Spiritual Feast

 My older 3 kids got to spend 6 days at FSY last week at Saginaw State University.  They came back on a spiritual high!

 Victoria had some moments of personal revelation and enjoyed getting to know new friends and counselors, most of whom weren't much older than her, and hanging with some of her ward friends. The time spent together has been precious for her since one of her best friends is leaving for his mission at the end of this month, another just moved yesterday, and another is a foreign exchange student from Switzerland and is going home next week. Not to mention, Victoria does move in August to Idaho. 

Kai apparently had the best counselors in all of FSY, particularly Drew. Everyone from all the groups seemed to know him and loved him. He's leaving on his mission very soon. I was happy to hear about such a great example for these kids that everyone could connect with.

Austin said his favorite part was the testimony meeting and the "write and reflect" class. His testimony grew immensely while there. He came back seeming like he grew another inch and with a slightly lower voice, in my opinion. He bore his testimony in sacrament meeting on Sunday, as did Victoria. A lot of the youth felt the spirit powerfully during those 6 days. 

My teens!

Josh just moved 😪

Some of our ward friends.

Vicky's roommate, Payton.

Kai's group

Victoria's group (Austin never sent me a pic of his😅)

While they were gone, Erik, Jason, and I prepared for the Stake Deacon campout, which was conveniently during the last few days of FSY. Now, a stake campout would imply that there were tons of boys there, but there weren't. It was only the 4 deacons from our quorum and 1 more from the Detroit River Branch. I don't think there are a lot of deacons in the stake, but the others couldn't make it. It was kind of a "last minute" stake activity. It was originally just for our ward.

It turns out, the boy from the Branch just moved here from Honduras a month ago, so he doesn't speak English yet. Jason, being the only Spanish speaker of the group, had many conversations with Helaman's parents and 20-year-old sister to prepare him for the campout. He also picked him up from his house in Detroit Wednesday night so Helaman could sleep at our house and they could leave easily in the morning. Helamna's family doesn't have a car right now. 

Let me tell you what a sweet kid he is! He went shopping with the deacons that evening for the food for the trip and then came back to our house. He and Erik played some soccer and with Legos. Erik taught him how to play Mario Cart on the wii. I spoke some broken Spanish to him and gave Erik the Spanish/English dictionary for the car ride the next day. 

Erik was so inclusive and dedicated to trying to communicate with Helaman. He even insisted that everyone not use the "gringo" accent for his name. 

They got to go kayaking, swimming, hiking, and fishing. Jason got Erik a special cast cover so his cast wouldn't get wet and he enjoyed all the activities. It's amazing what inventions are made to make life easier!

The "old" men trying to keep up with the boys on the hike!

On Sunday, Erik bore his testimony for the first time. He got up in the middle of all the youth and told the story from the campout when he was the only kid who didn't catch a fish, so Brother Farnsworth told everyone to pray for him. Well, Nick said a prayer, and what do you know, but on Erik's last cast, he caught a fish! He has a powerful testimony on prayer now. 

While everyone was gone, I spent 2 days being very productive and enjoying time with some of my friends whose kids were gone as well. It was 2 days well-spent for me for sure!