Youth Conference

We had our ward Youth Conference this weekend.  I had so much fun.  It was so nice to just go and not have to plan anything.  (They had called a committee to take care of all that!) Since Baby Girl had just had her surgery on Thursday, I didn't go Friday night, but I had a blast on Saturday.  We started out with breakfast and a great speaker, and then headed out to Black Forrest to help with moving the "slash" (the burned branches they had cut off the bigger trees) off of people's property who had lost their homes. The couple we helped out had just had their barn rebuilt.  The foundation for their house was finally finished (they had to wait for the ground to thaw).  We heard some really sad stories from them too.  Their neighbor across the street was a 90-year-old lady who was in the hospital recovering from a sickness when the fires came through last summer.  When she was finally ready to be released from the hospital and go home, they had to tell her that she didn't have a home to go to.  She was so depressed, she passed away.
The picture above it me holding a completely burned water pipe and spigot. The one below is me and the girls I was working with to clear the slash.

Next, we headed out to Homestead Ranch Park for some fun.  The best part was when the youth built forts and the leaders attacked them with water balloons, shaving cream, and pool noodles.  It was so much fun--even with the shaving cream in my ears and eyes!  Here are some of my favorite photos:

To finish off this amazing day, we were blessed to hear from Andrew Propst.  He was one of the LDS missionaries who was kidnapped in Russia in 1998.  There is a movie about his and his companion's experience during that time.  It is called The Saratov Approach. I watched it last weekend, and it was a great movie.  It was so fun to meet him and hear about his experience firsthand.  I was so glad I was able to be a small part of Youth Conference and make such great memories.