I shall never grow up. Make believe is much too fun.

Last, last weekend (as in the last weekend of March, not the first weekend in April).  We had the opportunity to be a "Ma and Pa" at Youth Conference.  It was an incredible experience, and it made me miss being a Young Woman!  I was so impressed with the youth in our church and I loved the opportunity to work with them.  They are such examples to me and I feel lucky to know them.

Another reason I think we had so much fun was some of our friends got to go with us.  Yay for being childless dental students!  I'm pretty sure we all danced more than the kids at the dance, but that's ok.  It was an absolute blast, but unfortunately I only remembered to take pictures on Friday night--we went ot a roller skate rink.  Pretty sure I haven't been on a pair of skates since I was five.  Everyone else was basically a pro though.

Little Boy at heart!

...

Look Ma!  No hands!

Probably my favorite pic of the night.

Thanks to the Lukers and the Whiteheads for being my photography subjects.

Saturday was great.  We listened to a speaker--the creator of Yo Gabba Gabba, who apparently is Mormon!  Small world!  It was amazing to hear the story of how Yo Gabba Gabba got its start, and to see how faith played such a huge part in its creation.  He really set the tone for the rest of the weekend, talking about how if he hadn't followed "nagging feelings" (how he described the promptings of the Holy Ghost), even when it didn't seem like the most practical or fun thing to do, he never would be where he is today, and Yo Gabba Gabba would never have happened. 
We had two more speakers that did an awesome job (a member of the United States Military and a seminary teacher).
We also had a service project that afternoon.  Half the kids went to the LA food bank to help with the relief effort for Japan (so cool, right?)  The other half split up into a few groups and went to visit nursing homes.  We sang some songs and then got to visit with the residents.  Dan and I got to go with one of the nursing home groups. It was such a great experience, and I think it was even cooler afterwards to listen to the kids talk about it.  They really enjoyed it and felt for those they had spoken with.
We got back and played games with our "families", which the kids really enjoyed because they got to know everyone in the group a little better.  We didn't win, but we had a great group of kids, and I hope I get to see them around the stake/in the ward!
After games, the real fun began!  Dinner and a dance.  There was a dance instruction before the dance, a young gentleman came to teach us all how to "pop" which is a pretty awesome hip hop move, but I gave up because I'm the whitest girl in the history of dancing, so I figured it was a lost cause.  The dance was really a blast, and I think the leaders maaay have had more fun than the kids.
We had a bonfire (in the lodge, because the rain that had been threatening all weekend finally started to come down), where Ruth (I forget her last name), from our ward came and told pioneer stories.  It was something, and she was very enthusiastic.  Afterwards we had a little devotional with our families (Dan did the one Friday night, and I did the one Saturday).
Sunday was testimony meeting.  It was really neat--we still got to have sacrament because the campground was in our stake boundaries and the stake president was there.  You could really see how much the kids had grown and felt the spirit just from that one weekend.  I was kind of blown away by the amount of converts/non-members there were in attendance.  And how many kids that had been reluctant to come were so glad they did.  They are all so awesome and strong.  It's so incredible to me because I know how hard high school can be, and that it's most likely only gotten harder, yet so many of the LDS youth are so strong and faithful.  It was really a huge testimony builder for me.

Sorry this is so long, I didn't mean for it to be!  It was just a truly amazing weekend!  I have mixed feelings if we get asked to go next year--apparently it's the pioneer trek!