“Getting into the Act,” New Era, July 2000, 33
Getting into the Act
The youth in Ucon aren’t the only ones who knew that acting out scenes from the Book of Mormon could help to make the scriptures more meaningful. Youth from two stakes in Canada, the Calgary Alberta East Stake and the Medicine Hat Alberta Stake, spent time in wilderness areas near their homes for their annual youth conference reenacting different events from the Book of Mormon. The two youth conferences were similar in format and included reenactments of battles, holding to the iron rod (avoiding worldly temptations, which were represented by tempting candy and treats), and the appearance of Christ on the American continent.
The conferences weren’t all smooth, of course. The youth in Medicine Hat wandered through a “wilderness” so muddy that some of them had the shoes sucked right off their feet! But walking among the wildflowers on the Canadian prairie, listening to an actor playing Samuel the Lamanite, and writing their feelings during a private journal time gave the youth in both stakes a chance to really think about their testimonies of the Book of Mormon.
“I didn’t want to leave to go home when the conference was over,” said one participant. “We were surrounded with good feelings.”