WOODS CROSS, Utah — Youth stood outside a Church meetinghouse decorated with bright pink streamers and welcomed guests decades older than them.
The youth were seniors in high school; the guests were senior citizens. And all were participants in the Woods Cross Utah North Stake’s first-ever “For the Strength of Seniors” conference, held Friday, April 24, and Saturday, April 25.
The event was modeled after For the Strength of Youth conferences put on by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “For the Strength of Seniors” included games, a variety show and even a dance. Youth taught classes about connecting with teenagers and using technology for gospel purposes, while the older attendees taught classes on topics like family history and missionary work.
In his devotional remarks during the conference, Woods Cross Utah North Stake President Richard S. Hawley said the stake presidency decided to plan this event because youth come home so excited and enthusiastic after For the Strength of Youth conferences. The stake presidency, he said, talked for “a long time” about how to bring that kind of enthusiasm to older people.
“I hope that, like the youth, when you get done tomorrow night, that you learned something, that you were inspired, that you made a new friend,” President Hawley said. “That you, at some time, were touched [by] something that you should start to do or something that you could do better.”
Learning from each other
About 30 senior citizens were present on Friday afternoon as the conference began, talking and laughing while playing get-to-know-you games. Youth in pink T-shirts sat at each table with the older adults.
President Michael R. Anderson, first counselor in the Woods Cross North Stake presidency, said senior citizens weren’t the only ones benefiting from the conference — high school seniors had the chance to learn “quite a bit” from their new older friends, including what life was like 50 years ago.
Around 15 high school seniors began planning the conference about two months ago, President Anderson said. The stake presidency hoped that the high school seniors, in taking the lead on this project, would learn skills pertinent to serving missions, attending college or pursuing other goals.
“So they kind of had to step outside of their little bubble,” President Anderson said.
And that’s exactly what they’ve done. President Anderson said the youth who planned the conference are now more willing to lead meetings, to use their voices and to do things they might have been unwilling to do before.
Appiah Odei, a senior at Woods Cross High School, said helping plan the conference has taught him leadership skills and how to better connect with people, especially when those people aren’t his age or have different interests.
“It doesn’t matter how old you are,” Odei said. “We can all be friends and we’ll have a good time. And when we’re in church, we can go say ‘hi’ to each other.”
‘Trying to do good’
McKenna Howes, also a senior at Woods Cross High School, said she and other youth organizers hoped to recreate the “amazing experience” they have at For the Strength of Youth conferences.
It’s been a challenge getting out of their comfort zone, she said, especially when it comes to teaching classes; but she’s discovered that everyone has something to say and that it’s fun to learn from other people.
“I just hope they … get a good experience [that’s] spiritual and just see how much the youth are trying to do good,” Howes said of the attendees.
Angela Ford, a senior citizen and member of the Farm Meadows Ward, said she attended the conference because she never had the chance to attend youth conferences as a teenager. She also hoped to experience some of what her own children have felt at youth conferences, and to learn “how best to serve the youth that I work with.”
Reese and Shauna Peters, of the Valley Meadows Ward, attended the conference to teach a class about senior service missions. While high school seniors are quite a ways off from serving as senior missionaries, the Peters hoped to show that “no matter what your age or what your interests are, there are opportunities available [to serve],” Shauna Peters said.
And Janet and Scott Anderson, of the Valley Meadows Ward, attended the conference in support of their grandson, a high school senior who helped plan the event. Scott Anderson said he hoped to learn how teenagers’ struggles affect them and how those challenges are “different than when we used to be the youth.”
