Be Strong and of A Good Courage

I don't anymore about the way High School girls think than I did when I was in high school. This became abundantly clear this weekend while I volunteered to mentor/guide eight high school age kids for the Mt. Vernon Stake youth conference.This year's theme was, from Joshua 1:6.

 Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.

Because I have a pretty flexible work schedule, I thought about how much fun it would be to spend a few days molding the minds of the Church's future leaders. It was fun but mentally and physically exhausting.

Let us assume that it was inevitable that I was going to make a teenage girl cry. Then should I be pleased with the fact that I only made one cry? I know for certain that it wasn't intentional. When you are in a Single's ward you really don't have a ton of interaction with the youth of the Stake.

I found them to be for the most part very polite, fun, and spiritually inclined. As we did various leadership activities, I tried using them as analogies for life lessons, occasionally one of the kids would say something to me and I would be completely shocked that not only had they been listening earlier, but they had retained what they heard, and were seeing the real world application. That is not to say that we didn't have fun. I tried to use my unique methods to keep the youth motivated.

Being a teenager is an incredibly awkward time. This is no more evident than at the dance. I remember pretty vividly not enjoying church dances in my 14 year old days. Oh how things have changed as I can not help but dance when given the opportunity these days. I wanted to look extra good for the other group leaders so I wore some bling.

The DJ did a good job with the music, but the people from my generation were sad that they did not play Lady in Red by Chris Deburgh. That was an absolute staple of youth dances and brought me especially good luck at the ward Halloween dance my freshman year of college.

In between the leadership activities, eating no vegetables, encouraging the boys to dance with the girls. I found time to attempt to explain why dating is so difficult for people in the Colonial ward. I have very strong opinions about the topic, and am sure that I enlightened many minds.

Now you might or might not have noticed the poll on up on Pete Chat right now. It's in the upper right. On sunday night after I got home from the conference, I went over to my friends, and neighbors to chat and have dinner. I was discussing with noted Texas Ranger fan and non commentator Heather Hixon* as well as proud Duke alum and owl enthusiast Emma Wallace the proper way to slow dance. Heather was rather convinced that the proper way to dance is with hands held , while I on the other hand thought hands should be on hips. I have discovered that people have many differing views on this. I might even need a post dedicated to itself. Please vote and let your opinion be known.

I really had a great time with these youngsters, hopefully, the girls won't be scarred for life from my inability to relate to them in any way, and the boys will have renewed confidence about who they are. I know personally that I don't have to be totally worried about the future of the church, these kids are on the right path.

*I know it's Hickson, I'm just messing.