For the Strength of Our Youth

I have worked with some fantastic youth for the past several weeks.  They have been in and around central Ohio, most are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and they are phenomenal!

Let me tell you about yesterday.  I spent the day in Reynoldsburg, a suburb of Columbus.  The youth leaders had been planning a "Beehive Bash", and wanted to know if I would come and talk to the girls.

Sometimes I say no to things, but I rarely say no to working with young people.  They need our encouragement and trust, and need to know how valuable they are.  In turn, we need them.

The moment I got there, I was taken away into another realm.  There were about 40 girls between the ages of 12-13.  There were various "stations" where the girls would go to learn family history facts:

These four women represented ladies from the early 1900's and late 1800's.  They would tell stories to the girls, the girls would listen for clues, and then they would interview the women.

The girls loved being on the computers in the Family History Center.  Their minds and fingers are quick and sharp.

They made crafts commemorating this day.  This dog tag would eventually become a beautiful piece of jewelry.

 I was really impressed with the attentiveness of these young girls.  

 They called the girls "Superheroes".  They even gave me a cape!

 Books from the local library were on hand to inspire the girls to learn.

 They even had a cemetery set up as you walked in the door.  There were clues on several of the graves.  It's amazing what you can buy at the Dollar Store and the Halloween Store.

 Of course, you have to have food.  Mr. Kerry made a wonderful banana split.

And, it finished up with me.  I don't know how had more fun - them or me!

I especially wanted the girls to know how proud I was of them.  On a beautiful Saturday morning, they chose to do what none of their friends were doing.  They chose to learn about how to better research their own families.

And, today at Church, I nearly repeated the same presentation to the girls I see each week.  

I'm happy to be working with the young people of today.  Someday, they will be taking our places.  Someday, they will be the moms and the grandmas we talked about.

God bless the youth!