Stripling Warriors- Baltic YSA Conf. Days 4 & 5

 

 

Thursday, August 23, 2012

 

The last full day of the Baltic YSA Conference dawned with dark clouds and rain. Institute classes were held indoors but the YSA's in Elder and Sister Davis's class had heard that everyone else got to ponder in the forest and they wanted to do that, too. It was too wet for that but we compromised by finding spots all over the camp that were outdoors but had covering...like the stage area, a porch, etc. So the class got to read outdoors while they listened to the rain falling and they enjoyed that.

 

Our special guest speakers, Elder & Sister Adams, gave a workshop on how to give a great talk. They actually had the YSA's write a short talk and give it to a small group. 

 

 Eva is role playing with Elder Adams.

And the next activity all the YSA's and senior couples got to do together. Unfortunately, we were having so much fun that we forgot to take any pictures of it!

 But we will tell the story of how it all happened....the week before YSA conference, we didn't have enough activities planned for Thursday, and we came up with a great idea to teach a square dance to the YSA's.  Sister Davis remembers her parents square dancing when she was younger and how much fun everyone had learning the steps. It seemed like a great idea for the YSA's.

A square dance would take up time, get the guys and gals together and it would be super fun. Only we didn't have any music and we needed someone to "call" it.  Elder Adams knew a few square dance steps but he needed the music and the words for the caller. This is why we needed the microphone before we came up.

 



Elder & Sister Davis were pondering this dilemma the week before conference.  After several "tender mercies" we came across a website that had free downloads of square dance calls but they all seemed too difficult to teach in a two hour period.

And then Sister Davis remembered one round dance from her childhood (it literally just "popped" into her brain and wouldn't go away).  The song was "Oh, Johnny Oh" and she remembered the words  of the dance from  her junior high school P.E. class, where boys and girls were taught this dance.

A few more websites later and we found one that had instructions, music and words!  We put it on a "flash drive" (isn't technology grand?) and gave it to Elder & Sister Adams to practice.

At first, the YSA's had trouble learning the steps, so the senior couples decided to demonstrate and got all mixed up themselves! But we quickly figured it out, and the YSA's after watching us, picked up the dance and started singing "oh, Johnny oh!" out loud.  It was a HUGE hit!  Even after an hour and a half, most didn't want to stop.  We told them we would do it again at activity time later in the day.

After lunch, we had a service project planned for Edmunds the owner of Kraukli. He really wanted his pond cleaned out since it was full of weeds.  It seems Edmunds was having a Latvian "reality show" coming to film in the next few weeks and he wanted his guest house to be in tip-top shape.

By the afternoon, the rain had stopped but it was still a little chilly, so we knew the pond was downright COLD!  Edmunds said he would fire up the sauna, so the boys could get hot and sweaty, jump in the pond and pull weeds, and go back to the sauna when they got cold again.

And that is how we ended up with our very own "stripling warriors" at the Baltic Youth Conference.   About 8 young men, stripped to their swimming trunks, got super hot, dove into the cold pond and went to work.....

The girls were busy, too! They raked up all the weeds the boys threw on the bank of the pond.

 

One of the boys found a cage thing in the bottom of the pond and pulled it up. Edmunds told him that was his "crawdad" cage. He baits it, and waits for the crawdads to crawl in. He only takes the big ones and throws the mommy crawdads and babies back into the pond.

The YSA's were fascinated with those ugly things.

Edmunds was so grateful that his pond was looking good again!

During free time, we had some people take naps, some sit and talk and some do sports. But by late afternoon everyone wanted to play games. They started with a game of tag that got their blood pumping. They were having so much fun they hated to stop the game until.....

 

They heard some music drifting down from the dining hall....

"All join hands and you circle the ring.

Stop where you are give your partner a swing.

Now ya swing that gal behind you.

Now swing your own, if you have found that she's not flown....

Alamande left with that corner gal,

do-si-do your own....and now you all promenade,

with that sweet corner maid,

Singing Oh! Johnny, oh Johnny, Oh!

 

Everyone stopped the game and joined hands in a circle and started dancing. Faster and faster they went....Sister Davis was having trouble keeping up....

 

 

After dinner, it was time to get serious....testimony meeting was tonight. The YSA's  would have the opportunity to the share their feelings about their faith, youth conference,  and the friendships they made.

 



 

 

And after an inspiring testimony meeting, we went out into the windy evening to light lanterns and let them go skyward, symbolic of sharing their testimonies with the world.

 

With everyone quiet, the lanterns were handed out and a boy was to light each girls lantern. At first the wind wasn't cooperative....

but the boys managed to get the fuel in each lantern lit....

 

 





 

And as special as watching the lanterns rise in the sky was...there was still more to the evenings activities....

 

We still had something else planned to round out the evening....

Singing to the Trees

This was something fun Sister Davis learned about at Girls Camp and wanted to try it in Latvia. The YSA's from each country were asked to pick a song to sing. Every group was gathered around a tree (the trees were all fairly close together).

 

 

At a signal, the YSA's turned their flashlights on, shined them up the tree trunk and sang their song....

That group extinguished their lights and the next group lit their tree up and sang...

until all the groups had a turn, including the senior missionaries.

 

 

 

Then all the flashlights turned on at once and we all sang "I am a Child of God" in their native tongues. It was a nice way to end the evening.  Except for those uncomfortable bunk beds we still had to crawl into....

 

 

 

 

Everyone had to get up early the next morning.

 

 

There were cabins to clean, bags to pack, breakfast to eat... 

(this was the farewell gift the catering company left us to go along with our omelet casserole).

Things to discuss....




Pictures to pose for....

 

Goodbyes to be said.... 

Bridges to cross....

 

(that's Dimitri carrying Marina over a bridge again!)

 And a bus to catch!

And finally, Elder & Sister Davis can pack up their car and go back to Riga....where another uncomfortable bed awaits them....but at least it's a king size.