for the past 9-12 months (who can remember exactly?) our stake young men and young women presidencies have been planning nonstop for The Journey.
what is The Journey?
The Journey was designed as a weekend for the youth of our stake to baptize enough of our ancestors to create a stake in heaven.
(a stake is a geographical area made up of wards. wards are smaller areas within a stake, obviously, similar to a catholic parish.)
our church believes that everyone, on earth and in heaven, wants to be baptized and become a member of this church. (they just don't always know it!) we believe it is our responsibility to make this happen while on the earth. therefore, we believe in baptisms for the dead, by proxy.
(someone who is living is able to be baptized for the person who has passed on.)
frankly, it sounds a little weird to most people.
but it's actually very special to those of us who believe that families can be together even after death, and this is the beginning of an eternal connection.
so, The Journey was created to allow the youth of our church, ages 12-18 to be baptized for members of their families who had passed on from this earth life.
we began the weekend early, (thursday evening, as it was the week of winter break) with registration for the big event.
we all stayed at the seneca lake girls camp. the photos above show some of the kids (106 in all!) who came to The Journey, registering for the workshops they were able to attend throughout the weekend.
they each received a beautiful moleskine journal to keep and record their thoughts and feelings in.
we had some delicious soup and rolls, welcomed them, and watched a movie and chatted before preparing for bed. the kids always have a great time together, so there was a lot of laughing and talking during the movie!
then off to bed!
5:30 am friday morning: wake up time.
seriously.
not my idea. not in favor of this, whatsoever.
the day began with breakfast, a devotional and then off to palmyra where the baptisms and workshops would take place.
this is one of my favorite photos of the palmyra, ny temple.
we had shuttles running between the church and the temple, all day.
this allowed for baptisms to be done throughout friday and saturday.
my cute friend, emily, (above) was one of our adult shuttle drivers.
she loved it!
(also, she loves me for taking her picture holding the shuttle sign)
(these two darlings are graduating from high school this year!)
when the kids weren't at the temple, they were at the church across the street participating in numerous workshops both friday and saturday.
some of the workshops included topics on courage & adversity, hope joy & forgiveness, local book of mormon history, working to accomplish goals, and quite a few others.
near the end of friday, after a very long day
and me suggesting to him "that he use this time to attend one more workshop", one 12 yr old boy threw his hands in the air and said,
"i don't want to go to another workshop!"
i couldn't blame him!
it was a long day!
we also had a quiet room where the kids could sit quietly and reflect on the days events, write in their journals, read scriptures, etc.
here's what i found on friday afternoon...
that lady who looks like she's reading...isn't!
she's totally asleep!
hilarious!
if i wasn't so busy running around and being bossy to the kids about being in workshops, i would have pulled up a couch and taken a nap too!
saturday ran in mostly the same way, but ended earlier.
we had a nice lunch and finished the weekend with a keynote address and a testimony meeting, where the kids were able to share their thoughts and feelings about the weekend.
there were some very sweet and tender feelings shared during that time.
many of the kids had personal stories to share about their very own ancestors who they had been privileged to be baptized for.
one of my favorite moments was when a darling girl shared her thoughts about attending The Journey. she was not planning to come for the weekend, but changed her mind at the last minute. because of some of the decisions she had made recently, she was unable to enter the temple to perform baptisms and participate in that part of the weekend.
my heart broke and tears ran down my cheeks as i listened to her share such personal thoughts and feelings. about how she was embarrassed to admit her weaknesses, and how she now realized that she wasn't as strong as she had thought she was. but then i heard her share the changes that she planned to make in her life that would take her closer to the places she knew would bring her true, lasting happiness.
i could hardly control my tears as i listened to her. maybe because i knew just how she felt, because i have been where she was.
despite my protests and whining for months about having to sleep in a cabin, (in february!) and numerous other irritations...it was an amazing experience to be a part of. i feel a lot of gratitude to my heavenly father above, to have been able to experience such a wonderful occasion.
and we did indeed accomplish our goal of baptizing a stake in heaven.
2,254 baptisms.
