Angela, Sarah, Brittany Youth Conference
Yesterday and today, Brittany and Sarah went to Youth Conference and Angela went as a leader. They volunteered at the Illinois State Special Olympics, held this year in Bloomington, IL. They had a GREAT time and really enjoyed the time they spent with the athletes! They drove down early yesterday morning and spent the whole day working at the venues. Sarah and Brittany spent their time at the awards platforms where the athletes were celebrated for their accomplishments. Angela spent her time at the Aquatics venue helping time the swimming events.
The thing that brought them the most joy was giving high-fives to the athletes as they completed their events, or giving them hugs. Angela was wet most of the day (both clothes and eyes from tears) after the many hugs she got from wet swimmers. There was one guy in particular that had no legs and no use of his arms that actually swam and finished! It really made them realize how blessed we really are. The thing about the athletes that was so inspiring was that no matter how they did, when they finished, you would have thought that they won!
Last night they had a dance and had a wonderful time. They Young Women leaders down there made sure that all the young men danced and didn’t disappear into the bathrooms and out into classrooms! Brittany couldn’t stop talking about all the boys she danced with! 🙂
The group slept at the YMCA (where all the volunteers were housed for the event), and then got up this morning and participated as volunteers again. This afternoon, they had a speaker and then a testimony meeting before returning home late. They had such a wonderful time and want to go back next year.
Angela is now busy writing up newspaper articles for her church calling as a Stake Public Affairs person. So far, she has about 6 written for Naperville, Aurora, and the surrounding communities where we had volunteers from. She’s going to submit them along with pictures for publication.
As for the rest of us, we stayed home enjoyed our time together. We watched a couple of movies and ate out! 🙂 Not as memorable or important as what the girls were doing, but we had fun!
