This summer, Steve and I participated in our stake youth conference, Book of Mormon Quest. Our stake does this massive undertaking every four years and we’ve been fortunate to be a part of it the three times our stake has put it on. The first time we went, Briggs was just 6 weeks old and he came with us! Four years ago, Hallie joined us going into her sophomore year. And this year, we were excited to have both Hunter and Bennett attend. (Youth 14 years and older attend.)
I have had this post as a draft since the beginning of June and every time I opened it to journal, I got stuck. I tried conveying the feelings of my heart and the words just didn’t come. So I would put it off for another day.
As the days/weeks passed, I began to realize why the words didn’t come. It wasn’t because I was unsure of what to say. It was because the experience itself was so profound and so sacred to me that words could never truly do it justice. Trying to explain it felt like an impossible task, because it’s a feeling that lives so deeply within my heart, a truth that can only be felt, not spoken. Oddly enough, I ran into this same problem four years ago after we attended with Hallie. I still have the unpublished draft because I never finished it.
Today, I am finally breaking that cycle. Anyone reading this will never fully grasp the sacredness of this experience, and that’s okay. Some may even find the primitive clothing silly, but that’s okay, too. This Quest has had a profound impact on me, not once, or twice, but three separate times, and I am forever changed because of it. To then see how it has changed my children… it fills me with a deep sense of gratitude. There have been critics questioning why so much time and effort is put into this event, and I’m sure I would have said the same thing. But when you’re there and see the impact – there’s no amount of time or money you wouldn’t be willing to give.
The Book of Mormon Quest is a Thursday-Saturday camp in the mountains where youth are exposed to an interactive and immersive experience traveling through the stories of the Book of Mormon. Stories these kids have probably heard and even read dozens of times. But they come alive when they are living it.
They walked to the tree of life and experienced that vision firsthand. They help build a boat after learning from Nephi. They learned what it feels like to pray mightily. They made weapons of war and then learned how hard it was to have to bury those weapons. They acted out key stories and played games. They fought a hard battle complete with chalk bombs. They experienced the love of their Savior Jesus Christ.
And even having experienced this three times, you’d think I would know exactly what’s coming and how I’m going to feel. But each year has been a completely different experience. And my kids… they had their own tender, personal experiences, and I was so deeply grateful to see just a glimpse of them. It’s a humbling thing to watch them grow in ways you can’t quite understand, but you know it’s something powerful and good.
It was life-changing weekend.
We had John Bytheway make a special return as our keynote speaker the first night and if someone is going to teach the Book of Mormon and connect with the youth – he’s the man.
In years past, we have ended this conference and then had to spend the afternoon tearing everything dow,n which is a chore when you’re already exhausted from the week. But this year, in hopes of having more benefit from this experience, our stake worked with three other stakes. Every few days a new stake arrived and had its own amazing story to tell. (And then we tore everything down two weeks later.)
The more youth (and leaders) who can benefit from this sacred experience, the better!
