All youth 14 and up (or turning 14 in 2024), including graduating seniors, are invited to attend the 2024 McLean Stake Youth Conference.

Participants will be traveling to the Kirtland, Ohio area to experience Church history sites, strengthen testimonies and faith, build friendships, and have fun. Please click here to complete the registration form. Please note, there is also a Church-required permission form that is found on the registration website. Packing list can also be found on the registration website, or at this link.

Registration Contest!! The ward with the highest percentage of eligible youth registered by the kick-off fireside on 4/28 will receive 2 dozen Crumbl cookies!

Date: Thursday, June 27-Saturday, June 29

Departure Location: McLean Stake Center

Departure Time: TBD (Early AM!)

Kickoff Fireside: Sunday, April 28th, 6:30-7:30 pm, McLean Stake Center (For all participants and parents)

Ideas for Week 3–Connect with the Temple (Click HERE for printer friendly version)

• Create a family or personal goal to find new names to take to the temple

  • When you get stuck, pray for help and see what happens

• Prepare a temple ordinance card using Temple Ready

• Print an ordinance card from your reserved list in FamilySearch

• Study prophetic promises of the temple https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/temples/prophetic-teachings-on-temples?lang=eng

• Learn more about the temple by looking up Temples in Gospel Topics

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/temples?lang=eng

• Make a list of friends you would like to invite to the temple open house

• Journal about an experience you’ve had attending the temple

• Find out what temples are meaningful to your family—where family members received endowments or were sealed or lived near

• Take a Sunday drive to the temple and share temple experiences with your family or friends as you drive

• Search your patriarchal blessing for promises and blessings associated with temples and family.

• Prepare a Family Home Evening lesson on temples to share with your family.  Perhaps you could even invite a friend you hope to take to the Open House.

• Share your testimony of the importance of temples, eternal families and covenants, verbally or written.

• Talk to a member of your ward about their experience at the temple. Ask them how the temple has blessed their lives.

• Have a Sunday lesson, or youth activity where you learn more about how to prepare for the temple (Especially important for our 11 and 12 year olds who may not yet have attended the temple)

• Review temple recommend questionshttps://ca.churchofjesuschrist.org/church-updates-temple-recommend-interview-questions?lang=eng-ca

• Listen to or learn a song about the temple. 

• Place a picture of your favorite temple in your home.

• Create an artistic representation of a favorite temple—photo, painting, embroidery, etc.

• List all the temples you have been to. List all the temples you would like to attend one day.

Suggested reflection question at the end of week 3: How have my feelings for the temple grown or changed as I studied about the temple and prepared names to take there?

Ideas for Week 2: Connect with your ancestors (Click HERE for printer friendly version)

“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” —Marcus Garvey

Family Search Activities

• Password please: Create a free account on FamilySearch.org (use your church id and password).  Once you’ve logged on, take a look at your family tree. Choose an ancestor: can you upload 1-3 of the following: photos, memories, articles or stories to complete the profile of one of your ancestors? 

If there’s no family tree data there for your family, talk to a parent or a family history consultant about how to start entering in the basic information for your parents and grandparents. They can also help you get the information you need to set up an account. See if you can create your family tree going back 4 generations.

• Fan the Flame! Login to Family Search and look at the Fan Chart for your family. Switch the display between Ordinances, Photos, Stories, and Birth Country to learn more about your ancestors.

• Check your sources: Search for an article or a piece of unique information about your ancestors- you might find them using a web browser like Google or programs like FamilySearch.org or Ancestry.com. You could look for newspaper articles (marriage/birth/death announcements, village parties or notable accomplishments); military records; school records; census information; or workplace registers. Share what you’ve learned!

• Who was first? Look at your family tree and try to discover who the first person was on each line to join the church. Can you find out their story?

• Look at a memory - Look at the “Memories” section for one of your ancestors. Can you learn anything about them?

• Do your chores. Complete one of the suggested tasks on your Family Search account.

• Do some indexing to help others in their research

Get to Know your Ancestors Activities outside of Family Search

• “You look just like her!” Post a side-by-side picture of you and one of your ancestors on Instagram- let people comment on the similarities between you and this ancestor. In your post, include a short story, a memory of them, or a personality trait you have in common.

• Get nosy with Aunt Rosie! Interview a living relative about an ancestor you’re curious about. Record the interview and create a family interview compilation. Here are some questions and tips to get you started. 

• Wedding bells! Create a virtual wedding day photo album of as many of your ancestors as you can. See how many generations or pictures you can find. You can share a favorite picture using #weddingwednesday (a few East Coast temples are encouraging the sharing of old wedding day photos using this hashtag).

• Food, folks and fun! Was Grandma famous for her homemade bread, or did Great Aunt Patty make unforgettable tamales? Find and make an ancestor’s renowned recipe. If you can’t find a specific recipe, then make a recipe from an ancestor’s home country. Ask family members about the traditions surrounding that food (was it a daily recipe, or something for special occasions?). Deliver the goods to a friend, or post a picture of the final product online along with a story about your ancestor.  

• Road trip! Visit the hometown or favorite place of an ancestor. Photograph yourself there. Notice what is the same and what has changed from the original photos, and document that. Take closeup pictures of notable details like street signs, foods, shops, trees, sunsets or gates. Note old family photos for angles you’d like to recreate so you’ll have a “then and now” photo album of that location.  Find out what family stories are connected with the place.  

• Trip Advisor: If you can’t visit the hometown or favorite spot of an ancestor, plan a future visit OR research that country- food, language, culture and history. Look at family photos or historical online pictures of that place or country. How do they compare with what GoogleEarth shows you right now?

• Family Bingo! Maybe you’re related to queens, warriors, generals or presidents. Use FamilySearch and find a famous ancestor! Or, find an ancestor with a story you relate to. Or, find an ancestor who died young and figure out why. Or, read three stories about your ancestors on FamilySearch. Or, find out where your ancestors were living when the Titanic sank. 

• Graveyard shift: Visit a cemetery where one of your relatives is buried. Take a photo of the headstone or if appropriate, do a headstone rubbing; tidy the area near the headstone (pull weeds, clear away leaves); or leave flowers. Do you know how this person died? Is their birth and death information in FamilySearch? If you wish, share a photo with friends online and on your family text chain. 

• Bookworm? Check out qqlme short article from the New York Times for some additional ideas on getting started on getting to know the history of your family: Why You Should Dig Up Your Family’s History — and How to Do It. Another awesome article about The Stories That Bind Us describes how the knowledge of your family history and stories makes a family stronger, more resilient and united. If you like one of these articles, share it with your family on your next zoom call or a family text chain. 

Suggested reflection question at the end of week 2: What strength have I gained this week as I have learned about my ancestors?

Ideas for Week 1: Connect with your family  (Click HERE for printer friendly version)

• Ask five family members to tell you a story about a spiritually defining moment in their lives; share the stories with your family. If you don’t have a family member who is a member of the church, interview one of your youth leaders.

• Prepare a family time capsule

• Organize a family game night or activity

• Cook a favorite meal or dessert for your family

• Write letters to family members

• Look up cities of birth/residence of ancestors and look up locations on google earth

• Interview a family member about what it was like when they were your age.

  • What kind of music did they listen to?

  • How did they decide on their career?

  • Did they have a job while in school? If so, what was it and why did they choose that job?

  • What was their favorite subject in school? 

  • How old were they when they first moved out of the home and where did they go?

• Video record a family history with your smartphone; share it with your family or upload to FamilySearch; see this article for 150 potential questions you can ask!

• Talk to a grandparent or aunt or uncle; find out what your parents were really like as teenagers

• Ask a family member about their missionary service or about their favorite church callings.  What made their church service memorable? 

• Call up a younger cousin and learn more about them

 Suggested reflection question at the end of week 1:

 **How has my family prepared me to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, whether or not they are members of the church?

Upcoming activities:

WEEK 2: Connect with your ancestors - Click HERE for preview

WEEK 3: Connect with the temple - Click HERE for preview

Watch this 3 minute video on Temple and Family History work from the church: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1omtTaXTwg

Below is the registration link for all Young Women AND YW leaders attending camp this year.

We will need the online portion completed as well as the signed Church waiver and $135 given to your ward YW leaders. The only difference is this year we also have a waiver for the campsite.  All waivers are included in the online registration.

We are at a new camp this year which includes a challenge course. Because of the Challenge course we have to have the registration completed by MARCH 15th - No exceptions!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1GmgsbKFzb4hTBHA3W5XXTexSbk3HIElLFNPvZNN7jYM/edit

Please contact Elizabeth Higginson (ehigginson@gmail.com) or any member of the Young Women Stake Presidency if you have any questions.

9:00 PM - 12:30 AM

Oakton Stake Center

Sunday Dress

Youth Conference Registration Form and Packing List

Youth Conference Schedule