On August 8-10th, I helped plan and pull off the 2008 YSA Summit. For those members of my family that are not Mormon and are unfamiliar with the endless lexicon of Mormon terminology and abbreviations, YSA stands for Young Single Adults, of which I am one. I believe the unofficial definition of a YSA in the Mormon church is someone who is too old to sit at the kids table during Thanksgiving dinner, but not married or having fathered/mothered children so as to be allowed to sit at the adult table. That's about the best way I can describe it, kind of like adolescent/marital limbo. 
Anyhow...in the Mormon church there is no paid clergy, so everyone gets "callings" or assignments to participate in various ways. It's like volunteering but without volunteering. (ask a Mormon to explain it). So my "calling" is to work with YSA's and plan events and activities. Each year they do a conference for YSA's for half of Salt Lake to the Wyoming border. They get together for a few days for concerts, food, dancing, carnivals (check out the Mechanical bull riding), workshops, service projects and spiritual addresses...aka "firesides" This year we had about 3,500 people attend, so needless to say, there was a lot of work to do which consumed my life for a few months.
My job in all this was to do finances, marketing and the website. The site turned out well with some help from my friends (http://www.ysasummit.com/ ) and we streamlined a very difficult registration process. To be honest it was a big pain in the butt, and I was just looking forward to getting it done. We had 26 workshop speakers to accommodate, from famous authors and motivational speakers to CEO's of huge companies and the fireside speaker was Steve Young (the NFL Hall of Fame Quarterback). So it became a big deal and we got a lot of local attention from it. Actually I think they did an article on it in the upcoming Ensign. Keep me posted of you see it at the back.
My point of this was that it was really taxing and I just wanted to get it done and didn't care much else about it. To me it was just another task to get checked off on my endless task list. But then it started and I attended the Keynote speaker, Dr. Anne Osborne Poelman, and was powerfully moved when she spoke about how in our lives we come to crossroads where although we may be unaware, they may be a critical divergence that can lead us to alternate situations, some negative, some positive. She also spoke of her conversion story to Mormonism as a scientist and medical student at Stanford.
One of the highlights was the final event, a fireside in the Salt Lake Tabernacle with Steve Young. The whole time I thought our little conference was just an nuisance to him, expecting that he got initiations to speak every week. Before the address, we met with him and he mentioned that when he played in the NFL he would get those invitations weekly, but once he got married and had kids, he almost never was asked to speak and he loved to speak. He shared how grateful and honored he was to be able to come and speak. I was surprised. Since I was introducing him at the pulpit, I asked if there was anything in the introduction he didn’t want me to say. Steve said, “Say anything but the introduction my mom always gives.” That was a problem, because that was the introduction I was given…by his mom. He looked at me right before we went out and said, “Cut it down man! Cut it down.”
His talk was incredibly moving, spiritual and eloquent. He spoke of faith in the Gospel and Christ. I was sitting right next to him and was impressed that the talk was not some rehashed talk he gave years ago, but one he put considerable time into writing since we asked him to speak. Then, part way through the talk in front of 3,000+ people in the Tabernacle, he stopped, looked off to the side and commented while choked up “There is nothing stranger than a 35 year old man who is temple worthy. We are a strange people.” After a little silence to regain his composure, he went on with his talk.
Now that may seem odd to you (especially if you are not Mormon, so you can ask me about it) but it was a powerful and very emotionally real moment. Since I was sitting next to him I will not forget his face in that moment. Here was someone who was tops in the
NFL at the time he was 35, living in the Bay Area, very wealthy and yet tried his best to be temple worthy. In his face I saw the memory of someone who would enter the Temple alone, be there alone and exit alone with families and couples all around him, a happy sight but a painful reminder of his solitude. In that moment I connected with him. It gave me a deep respect for all YSA’s who are doing what they know is right and living how they know they should. It’s hard and yes, we are a strange people, different from most of those around us for how we have chosen to live our lives. The conference that was a huge pain in my butt all along became a spiritual highlight of my year.
Anyhow...in the Mormon church there is no paid clergy, so everyone gets "callings" or assignments to participate in various ways. It's like volunteering but without volunteering. (ask a Mormon to explain it). So my "calling" is to work with YSA's and plan events and activities. Each year they do a conference for YSA's for half of Salt Lake to the Wyoming border. They get together for a few days for concerts, food, dancing, carnivals (check out the Mechanical bull riding), workshops, service projects and spiritual addresses...aka "firesides" This year we had about 3,500 people attend, so needless to say, there was a lot of work to do which consumed my life for a few months.
My job in all this was to do finances, marketing and the website. The site turned out well with some help from my friends (http://www.ysasummit.com/ ) and we streamlined a very difficult registration process. To be honest it was a big pain in the butt, and I was just looking forward to getting it done. We had 26 workshop speakers to accommodate, from famous authors and motivational speakers to CEO's of huge companies and the fireside speaker was Steve Young (the NFL Hall of Fame Quarterback). So it became a big deal and we got a lot of local attention from it. Actually I think they did an article on it in the upcoming Ensign. Keep me posted of you see it at the back.
My point of this was that it was really taxing and I just wanted to get it done and didn't care much else about it. To me it was just another task to get checked off on my endless task list. But then it started and I attended the Keynote speaker, Dr. Anne Osborne Poelman, and was powerfully moved when she spoke about how in our lives we come to crossroads where although we may be unaware, they may be a critical divergence that can lead us to alternate situations, some negative, some positive. She also spoke of her conversion story to Mormonism as a scientist and medical student at Stanford.
One of the highlights was the final event, a fireside in the Salt Lake Tabernacle with Steve Young. The whole time I thought our little conference was just an nuisance to him, expecting that he got initiations to speak every week. Before the address, we met with him and he mentioned that when he played in the NFL he would get those invitations weekly, but once he got married and had kids, he almost never was asked to speak and he loved to speak. He shared how grateful and honored he was to be able to come and speak. I was surprised. Since I was introducing him at the pulpit, I asked if there was anything in the introduction he didn’t want me to say. Steve said, “Say anything but the introduction my mom always gives.” That was a problem, because that was the introduction I was given…by his mom. He looked at me right before we went out and said, “Cut it down man! Cut it down.”
His talk was incredibly moving, spiritual and eloquent. He spoke of faith in the Gospel and Christ. I was sitting right next to him and was impressed that the talk was not some rehashed talk he gave years ago, but one he put considerable time into writing since we asked him to speak. Then, part way through the talk in front of 3,000+ people in the Tabernacle, he stopped, looked off to the side and commented while choked up “There is nothing stranger than a 35 year old man who is temple worthy. We are a strange people.” After a little silence to regain his composure, he went on with his talk.
Now that may seem odd to you (especially if you are not Mormon, so you can ask me about it) but it was a powerful and very emotionally real moment. Since I was sitting next to him I will not forget his face in that moment. Here was someone who was tops in the
NFL at the time he was 35, living in the Bay Area, very wealthy and yet tried his best to be temple worthy. In his face I saw the memory of someone who would enter the Temple alone, be there alone and exit alone with families and couples all around him, a happy sight but a painful reminder of his solitude. In that moment I connected with him. It gave me a deep respect for all YSA’s who are doing what they know is right and living how they know they should. It’s hard and yes, we are a strange people, different from most of those around us for how we have chosen to live our lives. The conference that was a huge pain in my butt all along became a spiritual highlight of my year. 
1 comment:
I found a link to this blog while looking for an email Louise sent about her DNA results. (Still looking). After reading the first few entries I had a some hilarious and devastating comments ready to send. But I ended up reading all of your blog and have decided to spare you, and instead say; you’re a good man and I’m proud to call you my brother (in law). ✌🏻
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