I spent three days with 13 teenagers. And it was awesome!

I spent three days with 13 teenagers. And it was awesome! I think teenagers generally get a bad rap. I even wrote about that once upon a time right here.

Many years ago I heard a sermon at a Methodist Church where the pastor spoke about teenagers. He said, "The thing about teenagers is that they have so much potential." But honestly, isn't that the same for all of us? As children of Heavenly Parents, we all have divine potential beyond our wildest imagination, and that's true whether we are 2, 92, or muddling through those messy teen years. 

Our ward's Youth Conference, 2018 was at Bear Lake. I had never been there before, but I'd heard all about it, and it more than exceeded my expectations. The only time I've seen bluer water was in the Caribbean. It was lovely and warm and perfect.

...which is a good description of the entire three days:

Lovely. The Logan Temple, where we stopped on our way to the lake. The kids did proxy baptisms, and yes, it was lovely to watch them demonstrate their faith in this way, serving those who came before. With glowing faces, inspired as only the temple can, they came out. We sat on the temple lawn, surrounded by flowers with a soft breeze blowing, and discussed how we find peace in Christ, both inside and outside the temple.

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14: 27).

From there, we ate lunch at a little bistro called "Italian Place," followed by giant ice cream cones at the Aggie Creamery. All that was super yummy, but the loveliest part was the depth of friendship among the kids, the mutual care they have for one another. It was only the first day, but memories were already being made.


Warm. The lake water, where we spent the entire second day playing, boating, eating, reading (Bishop), chatting, and rejoicing together. It was a true celebration of the day God gave us.

"This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalms 118:24).

The prefix /re/ in "rejoice" encourages us to find joy repeatedly in every day, and this particular day, it was so easy. Not only was the lake water warm, but our hearts were warmed by so many things. Kayla's incredible effort on our behalf to make everything good was unparalleled; the girl gives new meaning to the word "organized," and it shows in every detail. On the boat, Jeff's instruction, support, and encouragement to each kid who tried knee-boarding was relentless. Those constant words of praise brought about rounds of applause as several kids succeeded in getting up on their knees on top of the board.

Me? Uh, nope. I lay flat on my stomach across the board, hung on tight to the rope, and enjoyed the thrill of being pulled around the lake. They call it "body-boarding," and it suits me just fine. Seriously, so fun!

But the unsung hero of the day and recipient of the "overall good dude" award goes to Spencer. The guy literally stood on that boat for seven hours, coasting while each kid got situated in the water, then speeding forward at the command "Hit it!," then circling back to pick up the kid after he fell. Over and over. Dozens of times. Hours and hours. Never complaining. The heart of a servant he has. What dedication to his fellow humans and to his savior.

I wish I could post pics of the kids on that warm day, but in a public blog like this one, I don't feel comfortable doing that without their (or their parents') permission. So you'll have to settle for the pic of me above.

... and this cave.

Perfect. The Minnetonka Cave, which has been altered only slightly from its original formation, in order to allow visitors, beyond the five species of bats that inhabit it. Three hundred feet underground, we stood in a cave that 2,000,000 years ago was covered in water, prior to the raising of the Rocky Mountains. As the whimsical tour guide explained all this, I found myself singing a song I knew long ago, whose lyrics include

*You moved on the waters,
You called to the deep.
Then you coaxed up the mountains
From the valleys of sleep.

And over the eons
You called to each thing:
"Awake from your slumbers,
And rise on your wings."

The kids loved the cave, and so did we leaders. It was cool, both figuratively and literally, a constant 40 degrees year round. We climbed over 700 steps and met at least five or six bats. All in all, a fun experience, as well as a perfect representation of God's handiwork, in forming for us such a beautiful earth.

"In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth...and God saw that it was good" (Genesis 1:1;10).

The visit to the cave was on our final day and concluded our lovely, warm, and perfect youth conference. We cleaned the cabin and made our way home, tired, but happy.

I spent three days with 13 teenagers. And it was awesome!

(*Spirit, James K. Manley, 1975.)