November 5-6, 2010: The Bishop's Youth Retreat

About a month ago in BYC, one of the youth asked about doing another Bishop's Retreat. Mind you, it wasn't in the schedule--or budget--so I didn't expect anything to come of it. But similar to our impromptu boating, he thought it was a good idea and it was time to start planning. With just a month's notice, it fell upon Reed Price (the YM President) and I to plan it. The first thing was making sure we had a location. We enjoyed Heber Valley Camp the last time we did it, and were fortunate enough to secure it once again. We next quickly turned it over to the youth leaders. They were each in charge of an activity and the theme was "Get Committed" since there seems to be a lack of that right now.

I asked Hannah Miller, one of my young woman, to design a logo so we could make t-shirts (seen here modeled by Mags and Ellie) and Sharon Franz at Westmore screened them just two days before.

John, Cherise, and Jennifer Jacob were good enough to be our food committee. I thought it would be great for Cherise to get to know the young women before camp, and John was a good sport to support me in my time of need. So they took on three meals and a late night treat so we could take care of everything else. Dinner that night was Cafe Rio salads and they were SOOO good!

The Beehives had the first activity and did a scripture-based "minute to win it." Next was the Bishop who talked about being committed to the Lord and the gospel. The Priests then showed a silent movie while we enjoyed hot chocolate floats. Once again, the young women stayed in the room behind the pavilion so we enjoyed the heat. John slept in the dressing room portion of the shower area--in a room rigged with motion detectors that turned the light on every time he moved. Needless to say, he didn't get the best night's rest.

For breakfast, we had the the typical "big breakfast" of pancakes, eggs, bacon, etc. Then Reed and I did our part on commitment to self and family. When I was planning what to do, I was really stuck on using a straight jacket somehow; you know, being "committed." I couldn't get anything to flow with it and then, after reading several conference talks, it occurred to me: Red Rover! I needed a young man who was committed to making it through the line, someone who didn't give up when the challenges facing him were harder than he imagine. I chose Lance Elliott because he is the biggest and strongest of the priests. However, he was so worried about hurting someone that he DIDN'T make it through the line! I was sure that my object lesson had been lost, but as I was continuing to talk about being committed, it occurred to me that the point was even better made by having all the young men get back up and having Lance running until he DID make it through. And when he did, boy, it was brutal! No one got hurt but Lance himself. He scraped up his knee pretty bad and ripped his jeans, but fortunately we was able to protect his broken hand from further injury. I think it was an even better visualization then I had planned.

We were followed by the Laurels doing a blindfolded activity where you had to rely on another young man or woman; this led into being committed to friends. It was followed by chili for lunch. After some time to clean up, the Deacons did "Never have I ever..." It was enlightening for sure! I found out which of the young man have worn a dress and which young women have kissed someone. The day ended with the Teachers doing a compass course.