Youth Conference

Right after Ashley got home from EFY, she and I left for Stake Youth Conference.  It was a two day event and I was a chaperone.  The theme was "Unity through Faith, Love and Service."  The first day we spent locally visiting different churches to learn about faiths different than our own.  We even had a local Baha'i youth group with their leaders join us.  They were part of the planning process and spent the whole weekend with us.  I learned so much.  It was fascinating to learn and see firsthand how others in our community worship God.  We visited a Jewish synagogue (that housed an authentic Holocaust Torah scroll saved from Nazi destruction), went to a Muslim prayer service, and listened to a special presentation about the Baha'i faith.  The biggest takeaway was that we have more in common than we realize.

In keeping with the diversity theme, our lunch meal was prepared by Filipino members of our Stake and was delicious.  Dinner was prepared by the Spanish Branch and was authentic tacos.  The bishopric of their ward was so cute, they even set up a drink bar to serve blended coconut pineapple drinks.

This also happened to be the first day of the World Cup.
Love the Mexico jerseys! 

The kids then spent the night housed in members homes (I got to go home and sleep in my own bed---YES!)  First thing in the morning, we loaded up our vans and carpooled to Southern Illinois University to volunteer at the State Special Olympics.  Our group was assigned to the swimming events.  They did everything from escorting the athletes to their events and timing events.  We even got to cheer for and support an athlete from our ward who was competing.  She won two gold medals!  This too had a big impact on the kids.  It was a great conference, so grateful for those who volunteer their time and talents to organize events like this for our kids!

Naperville 2nd ward - Young Women and Young Men

Ashley and her Mia Maid friends aka twinners