I saw the neatest thing today.

A young man who has not been active in our church congregation has been coming to church the past couple of months.  The young men in the ward and the Bishopric, along with other young men's leaders, have welcomed this young man.  They have been reaching out to him for years, but something has happened in his life and he has been coming lately. His siblings do not attend church, nor does his father, but his mother is usually there.

Today at church this young man was sitting alone near the back of the overflow section and his name was announced for ordination to the office of a priest. The members of the congregation raised their hands in support of this ordination and heads turned to see this young man. 

After the administration of the sacrament, the three priests at the sacrament table all walked past their families, straight to the row the young man was sitting on, and they sat by him for the remainder of the meeting. What a great gesture of kindness.

I just arrived home from a winter Youth Conference and it was marvelous!  These pictures are a very small slice of the fun we had.  I did not get any pictures of the youth sledding, building snowmen, being pulled on tubes, helping to prepare meals, devotionals, charades, workshops, singing, stuffing teddy bears, etc.  I loved every minute of it.

This picture shows one of my favorite parts of the week.  The young men and young women in the ward decorated stockings for several individuals/couples in the neighborhood, filled the stockings, and then delivered them. I loved seeing the youth work together to create unique stockings.

I am still smiling about the YM/YW Service project last Saturday.  The youth met at the church at 7:15 am, drove to the food bank, and then assembled over four hundred food boxes to be distributed to elderly people in need.  Every person had a specific assignment and the process was well organized and fast paced.  The youth loved it!  I know the young women liked working alongside the young men, and everyone felt needed and useful. Service projects are the best activities, aren't they?

This picture is dark but oh so sweet to me.  We just finished a Ward Youth Conference and this particular part of the Conference was my favorite.  At the Conference we boated, laughed, danced, played ping pong, glow-in-the-dark steal the flag, and human battleship, ate to our heart's content and hiked, but first we ministered.  I was assigned to go with these three youth to visit people for a couple of hours and this dear man was one of the people we visited. He was so excited to have visitors that he shook for a few minutes weeping. He is a long time member of our ward but now resides in a Memory-Care unit and we love him. The youth were kind, patient, and sensitive and there was a spirit of love in the room. Being with the youth while they ministered was wonderful!

In the Journal of Adolescence, Volume 57, June 2017, Pages 90-98, there is an article titled, "Longitudinal relations between adolescents' self-esteem and prosocial behavior toward strangers, friends and family."  I found the results interesting, though somewhat predictable. Any time teenagers engage in "voluntary behavior to benefit another," they are not only helping the individual being served, but they are also helping themselves.  The list of benefits that come to those who serve is amazing.

Here are a few excerpts from the journal article regarding the study and findings:

The results showed that adolescent self-esteem was associated longitudinally with subsequent prosocial behavior toward strangers, and prosocial behavior toward strangers promoted subsequent self-esteem.

Prosocial behavior is defined as voluntary behavior intended to benefit another.  Prosocial behavior is positively correlated with psychosocial adjustment in adolescents, such as warding off aggression, reducing mental health problems like anxiety and depression, and promoting academic achievement. 

Prosocial behavior may benefit individuals in the following aspects: (a) providing distraction from one's troubles; (b) enhancing the sense of meaning and value in one's life; (c) increasing perceived competence; (d) improving mood and positive emotions; and (e) promoting social integration.

Helping strangers is often more challenging for adolescents because strangers are not in one's in-group and teens may not interact with strangers regularly or repeatedly.

Today was the first day of our Stake Youth Conference.  The youth of the stake were split into four groups and sent off to do service projects for several hours.  One group worked on the yards of two houses in South Salt Lake.  Another group worked at a park weeding and spreading top soil.  The third group was very fortunate and was able to play with refugee children.  Our group was assigned to work at an animal shelter and we pulled weeds and picked up dog _____around the perimeter of the building.  Every service project was beneficial and helped the community but I want to give special credit to the youth in our group.  Ours was a humbling and distasteful project and yet the youth did it without complaint.  The youth grabbed shovels and plastic bags and set out to leave the place better than we found it.  Today I was inspired by these wonderful, hard-working youth.

This is a picture of the young men in our ward ages 16-18.  They are an outstanding group of young men.  Also pictured are there three young men leaders on the left:  Brother Walton, Bishop Brockbank, and Steve Souter.  Today the priests sang a song in Sacrament Meeting.  I loved the words of the song they sang, written by Bonnie Hart Murray:

Two thousand stripling warriors, young men of power and might
Responded to the battle cry; O who will stand and fight?
Behold, our God is with us!  We serve at His command.
They did not fear to give their lives but boldly took a stand.

Two thousand stripling warriors, courageous for their cause,
Went forth as with the strength of God, and not one soul was lost.
Their faith had made them mighty; their strength was multiplied.
They fought with power beyond their own, for God was on their side. 
(Verses one and four listed above)

There is something powerful about seeing young men live righteous lives and hearing them sing their testimonies.

Let me explain about the picture above--there are two ultimate frisbee teams now at Jordan High.  Boys and girls participate on the teams and the players have become good friends.  They work hard, they are very competitive, and they do well.  Last week, the stepfather of a boy on the team died--a stepfather that the boy lives with and was close to, and this man's death was sudden and unexpected.  The frisbee coach invited the boys (and girls) on the team to come to the viewing on Sunday night to show support for their teammate.  Some of the team members could not make it, but it was overwhelming and touching to me to see how many of them came!  There is something wonderful about when youth reach out--it is so powerful. 

A few lessons that I learned on pioneer trek:

1.  Young people can do hard things.  They performed better than I thought they would.  The leaders of our stake planned a rigorous trek, and some people thought it would be too hard and too taxing, but the youth performed admirably.

2.  Trek, as in life, is better organized in families, where a ma and pa are over a group of children.

3. Attitude is important, a willingness to work is important, water is important, and sunscreen is important.

4.  When you have youth push a handcart for 12.8 miles in one day, you will have no problem getting them to bed that night.

5.  An activity or experience is best when you have a mix of fun, social opportunities, physical activity, variety, and of course, a spiritual component.  This pioneer trek had all of these things and it was successful.

6.  When you step away from your "normal" world, even if only for a few days, your vision becomes clearer as to what is really important in life.

7.  Youth will jump up to meet high expectations.

8.  Our stake "Trail Boss" was a wonderful leader named Jim Nordquist.  Jim was highly organized, he never yelled or seemed frustrated, he made a detailed plan and followed it but he was flexible when obstacles which were out of his control came up, and he led in firmness and love.

9.  A big activity takes a lot of people helping in different ways.  Oh, how I love a sense of teamwork.

10.  I liked walking hand in hand with my husband.

11.  I felt a sacred feeling as I passed the pioneer graves on the trail.  I love and admire the pioneers.

12.  Many prayers were said and many petitions were sent upwards for safety and protection and our prayers were answered.  I am grateful to the Lord for watching over this trek.

This is a picture of the Eastdell Priest's and Teacher's Quorums, their leaders, and some fathers.  They headed out this week to explore some great spots in Southern Utah.  I feel blessed that my son is a part of this group of young men and that he has such outstanding leaders.

What has the young men's program and the scouting program offered my son?

1.  A chance to learn many new things

2.  A chance to develop leadership skills

3.  A chance to grow in the gospel

4.  The opportunity to have outstanding role models

5.  A chance to try new and hard things

6.  The opportunity to be a part of a scout troop and a quorum and to enjoy companionship and brotherhood