The Spiritual Side of Going to Sweden

As the Utah LDS Contingency at the World Jamboree, our boys have a mission above and beyond the opportunity to visit two new countries, meet new friends, and have a great time. They are there to represent our church and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Each of our boys was recommended by their scout leaders, and then needed approval from their Bishop and Stake President to attend Jamboree. In addition, each young man had to be temple worthy and an Eagle Scout (or in the process) to be allowed to go. Oh, and then there was the issue of earning enough money to go…

While at Jamboree, our boys participated in the Lighthouse Program, an interfaith meeting where people from the worlds' major religions shared their beliefs.

Remarks by some of the leaders-

“We were very prominent. LDS kids from four nations shared our beliefs and our boys sang three songs. They did an awesome job. The rain held off until they had sung, and then it came down with a vengeance. I don't know how many people were in attendance, but probably more than 5,000.”

“Parents: The Lighthouse Celebration, in which the different religions share the highlights of their faith, was the show in which we performed yesterday. We were the only group that had a choir. The practices were inspiring and tear-jerkers, while the performance itself was incredible. You should be proud of your boys!”

“We had a sacrament meeting today with scouts across the world. It was fun, the best of the talks was one that said puberty is defined as when parents get difficult.”

“The best way to describe the encampment is to picture the Quidditch World cup in your minds eye from the Harry Potter series. Big tents, flags flying everywhere and 40,000 people having a great time with a sprinkling of Country pride and a lot of camaraderie. Not to worry about a thing. I think the experience you have hoped and prayed for for your boys is upon us in abundance.”

Our Choir-

We found this photo of Caleb and were so excited to see his face!

Our church also has a tent where those interested can learn more about our beliefs and can research and print a copy of their family genealogy. The boys in our group should all have an opportunity to spend time there and hand out copies of the Book of Mormon.

Next Sunday night, they are scheduled to participate in a missionary zone conference in Copenhagen, Denmark and next Monday, they will be attending the Copenhagen Temple.

Several months ago, our Jamboree leaders thought they had everything set up to go to the temple, then everything started to fall apart. First there was opposition because our temples are closed on Mondays, but due to their tight schedule, this was the only day available for our boys to go. Next there were the issues of not enough Priesthood leaders and clothing for 160 boys. Our leaders (who work in their area temples at home) volunteered to assist. Then the First Presidency of our church got involved and asked that the Temple President extend a courtesy and allow our boys to come on a Monday. In exchange, they sent enough clothing to Denmark to clothe our group. After their visit, this clothing will be shared amongst the European temples.

The photos below were taken by my friend to be added with a group testimony in the copies of the Book of Mormon the boys will be handing out. They are such a great group of kids, but they are also a very lively bunch. I hope they are going easy on their leaders.

       

Addicted

While Caleb is probably having the time of his life on the other side of the world, Clint and I are addicted to finding out what’s happening via the webcam and YouTube videos posted online. Our boys were prohibited from bringing any type of electronics (our leaders want them actively involved in the activities rather than glued to Facebook, email, etc.), so we are getting very little as far as photos and videos from our group. So, we spend our time checking out every video looking for signs of our US  boys.

We have had some updates though and are excited to share what we know-

It took much longer to get to Sweden than planned due to the need to make an additional stop for fuel (heavy plane).

There are 156 countries represented by 40,000 scouts. Many of the people here look more like US Ventures than LDS Boy Scouts in that most units appear to be coed and most are relatively old.

The boys continue to be swarmed by girls - over half the camp is girls - and are doing a great job of telling them about the church.

Apparently the US is quite an anomaly in being boy centric - in other countries the girls have heavily taken over. This is, I surmise, heavily influenced by the church. Most other countries do not have chartering organizations the way we do.

It has been raining almost non-stop.

One big difference from each country is the uniform. It is cool to see everyone in uniform, almost like native dress, because it makes it clear where you are from and what you stand for. Ours has a very similar feeling as the white shirt and tie of a missionary here. Most countries have badges, but little notion of "advancement" the way we do. No Eagles, for example. It was also interesting to hear them cite the oath last night, significantly altered from our own with no mention of being physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.

The Opening Ceremonies were amazing, Bear Grylls (Man vs. Wild) hosted and ABBA preformed.

The boys are healthy, happy and making you proud.

World Jamboree Update

The excitement of Jamboree is still in the air for the mother’s left behind. This morning my email was full of photos from other mom’s. My friend Shannon and her husband took our group of boys to the airport in their 12 passenger van and she was kind enough to take a few photos (and then share).

From Shannon, mom of Jake- “I was weepy watching the trailer full of red, white, and blue bags. I have a feeling those colors are going to mean more to these guys when they return in two weeks!”

 

It's time to go! Canada, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden....look out, here they come!

 

Another mom shared with us the ultimate discovery- spy cameras! I have a feeling this is going to be a little addictive the next two weeks as we are able to watch the live activity of Jamboree. The “refresh” button on Webcam #4 is going to be well used. Our group is in the middle of the Winter Village.

World Jamboree Webcam

We know our boys are in Sweden now, have set up camp, and have spent their first night at Jamboree. I would guess that until they come home with stories and loads of pictures, I won’t have anything else to report on my blog about Caleb. Hope this is a wonderful adventure.

News story in the Deseret News about our Crew-

Deseret News Article

Our first photo from Sweden complete with cowboy hats.

Saying Goodbye Again

Today is the much anticipated day for a select group of Utah Venture Scouts and leaders to leave for the World Scout Jamboree in Sweden. Caleb was one of those lucky enough to be chosen.

Saying goodbye to Caleb wasn’t too hard as this seems to be something we are becoming quite familiar with. It’s also easier considering we completely trust the leaders responsible for looking after our boys. Clint thinks it’s funny when I tell people I would trust Caleb to go to the moon with Brother Hall, but I am totally serious. Totally!

I think what struck me this time is that our boys have an opportunity and a responsibility to be examples of our church and nation in a setting unlike any of them have ever experienced. For two weeks they will be living amongst their peers from almost every country in the world. It will be a time of learning, playing, and socializing.

In seven short months this group has organized, earned money, outfitted, planned, bonded, and prepared for this day and the next two weeks to come.

After having a family lunch with the crew, visiting, and taking photos, the leaders asked for some private time with the young men before leaving for the airport. It was when I saw the crew kneeling together in prayer that I got a lump in my throat. These are such good boys and they have wonderful examples to look up to and learn from in their leaders.

Önskar ni alla säkra rese-och en fantastisk tid i Sverige.

The photo above is of the committee (8 young men and Brother Hall). The photo below is of the crew (36 young men and 4 leaders). Caleb is the president of his crew and there are a total of four crews representing Utah.

 

Lunch and leaving for the airport (finally!). They have a chartered flight that will arrive in Denmark tomorrow morning. They will then take a train (or bus) to the Jamboree in Sweden.

Celebrating Pioneer Day

It wasn’t planned as well as it could have been, but we had a fun Pioneer Day.

Clint and Caitlin have been sleeping in a tent in our backyard this weekend. They downloaded an app on Clint’s cell phone that can be used to identify the planets and stars, Caitlin thought that was awesome. She loves everything to do with space and her dad is a good and patient teacher.

Yesterday at church we talked about how lucky we are to live where we do and how we should take time to share the history of our church with our children; visiting historical sites and finding ways to help them understand the sacrifices made to settle this valley and allow our church to grow. With this in mind, we wanted to do something to remember the pioneers.

Today we stuffed ourselves at Tucano’s for lunch (Caleb’s idea), then hiked to Ensign Peak. It was the perfect temperature to go on a hike and there were quite a few people there. It’s considered an easy hike and it isn’t very long, but it’s steep and wearing flip flops is not recommended (seriously, what was I thinking?).

On July 26, 1847, two days after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, Brigham Young and seven other pioneer leaders climbed the hill to survey the valley. From its summit they laid out in their minds the city they intended to build.

The men fastened a yellow bandanna to a cane and waved it from the mountain peak. Brigham Young named the spot Ensign Peak. The pioneers had carried two American flags with them across the plains. Within a short time a flagpole was erected and one of those flags was flown from the peak.

The view from the top is pretty amazing (and windy). I’m happy we could do something today that we haven’t done before. We spent the rest of the day going to a movie and running last minute errands for Caleb’s trip. He leaves tomorrow.

Utah Venture Scouter-vara säkra, ha kul, och vara ett exempel på din tron.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Today I went to donate blood. Unfortunately, it didn’t go so well. As someone with a needle phobia and not a lot of time on her hands, this ordeal took 2.5 hours, both arms got stuck, one of them twice, and in the end my blood won’t be able to be used for a patient in need because it took too long to drip ever so slowly out of me. Clint and Caitlin had to come get me because I was so light headed and shaky and after seeing me with a pasty white face and bandages on both arms, I’m pretty sure Caitlin will never want to donate her own blood.

Our First Summer Concert

We finally went to our first outdoor summer concert of the season on Saturday night. This is something we try to do often this time of year, but this year it has been especially hard to find time for everything we normally do and unfortunately, Caleb couldn’t come with us this time.

We saw Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson at the Sandy Amphitheater. It was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. Perfect weather, fun show, a black electric cello, our big green plaid blanket, fireworks (that weren’t part of the show), and so much talent.

We made the decision to go see Harry Potter after the hype had died down a little, so we’re off to see if for FHE tonight. Can’t wait!

Our Lazy Days of Summer (not!)

So many things to do, see, experience. We are not quite having any lazy days around here.

Clint had a birthday and we celebrated by taking the kids to dinner and a comedy club. We had a fun time and I’m grateful for the time we have been able to carve out to spend as a family these days.

We checked out the “Up” house that will be part of the SL Parade of Homes and I fell in love with it. If it could be moved to our community, I would be seriously tempted to buy it and leave as is. It’s a welcome sight in a valley of beige houses.

 

Clint and Caitlin got their fishing licenses and have spent some fun time together fishing and kayaking in our neighborhood lake.

Caitlin left for Girl’s Camp today! It’s only a 2 day/1 night escape due to our stake having Trek this year, but they are packing tons of activities into this limited time. Caitlin has been so excited about this and I’m happy she gets this experience her first year in the Young Women’s program. We went shopping yesterday to buy some things she wanted/needed for camp and ended up buying school supplies. Ugh!

Caleb got the results of his AP World History test and is happy that he passed and will receive college credit for that year long class that he did not like. at. all.

Life is good. We love summer. No more school shopping for us until at least August.

Alaska #2

Today’s photo subjects are glaciers, bonfires, and whales.

   

Mendenhall Glacier VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

   

What’s scout camp without fire? Apparently the original design wasn’t big enough and it was necessary to add one more massive log.

     

Caleb and the other youth staff were invited to go whale watching on a private boat. They got really close to a pod of about 20 whales. He learned two important things: whale spray really stinks, and when on a boat near a pod of whales, it’s important to make noise by tapping on the boat so that a whale doesn’t try to surface underneath you.

   

The boys saw the whales bubble netting, but Caleb wasn’t quick enough to catch it on video.

Finally

From Juneau, to Sitka, to Seattle, to Boise, to home. This shaggy, overdressed boy (wearing everything that wouldn’t fit in his pack) is home for the next three weeks.

Clint and I have mixed feelings about Caleb’s experience in Alaska. The good part of this adventure is that he had some really great opportunities, was a good example to those around him, and provided comic relief to those he worked with. While at camp, Caleb was able to:

• go whale watching
• hike to a glacier
• go rock climbing
• operate a motor boat
• zip-line through an Alaskan forest
• learn to cook crabs, clean and dirty
• work with people he didn’t like and those without good work ethics
• teach other scouts
• give away two copies of the Book of Mormon
• make new friends
• learn a lot about other cultures, religions, and about survival in the great outdoors

The bad part of this experience is that Caleb was allowed more freedom and a lot less supervision than Clint and I are comfortable with. Basically we feel those at the camp responsible and liable for his care, supervision, and well-being let us down.

The other thing I’m realizing is that each time we give Caleb opportunities to stretch and grow, we have to adjust for these changes at home. He comes home with increased knowledge, experiences separate from those we share as a family, and a sense of independence that we have to respect, encourage, and reign in when necessary.

Caleb took a bunch of photos, and plans to get more from his friends, so I’m going to be adding them to the blog throughout the week. These photos were taken around Eagle River Scout Camp…

The inner trail to camp, a hike of 1.5 miles

   

This was Caleb’s home at camp…

   

A mother’s worst nightmare, the inside of the boys camp accommodations. I am seriously appalled.

     

Russell Hall/Dining Hall

     

Kitchen where Caleb worked

 

Views around camp

 

How to get a teenage boy to take out the trash- add a little fuel, start a big fire. This is where all the garbage from camp went. The leftover food (slop) was dumped into the ocean.