Wilderness 2019

When we agreed to do Wilderness (stake youth conference), I really had no idea what I was getting myself into! 

I thought it was:

 1) a night hike 2) with a fireside, 3) sleep one night 4) then head home.

Turns out it was:

 1) a night hike with NO flashlights 2) all-day activities, a fireside, testimony meeting, fasting, solo experience 3) sleep TWO nights 4) head home on the third day in the afternoon

I was so stressed and nervous about the whole thing!  But we ended up having a great experience and I'm so glad we went!!

They divided us into families with 9 children who we got to know really well.  The night hike would have been impossible for me, but with the help of our kids (some which were amazing leaders in the dark) we managed to make it to camp, all in one piece by about 1am (we started the hike around 10:30pm).



Friday was full of stations run by the stake. They included a blind walk, Telestrations, Polynesian dancing, scripture writing, missionary stories, fire building, team building, and team bonding experiences.

My favorite part of the day was making dinner together as a family.  All the kids helped and it was so cute to see their personalities shining through.  They even managed to deep fry some french fries and Swedish fish, hahaha.  And the stew turned out pretty good, even with two whole onions and only half the carrots and celery (oh and it was overflowing in my pot!!)

Saturday morning we fasted and participated in a "solo experience".  This was where we pondered some spiritual questions alone in the wilderness.  We also read letters written to us by our parents (or spouse if you were one of the adult leaders).  It was a special experience.  Even writing the letters was a special experience for me as a parent.  We were all teary-eyed and ready when the testimony meeting started.  We ended the weekend with a feast...and waiting an hour for the buses to arrive;)  Such a wonderfully spiritually uplifting weekend.