Work your faith and your faith will work!

Moronis Quest was this last weekend and I'm emotionally and spiritually overwhelmed. I'm still trying to process the greatness of the experience for the sake of the members of our stake and their families but even after feeling the spirit that was there and physically watching the miracles, its hard to comprehend a quantifiable impact, outside of the understatement that the impact made was deep, tangible and undeniable.
   Moronis Quest has been done before by a number of different stakes and each encampment has taken its own approach according to their stakes needs, and means. I'm biased but i believe it was the most realistic, impactful, detailed, spectacular and thoughtful Moronis Quest EVER. (I know, thats quite a claim to stake but it's my educated opinion). I've been to dozens of camps, stake events and I even had the opportunity to study other Moronis Quest experiences and what our stake did, is in a whole other league. I'm so fortunate to know the members of our stake presidency on a personal level because I felt comfortable asking hundreds of questions regarding the structure of the camp and what thier concerns were and what obsticles would have to be overcome. Watching the camp come together was such a treat and the poeple we got to meet and work with have become such special friends.
   If i were to write all the miracles i heard about and saw, i'd be writing all night but have to write about the wonderful brothers and sister i met and love.
    Bro and Sister Bonilla were in charge of the reenactments, 15 total, and i was only a part of one (just so were clear, practically no responsibility for anything over here, just an observer ) but Nicole Bonilla became a sister in our stake that i look up to so much. The level of dedication and zeal she showed for her responsibility made me believe that SHE believed she was put on this earth to create the perfect soundtrack to the reenactments that would allow us to experience truly living scriptures. She gave everything to the cause, turning a room in her home into a recording studio, sacrificing her business, loosing income and spending hours with strangers in her home, recording songs and lines for 6-8 months, creating nephite clothing and dressing ALL (yes, all!) of the cast members, using her garage to store and create props including all the swords, bows and arrows, shields and so much more. Nicole had such a passion and true vision for the reenactments and i was shoked to find out that he had very limited musical background because the design she created for the scenes were professional and perfectly fluid.She lead with the spirit and maintained her vision for the whole year. i was truly an honor to work with her and watch her keep her covenants in such a inspiring and visually obvious way.
    Angela Rucker is a beautiful gal. She is always looking her best, taking care of everyone and has the energy of 20 toddlers with the grace of a princess. She is an interier designer and her responsibility included a little of everyhting, she dressed the 'guests" (anyone who was not staying the whole time or came to visit the camp since you were not permitted on the campgrounds without Nephite attire, she made sure the visitors has the perfect clothes and she also dressed the stake presidency and took it upon herself to give them the best nephite looks ever (Which as my fathers daughter, i can tell you it was a big deal, he had a million other things to worry about so to have someone else there to make and arrange his clothes was a little blessing for him! She, as well as all the other tribe moms, was always making sure everyone had sunscreen on and were well-hydrated. She was such a great example of filling the need and being there to make others experiences optimal. I hope to rub shoulders with her more and have her teach me more about service and dedicating all your talent, big or small.
    The Swansons are an incredible couple in our stake that i got to know while volunteering. I found myself going out of my way to get involved in any way i could in the MQ spirit and that included creating the leather bound book of mormons for thw youth and adults attending. The Swansons are expert leather craftsmen and were hired to do 1200 book of mormons in december the year before. They started the daunting project and it came to a sudden and unexpected halt when their home burned to the ground in January. I volunteered the last few days before MQ to help stain and finish the leather covers and inspect them for flaws befrore they got boxed up. While i worked i talked to bro and sis Swanson and learned that they lost everything just three months earlier, including their $1400 leather sewing machine and a leather press and 4 quilting machine (which are all very expensive and for them very special because they had been family owned for so long. They were living in a rental with no furniture, just boxes...not boxes of possesions, clothes or decor. They lived in a rental, with blank walls, no possessions, and boxes and boxes of book of Mormons. THey had nopthing left but this assignment from the stake. They were cheerful, kind and patient with my unlearned efforts. I was floored by their faith and resilience. I saw them a few days later at the camp and Bro Swanson found me and personally handed me a book of mormon and thanked ME for my help (which is silly considering the MONTHS he labored over then priceless BOMS that the youth would undoubtedly cherish forever.)
    I watched so many frightened beehives, whose first camping experience and first time away from home took all the faith they had, bravely participate in reflections and make new friends from other wards. I watched injured stake members come to camp knowing conditions would be rough and hiking would be necessary to get in and out of camp and up and down the stadium stairs. I watched disable youth members fearlessly bear their strong testimonies in front of complete strangers. I saw skilled engineers, professional makeup artists, doctors, paramedics and so many more all use thier skills and training to create a perfect event for everyone around them.

I saw so many miracles, and the spirit was so intense and tangeble, you could feel it on your skin. I felt like the atmosphere that was created that allowed so many to see a heavenly perspective of the living scriptures was nurtured by one profound commonality between all the saints who attended. FAITH. There was such a strong sense of faith attached to everyones participation that combined with an unsurpassed amount of "works", reaped eternal rewards. Of course, so much faith from all the youth and their leaders but I felt so blessed to learn how, much like the gospel, this Quest was designed for everyone. I was privileged to attend one of the many MQ tribe leader firesides and I heard the concerns and questions of the parents and tribe leaders. Some of these leaders had youth in their homes, others were youth leaders but all of them had a desire to create something greater than themselves. I was particularly touched by a moms insight after a reenactment was described to the tribe leaders to give them an idea for what their reflections would be based off of. This young mother was a tribe leader but her oldest son would also be attending MQ as his first youth experience since he would turn 12 the week before. As i listened to her concerns and her hopes I recognized that she represented so many mother ( and fathers) who prayed nightly for their children to develop a love for the gospel and a yearning for righteousness. I felt her faith and her hope for her son and for her family and it hit me that what we were doing was truly of eternal consequence for this family...and for all our families.

 Lastly, I just never want to forget my sweet family and the experience we had together. I've been lucky to have had my mom and dad at most of my girls camp experiences. They are the life of the party and they've watched me have those special spiritual experiences that come from ward and stake camps dedicated to spiritual growth and its been a number of years since I've been blessed to participate in such an event. However, without skipping a beat, my dad and mom haven't changed a bit, still natural leaders and have a visible love and passion for the youth and the excitement that comes from actively and collectively developing testimonies! My dad and mom were changed and to see such role models grow and becoming even bigger heros was inspiring and....there's no other word but joy, i had so much joy seeing them in their element and watching my sister among their friends, so happy to be choosing the right. It was a heavenly experience.

I'm so grateful that Chad and I got to work together, playing husband and wife in our reenactment, making it all that much easier to put ourselves in the place of the families we read about in the scriptures. We have read through the program all year and it was satisfying and fulfilling to finish the Book of Mormon together as a family and feel prepared to review the scriptures as a stake. We've already started reading again and will follow the same format but with different reflection habits, regardless, we learned once again that heaven can be seen from earth and we always want to be worthy and prepared for the glimpses the Lord grants us.