WRBC Youth TEAM

      When I first got there, I knew that I would not return to Iowa the same. Over 90% of the population in Manti is Mormon, and the other 10% percentage is Protestant. When we visited Ephraim Church of the Bible, there were very few youth, so immediately we were an encouragement because those teens live there, and every day they are persecuted in different ways. However, they still hold strong and true to God’s Word, and share it like there’s no tomorrow.

Once I had started my training, all I wanted to do was just get out there on the streets and witness. With all the Scriptures and what good conversation starters, I just couldn’t wait to plant my feet and let the Lord lead me. There were many different methods to go about in talking to the Mormons on the streets, and picking the one you wanted to use and sticking to it became a bit confusing, but the Lord took charge and gave all of us opportunities.

The greatest change in my life that has come from the trip to Ephraim and Manti, Utah has I was immediately humbled knowing that I was the minority, and there was no way that “I” could talk to these lost people and lead them to the real Jesus on my own. I had to put my full trust in the Lord, praying night and day that He would just point out who He wanted me to address. I talked to a few, tried to do it on my own, and was a complete “smack down” because I was relying on myself and not the Lord to work through me.

Throughout the week I found myself singing and praising God, getting together and putting my arms around my brothers in Christ, praying for those who were in conversations, praying for individuals who had just been witnessed to, asking God to bring the rain, water the seeds, and cause the growth… it all was totally transforming.  Also, I must agree with Pastor Dave’s report that the actual pageant play was very troubling and kind of boring.

I would encourage anyone who has just a slight thought about going to Nauvoo, Illinois with the Youth TEAM on July 24-26th to pray about it. If you can come, do it!!!  It will give you the feeling of being a missionary.  Actually, you are a missionary! There is no greater joy or feeling to know that you have just impacted an individuals life by just questioning whether their God or prophet is legitimate, and you have archaeological facts to back your God and His Word. You will dramatically change in your mindset, you will want to serve anywhere and everywhere you go from that point on. But most importantly you will grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. Along with you will be your friends and get some quality “TEAM” time!

Testimonial from David B.

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June 6th – Day 1 = We traveled through the WIND to Steamboat Springs, Colorado and stayed the night at Pastor Dave’s brother’s house.  We enjoyed late night pizza, and Tayloe went for his morning jog.

June 7th – Day 2 = We drove some more… but stopped at a random mountain to hike to get out of the Goshen and strength our legs.   We arrived in Ephraim, Utah after supper.

June 8th – Day 3 = We attended services at Ephraim Church of the Bible.  The evening service was our first training session.  Our team divided into three groups:  Joe and Chirs went with the college students for training.  Eric, David B., and Pastor Dave went with the adults.  Jared, David S., Charlie, and Tayloe went with the teenagers for their training.

June 9th – Day 4 = We had full training sessions in the morning, and swam at Palisade Lake (very cold water!!!) in the afternoon.  More training in the evening.  After the session we all went to the Malt Shop in town to celebrate David B.’s 19th B-Day (birthday).

June 10th – Day 5 = We had full training sessions in the morning, and hike Maple Canyon (Box Canyon) in the afternoon.  Joe M. showed us his amazing climbing skills… while Chris and Pastor Dave deemed some holes too small for them to fit    After our evening training session, most of our group played a game with the Ephraim students.  Tayloe showed off his amazing running skills.

June 11th – Day 6 = We had a very full day in Salt Lake City.  This was the first opportunity to speak to Mormons about the things we’ve been learning in our training sessions.  All three of our groups had several opportunities to share Christ… and Eric D. found the display with Joseph Smith’s gun he fired in the Carthage, MO jail.

June 12th – Day 7 = We went to the training session, then did our laundry. While we waited for our laundry to get done a group of us took a hike on the side of the mountain and went Geocaching. Then we had our first night of the pageant.

June 13th – Day 8 = We had another training session. In this day we had testimonies of a group of ex-Mormons. One of the ex-Mormons gave us another survey method to use that night at pageant. Then we stayed and watched the pageant that night, and headed over to the Miller’s restaurant for fellowship.

June 14th – Day 9 = Pastor from Salt Lake City gave us an inspirational speech. That afternoon some of us went to the college house to fellowship, some went and played some basketball, and some stayed at the church to regain some energy. We went to pageant outreach that night… then to Miller’s for food and much rejoicing.

June 15th – Day 10 = We went to McDonald’s for our breakfast and waited an hour, just making it on time for the morning service. We took pictures of all the fellow Christians we had met, and headed home. We got lunch at Subway, waiting another hour for our food. Then we drove to Sandy, Utah to visit the Clems; we had a good evening service. That night we deemed to send Eric D. on a flight home! We also met Pastor Clem’s grandson, the next Einstein!

June 16th – Day 11 = Put Eric and Joe on the plane, and did some sight seeing at Black Canyon.

June 17th – Day 12 = We went white water rafting on the Arkansas River due to flooding in the Royal Gorge. That evening we ate a LOT of food at Chili’s and all drank water like parched camels! Then we sat and moaned in our hotel rooms from eating so much, while watching the NBA finals.

June 18th – Day 13 = We drove to Pastor Dave’s parents house and concluded the Back to the Future series on his dad’s big flat screen TV. We stayed the night and arrived back in Waterloo the next day.