Thiago Pinto of the Salto Uruguay Stake attended a For the Strength of Youth conference for his first time this past January.
“When I arrived and they assigned me a company, I felt happy because I had met people I already knew,” he said. “Thanks to them, they encouraged me to socialize a little more.”
Besides growing socially, he also grew spiritually.
“It changed my way of thinking and removed many doubts,” Thiago said, who attended the Montevideo session of FSY. He encouraged others to attend as a youth or a counselor.
FSY conferences kicked off the year 2023 in the southern hemisphere, where the school breaks during the summer season allowed youth to participate in the weeklong event.
What FSY conferences looked like in South America South
Thousands of youth ages 14-18 in the Church’s South America South Area — which includes Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile and Argentina — attended multiple sessions of FSY held in each country. The young men and young women were put into companies with other youth and with young single adult counselors, attended daily devotionals and classes, heard inspirational messages, participated in service and had games, dances and talent shows throughout the week.
The games, classes, lessons and activities were all designed to help the youth obtain or strengthen a testimony of Jesus Christ.
Youth dance together during a FSY conference in Montevideo, Uruguay, in January 2023. | Provided by Gonzalo and Daniela Borrego
After sharing multiple pictures of the different events, the official Instagram account for Argentina’s FSY conference called it, “An incredible week full of miracles.”
The directors of the Santiago West FSY session in Chile, Maximiliano Graide Gormaz and his wife, Margarita Arenas Pizarro, shared the week’s schedule with the Church News, which besides all the events with other youth and leaders, also had time set apart for each individual to study the scriptures and “Come, Follow Me.” Groups also did a service activity where they assembled kits for school children and included a personal note in each one.
During the week, “the youth learned about the attributes of Christ and how to teach the Gospel,” Graide wrote.
Young men and young women participate in a musical program in Santiago, Chile, the last day of the FSY conference on Jan. 20, 2023. | Provided by Maximiliano Graide Gormaz
The leaders of FSY in Uruguay wrote that during the week, some of the young single adult counselors opened the letter with their mission calls.
“With motivating young people to serve a full-time mission being one of the goals of FSY conferences, seeing their counselors open their calls to serve inspired them. This year, like last year, youth who were not members of the Church but who, as a result of having attended FSY, made the decision to be baptized, also participated,” wrote Gonzalo and Daniela Borrego, and Abril Araujo and Francisco Nuñez.
In Chile, youth at FSY got a big surprise when they sang the hymn “Called to Serve” and missionaries from the Chile Antofagasta Mission walked into the room and sang the hymn with them.
What FSY participants said about the experience
Oliver Báez of the Limpio Paraguay Stake said that after attending FSY, he knows he can be and do the same things that he experienced during the conference in his own daily life.
“Discipleship goes beyond just talking or sharing, but to help, love, respect, forgive and be examples,” he said.
After attending FSY, Samantha Salinas of the Montevideo Uruguay West Stake said: “I know that my Heavenly Father knows me by name — as well as each of His children. I know very well that He loves us just as we are and has a purpose for each one of us.”
A young woman writes in a diary during a session of FSY in Montevideo, Uruguay, January 2023. | Provided by Gonzalo and Daniela Borrego
Ariel Pajares of the Cerro Uruguay Stake said: “It was one of the most spiritual experiences I’ve had. I have been able to feel Heavenly Father’s love, giving me the opportunity to get closer to Him and have comfort in my afflictions.”
Camila Giudici of the Las Piedras Uruguay Stake served as a counselor. “PFJ [FSY in Spanish] is one of those unique experiences that teaches you about the joy of serving,” Giudici said, adding how happy she was to see so many young people together seeking to get closer to God and trying to be different from the world.
“The greatest joy this year was that some of my youngsters felt the Spirit for the first time. That filled my soul,” she said.
Youth attend FSY in Itá, Paraguay, January 2023. | Provided by Leticia Jara
Source link : https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2023/4/4/23655450/fsy-pfj-south-america-uruguay-paraguay-argentina-chile-all-things-through-christ/
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Publish date : 2023-04-04 03:00:00
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