A MOST EXPECTED AND SUCCESSFUL COMBINED YOUTH ACTIVITY
Saturday, April 9th, 2016 dawned with great expectation in the air for the youth of the High River Ward, Foothills Stake.
In the coolness of the morning, 17 young men and women, as well as their 10 leaders, in their Sunday best, met at the chapel, at 7am, for a hearty breakfast before heading to the temple of Calgary for a morning of baptisms and confirmations for the dead. It was a very touching morning, with a great turn out of our young ones.
After serving reverently and getting great comfort from the Spirit, youth and leaders changed clothes for a much anticipated drive and hike around the valley of the Elbow River and Brag Creek area. After enjoying the beautiful falls and climbing down a cliff to get closer to the water, the happy crowd joined efforts to build a crossway through the river bed, carrying large rocks from the margins. It was a beautiful example of team work. After that they were ready for a deserved delicious lunch.
Guided by our beloved bus driver and professional nature interpreter, James Thompson, our young men and women had tons of fun while hiking a 6-mile trail through the forest and learning survival skills, names of trees and shrubs, and their benefits to mankind, true gifts from God. We all learned about useful and helpful mushrooms; nourishing life-saver insects, like ants and mosquitos, which don’t taste as bad as most people imagine. We learned how to not get lost on a trail, how to recognize animal presence by their droppings, and best spots for resting.
We learned how to start a fire from twigs and moss and specially how to put one out. We learned how to obtain nourishment from the tiny nuts inside a pine cone, how to open one and so on. We even learned how to obtain a totally natural chewing gum from the sap of some pine trees. Bitter, but natural. No sugar added.
In spite of having tried all those edible ‘yummy’ things provided by nature, we really didn’t depend only on them for our sustenance that day, thank goodness, because we had a non-ending cornucopia of food and drinks, mainly the blessed water, of course, inside the little, cute, yellow school bus, where we traveled everywhere and where games, conversations, smiles, laughs and friendships were formed and bonded. As one of our leaders always says: “We are the bonding glue to help these girls and boys bond among themselves, but we, ourselves, cannot bond them, they have to do that by themselves, and unless they have the opportunity to spend time together, and reach out to one another, this might be harder to happen”. Fortunately, that is what happened in that occasion. Because some less active young women were able to come, our expectations were exactly those ones, that they could bond and be friends. By working and playing together, talking and helping each other, feeling reverence and happiness at the same time, they bonded in love and friendship. Let’s pray and hope that their friendship will flourish through church attendance and good, recreational activities.
At about 6:30 pm we all went to a restaurant for a delicious Chinese meal, where once again, everybody talked to everybody and shared experiences and little games. How rewarding to see their love and kindness towards each other. We also learned a little about different kinds of vegetable dishes, their names, texture and flavors. No doubt we were learning a lot throughout the day.
Then we went to our last activity for the day, to sum up all we had learned about Heavenly Father’s creations. We went to Rothney Astrophysical Observatory, located on a hilltop in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary, run by the University of Calgary, where there was a special open house to learn more about Jupiter’s proximity to Earth, and about the infinite creations of God. On our way there we were talking about Heavenly Father’s promises to His faithful children who will inherit all that He has, including worlds without number. And we taught the youth to always think, when faced with temptations, what they would like to have: a fleet, insignificant, instant pleasure or reward, right now, or, choose with wisdom, wait a little and receive an entire galaxy to live in real happiness with God for the eternities to come?
We were worried about the weather, which was cloudy by then, and we could feel small drops of rain, so we prayed in our hearts and let our Father decide if we would be able to see Jupiter with our own eyes or if He would bless the crops nearby with the so necessary moisture. Apparently, He chose the crops. But we were not dismayed and were thankful to see and learn so many things taught by the university students who were helping to run the open house.
We, then went back to our chapel in High River, at about 11:00, where parents awaited their children. The youth helped clear and clean the bus and thanked the driver and all leaders for the great day. As for us, leaders, we were extremely thankful that no one got hurt and they all seemed so happy and excited. Our objective had been fulfilled.
During our hike, earlier, we had to walk over some muddy spots, sometimes, so, by the end of the day, we couldn’t help but watch those muddy shoes and pants, sweaty and dusty, smiley faces and wonder what kind of leaders they will be in a near future. All we felt was that they are the most beautiful and beloved faces in this town and how grateful we are to be a part in their growth.
By: Sirley S. Kulchetscki, secretary of the Young Women’s organization.
