Youth Conference

(The lodge we stayed in)

Well I had to leave Cooper over night for the first time ever!!! I am the Laurel Advisor in Young Womens so I had the opportunity to go to Youth Conference. We were at Brad's family reunion during Girls Camp so I wasn't able to go to that or Girls Camp would have been my first time leaving Cooper. For Youth Conference this year our ward went up to the Reid Ranch right outside of Fruitland, UT (about 2 1/2 hours away). This was really a treat for our youth (and leaders). There ended up being about 40 youth (ages 14-18), the bishopric, 2 YM leaders, and 4 YW leaders. We stayed in a huge lodge which had bed service so they came in and made our beds everyday. All of the meals were prepared by the staff at Reid Ranch as well as the clean-up. This was awesome for the leaders because usually we spend our whole time preparing and cleaning and don't really get to enjoy ourselves that much. This year was much different. The leaders actually spent most of the time by ourselves doing our own thing because the youth entertained themselves with all of the activities available. There was horseback riding, canoeing, paddle boats, miniature golf, basketball, volleyball, football, frisbee golf, fuse-ball, ping pong tables, archery, swimming pool, a hot tub, trading post where you could buy ice cream and treats, and of course flirting with the other youth and the staff up at the ranch. I totally remember being a teenager and looking for the cute guys and hoping for that amazing romance story that we could tell our children ha ha. The only part that the leaders were really in charge of were the devotionals. Each class was in charge of a devotional so as part of the Laurel class I was in charge of giving a little training/talk. My subject was on feeling the spirit. I feel like it went really well and it was much easier than giving a talk in sacrament that's for sure!

I had a really hard time the first day we left (Thursday). I was crying when I left and when I first went to meet at the church. Then someone would ask what was wrong or if I was missing Cooper and I would lose it all over again. But once we got in the car and were off I was no longer an emotional wreck. I really enjoyed myself.....other than almost dying like 3 times (details to follow).

We arrived at the ranch at 11:30 on Thursday morning. We had orientation and then figured out our rooms. The YW leaders decided to put all the girls together and then us leaders in our own room. Best decision ever!!! The girls showered like 4 times a day and were constantly changing and doing their hair and whatever else. We had a calm, clean, organized room where no chaos ensued. The YW leaders did archery (which I rocked at), miniature golfing and just kind of relaxed. Then we had to split up with the youth so half of us went to the canoes/paddle boats while the others went to ride the horses. There were no issues this day with these activities. We got to bed pretty late but were able to sleep in Friday morning.

Friday we just did the same activities as the day before. But it was my turn for horseback riding. We all got on our horses and were riding around a corral waiting for everyone. My horse must of kicked the metal fence and freaked out the horse behind me. So they both started freaking out and neighing at each other. My horse brought both of his back feet off the ground and kicked the horse behind me. This made the horse mad and got on its back feet and kicked my horse with its front feet. This sent my horse running! I thought I was dead. The leaders that were standing around took off running. The ranch dudes luckily came running and told me what to do to get my horse and the other horse which had a YW on it calmed down. I no longer wanted to ride the horses but decided to stick it out. It took me a few minutes to calm down and get my entire body to stop shaking. The rest of the ride was fine and they put me up front with one of the ranchers just incase my horse decided to freak out again. He asked me what high school I went to. Yet again I had to explain I wasn't a youth but a leader! This always happens and it is really frustrating! Afterwards the YM and other YW leaders said they couldn't believe I stuck it out because just watching it was scary they can't imagine how bad it was going thru it.

Later that day I canoed again. This time the boys thought they were going to ruin everyones day.They were tipping canoes and just being menaces. Me and another YW leader got close and they pinned us. They decided they were going to use our canoe to help them get one of theirs out of the water. They literally had us tipping to one side so we were crawling over the other side to keep us from tipping over completely. Let me explain this lake had leeches everywhere so I was going to kill the boys if they dumbed me in. After some screaming and almost crying from the other yw leader and me they got their dumb canoe fixed. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. We were so mad at the boys. Especially the ones who had tipped the canoe and then just left it there for the other boys to fix.

My next issue was with the lodge. We were talking with one of the staff and they decided to tell us how many mice were in our lodge. If you know me I have the biggest phobia and I am scared to death of mice. Last year I saw one in my garage and I didn't park my car in there or go in it for a month! Once they said this I suddenly saw ALL of the mouse poop. I was freaking out. Then one of the YM leaders saw a mouse. I was terrified the rest of the trip. I was so close to just sleeping in the car! Luckily I never saw a mouse or I probably would have had a heart attack after all of the trauma I had experience.

Friday night we had the testimony meeting which was amazing! I love hearing all of the youth and other leader share their testimonies and just feel how strong the spirit is! Saturday morning we woke up at 5:20 and went on a sunrise hike. The youth of course complained the whole time because it was so early and cold. But the devotional went really well.

All in all the trip was a success. There were no injuries, no one got sick, the kids all got along, we traveled safely, the spirit was felt by everyone, and we all really had an enjoyable time! I was definitely ready to come home to my baby though! (I didn't take any pictures because I left our camera in case Cooper started waking or doing something that I didn't want to miss).