Moroni's Quest

This past summer, June 20th-23rd, Jared and I had the awesome opportunity to be Tribal Leaders at a youth camp called, "Moroni's Quest." We had the privilege of camping and working with a tribe of 10 different youth, ages 14-18 yrs. old.

In preparation for the Quest, we had numerous meetings (starting in March) with various stake and ward leaders in order to get to know the youth, become familiar with the purposes of "Moroni's Quest," and understand all of our specific responsibilities as tribal leaders. We had several "Get to Know You" activities on a ward level, but since we had over 40 youth in our ward, we didn't really know who would be in our tribe until a few weeks before the Quest.

Basically, our main objective was to help the youth draw nearer to the Savior by increasing their understanding of the events that took place in the Book of Mormon. We led 8 different discussions with our tribe up at Helaman's Camp - each lasting about 30-45 minutes long - all related to the numerous reenactments we'd watch on an outdoor stage.

Jared was committed to studying the Book of Mormon from start to finish leading up to the Quest, which was such an inspiration to me! He labeled the various topics of the discussions very specifically with notes alongside the margins, including colored tabs to facilitate efficient discussions. I, on the other hand, did my very best to just have energy and seek inspiration related to my desire to personally connect with each of the youth (since I was 16 weeks pregnant at the time of the Quest).

Jared was absolutely amazing to make sure I had a nice air mattress along with a cooler of snacks and drinks in our tent (including cereal and milk) for my own personal use whenever necessary! We had to wear two authentic costumes large enough to wear over our own clothes, reminiscent of Biblical times.

I saved a file of all the details surrounding the numerous events of the camp, but aside from the reenactments and discussions, our schedule consisted of other activities including meals, tower building, war training with subsequent wars, and a sacred "Savior" experience that ended up being my most favorite part of the whole Quest! I'm so grateful that we made the effort to participate in this opportunity when called to do so, and I hope that our own kids will have the chance to do something similar someday.

These are just a few of my favorite pictures -- along with a VIDEO that was created and shared at a special fireside in August for all the participants.