Well this weekend was utterly fantastic. The Cedar City Young Single Adult Multi Stake Activities Committee put on their annual YSA conference. Friday night featured a conference from Voicemale. With lots of humor and fun renditions of classic songs, the group sang our stresses away. Personally I would've preferred the young, RM, single group of Vocal point but Voice Male was still awesome. Saturday morning, I was up at 9 to get ready and go do service projects. It was marvelous to be able to sleep in. With five other girls, I did two hours worth of yardwork. We cleared leaves, cut down dead bushes and branches, dug out weeds and made the whole property look new and fresh. The owners of the house we were very sweet by providing us with water and trail mix. After the service project we went back to the church for a Subway lunch. I ended up in a circle of people throwing and catching a football. After that we went home to get ready for the fireside.
David M Mckonkie was the speaker. After a gorgeous number by the institute choir, Brother Mckonkie gave a beautiful talk on the importance of daily reading the Book of Mormon. He taught how the Book of Mormon can provide us and our families with spiritual protection. He showed a mormon message of Jeffrey R. Holland bearing his testimony of the Book of Mormon. He also showed another mormon message called Mountains to Climb. In that video, Henry B. Eyering talks about how acting on a small seed of faith can bring us strength as we face the trials of this life. There was a beautiful and powerful spirit in the room as we listened to these messages. I had a profound experience. While watching the Mountains to Climb video, I felt this wonderful feeling of warmth sweep through my body. The spirit bore witness to me of the truth and power of the Book of Mormon. Tears sprang to my eyes as I felt the spirit confirm this knowledge to my heart and mind. I got to shake Brother Mckonkie's hand afterwards and I was very grateful and honored to be in the presence of such a fine man as he.
After the fireside, some friends and I enjoyed a wonderful free dinner of Costa Vida. Then the dance started. Line dances, some country swing, a cha cha, slow dances, dubstep, belting Journey at the top of my lungs and bouncing around were the activities I put my body through for three hours straight. I haven't had any time to exercise this week so I had five days of energy stored in my body. With shorts under my dress, I spun, jumped, dipped and celebrated the single life. My roommate and I were total girls the whole time as we talked and lightly flirted with every guy we danced with. After the dance I practically limped home because my feet were so sore. I had brought home extra sandwiches from the lunch so our midnight dinner was another subway sandwich. After some stretching and chatting we headed to the showers. After that I ended up talking with a friend on skype for a couple hours catching up and laughing on life. I finished the night with a prayer of gratitude to my Heavenly Father for the wonderful opportunity this weekend had given me. I was asleep when my head hit the pillow. Now on this Sunday evening, I am nursing a Mormon "Dance Hangover" and every inch of me is still sore.
I am so grateful for the church. The church provides safe, fun, productive and wonderful opportunities for the YSA's to make new friends, give service, strengthen relationships and grow closer to our Heavenly Father. At this time of our lives, when it is so easy to be pulled in a thousand directions, activities like these remind me that I'm not alone. The gospel blesses so many lives on infinite levels. Looking around the stadium listening to Elder Mckonkie, it helped me realize that we are all fighting the battle against Satan. We are all trying our best in whatever our pursuits. This weekend was a huge blessing because it gave me an opportunity to relax, de-stress and get out of my head for a while.
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