The article below was
published in the Deseret News. It is about the youth conference that Elder
Christensen attended. See the link attached. Photos below from the
Youth Conference blog.
3-day youth conference
encourages participants to become perfected in Christ
By Ramona Siddoway
For the Deseret News
Published: Sunday, May
11 2014 10:55 p.m. MDT
Updated: Monday, May
12 2014 9:36 a.m. MDT
Summary
Teens in the Klein Texas
Stake gathered for their youth conference, “Becoming Perfected With Christ,”
giving youths the opportunity to re-enact experiences from the Book of Mormon.
Two nights and three
days, 335 sunburns and a fight with the Anti-Nephi-Lehies.
This all took place
during Easter weekend.
Youths and leaders in
the Klein Texas Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
gathered on 1,300 acres of private land for their youth conference centered
around “Becoming Perfected With Christ.” This Book of Mormon-themed conference
gave youths the opportunity to re-enact experiences from this book of
scripture, including making their own family Titles of Liberty.
Each participating youth
was assigned into one of the 16 “families” that were complete with a Nano and
Tano (mom and dad) and a big brother or sister who also served on the planning
committee.
After a brief meeting at
King Benjamin’s tower — a 26-foot tower built with telephone poles — the youths
traveled through the "wilderness" where they were subjected to mists
of darkness (provided by fog machines), walked in an uneven field wearing
blindfolds as they held onto an “iron rod” (made of PVC pipe) to finally be
greeted by Lehi (portrayed by Lloyd Stutz) standing under the Tree of Life.
A large oak tree had
been wrapped with several strands of Christmas lights and illuminated with
additional floodlights to stand out as the Tree of Life in the darkness of the
night.
“Lehi addressed the
youth in his own Book of Mormon style of language, his message one of relating
the events of the vision to their current dispensation,” Stutz said. “They were
encouraged to pray many times per day, search and ponder the word of God
continually, and to go and make a difference in this world. They were reminded
that they are here in the latter-days to do more than just to save themselves,
but also to prepare the world and its people to reach their full potential
before the return of Jesus Christ.”
But it wasn’t just the
youths that were touched.
“I felt the warm
connection to Lehi as I prayed and prepared for this event,” Stutz recalls.
“Standing in the dark night next to a beautifully lighted giant oak tree was a
very spiritual moment for me. The youth stayed focused as Lehi addressed them
with all of the tenderness of a loving parent, who wanted only for them to
partake of the love of God.”
The next two days involved
various workshops where youths listened to leaders speak about missionary work,
scripture study and watched several live vignettes portraying Book of Mormon
scenes and events.
Split into two groups,
each army was rallied for battle by none other than their own Captain Moroni as
he discussed the Title of Liberty. A few battle cries later, the two teams ran
out onto the open meadow where a full-fledged whacking began.
It took nearly a year of
planning to pull off such a large undertaking.
“Each of the youth on
our committee was chosen for a reason,” said Greg Lyman, the Klein Texas Stake
Young Men's president. “They each brought their own unique skills, personality,
spirit and experience that we needed to pull off an event of this magnitude.
And most importantly, they all worked together to seek the will of the Lord as
they prepared this conference for the youth of the Klein Texas Stake.”
"We have a
prophetic priority to prepare the youth,” said Tom Kunz, first counselor in the
Klein Texas stake presidency, “to deepen their discipleship; to help prepare
them for the increased expectations the Lord has for them. They are the modern
day army of Helaman."
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