Central European YSA Convention

I took a break from writing - what a shame! But here I am again, trying to share with you the best event of this year....so far. And that is, I mean was, since it happened during the last week of July, the international YSA Convention  :D
It took place in Oradea, and we had people from 11 countries participate. Being my first convention of its type, I had nothing else to compare it with. So all I have to say is that I enjoyed it - I enjoyed being the photographer, which gave me the chance to be around everyone, annoy everyone and get away with it, and get over my anxiety of being in big crowds. 
I sent an article to the Ensign and the Liahona (I was the assigned media representative)
, but I don't think they will publish it. So I will share it with you here. It's a bit long, but I hope you'll enjoy it :)


                CENTRAL EUROPEAN YSA CONVENTION - "HE SHALL DIRECT THY PATHS"

Tuesday morning in Oradea, a city in Romania that would soon be the host of an unforgettable International YSA Convention. It is pouring rain, but the committee members know that not even the rain can stop us. After over 6 months of planning, everyone is well prepared.

As the day goes by, young single adults from over 9 countries come and register. For some of them, this is the first convention of this kind, while for others is something familiar. Some of them had difficulties getting here, the bus broke down, or loss of papers at the border. In spite of every obstacle, they made it here happy and ready to have a great time.

The convention started with a fireside presented by Elder Manfred Schutze (from the area seventy) who presented wonderfully the theme of the convention: He Shall Direct Thy Paths. This brought a strong spirit that got everyone excited to learn new things, meet new people, and enjoy every moment of this Convention. The day ended with a dance night that helped everyone relax, have fun, and get to know more people.

The next morning was the beginning of three days filled with activities meant to strengthen, uplift, and bring people closer to the Savior, and to eachother. There were several institute classes being taught, and each could participate in three each day. Just some of the themes were “How do I forgive better?”, “The Meaning of the Atonement”, “How to Prepare for Marriage”, “Understanding Isaiah”, “Communication Skills”.

On the fun side, we had different activities to help them have a good time, but also get to know each other better. The sport activities included a soccer championship, while for those less competitive there were basketball, volleyball, spider football, badminton games, and even a taikwando class and dance lessons. If you weren’t a sports fan, you could join the choir, which performed at every fireside, then attend different crafts classes which included jewelry making, paper flower and ornaments making, crocheting, and origami.

The evenings were always filled with spiritual nourishment. For the next firesides, we had as speakers Sister Elvira Noot (wife of a CES coordinator and a former seminary teacher herself), Elder Alan Petion (CES coordnator and former Area Seventy), and President and Sister Hill (mission presidents in Romania, Bucharest mission). Their vast life experience and spiritual strength captivated everyone, and all of us were able to leave better from their presentations.

But the convention is not all about us, but also about others. We had three service projects that helped everyone find a way to serve. Each could choose from cleaning the forest nearby, doing missionary work in town with the full-time missionaries, and working on FamilySearchIndexing to enter names of deceased in the database so the work could be done for them in the temple. There was not a person that didn’t get involved, and there wasn’t anyone that didn’t feel uplifted by serving willingly.

The service project was followed by a talent show where some of the youth shared their skills. Some danced , others sang, and even shared poems. They were followed by the choir that brought a strong spirit to the meeting, and we continued with an uplifting testimony meeting. So many of them came up, and shared their testimonies about the Savior, the gospel, the restored church. It was wonderful to see so many of them stand so strong in the gospel sod.

The girls had a separate lesson with Sister Hill, where they talked about challanges in life, like being he only member in the family, dating outside the church, or keeping the standards. It was a special time where we all got to share ideas and experiences, and learn from each other. Sister Hill helped us remember that in all our situations, we should include the Lord, and He is the one who can help us the most to overcome any trial or adversity.

The boys had a similar meeting as well with President Hill, which helped them understand better their role in God’s plan.

Every evening had a special dance with different themes: “We B Glowing” (dressed in white, shiny, sparkly); “50s Hot Summer Nights”, “A Night to Remember” (formal night, with Titanic theme), and “Fall In Love With Summer” (flowery, colorful). Everyone enjoyed the good music and good company in spite of being tired.

On of the most amazing things was that even though that there were 11 languages spoken at the convention, we all got to mingle, and get to know each other in spite of the language barrier. English was the common language, and even if not all of us spoke it well, or maybe not at all, we all spoke the language of love, service, friendship.

The thing that we all got out of all the lessons and firesides is that the Lord will direct our paths as long as we stay close to Him, seek Him, and heed to His counsel in spite of adversity or personal desires. He knows better, and He is the one helping us in all.

This was a successful conference because it was guided and led by the Lord. The committee members worked hard under the direction of the Spirit. They were united in purpose, and helped each other in their responsibilities. The Lord directed their paths while they faithfully tried to serve Him by serving the young single adults.

THOUGHTS FROM THE YSAs:

“what really impressed me at the conference was to see so many 1st generation members, sometimes who had been baptised quite recently (a few months ago) with such a great faith and strong testimonies. This is a reason why I enjoyed this conference so much, so many YSA who had to do sometimes big sacrifices to become members because they had a testimony and who are then trying to do their best to live the gospel. And the Spirit was really strong at the conference (compared to other YSA conferences, too many YSA still don't really have their own testimony and only follow what they've been told... it doesn't bring the same Spirit)” - Benoît-Lancelot Abraham Cojan-Kendé (France)

 Everybody wanted to help one another. Without forcing. They decided themselves. We all are going on the same path that leads us to the Kingdom of heaven. I am very grateful for the opportunity to be there and feet the spirit of that place. Pavel Žahourek – the Czech Republic

I had a great experience. Serving someone is the way to progress spiritually, and it testifies to you that Jesus Christ served because of love, and He set the perfect example. I learned to have more patience, to control my impulsiveness, and many pther things that I cannot express in words. Victor Ceban – Republica Moldova

I loved the institute classes. I learned a lot, and they opened my eyes. It was great to see the youth that I met before from othe countries. I know that when worthy members gather to worship our Heavenly Father, the place becomes a piece of heaven and His Spirit is there, and that strengthens my testimony. – Stefan Vizante – Romania

It was my first one and I want to go next year, too. It's a great opportunity to know people of the same faith and make a new friends. But, of course, it's much more. You can learn more about gospel during the institutesI liked firesides, crafts, dances and everything. It was wonderful time for me. And everybody was so kind. I could see that they really try their best to live according gospel. That they try to be the right followers of Jesus Christ, and I think that YSAC is very good thing for investigators to know our church better. Petra Valášková – Slovacia

I enjoyed the speakers and I felt  unbelievable spirit. It was a special conference for me because I met a boy who is going for a mission and I will wait for him until he will be back. I know he will learn so many imporant thing and he will bless other people by preaching the Gospel.In this time I will grow up in my faith and I'll trying to be closer to God. One of the most important thing for me I learnt in Conference was about the GREAT IMPORTANCE of Proclamation to the World, about Families.  We don't really see the importance of it, but only if we would - our lives would totally changed. And the greatest thing is that this Proclamation is not just for the members of the church but it's for everyone. 

 We are living in nowadays , these days are crazy ,unpeaceful ,cruel  and with no rules. As a young members of the church we are so blessed to have rules which helps us to live peacefuly . Of coruse life still will have a lot of suprises for us but living according to the proclamation will help us to survive in this crazy world. Dorota Musiał -  Poland

It was for the first time I participated in a conference like this, so I had not really known what to expect. But I was yet surprised. I felt the influence of the Holy Ghost during all the meetings. Although I had to translate almost all of them I was still able to learn some new things. I am grateful for that. I think we had a lot of fun and I got to know a lot of people from various countries with the same values. I am grateful for all the members of the committee that had been working hard for about 9 months to make this conference possible and they did a great job. I really appreciate their sacrifice. I hope everyone was able to feel at least a bit of the Spirit that was there. I am looking forward to the next conference, if I am still YSA. – Ales Veverka – Czech Republic

I  understood a lot during the convention. First of all - God loves us. I felt it so deeply during the Institute classes. This was the most magic time in my life and also very spiritual. I learned some about the plan of salvation, about ethernal families, some about communication skills and how to improve it and I discovered, that God knows us well and He know what we should listen to. I really needed words which were spoken during the convention and they brought peace to my life. I'm really grateful for that.

Second of all I discovered that gospel is the same all over the world. In Poland, Croatia, Romania, Germany, France... everywhere. People can feel the same Spirit in the whole world and they can share their expiriences and thoughts. I felt their strenght and it was great blessing for me. I realised that we are all big, (sometimes strange) and loving family.
Third of all my testimony grew, because I know that God is directing MY paths. Without whisper of the Spirit I wouldn't meet so many people during the convention, because I'm normally very shy. But I had the opportunity to get to know well some of the members from around the world and maybe they'll be my friends in the future. Who knows? Agnieszka Ilnicka - Poland