Rappelling at Dixon Lake

For the March campout the young men went to Dixon Lake and had the opportunity to learn to rappel. Some were a little more scared than others but everyone had a fun time and everyone made it back alive. Many thanks to Bro. Kawick for teaching everyone what to do and helping us stay safe.

Piñata Party

For combined ym/yw in February everyone had the opportunity to decorate their piñatas in their groups and then break them apart. Some lasted longer than others, some broke apart after a couple of hits.

Youth Temple Trip

The Youth went to the Temple and were able to do Temple work for names that several ward members had done their genealogy for.  Afterwards we went to In-N-Out (of course).

Mud Caves

This weekend (January 18-19) the young men took a trip to the Mud Caves in the Anza Borrego Desert.  These are unique formations created by erosion from heavy rains.

We camped at Agua Caliente campground.  We cooked dinner (chili dogs) over the fire.  Afterwards, some of us went on a longer-than-expected night hike.  The stars were beautiful and there was an eerie curved light in the sky that turned to be a laser from the nearby store (it only looked curved).

The next morning we had oatmeal and cereal, packed up camp and left for the caves: about 4 miles south on S2, 4-6 miles of dirt roads we headed up Arroyo Tapiado.  We explored Bat Canyon, a slot canyon that turned into tunnels at spots.  Some of us squeezed up Cool Cave.  Then we went up to Start Canyon, a much wider canyon.  Carey's Big Mud Cave was our final stop.  A long, dark cave that you can walk upright through most of the way.  With our lights off, we couldn't see our hands in front of our faces.  There were several areas that the caves opened up very high above our heads.

Afterwards, we went back to camp, showered and soaked in the "hot springs" (indoor swimming pool with 98 degree water).

Some quotes during the trip:
Steven: "This is the best campout ever"
Roman: "This is the best campout ever"
Quincy: "This is the best campout ever"

Escondido 2nd Stake

Tonight we took the first steps to participate in the Escondido 2nd Stake project.  The idea of the project is for everyone to do their genealogy and find ancestors who haven't had their Temple work done for them.  The goal is to do the work for enough people to create another stake on the other side of the veil.  Our Ward needs to create a Santa Fe Hills 2nd Ward (400-500 people).

Since much of the work involves computers and since the youth are typically technically savvy, we decided to get them involved.  Tonight, 15 young men created accounts on lds.org and logged into new.familysearch.org.  Most of them were able to connect immediately to their genealogical lines.  Some even put in new information.  Good job Young Men!!!