Standards Retreat

The young men and young women leaders planned an overnight Standards Retreat for our youth. It turned out really good! We went up to a cabin in Bone and kicked things off with our iron rod activity. The kids were blindfolded in a little grove of trees. There was soft primary music playing, and they were each assigned an angel to help them along the way. We had them hold on to the iron rod and start walking. They stopped at a couple people at the beginning, who told them how important it was to always hold tight to the iron rod and never let go. Their angel could softly guide them along the way. Soon they came to the tempters. It was their job to try to get the kids to let go of the rod. The tempters would play loud music so the kids could no longer hear their angel. They would try to give them an easier way to go, or trick them into letting go. Once they made it, they were given fruit from the tree of life. It was fun!

Sister Irving encouraging Bailey to never let go of the iron rod.

Mark was telling the kids that trials will come, but even in the mist of darkness, they will not get lost as long as they are still holding to the rod.

Madi was the best tempter! She was helping Bailey at first. She told her to just let go with one hand, so she could get her around a tree. Then Madi hooked the hand she let go with to a different rod that took her away from the path.

Madi got Bailey off the rod, but the Bishop was right there to help her get back on.

I was Bailey's angel, and I was trying not to crack up at this part. I told her that she was going to have to crawl under a couple of things. Brett Spence and Dave Hamberlin were saying, "You're really going to make her go through all those spider webs!" They were hilarious, but Bailey didn't let go. During the hardest part we had recordings of the kid's parents giving them words of encouragement. That part was awesome!

Brother Hendrix was at the end to read them a scripture, congratulate them, and give them their fruit from the tree of life once they made it.

 Once that was over we had three breakout sessions that they rotated through. They were on 'Chastity', 'Seeing Others as They may Become', and 'Being Who you Truly Are'. They were all really good classes. After that the kids clowned around while we got dinner ready.

How many kids can we cram on one teeter totter?!?

Oh my! This looks like an accident waiting to happen :)! 

They had some fun toys there!

We had some great guys cooking us dinner!

He was hungry! 

After dinner we had a conclusion lesson, and then went our separate ways. The girls went to spend the night at the Draper's house, and the boys stayed at the cabin in tents. They ended up getting rained out and had to stay at the Hendrix's house instead. The next morning we woke up and had a Temple Walk.  Our theme was Standing in Holy Places. We started out with breakfast, and the Stonecutter video. Then we set out on our 7 mile walk to the Temple. We had a few stops along the way with speakers. Brother Roth was our first speaker, and he was so great! He shared about his experiences in Jerusalem, and then told the kids how they can make any place a holy place. At the next stop we had our youth leaders tell each of the kids a specific way they notice how they are already standing in holy places. We had the families of the youth meet us about half a mile from the Temple, and walk the rest of the way with us. Once we got there, Brother Jaussi was there with his friend Carson, and they shared with us what happened during Curtis' hunting accident. They talked about the important things that made all the difference in saving Curtis' life. They talked about always being worthy to give and receive blessings, and how important the Temple is in their lives. It was so great! It was the perfect way to end our walk! We all had lunch together to conclude our Standards Retreat.

Elle, Bailey, and Emily

Brother Roth speaking to the youth. 

The awesome Eastview Ward young men, young women, and youth leaders. We were almost there. The Temple was just across the river from us!

It was a great activity with great people. I'm grateful I get to serve with the youth, and with amazing, inspired leaders that plan activities like this for my kids!