Youth Conference with the Neuquén Stake

 We were excited to be asked to attend part of the Youth Conference for the Neuquén Stake.  They stayed at a Camp Ground for three days and this was the last day.  It was only about 25 minutes from the mission home but it was in an area we had never been.

 

 

 

When we arrived they were in the middle of a service project.  They were cleaning the camp ground!

 

 

 

Everyone was so kind to us as we arrived.

 

I asked Debbie Carter, the Mission President's wife from the Buenos Aries West Mission for ideas on what she had done before for activities like this and she said that the most important thing was to take some missionaries with us!  That is exactly what we did!  The assistants came with us and they were wonderful with the youth of the stake.

 

We talked about how important it is to have the spirit with us in our lives and that one of the best ways to do that is to share the gospel.  We also talked about ways to talk to a friend about the church.  Sometimes we worry that we don't know enough about the gospel to be able to share it. 

 

We told them about a survey that was done in the church.

“....the Church did an extensive survey of new converts to determine what it was about the Church that had initially interested them...

These were the results, in order of frequency of mention:

1. The feeling of closeness to God that they wanted to experience because they could see this closeness in the lives of Mormons they knew.

2. Happiness and a sense of peace, which they wanted and which they saw in the lives of Mormons they knew.

3. They wanted a better sense of purposefulness and direction in their lives. They tended to see this in Mormons they knew.”
— The Power of Everyday Missionaries by Clayton M. Christensen

 

These are not hard things to talk about with others.  They can talk about these things!

The assistants were great to help them all practice how to share the gospel with a friend.

 

 

 

 

 

It was fun to talk to a few of them after the activity.

 

President Lovell had fun playing a little volleyball as we got ready to go!

 

Here are a few pictures from some of the other event of their youth conference.  It is wonderful that these kinds of wholesome experiences are available all over the world for the youth of the church!  Look at their faces and see their goodness!

 

 We went to the baptism later that night of two of the youth that were there.  What a special group of young people and leaders!