Over the weekends of March 22-24 and the 29-31, groups of Scottish and Irish youth traveled to the Preston England Temple to learn more about covenant belonging.
Not only did these young “saviors on Mount Zion” perform saving ordinances for their deceased ancestors, but they received spiritual instruction, worshiped God through song and were mentored by missionaries, among other activities.
A Scotland Ireland Coordinating Council made up of young adult, priesthood and sister leaders, led by Elder Mark G. Stewart, an Area Seventy in the Europe North Area, and Ian and Vivien Snee, who were called to the unique role of “rising generation couple,” put together the two-weekend temple trip in less than nine weeks.
But, the miracles did not end there.
The Church’s United Kingdom Newsroom — which reported on this event on May 28 — reported that youth and young adults were highly engaged in discussions about personal revelation and learning to feel the Holy Spirit. Even the youngest and shyest participants walked away with new friendships and fond memories.
Elder Stewart commented, “Building on the success of the For the Strength of Youth conferences, our mission leadership effort was laser focused on enabling the rising generation to ‘lead out’ and work peer-to-peer towards the temple and its associated covenants. We witnessed firsthand, the young adults lead the youth to the mountain of the Lord where miracles occurred. Of significance was introducing the 11- to 13-year-olds to the FSY format at the house of the Lord and watching the joy on their faces as they partook in God’s work of salvation and exaltation.”
With the temple as the focal point of the weekends, family history discussion and activities were planned to prepare the youth and young adults to have names to take into the house of the Lord and understand the work they were performing in the baptistry.
As friends encouraged one another to prepare for the temple trip, Irish and Scottish stakes and branches saw an increase of young temple recommend holders. Overall, 600 youth served in the Preston England Temple and more than 4,000 ordinances were performed.
In addition to temple service, youth and young adults ate, sang and learned together. Active gospel instruction encouraged the rising generation to understand what it means to stay on the covenant path and “think celestial.”
Youth also had the opportunity to tour the England Missionary Training Center in Preston. Getting to see the MTC up close and learn from full-time missionaries helped youth consider serving a mission. Leaders shared that because of this experience, many of the youth committed to serve a mission.
The Church’s United Kingdom Newsroom stated: “The weekend experiences for the rising generation connected [the youth] to each other, to their kindred dead, engaged them in meaningful service, equipped them with the knowledge of how to receive and act on personal revelation, reminded them of their divine purpose and engendered a deeper sense of covenant belonging.”
