be with Him.

After lunch, they did Skits in a Bag, where they were given 5-8 random things in a bag and they are suppose to use these as props for a skit that they make up.  They were really quite clever.

Off for free time, dinner and then a slide show of lots of pictures taken during the week.  It was so much fun to see all the pictures and fun times.  Then about 30-40 of them gave an Outstanding musical performance singing a medley of songs that they had practiced during the week during their free time.

That night they shared their testimonies in small groups.

It was an outstanding week! We feel so privileged to have been a part of the whole thing.